We all love the freebies we get from credit card rewards. But what about earning Qantas Points while you pay off your home? Teamed with a credit card – and these tips – you could boost your points-earning potential and pay your home loan off sooner.
Let’s dig into 5 ways you can maximise your rewards points as a homeowner.
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1. Consider a Qantas Points home loan
Points-earning home loans are rare but lucrative. Extra points can help you pay off a mortgage faster, or just add a little fun to homeowner life.
Remember, choosing the right lender depends on your circumstances. Earning points is only one factor to consider, as well as interest rates and fees.
With the caveat done, let’s dig into 2 lenders who offer home loan rewards points.
Macquarie home loans. If you’re eligible, you can earn 10,000 Qantas Points for every $100,000 you borrow at settlement, plus 1,000 points every month for the life of the loan.
On your third and fifth loan-iversary, you’ll pocket a bonus 25,000 points. Macquarie has waived the fee to join the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, too.
Qudos home loans. Qudos offers an even better deal, giving you 150 Qantas Points per year for every $1,000 of your remaining loan, credited monthly.
For instance, an $800,000 home loan would earn 347,947 points in the first three years. That’s a decent bonus just for paying off debt.
Rewards points can be used for travel and merchandise or redeemed for gift cards. You can use your saved cash to make extra repayments and shave months or years off the term of your loan.
2. Use an offset account and credit card strategy
An offset account is a regular transaction account where your savings act as a payment on your home loan. Interest charges are waived for that amount.
For example, if you had a home loan of $450,000, and $50,000 savings in your offset account, you would only pay interest on $400,000.
Offset accounts reduce the interest you pay, but you can maximise your savings and earning potential by adding a rewards credit card.
How to use an offset account with your home loan. Think of it as a one-two punch: first, spending day-to-day on your credit card earns rewards points. Second, the extra savings in your offset account each month lowers your interest payment and saves more money on your home loan.
An important part of the strategy is paying off your credit card in full each month to avoid interest charges.
3. Look for home loan package deals
You can capitalise on your offset account strategy by finding lenders with all-in-one packages. These include a home loan, offset account and credit card for one annual fee.
Credit card annual fees are often waived in a package deal. Since annual fees are typically higher on rewards cards, it’s a good perk that boosts your savings potential.
Many lenders offer offset packages, but you’ll want to find one with a great rewards card. The Westpac home loan package can be linked with a Qantas Platinum rewards card that earns Qantas Points on your spending.
St George provides the Advantage home loan package that can be paired with a credit card like its Amplify Signature credit card. You can choose to earn either Qantas Points or St George’s Amplify Rewards, depending on the card.
4. Maximise points on your everyday spending
While you’re busy paying off your home loan, you can use tools that maximise your points-earning day-to-day.
For instance:
- Find a low-cost credit card with big bonus sign-up points (if you’re not opting into an offset account package).
- Use rewards schemes like Woolworths Everyday Rewards. Earn Everyday Rewards points at participating stores that can be used for discounts, or converted to Qantas frequent flyer points.
- Shop at businesses that offer bonus points for certain credit or store cards. For instance, the David Jones America Express credit card pays extra points per dollar when you shop at DJs.
5. Use debit cards that earn points
And here you thought only credit cards – and now home loans – earned rewards! If a points-earning home loan isn’t a good fit for you, consider a lender who offers rewards points on a regular transaction account.
Bankwest is one of them. Its Qantas Transaction Account serves up 3 Qantas points per dollar spent on eligible purchases (which is most everyday spending with a few exceptions).
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