How to earn frequent flyer points through your banking

We're all used to being able to earn frequent flyer points on certain credit cards but now you can earn points on your everyday banking with Bankwest's new Qantas transaction account.

You get five Qantas points per eligible purchase regardless of the amount you spend. It includes most purchases but excludes BPAY or payments made using "the pay-anyone function" and domestic ATM withdrawals.

You can also earn 0.4 points per day per $100 in the account. That works out to be 12 points a month for every $100. New customers who open an account before May 31 can get a bonus of 10,000 points if they deposit $2000 each month for the first three months.

So how long will it take to redeem a flight? Well, it depends on your spending and saving habits, says comparison site Mozo. It gives this example: If you have a monthly balance of $3000 and you make 80 transactions a month, you'd accrue around 9120 points a year. Given that a round trip from Melbourne to Sydney requires about 16,000 Qantas points plus taxes, at this rate you'd have enough points in about 21 months.

The account charges no monthly fees as long as you deposit at least $2000 a month (otherwise it is $6). There are no fees for electronic or over-the-counter withdrawals, but the biggest plus is that Bankwest does not charge a fee when you use an overseas ATM. There is a foreign transaction fee of 2.95%.

MONEY VERDICT

The features are on par with what you'd expect in a transaction account, so being able to accrue frequent flyer points is simply a great bonus. Sure, it might take you a while to accrue points, especially if you're a low transactor, but - as Mozo points out - a free domestic flight for simply spending your money how you normally would isn't bad. Avoid the temptation to keep a large balance in the account in the hopes of earning more points.

As you'd expect from an everyday account, the interest is minimal - just 0.01% - so you'd be better off stashing your cash in a high-interest account.

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