Stranded at the bottom of the world on an island, travel-mad Australians are traditionally intensely loyal to Qantas. It’s why the recent firestorm engulfing the national carrier’s frequent-flyer scheme felt all the more personal. Qantas is the default frequent-flyer program for almost 15 million Australians. But as more disgruntled customers vow to ditch the Flying Kangaroo, rival Virgin Australia’s Velocity frequent-flyer program has been steadily gaining ground.

Virgin has tried to capitalise on the anger towards Qantas with status match offers, and Velocity had some of its biggest weeks of sign-ups last year. Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer has also gained momentum. But figuring out how to earn and use frequent-flyer points and status credits effectively has always been a challenge. This has only been exacerbated since the pandemic as the number of seats available for redemption has shrunk.