Rex unveils new frequent flyer program in challenge to Qantas and Virgin

Competition on Australia’s domestic flight routes is set to intensify as one airline unveils a new frequent flyer program with ‘unique’ features.

In a fresh challenge to the dominance of Qantas and Virgin Australia on domestic flights routes, Rex has launched a loyalty program for frequent flyers.

In order to entice travellers to join its new, free program, Rex Flyer, Rex is offering a 5,000 point sign-on bonus and double reward points for bookings made by January 2, 2024.

The airline is also building new lounges at Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Airports.

In a dig at the fierce competition it faces on domestic routes, Rex deputy chairman John Sharp said: “We can at last reward our passengers for the loyalty they have shown us over many years as we have fought hard – often against almost impossible odds – to provide them with safe, affordable and reliable air services.”

In the year to June 30, Rex posted an after tax profit of $14.4 million, following a loss of $46.1 million the year before.

Rex deputy chairman John Sharp said the frequent flyer program had the “highest flexibility of all frequent flyer programs available in Australia”. Picture: Britta Campion/The Australian.

Under the terms of the new frequent flyer program, members can earn up to seven points for every dollar spent on flights, with a minimum of three points per dollar spent applying to its ‘promo’ airfares.

Up to five points per dollar spent can also be earned on extras such as additional baggage and seat selection across both Rex’s domestic and regional flight routes.

Members will be able to redeem points for flights from mid-November, with Rex offering three flight reward options: Anytime, Getaway and Ultimate.

Rex said a “unique component” of the program will see “all unsold seats available at the cheapest reward redemption rate (Ultimate) progressively from 48 hours before a scheduled departure”.

The ‘Anytime’ option allows members to redeem points with no limits on seat availability

and provides the “highest flexibility of all frequent flyer programs available in Australia”, the airline claims.

By contrast, to redeem an ‘Ultimate’ reward flight, members are advised to “book early and be flexible with your travel plans”.

To redeem a reward flight members will need a minimum of 6,900 points for routes such as Sydney to the Gold Coast or Melbourne to Hobart, with taxes and airline charges payable in addition.

Rex continues to challenge Qantas and Virgin with its offering. Picture: Supplied

The program comprises four status levels, Opal, Sapphire, Emerald and Diamond, which will begin from February 2024.

Members will earn one status point for every dollar spent on an airfare, or can move up through the status tiers by taking a minimum number of flights per year.

Rex will begin flying between Adelaide to Brisbane on October 30, but recently had to reduce flights on a number of routes between Sydney and regional centres as “the major carriers, particularly the Qantas Group, continued their relentless pillaging of Rex’s pilot group”, it said.