I’m still wallowing in bronze Frequent Flyer status, but it’s worth it

Imagine if your bank contacted you tomorrow to let you know that your account balance had just been reduced by 20 per cent.

Why, you would ask. We just decided to, they would respond. Your money is now worth 20 per cent less than it used to be. That’s just the way it is.

It will soon cost you more points to get a flight on Qantas.Credit: Jeremy Piper

This sounds wild, and obviously it is. There would be outrage. Probably riots.

But now what if instead of your bank account, and your money, we were talking about your preferred airline, and your frequent flyer points? They’re not quite the same as dollars in a bank account, but these points are worth something, and they’re hoarded and spent in much the same way.

What if you were told that in six months’ time, your points will be worth 20 per cent less? Why? We just decided to.

That’s essentially what happened a couple of weeks ago to Qantas frequent flyers. Australia’s flagship carrier released a slew of good news about its frequent flyer program, including increased numbers of rewards seats, and increased points earned on domestic flights. It also, however, slipped in that the cost of its reward seats and upgrades would be increasing, in many cases by 15 to 20 per cent.

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson.Credit: Oscar Colman

That’s a fair hit for anyone hoping to snaffle one of those now-more-readily-available rewards spots. It probably came as a shock, too, to some passengers to realise that the airline can just arbitrarily devalue the points they had been patiently collecting.

It raises the question: are frequent flyer points even worth it? Is Qantas’ frequent flyer program worth it? Is your loyalty to one airline paying off?

The answer is multifaceted, though I would say that ultimately, yes, Qantas’ frequent flyer program is still worth it. It just became about 15 to 20 per cent less attractive.

To begin with, consider the positives. This year, Qantas will release 1 million additional rewards seats, a large jump on the 5 million already available. These seats won’t be available on Qantas flights, but rather with partner airlines such as Finnair, Air France, KLM, and now Hawaiian Airlines.

Qantas frequent flyer members will also start earning more points on domestic flights, up to 25 per cent. And reward seats on Jetstar flights are becoming cheaper, so if you’re happy to slum it a little, you can get around Australia for very few points.

This is good news. The bad news – the increase in points required for rewards seats and upgrades – does mean an effective devaluation of your current balance, though given there have been no changes from Qantas to its required frequent flyer points since 2019, some sort of increase should be expected.

It’s still easy to earn points, too. You don’t even have to be flying often. There are so many credit cards and associated rewards programs like Everyday Rewards around that frequent flyer points can be easy to come by through day-to-day spending.

There are ways to game the system further, too, to “points hack” by gaining large rewards for signing up to and spending a certain amount of money with a credit card, then closing that account and moving on to another – though, there’s an element of danger here, and the financial risk of mounting debt is real.

All of this, however, makes frequent flyer programs, including that of Qantas, worthwhile, even for those who don’t travel that often. You might need to spend more of your points from July this year than you previously did – however, earning those points, when done right, can cost you nothing.

An upgrade to business or even first class is a very good thing when you haven’t had to do a whole lot to earn it. A free flight (plus tax) somewhere around Australia or even overseas is great.

Frequent flyer programs can still be made to work for you. More of an issue for Qantas, however, is the competition, which could soon become fiercer.

Qatar Airways has announced its intention recently to buy a 25 per cent stake in Virgin Australia, Qantas’ sole Australian rival. That means that Virgin’s Velocity frequent flyer program, which already includes the ability to book reward fares on the likes of Singapore Airlines and Etihad, could also soon include Qatar Airways, another of the world’s leading brands.

It’s easier to earn status credits with Virgin than it is with Qantas, which means it’s easier to move up the tiers towards gold and platinum. And though the value of your points with each program is roughly similar, Qantas’ changes this year could tip the balance in Virgin’s favour.

Meanwhile, I will continue wallowing as a bronze frequent flyer with Qantas (it’s true, I have no status), pondering ways to ascend the food chain.