This Ice Age fiord offers a dazzling montage of snow-capped peaks and waterfall-threaded cliffs rising vertiginously from glassy waters. Milford Sound is crowned by the forbidding glory of Mitre Peak, rising a vertical mile (or 1694 metres) from the ocean, while at sea level seals, penguins, humpback whales and dolphins collude in David Attenborough-worthy moments. Milford Sound is a four-hour drive from Queenstown so the best way to experience it is from the air and sea. Fly economy from Perth to Queenstown for 22,500 points plus $172.74.^

It’s America’s Wild West – a playground for hikers, climbers and whitewater enthusiasts, who raft along the Virgin River as it carves its way through southern Utah’s Zion Canyon. Nosebleed-high sandstone cliffs are the visual signature of this national park, and the serrated sandstone trio known as the Court of the Patriarchs presides over a starkly beautiful landscape. After transferring from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, engage a luxury operator such as Red Mountain Resort (redmountainresort.com) for a wellness escape with a difference. Fly economy from Brisbane to Los Angeles for 45,000 points plus $249.59.^ Connections are available daily to Salt Lake City on Compass Airlines operating as American Eagle.

Tick a number of world-famous landmarks off your bucket list. The Three Sisters. Jenolan Caves. Wentworth Falls. They’re all part of the Blue Mountains, a spectacular natural area perfumed with the famous eucalypt haze that lends these mountains their name. Lookouts such as Hanging Rock and Echo Point offer a humbling sense of scale, while numerous bushwalks take hikers along dramatic cliff edges ending in rock pools you can swim in. This World Heritage wilderness is just 90 minutes’ drive from Sydney Airport. Fly economy from Perth to Sydney for 18,000 points plus $40.07.^

The mountainous prefecture of Nagano is a drawcard for adventure-lovers, as well as aesthetes who delight in Nagano City’s origins as a temple town. This is also the land of the famous snow monkeys – Japanese macaques that laze about the hot springs, most famously at Jigokudani Yaen-koen. But the area’s numerous onsens aren’t just for primates. Akakura Kanko Hotel (akr-hotel.com), perched on the snowy slopes of Mount Myōkō in the heart of the Akakura ski village, has two of its own. Take a bullet train to Nagano on the efficient Hokuriko Shinkansen rail line. Fly economy from Adelaide to Narita International Airport for 35,000 points plus $213.29.^

Beloved by artists and literary greats, from Jane Austen to William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter, the Lake District holds a special place in England’s heart. Its unique north-western corner – home to Scafell Pike, the country’s highest mountain, and Windermere, its largest lake – offers contrasts of stark vistas and wildflower-strewn meadows, charming villages and steep, stone-covered ridges. Approach the Lake District from London’s Heathrow Airport with a hire car to explore the endless hamlets, ribbon-like lakes and mountain passes. Fly economy from Melbourne to London Heathrow Airport for 60,000 points plus $260.14.^ Connections are available daily to Newcastle on British Airways.

Naturalist Charles Darwin observed of Patagonia that its landscape was truly unique – a “trembling mirage” at once desolate and beautiful. It’s a gratifying description of the end of the Earth – or at least the southernmost tip of the South American continent – where millennia-old glaciers meet native forests and the Andes abut the Pacific Ocean. The jagged peaks and torrid rock formations make Patagonia a photographer’s dream. Approach the region on a luxurious vessel, such as the small cruise ship Stella Australis (australis.com). Fly economy from Sydney to Santiago International Airport for 45,000 points plus $205.51.^