Programs reward Aussie customers with free flights for being fit

YOU can turn your daily walk into a free flight but the first step is to read the fine print to avoid the traps.

With Qantas Assure you can turn your steps into flights but you need to check the fine print. Picture: Supplied.Source:Supplied

YOU can turn your daily walk into free flights, cheaper health and life insurance and other discounts but the first step is to check the fine print.

AIA’s Vitality program rewards people for uploading their activity tracker data by giving them points that can be used towards gift cards or movie tickets, Medibank’s Active Rewards gives members 10 flybuy points for every day they log 10,000 steps and MLC offers a premium discount on life insurance for a consistent step count.

Brisbane bank manager Ashil Kumar, who has stepped his way to gaining more than 10,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points through using the Qantas Assure app, said earning frequent flyer points for doing his normal daily routine felt like getting something for nothing.

Mr Kumar, 37, said he signed up to Assure because he realised he could get a double benefit from his morning exercise which he tracks with his Apple Watch, setting his daily step count in the Assure app at 15,000 steps.

“Cycling, walking, running - I do all sorts of stuff,” he said.

Mr Kumar and his wife earned 50,000 points for signing up to Qantas Assure and they had used their points in booking fare discounts on overseas flights and discounts at Qantas hotels.

“It’s worked out pretty good,” he said.

Finder.com.au editor-in-chief Angus Kidman said people should compare the health insurance offered through Qantas Assure against their own policy to see if it met their needs.

He said Qantas Assure customers could translate their steps to a maximum of 15,000 frequent flyer points a year, which equalled about $4 a week in terms of value.

Ashil Kumar from Augustine Heights uses his step count to get Qantas Frequent Flyer points. Photo: Jodie Richter

“In it and of itself, I don’t think that would be the best reason to pick a particular policy,” he said.

“Like most things that let you earn frequent flyer points, it’s a nice little top up but you’re never going to get anything really substantial from it because there are a lot of terms and conditions attached to how many points you can earn and when you can get them.”

Qantas this week added cycling as a way you can earn frequent flyer points from the Qantas Assure Wellness Rewards program, although in order to get 100 frequent flyer points you need to complete a 100km ride a week.

At that rate, you would need to cycle a 100km ride each week for 18 years to get enough points for a one-way ticket to London or 18 months to get a one-way flight from Sydney to Melbourne.

The terms and conditions of the app say you can earn up to 15,000 Qantas points a year but “you must participate in the highest daily and weekly challenges available through the Qantas Assure App and win every group challenge”, which means you would need to meet the highest daily step challenge of 20,000 steps a day and 150,000 steps a week to get the maximum number of points.

Mr Kidman said Qantas Assure customers earned more points through signing up to the policy than they could earn a year through walking.

“The exercise is the sprinkles on top,” he said.