If you’ve been thinking about applying for a home loan, you may want to know that you can get a home loan that also gives you the ability to earn flyer points.
If you’re a frequent flyer and looking for a home loan this may seem like a match made in heaven. The Macquarie Bank Flyer Home Loan, in conjunction with Qantas, rewards you with Qantas Points at regular intervals as long as you keep your loan for a set amount of time and your balance is above the required minimum. For many, this can translate into making loan repayments and watching your points’ balance grow—hopefully netting you a holiday in the process. With this offering in place, it’s time consumers started asking when other banks will follow suit—and for people looking for a home loan, this is nothing but good news.
These types of home loans are generally targeted towards property investors as earning frequent flyer points can also be a high priority for those who invest in property, but homeowners can still reap the benefits. However, it’s important to note that frequent flyer points shouldn’t be the only reason why you switch or apply for these types of home loans. Your investment strategy and personal and financial situation may play a bigger role in your decision. If the features or the nature of the home loan disallow you to execute your investment strategy properly, then the gains from the rewards may not be worth it.
Home loans which earn Qantas Points
How do you earn flyer points?
Approved Macquarie Bank Flyer home loans follow the structure below:
- For every $100,000 you draw down at settlement, you get 10,000 bonus Qantas Points. If you draw $700,000, you get 70,000 Qantas Points.
- As long as the outstanding loan balance is equal to or more than $150,000, you get 1,000 Qantas Points every month, on the last business day of the month.
- On the loan’s third and fifth anniversaries, as long as the balance is equal to or more than $150,000, you get 25,000 bonus Qantas Points.
- Upon the loan’s approval, if you take out a Macquarie Visa Platinum Card, you can earn Qantas Points through this card as well.
The points you earn through your home loan accrue in your personal frequent flyer program account. In this example, to use the reward points from your Macquarie Bank Flyer Home Loan, you have to have a Qantas Frequent Flyer program membership in the first place.
Advantages and disadvantages of earning points through your home loan
Pros
- The fact that you can use rewards points to pay for airline fares is a definite plus. A Flyer Home Loan of around $350,000 earns 35,000 Qantas Points upon settlement, and these points can get you a return business class Melbourne to Sydney ticket. If you’re looking at an economy fare, 35,000 Qantas Points are good for a return ticket from Sydney to Hamilton Island ticket. If you are not someone who travels, you can redeem your Qantas Points for a variety of merchandise sold by awards partners.
- Another advantage of earning points through a home loan is that these points tend to come without caps or limits. So, if you take a $2,000,000 loan amount, you can look forward to 200,000 Qantas Points at settlement, and you also earn points on a monthly basis.
Cons
- One downside to earning points through a home loan is that the points can go to waste. That is, you accumulate a number of points but never get around to using them. In addition, while using the points within a given time frame ensures that they don’t lapse, not using them for prolonged periods can lead to their expiry. For example, if you keep your Qantas frequent flyer account active your points will be valid for life. If your account is inactive, meaning you haven’t earned or redeemed points in 18 months, they’ll expire.
Types of home loans with frequent flyer points and their suitability
Macquarie Bank offers three home loan products which come with flyer points, and these vary in terms of suitability.
- Basic Flyer Home Loan. This standard home loan is suitable for buying or refinancing owner occupied homes as well as investment property. It does not charge ongoing account management fees and it offers a competitive rate of interest.
- Offset Flyer Home Loan Package. This flexible home loan is suitable for investors and home-buyers who are looking for a loan that offers an offset sub-account. Along with a conventional loan, this equity loan gives you all the benefits linked with a sub-offset account. You can access funds in the offset account online, through phone banking, via a debit card, BPAY or through a cheque.
- Line of Credit Flyer Home Loan Package. This product is also suitable for buying or refinancing owner occupied homes as well as investment properties, although it is particularly useful for investors who wish to maximise access to their equity in order to make the most of their investments. This is because this equity loan gives you the ability to access the property’s equity value for various purposes. In addition, it also offers multiple accounts with interest capitalisation.
We can expect more announcements from the banks in the future about home loan innovations as they all compete to win the love from potential borrowers and as residential lending continues to increase.
