Qantas offers more reward flights
Qantas is massively increasing the number of reward flights available to popular Australian destinations for the rest of 2020. Here are our top tips on using your points right now.
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Qantas has announced a massive increase in the number of seats available for rewards flights for the rest of 2020, part of a sweeping round of reforms designed to tempt Aussies back into the sky.
The airline announced that seats available for Classic Flight Rewards would be increased by up to 50 per cent for a range of popular routes including Cairns, the Sunshine Coast and Sydney.
The same increase will apply to seats on flights to Auckland and Queenstown when trans-Tasman journeys recommence.
Qantas Frequent Flyers who are at silver, gold, platinum and platinum one status will also receive a one-off bonus of 50 per cent of the credits they need to retain their current status.
The airline will also run more “Points Planes” – carrying only passengers redeeming points flights.
“We’re adding more Points Planes and more reward seats to our most popular domestic destinations, because that’s where people will be holidaying for the rest of the year,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said.
“We’re also helping our most loyal flyers maintain their travel benefits by giving them extra Status Credits in recognition of their long-term loyalty.”
The airline also announced it was decreasing the number of points needed for Points Plus Pay hotel bookings by 20 per cent, effective immediately, and waiving change or cancellation fees for members of the Frequent Flyer program for trips booked up until 31 October.
A new digital offering for member of the program will launch later this month to notify members on reward seat availability. Called ‘Dream Planner’, the system is due to launch on July 28.
Virgin Australia is also reporting a surge in interest in rewards flights, with almost 12,000 seats booked through its Velocity program in the past two months alone.
A Velocity spokesperson said Brisbane had been the most popular destination for recent rewards flights, followed by Cairns, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
This was a shake-up from the pre-COVID-19 era, when Melbourne was regularly the most popular destination for points flights on Virgin, followed by Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast, the spokesperson said.
Despite the lockdowns and border closures, a recent online survey of 1025 Australians conducted by Toluna found that our desire to travel was still strong.
Fifty-two per cent of respondents to the survey said they plan to travel domestically in 2020, and if the trans-Tasman bubble eventuates, a whopping 65 per cent will at least consider booking a trip to New Zealand.
But the survey also revealed some nervousness. Seven in ten respondents said they would cancel their travel plans if a second wave of COVID-19 hits, and 56 per cent said they wouldn’t fly to a destination reporting an outbreak.
A Qantas Loyalty spokesperson said around two-thirds of all the airline’s Frequent Flyer points were actually earned on the ground, mostly through credit cards and retail partners like Woolworths, and that had not changed during the pandemic.
According to the “Points Whisperer” Steve Hui, the fundamental tenet of frequent flyer schemes remains the same: redeeming points for flights and upgrades represents the best value, even if those journeys are still a way off.
He advised program members to check their points tallies and estimate the number of trips they are likely to take over the next two years. Do you need more to reach a desired rewards flight, do you have enough to cover the flights you want to take, or do you even want to travel? These are the threshold questions all frequent flyer program members should be asking of themselves now, Mr Hui said.
“If you’ve got, say two million points and you only plan to take a couple of trips in the next two years, work out how many you need, and then you might have say half a million points that are excess,” he said. “Only then should you do something like gift vouchers with them, because otherwise you could be wasting your points.”
“Once you don’t take the flight option, all the other options are equal to about half a cent per point in value,” he said. “Whether you’re cashing out for gift vouchers or coffee machines, or for wine, they’re all at the same value.”
But with the global tourism industry experiencing its toughest times on record, there are concerns that some airlines may not survive. What should you do if you have points with a particular carrier, and you’re worried about its longevity?
Mr Hui said it depended on your “risk appetite” and you should only use your points on non-flight products if you are “pretty sure that something’s going to happen”.
He said he recently made the decision to use his Virgin Atlantic points – but largely because he had had them for about five years and didn’t need them, rather than a sense that the airline was going to fold.
“Virgin Atlantic looked like it needed funding from the British government, and the British government were not funding,” he said. “But Virgin Atlantic allow you to transfer your points to Hilton Hotels. Some airlines allow you to transport your points to other schemes, and that’s what I did with my Virign Atlantic points. I converted them to hotel nights in future.”
Mr Hui said he is definitely keeping his Virgin Australia points, as reward flights can be booked on the airline from September 1.
“They’ve been saying they will honour those points in some form, so they still have value,” he said.
Virgin Australia will remain in administration until at least late August, but new investors Bain Capital have stated that they see more potential in the airline’s Velocity program.
Even while the aircraft remain grounded, the loyalty programs will remain lucrative for the airlines, Mr Hui said.
“They’ll be looking for new ways to market themselves,” he said. “Frequent flyer (programs) are all about selling points, and as long as they can find more people to buy points, business is fabulous.”
FREQUENT FLYER POINTS UNPACKED
WHAT’S THE BEST GENERAL ADVICE?
Flights and seat upgrades still represent the best value use of points.
WHEN CAN I USE MY POINTS TO BOOK FLIGHTS?
Qantas domestic points flights can be booked now but international services will not resume until July 2021. Virgin Australia domestic points flights can be booked from September 1 this year. Other airlines are still flying out of Australia, but citizens and permanent residents need to apply for permission to fly from the Department of Home Affairs.
WHAT IF TAKING FLIGHTS IS NOT AN OPTION FOR YOU?
Some frequent flyer programs will let you transfer your points to other schemes – investigate what they have to offer. Otherwise, there is no lack of items you can splurge your points on – but frequent flyer scheme expert Steve Hui advises that almost all items will have about a half a cent per point value. Qantas has an estimated 8000 products and services you can use your points on.
IS USING POINTS FOR LOUNGE MEMBERSHIP A GOOD IDEA?
Not if you’re in business, says Mr Hui. Club memberships are tax deductible if you run a business, which represents better value than using points to pay for lounge access.
SHOULD I STILL TRY TO EARN POINTS NOW?
Absolutely – and expect frequent flyer schemes to expand into new areas during the lockdown. Just this week, Qantas launched a partnership with Afterpay enabling Frequent Flyers to earn up to 5000 points, while it also recently announced what it said was its “biggest offer ever” – a bonus 30,000 points for first-time-user Qantas-linked credit cards.
Qantas Frequent Flyers can earn points in an astonishing number of ways – everything from pumping petrol at BP service stations, signing up to Chris Hemsworth’s Centr home fitness app, and taking out home loans with Macquarie Bank.
Virgin’s Velocity program also offers plenty of ways to earn points on the ground, including retail partnerships with Myer, Petbarn and Microsoft. Until the end of the month flybuys points holders can get a 15 per cent bonus if they transfer those points to Velocity. (The bonus rises to 20 per cent if it’s more than 100,000 points.)
WHAT ABOUT YOUR MEMBER FLYER STATUS?
Both Qantas and Virgin announced extensions to their members’ present status for 12 months – but this relates to membership status only, not status credit points.