Making the most of travel points without forking out more cash

Customers can finally redeem their untouched frequent flyer points that have been stockpiled for the last two years now that international and state borders are open again.

Now that travel is becoming a reality once again, A Current Affair can reveal how you can make the most of your Frequent Flyer and Velocity points without having to fork out more cash.

"This is a great way for those businesses to get cash in without actually having to get people to spend their hard-earned dollars," Australian Traveller media co-founder Quentin Long said.

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"The airlines are putting out some great deals at the moment to help you burn up those points."

Our major airlines are doing their bit to entice loyal passengers back on board and Qantas and Virgin are offering deals that are hard to refuse.

"They're starting to see all this cash in points lying on their balance sheets and in people's pockets and starting to incentivise people to use that to be able to travel," Mr Long said.

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As part of a permanent program change, Frequent Flyers can now use 30 to 45 per cent less points for Qantas Hotels and Holiday bookings.

Making the most of savings

Domestically, some of the savings include one night of accommodation for two adults at the Intercontinental Hayman Island.

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Previously the booking would cost 190,871 in points but now you only need 133,610 - a saving of 57,261 points.

Combined airfares from Sydney and accommodation at Hobart's Vibe Hotel with five nights in a guest king room come with a saving of 147,559 points.

Previously this would have cost 327,908 points but now it will only cost 180,349 points.

For those desperate to leave Australian shores, you can stay two nights at the Sheraton Fiji golf and beach resort and save 49,484 points.

Or you can save more than 85,000 points on two nights at the L'Ermitage Beverly Hills in Los Angeles.

Nicholas Rokkas signed up to earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points three years ago.

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Since he signed up, his plans to travel have been grounded which has given the 29-year-old the chance to accumulate points.

"I've got my Qantas card attached to my Woolworths rewards and I've also got an insurance policy attached as well," Mr Rokkas said.

Mr Rokkas plans to use his points on a return trip to visit family in Greece.

"I'm paying for things that I need to pay for but at the same time I'm getting points that I can then accumulate and put towards something fun and exciting," he said.

If you are struggling to earn enough points, or worried you might lose the ones you have, there are ways to keep your account ticking over.

Points are awarded for using everything from your credit card, rideshare services, booking accommodation, dining at certain restaurants or simply by getting your steps up using the Qantas wellbeing app.

There's good news for Virgin's Velocity members with the return of reward seats on Singapore Airlines, where points can be used to travel to hundreds of destinations across the globe.

London, Paris, Bangkok and Singapore were the most popular point redemption destinations pre-pandemic.

Mr Long said while points can be great, people need to be mindful when spending money to earn more points.

"The rule of thumb is a point is worth about half a cent," he said.

"If you can redeem your points at half a cent, or more, in equivalent cash terms then I think you've done well.

"Anything under that not so well, anything under a third of a cent per point is probably not good value at all."

If your account has been left completely inactive, your Qantas Frequent Flyer points will expire after 18 months while for Velocity it's 24 months.