My quick summary of credit cards with free flights
| I’ve known people with these types of credit cards who use their free flights (called travel credit) every year and love it. It’s fun, it’s free, and it’s a great extra. Travel credits suit people who fly regularly or want to use the flight to make family holidays cheaper. On some of these cards you can also get status credits, which give you perks like priority boarding every time you fly. One great thing about travel credit is that the free flight amount is often equal to the annual fee. So, using the travel credit 100% offsets the annual cost of the card. The cheaper the card, the more value you get out of any reward points you earn too. |
While it varies per program, you’ll often find travel credit comes with these perks:
- You might be able to use your travel credit to cover anyone’s flight. You don’t have to be travelling with them.
- You can usually use points to cover any remaining amount on the flight if your travel credit isn’t enough.
- Travel credit usually covers surcharges and fees.
But, all free things come at a cost. I’ve read many terms around travel credit and these stipulations come up a lot:
- If you cancel your flight, your travel credit may be forfeited. No refunds.
- You have to use the full amount on one booking. That might be a stretch for a $450 travel credit.
- There might also be blackout dates or restrictions on the days and times you can travel.
I’ve explained below how to use the free flights and other perks you might find with a credit card.
How do you get free flights?
Free flights are usually gifted as a dollar amount in the form of a travel credit that can be spent per year on specific flights. Let’s look at an example.
The Virgin Money Velocity Flyer credit card comes with $129 travel credit each year.
To be eligible for the travel credit, you need to:
- Be the primary cardholder
- Have made one retail purchase in the 2 months before requesting the voucher
- Be a Velocity Frequent Flyer member
And here’s how you would use the credit:
- First, request to use the travel voucher through an online Velocity form. You’ll get a Travel Bank account and login details.
- Book an eligible flight through Virgin Australia and select “Travel Bank” from the payment options.
- Enter the credit amount and follow the prompts to access your Travel Bank account.
Every year you renew the card, your travel credit is renewed too. All future vouchers will be added to your same Travel Bank when you request them.
How to earn and use status credits
Status credits are awarded when you fly: the more you earn, the higher your tier and the more bonuses you unlock.
Qantas Status Credits
Status tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One
How to earn credits: Taking eligible flights with Qantas, Jetstar, oneworld member or partner airlines.
What you'll get with your credits: Flight upgrades, priority boarding and baggage, extra baggage, bonus points, lounge access and more.
Credit expiry: Status credits are reset every 12 months, but Qantas does keep count of your total credits and awards Lifetime status (see below).
⭐ Qantas is the only frequent flyer program to award Lifetime status, which means you maintain your status once you've accrued a total number of credits regardless of how often you fly.
Velocity Status Credits
Status tiers: Red, Silver, Gold and Platinum (everyone starts on the Red tier)
How to earn credits: Take flights within eligible sectors with Virgin Australia or partner airlines, earn Flybuys at Coles and partner retailers, and use Family Pooling to share credits with someone else.
What you'll get with your credits: Flight upgrades to business class on domestic flights, lounge access, priority check-in, boarding, screening and baggage, and points bonuses.
⭐ Once you've reached a tier with Virgin, you can maintain it by earning at least 200 credits within 12 months.
Other bonuses with your free flight
You’ll usually find free flights on cards geared towards travellers. It’s likely you’ll also get a few other travel perks like:
- Rewards points. You might earn points per dollar that can be redeemed for flights or flight upgrades, merchandise, subscriptions, gift cards and more.
- Lounge access. You may get 2 or 4 free lounge visits per year at airports around the world.
- Domestic and/or international travel insurance. Travel insurance is usually activated by meeting spending criteria, like paying for your flight or accommodation on your card. Every insurance will have its own terms.
- Rental vehicle excess insurance. You might be covered if your rental vehicle is lost, stolen or damaged.
- Concierge services. A great extra that lets you call a concierge anytime to plan trips, organise appointments and bookings, or
Which credit cards come with free frequent flyer membership?
You need to be a member of the card’s frequent flyer program to earn points.
Virgin’s Velocity program is free to join online (there may be a fee to do it over the phone).
Qantas’s Frequent Flyer membership is $99.50, but there are so many ways to join for free. For example, you can join free through an account with Woolworths Everyday Rewards, BP Rewards, Avis, Kogan and many more.
