Travelling Lens Insider #009

Earning and redeeming Qantas points, how to win at travel and my personal story of my journey into using Fujifilm cameras for travel

👋 Hey friends,

Welcome to Travelling Lens Insider, where every weekend I send you a carefully curated letter of all things travel, photography and points optimisation.

As an Australian expat living in the US, I keep up with the travel, points and miles news in both the US and Australia.

I thought I make this week’s letter a special Aussie edition.

Now, onto this week’s letter…

✈️ Travel, Points and Miles

• You can now earn Qantas points by opening up a fee-free transaction account from AMP Bank in Australia. It’s not as good as earning cash interest, but if you have spare cash that you can’t put in an interest-earning account this is a nice points-boost. AMP is even doubling the earn rate for Qantas Points until 31 July 2025.

• Curious to try an airline without flying in or out of the airline’s home country? Fly one of the airline’s Fifth Freedom Routes. This is a complete list to make it easier to see if there is a route that works for your travels. It could be a nice way to try Emirate’s first class product!

• I recently made a premium class Qantas Classic Rewards flight from the US to Australia using points. It can feel hard to find a reward seat in Business or First. But if you’re interested in trying Qantas, this shows you how to book a classic reward flight and this shows you how to make the most of your Qantas points. And if you’re US-based, AMEX, Capital One and Citi all transfer to Qantas Frequent Flyer program.

• Australia has a pretty decent universal health care system called Medicare. But free healthcare doesn’t stop at Australian borders. Take your Medicare card with you even when you travel overseas, because you actually have access to free health care in 11 countries!

(Like what you’re reading? Pass it along to someone who might love it too. And if that’s you, make sure to subscribe here! Thanks so much 😀)

📷 Photography

• 15 years ago, I “got serious” about photography when I got my first camera, a bulky Canon DSLR camera for travel. This is my story on how I got into the Fujifilm camera system for travel (and still in love with the brand after 10 years).

• To get better at any creative endeavor—photography, writing, drawing, video making—it’s not about consumption. It’s about relentless creation and practice.

• I’m a big fan of Wandrd bag company. I’ve got several bags from them but one of my favorites from them is thier Wandrd Duo Backpack. It’s just the right size for travel (and doing some client work).

Want to an easy way to plan your next trip? Get the free Travel Hub trip planning system in Notion.

Travel Hub, a free travel planning system in Notion

👀 Substack Finds

• Gretchen | Adventure Travel
  shares why you need to stop waiting for the right time to travel—there never is a right time. There is only the present moment.

• Airports can feel like a hellhole during peak season travel. Follow these tips from

  The Gomes Guide 🌎✈️
  to navigate any airport like a pro.

• Moving abroad has been life changing for me. It’s scary, exciting and rewarding—all at the same time. But if you need more incentive to move,

  Daniel Catena
  breaks down all the countries that will pay you to move there.

🕵️ Recommendation Zone

📚Current Reading

I’m 30% into this “how to” book. So far, Brian Kelly offers practical tips on travel, saving money and how to maximise points and miles for travel. If you’re new to points and miles, this book gives you the 101 award travel.

With a 7 hour flight delay at Denver airport over Memorial Day long weekend in the US, I had plenty of time to read. I got half way through Beth Santos’ book on solo female travel. So far, it’s a mix of practical advice encouraging people to venture into solo travel. Along with the mindset and approach to travelling well.

☕Coffee finds

As a coffee-addict, I love discovering new coffee joints in my second home of Houston.

Last week, I stumbled upon WFM Coffee Bar, located in the lobby of an office building I was going pass after running some errands.

Coffee at WFM Coffee Bar, Houston

📸 Photo of the week

💬 Final Words

That’s all for today! See you next week

Janice

(p.s. I’ve been reading a few travel-inspired books the last couple of months, would you be interested in a few book reviews?—let me know in the comments below!)