How to Manage Disneyland in Peak Season

How to Manage Disneyland in Peak Season

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Stef and I have just done two days at Anaheim Disneyland between Christmas and New Year – as peak seasons go, it doesn’t get any peaker than that. In fact, on both days the park hit capacity, meaning that 75,000 plus people had flooded through the gates.

Were the crowds unbearable? That depends on your tolerance level, but we were mostly able to move about the parks with a degree of patience.

Were the lines out of control? Some of the wait time were up to nearly three hours for the most popular rides, but we never waited more than an hour for any ride, and still managed to do all of our most wanted rides at least once.

Here’s how…

Ticket choice is key. We bought a two-day Park Hopper pass with a Max Pass add on.

Buy the passes online and download the Disney app to your smartphone. Upload the passes to your app and you are good to go when you arrive at the Park (no tickets to print).

Ideally, arrive at the park 30 minutes before opening (parks open at 8am most days, but check your times on the app). You have to pass through security screening and then queue for the Disneyland Park (it usually opens before California Adventure Park).

On your first entry you’ll have your photo taken and be given a paper ticket – use this for the rest of your visit.

As soon as you’ve gained access you should book your first Fast Pass – use this for the ride with the longest wait time, not necessarily the ride you most want to go on. Space Mountain,  Matterhorn Bobsleds and Indiana Jones at Disneyland and Cars Radiator Springs Racers, Guardians of The Galaxy, and The Incredicoaster at California Adventure typically had the longest wait times. Then head straight to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and get in line because these latest attractions don’t offer the Fast Past service yet.

The Fast Pass will give you a 1 hour time slot to attend for that ride, and you will go pretty much go to the front of the line.

Note that you can’t book Fast Passes on the app unless you have purchased the Max Pass add on. Without a Max Pass you can only get Fast Passes by queueing for a voucher at the ride – time wasted on foot and in a line.

After booking your fast pass, use your app to check the wait times at some of your other favoured rides – head to one with less than an hour wait. Enjoy the ride.

You can use your Fast Pass again after 70 minutes OR straight after you have ridden on the Fast Pass ride that you booked.

The total number of Fast Passes is limited on any given day, and typically run out by mid afternoon. Another reason to get to the park early and make the best strategic use of your passes.

Be warned that you can also lose a lot of time waiting for food in the parks – consider taking snacks in with you (especially if you want to eat healthier) or exiting the park to dine in the Downtown Disney precinct. It will be quicker and less crowded, and re-entry to the parks is usually straightforward after the morning crush.

Alternatively, you can book food in the park on your app.

You can also book priority viewing areas for Fantasmic and World of Colour light and fireworks shows through the app.

We managed to ride all of the best attractions, some of them 2 or 3 times, across our two days. But we did spend a solid 14 hours at the park on the first day.

If travelling with children I’d recommend a 3 day Park Hopper so you can go at a more leisurely pace. (don’t forget to add the Max Pass). This pass also gives you one early entry – you can gain access one hour before regular opening times. Make sure to get to the park on time for this benefit as you’ll be able to fit in a couple of rides with minimal wait times.

My First Time Flying First

My First Time Flying First

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An Emirates First Class Review

It may sound trite to say that the journey is just as important as the destination, but try flying first class with Emirates and you’ll have a new appreciation of Emerson’s oft-quoted platitude. 

Early in the year (whilst surfing Qantas’s booking engine – as I often do) I stumbled on a First Class Award flight, Melbourne to Singapore, on Emirates on a date that worked for me. I’d had no plans to visit Singapore, but the lure of my first ever first class flight was more than I could resist. It would prove to the best 90,000 points and $300 (taxes and carrier fees) I have ever spent in the air. 

Flight day and we’re at the airport early to make full use of our first class lounge privileges. In Melbourne, Emirates partners with Qantas to give first class passengers access to the Australian airline’s first class lounge – and I can tell you it is a massive step up from business class. 

The Qantas lounge is a sanctuary of style and serenity away from the crowds and queues of the International terminal and departure gates (dare I say, away from the common people?) – and its’ all  free with a first class ticket. 

We staked out a vantage point in the restaurant where we could watch the take offs and landings, sip some pre-flight cocktails, and peruse the Neil Perry menu.  The lounge offers genuine 5 star dining, the likes of which I never thought possible in an airport, and the wine list is pretty impressive too.  

Here’s a tip: put your name down as soon as you arrive for a massage or facial in the spa. That’s right… there’s a luxury spa in the lounge. I had the men’s detox facial and returned to the lounge feeling even more blissed. Seriously, I don’t know how anyone travels without a pre-flight spa treatment.  

Spa bookings are limited, but even if you miss out you could still freshen up with a shower before your flight. The bathroom facilities are replete with ASPAR toiletries.  

As tempting as it was to try all the cocktails in the bar and every dish on the menu, we knew that Emirates had plenty of culinary delights in store for us on the plane. And so it was time to head to the gate and make our way onto the Boeing 777-300ER.  

The welcome is gracious as we are introduced to our cabin crew and directed to our suites. There are 6 first class suites on this Emirates 777-300 and on this flight we are the only two passengers! The crew tell us we are welcome to use any suite we like, even to eat in one suite and sleep in another. 

The greatest luxury when flying is space, and the Emirates first class product gives you plenty of it. But they also deliver many more surprises to keep the wow factor going. My suite is furnished with a personal mini-bar and generous snacks, I have a wardrobe, a privacy screen for sleep time, and a huge entertainment screen and noise cancelling Bowers and Wilkins headphones. 

Complimentary amenities include Byredo facial products, a Bulgari pack of toiletries and perfume, a writing set, and a luxurious package of pyjamas and slippers.  

I’m still exploring the loot when the pre-take-off Moet is served and the crew explain some of the seat and suite functions. Once in the air and we have levelled off, the Dom Perignon is served. Don’t mind if I do! 

This really is next level luxury, and way beyond what you really need for an 8 hour flight to Singapore – but I can’t deny that I’m loving every minute of being treated like royalty. 

The food service commences with some tasty amuse bouche, followed by a mezza plate specially tailored to my vegetarian preferences. It includes two types of egg plant dip and a selection of warm breads that any fresh bakery would be proud of.  

I select a 98 French red wine, knowing nothing about French red wines but it sounds expensive so I go for it. After nodding my approval at the first sip, the host decants the rest of the bottle into a carafe and leaves it at my table! 

I’m encouraged to also have the caviar plate from the apetisers menu, and, paired with a Belvedere Vodka, it is absolutely divine.  

The food service is al a carte and on demand. I’m only half way through my French red when I order the pumpkin ravioli for mains – it’s delicious but more than I can finish.  

Sitting at adjacent suites we both watch the same movie together. Tea service is provided and we have a chocolate clairefontaine for dessert.  

Our host turns down the bed for a few hours of sleep before arrival into Singapore. Really nothing is too much for the crew, and they help to ensure that every aspect of our first class experience is an absolute delight. After we’ve safely landed, part of me doesn’t want to farewell the crew and leave this flying palace behind.  

Flying home in Economy is going to be tough! 

  • ** Brett and Stef flew MEL-SIN First Class on an Emirates 777-300 on an award flight using Qantas Frequent Flyer points. They flew home on a paid Qantas Economy flight.  

Qantas Business Class Review QF36 SIN-MEL

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A380 Business Class on Qantas

I was given a points upgrade from Premium Economy to Business on a recent Qantas flight out of Singapore. As the second leg of a long haul from London this was a much appreciated treat. 

Route Singapore – Melbourne, QF36, 7 hours, June 2019 
Aircraft A380 
Checkin As we were in transit, our boarding passes were organised by very helpful and courteous staff in the Business Lounge while we sat down and relaxed with a drink 
Lounge Qantas will be moving into a new lounge later in the year, and I’d heard the Business lounge in Changi T1 was fairly ordinary. However I was pleasantly surprised. The lounge was spacious and comfortable, plenty of seating, a full service bar and plenty of food available. I would say though that the vegetarian options were somewhat uninspired. There was a 20 minute wait for the showers but they were clean and well appointed with plenty of hot water and pressure.  
Cabin 64 seats in Business Class on the upper deck of the A380 
Amenities Designer pouches in various Australian themes with Aspar toiletry samples, eye patch, socks and dental kit. And of course the iconic Qantas pyjamas. 
Seats Middle row in a 2-2-2 configuration.  
The seats are the classic Qantas Skybeds – they may look dated but for my money they afford a greater sense of space 
Comfort My skybed seemed to have a hump in the middle even when set to lie flat position. Having said that I still managed to get a few hours of good sound sleep on this overnight flight. Plenty of storage space at your side, in front, and overhead. And no chance of me reaching the seat in front with my legs fully outstretched 
IFE What you’d expect from a full service airline, nothing more nothing less. Noise cancelling headphones are offered but I still prefer to use my own Bose  
Service Friendly and efficient, food and drinks are out quickly to allow people to maximise sleep if that’s what they want 
Food A choice of 4 mains, I had the snapper and it was excellent. My partner had a chicken ciabatta sandwich and was very pleased with it. Plenty of breakfast options too.  
Drinks Qantas arguably offers some of the best wine selections in the air. The range of coffee, tea, beer and softdrink options in Business Class is just as good. 
  • Singapore Lounge
  • Singapore Lounge
  • Singapore Lounge

The space in Business Class on Qantas’ A380 is almost overwhelming

  • Business Class Legroom
  • Pyjamas and eye mask
  • Loot
  • Snapper
  • Chicken Ciabatta
  • Carrot & Dill Cream Soup

Summing up, it’s always a pleasure flying Qantas Business Class, especially when its a last-minute points upgrade that you weren’t sure of getting. From lounge to cabin to arrival, this flight was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Full Compliments to Hotel Café Royal London

Full Compliments to Hotel Café Royal London

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Hotel Cafe Royal, without a doubt one of London’s best

Located on Regent Street, spitting distance from Piccadilly Circus, the Hotel Café Royal has a well-deserved reputation as one of London’s best. 

Oscar Wilde and Muhammad Ali, Winston Churchill and David Bowie, David Chipperfield and Elizabeth Taylor…. and now Brett Jobling and Stefan Pavlovic have added their names to this venerable and truly memorable London hotel. 

We transferred to this hotel after 5 nights in a micro hotel, having purchased the Café Royal’s £750 Spa Package – this entitled us to an upgrade to a Grand Superior Guest Room, £100 per person spa credit, and full breakfast.  

From the doorman to the check-in we are treated like VIP’s. The foyer is a stunning foretaste of the hotel’s décor.

We are early and our room is not yet ready, so we head to the Akasha Spa to book our hot stone massages – again we are made to feel like very special guests.  

The spa facilities are in a cavernous underground space – gym, lap pool, jacuzzi, dry sauna, and hammam (steam sauna). Bathrooms are generously appointed with complimentary toiletries, slippers and robes. Our massages are delivered by a skilful therapist and by the time our room is ready we float out of the spa in a state of sheer bliss. 

But more luxury surprises await. On our way to the room our Guest Relations Host explains the complimentary town car service for one-way chauffeur driven trips around central London. “So, if you have somewhere you need to go, just ask  the Concierge if the Bentley is available.” 

Bentley? Free ride in a Bentley? I’ve definitely got somewhere I need to go! 

Our host takes me to our room and gives a run-down of the features and functions. The bathroom is bigger than our previous hotel room! There’s welcome chocolate strawberries in the bar and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot on ice in the living room. A Bang & Olufsen TV, automatic curtains, a giant bed, and robes hanging in the wardrobe. The bathroom has a rain shower, heated panels behind the towel rails, generous toiletries, and an in-mirror TV (of course).  

The hotel is simply beautiful throughout – sleek modern décor in the halls and  guest rooms contrast with a grand classical ambience in the lobbies, stairways and restaurants, redolent of the Café Royal’s glorious history. In particular, The Grill Room, also known as the Oscar Wilde Lounge, is a study in gilded opulence – you can take High Tea here (bookings essential) but at the very least you must go in for a look at this masterpiece.  

We are only here for a night so we really don’t want to leave the property – but the Bentley beckons, glistening and shiny just outside the front doors. We book a ride to Covent Garden (the service is only good for a 2 mile radius) in near peak hour traffic. It would have been quicker to walk, but hey, it’s a ride in a Bentley and the looks from passing pedestrians (they’re going faster than us) makes it worth the while.  

Back at the hotel we have a leisurely cocktail in The Green Bar – complimentary bar snacks of course. On return to our room we find that the turn down service has provided complimentary slippers and some heavenly sleep spray. Only the most inveterate of insomniacs could fail to get a good night’s sleep in the Hotel Café Royal. 

Next morning we enjoy our generous included-in-the-package breakfast – A la carte menu plus pastries and spreads. I can only assume that the little jars of jam and honey are also complimentary, because they travelled home with me.  

As we’ve been given a complimentary late check out, we’re able to do some last-minute shopping around Regent and Oxford Street. Even after check out we are afforded –complimentarily – use of the Akasha spa facilities. So we are relaxed, showered and refreshed when we eventually leave the Café Royal for our late flight out of Heathrow. 

This was probably one of the finest hotel experiences I’ve ever enjoyed. Impeccable service from a 5 star property and we were made to feel like genuinely valued guests at all times. I can’t wait to go back.  

Mimi’s Hotel Soho London

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Mimi’s in Soho

Micro Hotel – Mega Convenience

This superbly located hotel on Frith Street in London’s Soho district is a 5-10 minute walk from each of Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Oxford Street, so whilst it might be small on space, its goes large on convenience.

These ‘micro’ hotels – like the Z Hotels in central London – are trending, and they’re a realistic alternative for the visitor who expects to spend nearly all of their waking time, well, visiting. If you want to lounge around the hotel on your holiday, then Mimi’s is probably not for you.

We booked 5 nights in Mimi’s smallest double room, just a bed and an en suite really, and no windows. We were a little worried about claustrophobia and cabin fever, but we also knew this was just a place to sleep at night.

The price was excellent, so it worked for us.

The hotel is clean and modern with 24 hour reception. Staff were helpful and courteous, and there is a cafe/bar in the foyer if you need some break out space from the room (or your partner). Wifi is free throughout the hotel.

The room consisted of a king bed (wall on 3 sides – kudos to the domestic staff who made up the room perfectly each day), an entry big enough for one person to stand in, and a small but well appointed en suite.

The shower was hot and strong, which is about the most important thing in a hotel bathroom.

There’s a wall mounted TV above the foot of the bed. Storage is under the bed and a coat hook behind the door. Dual occupants need to coordinate their movements fairly carefully to make this work – suggest one person goes out to get coffee while the other gets ready in the morning!

The room was quiet and dark (no windows, remember) and the bed is comfortable, so totally restful at night.

At around $200 AUD per night (we booked through Qantas Hotels) it’s competing in the same price bracket as the Oxford Street Youth Hostel.

Mimi’s is great value for a clean, modern, full service hotel in central London.

Sweeney Menaces Melbourne

Sweeney Menaces Melbourne

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Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne 23rd July

Anthony Warlow starred in this short-run production of Stephen Sondheim’s Gothic classic Sweeney Todd – and he was in stellar form. He brought menace and gravitas to the role, as well as his renowned voice. It was a world class performance.

Playing opposite Warlow’s Sweeney Todd, Gina Riley also turned in a top class performance. A comedienne with a more than passable singing voice, she brought humour and heart to her role as the maniacal pie-maker Mrs Lovett.

Together Warlow and Riley evoked all the drama and comedy that Depp and Bonham-Carter couldn’t seem to find in the dreary 2007 movie version.

A fine supporting cast combined to deliver what was easily the best Sweeney Todd production I’ve seen – it gave me a new appreciation of this dark and murderous classic.

Look out for Warlow in Jekyll and Hyde – one show only in each of Melbourne and Sydney later in the year.

BA vs The Flying Roo

BA vs The Flying Roo

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British Airways and Qantas
Premium Economy Head to Head

I recently flew Melbourne to London return on a combined Qantas and British Airways Premium Economy fare and it was a great opportunity to directly compare the two One World carriers product.

RouteQF: Melbourne to Singapore, 9 hours
BA: Singapore to London & London to Singapore, 13 hours
AircraftQF: A380
BA: A380
CheckinQF: Priority check in and boarding. Smooth and seamless

BA: No priority for Premium Economy. 
Self serve check in and self serve bag drop at LHR
with no one to help when the computer says ‘no’.
A disaster and a frustrating start to our London Singapore leg.

Qantas wins hands down
CabinQF: Premium Economy 35 seats. Definitely in need
of refurbishment soon, but matches BA for comfort 

BA: Premium Economy 55 seats. Fresher interior than
Qantas, but more seats means less attentive service and
more demand on the 2 bathrooms 

A clear win for Qantas
LootQF: lip balm, eye mask, socks, toothbrush and paste
in a Naopleon Perdis pouch

BA: eye mask, socks, toothbrush and paste, pen, in a plastic bag

Narrow points win to Qantas
SeatingQF: 2-3-2. We selected window seats as soon as our booking
was live on Qantas. Free seat selection. Side storage bins are
a bonus on the window.

BA: 2-3-2. We were assigned middle/aisle seats. Seat
selection not included with BA PE fare. $85 per person to
select window seats.

Qantas wins big here
ComfortQF: plenty of leg room and storage space. Good amount of
recline makes sleeping easy enough

BA: as above with foot rests

BA wins narrowly, for the foot rests
IFEQF: screen mounted in arm rests. Standard range of movies
and TV. Typically laggy touch screens. Noise cancelling
headphones

BA: screens on back of seats. Similar selection and lagginess.
Noise cancelling headphones

It’s a draw
Baggage2 x 23 kg QF & BA
ServiceQF: Friendly and attentive, I suspect a better ratio
of staff to passengers due to smaller PE section

BA: Unobtrusive but efficient service.

Excellent service from both, but Qantas a bit more friendly
and welcoming
FoodQF: 2 full meals on 9 hour flight to Singapore seemed
generous. Both of excellent quality

BA: dinner and breakfast en route to Singapore. Not quite
up to the Qantas standard

Points to Qantas
DrinksQF: standard range of beer and spirits, excellent Australian
wines

BA: ditto for beer and spirits, wines not as good as Qantas

Narrow win to Qantas

The Verdict

These Premium Economy services made the long haul from Melbourne to London a very comfortable experience. We arrived early morning in Heathrow feeling quite fresh and rested – enough to spend the whole day on our feet exploring London, before retiring to bed at a respectable hour in the evening and avoiding jet lag.

However, Qantas was a clear winner: complementary seat selection, priority check in and boarding lanes, and a smaller Premium Economy cabin make Qantas’s Premium Economy decidedly more Premium than BA.

All in all, Qantas made us feel a lot more special than BA managed to do.

  • QF: Welcome on board
  • QF: Meals
  • QF: Meals
  • QF: Meals
Spice Up Your Life

Spice Up Your Life

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There are two types of people in this world. There are Spice Girls fans and then there are people who like music. Me… I like music. But by some quirk of fate I find myself betrothed to the other type – the Spice Girls fan. (Don’t ask me how this happened, I can’t explain it). 

And my husband-to-be is not just your casual, garden-variety Spice Girls fan. He knows all the words, all the dance moves, and can quote all their record sales numbers (and don’t get me started on the doll collection). He stops just short of dressing up as Posh, Baby, or Ginger. And although he can be sometimes Scary, no one would ever accuse him of being Sporty. 

So you can probably imagine the high frequency excitement caused by the announcement last year, of their re-union and tour. When he secured tickets within minutes of them going on sale, he was almost foaming at the mouth.  

I then felt it incumbent upon me to bring him back to earth with some inconvenient truths:  

  • London is 10,000 miles from Geelong.  
  • You don’t have a job.  
  • You don’t have any money.  

In fairness, he was between jobs – but as a teacher. And the concert date was inside school term. My Stef has many great qualities, but practicality and logistics are not amongst them. 

I was quietly satisfied that we would not be going to a Spice Girls concert. 

Fast forward six months and we are touching down on BA11 at Heathrow with the primary purpose of seeing the Spice Girls live at Wembley.  

What Stef lacks in common-sense, he makes up for with determination. Somehow, he’d convinced his new principal (possibly a secret Spice Girls fan?) to give him a week of unpaid leave. Somehow, he’d convinced me to fly 20,000 miles to spend a week in London.  

This is where he’d exploited my weakness – I love London almost as much as Stef loves Spice Girls (that sentence still works if you delete “loves Spice Girls”). A week in one of my favourite cities in the world in return for enduring a Spice Girls concert… Hell, I can do that.  

We arrived in London Sunday morning for a Thursday night concert. Our first four days were a whirlwind of sightseeing, shopping and West End Shows before the ‘big event’ was finally upon us.  

Tension was high in our micro Soho hotel room as Stef prepared for the concert. His hair wouldn’t cooperate, he had two pimples and his jeans no longer fitted – the official line is that the jeans, part of a concert outfit that had been carefully planned months earlier, had ‘shrunk’ in the wash.  FML was muttered several times.  

We set out at 4pm for Wembley Stadium in foreboding weather. Our tube began to fill with obvious Spice Girls fans as we got closer to Wembley – you can spot them by their platform sneakers.  

Dodging showers we took the obligatory photos in front of the Spice Girls bus, then queued for the gates to open at 5pm. It was cold – cold like a London summer. I had layered up, Stef not so much. But numerous fans in skimpy outfits seemed to be inviting hypothermia.  

Once inside the stadium we locate our seats and learn that the Spice Girls don’t come on stage until 8.30pm. I quickly calculate that, from hotel to hotel, this Spice Girls experience is going to take about 10 hours out of my life. Ah, the things we do for love. 

How to kill 3 hours at Wembley Stadium? Spotting wannabe Spice Girls in the crowd is a good start. There’s a guy in a leopard skin mini skirt who might be Hairy Spice, a die-hard fan that looks like Old Spice, a few Really-Shouldn’t-Wear-That-In-Public-Spices and a whole lot of Lumpy Spices. But there’s no doubt that everybody’s… havin’ a good time! 

I’m cold to the bone and there’s still time to kill. At this point, what I want, what I really really want, is thermal underwear and a hot water bottle. So I start cutting laps of Wembley Stadium – it helps to keep me warm, passes the time, and gets me to my daily step count. I can inform you that there are approximately 1100 steps in a lap of level 2.  

Finally the Spice Girls (sans Posh – a blessing for anyone with ears) come on stage and the crowd erupts in rapture and delirium. Stef is fan-girling in sheer ecstasy. They open with two undeniably joyous pop songs and even I get caught up in the high energy.

This is followed by three or four lesser hits I swear I’ve never heard before, and I feel like I’m losing my buzz.  

But I’ll admit it, they’re a lot better than I expected and the audio issues from earlier concerts seems to have been sorted out. There’s a lavish stage with spectacular lighting and special effects to help carry the show. And they are all looking pretty damn good for ageing popstars. 

A troupe of dancers help fill the space left by numerous costume changes. Later in the show the girls do some pretty lame on stage banter and froth on about how much they love their fans – so much so that even I am hoping they’ll start singing again.  

And pretty soon they are back into their mega hits as the show builds to its climax. Stef is slamming it to the left, he’s having a good time. The crowd is shaking it to the right, they’re feeling fine. There might even be chicas to the front, but hell I don’t even know what a chica is. And I can’t believe I’m plagiarising Spice Girls lyrics. 

This concert was a slickly produced spectacle. Dazzling lighting and visuals, flamboyant costumes, great dancers and of course those infectiously catchy pop songs delivered with better than expected vocals. I can’t say that I’m suddenly a Spice Girls fan, but I’m forced to concede that I came away from the concert with a higher opinion of them. 

Wrapping up with Stop and Wannabe, Stef declares this ‘the greatest moment of my life’. Worth the trip to London.  

Points Magnet Part 7

Points Magnet Part 7

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Walk this Way

This is a no-brainer if you want free points to boost your Frequent Flyer balance. Download the Qantas Wellbeing from your app store or use this link:  

https://go.qantaswellbeing.com/LpEQS9dbfX (full disclosure: we will both get 150 points if you use this link) 

This app rewards you for walking! Synch it to your phone’s health app or step counter, set your daily and weekly targets and start walking. You’ll get points each day and week that you meet your target. The more steps you do the more points you’ll get. 

You’ll get 150 points just for downloading and logging into the app. And then for a trial 28 day period you could earn 1500 points for being active. After the trial you’ll still earn points but at a greatly reduced rate.  

There are extra points for healthy sleeping habits too. 

And you can earn 150 points every time you successfully refer someone to the app – refer your partner and kids for instant points (points for you and points for them). Get onto to your extended family for more points.  

Look, this is not going to get you that first class award flight to London but… its FREE POINTS! Here’s an example of what you (and your family) could earn in a year: 

Wellbeing Points 
Download Bonus 150 
Trial 1500 
Sleep 90 
Points post trial 960 
3 Referrals 450 
3 Family Downloads 450 
 Total3600 

If you have a Qantas Health Insurance product you will continue to earn points at the FULL rate after the trial period. (You should do you own research before taking out or switching to Qantas Health Insurance. It offers some very tempting bonus points, but unless it works out to the same price or cheaper, it may not be worth chasing this particular source of points.) 

An added benefit of the Wellbeing app is that it effectively protects your frequent Flyer account from ever being wiped out by points Expiry (see Points Magnet Part 6). Points are credited roughly every week, so you only have to hit your step target one day a week and your Frequent Flyer points balance is safe forever! 

Points Magnet Part 6

Points Magnet Part 6

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Protect Your Points

Consolidate Family Points:

Have you been on a family holiday? Do the kids have Frequent Flyer Points in their accounts, but otherwise don’t earn regular points?  

Beware Points expiry! 

Any Frequent Flyer account that doesn’t earn or spend points for 18 months will see all points in the account expire. No mercy, no leniency.  

One way around this is to transfer all those smaller balances (ie the kids) into one primary account (ie Mum or Dad). Consolidate into an account that is regularly earning points and you’ll never have to worry about losing them. 

Transfers require a minimum of 5000 points. If the kids’ balance is under 5000 points and expiry is imminent, consider transferring points from Dad’s account to the kids, and then transfer the kids points back to Mum. 

Another strategy would be to join the whole family up to the Qantas Wellbeing app (if the kids have mobile phones) and safeguard your balances with a weekly flow of new points. More on Wellbeing in the next Points Magnet! 

But most importantly, NEVER let points go to waste!