Qantas raises stakes in frequent flyer war with Deliveroo deal

Qantas frequent flyer members will be able to earn points when they order from online food service Deliveroo.

Deliveroo rider Rogerio Junior. Pic: Richard Gosling

The frequent flyer wars have stepped up another notch with Qantas partnering with online food delivery service Deliveroo in a deal that will allow the Flying Kangaroo’s members to earn points when they order takeaway.

Under the new partnership Qantas’s 11.4 million Frequent Flyer members will be able to earn two points for every dollar they spend with Deliveroo.

“Food is the second most popular interest among our members after travel so we think they’ll be delighted to discover they can now earn points when they order food from their favourite restaurants through Deliveroo,” said Qantas Loyalty chief Lesley Grant.

“We know consumers are increasingly moving online to make their purchases so we need to make sure we’re giving Qantas Frequent Flyers new opportunities to earn with partners like Deliveroo that make it quick and easy for them to earn points online and through their mobile devices.”

This partnership is the latest in a spate of deals among the frequent flyer businesses of both Qantas (QAN) and Virgin, which are both seeking out retail partners in a bid to retain the loyalty of their customers and bulk up earnings through the lucrative side businesses.

Last week Virgin Australia unveiled a deal between its frequent flyer business Velocity and Coles that will allow shoppers to convert flybuys points into frequent flyer miles.

In an Australian first for a loyalty program, the partnership will also allow flybuys members to earn Velocity Status Credits at Coles, Coles Online, Liquorland and First Choice Liquor.

Qantas also recently struck a world-first deal with sharing economy giant Airbnb to allow its frequent flyers to earn points when they book accommodation.

The deal, which has raised the ire of hotel groups, will allow Qantas frequent flyer members to earn one Qantas point for each dollar spent on any of Airbnb’s 2.5 million accommo­dation listings across 191 countries.

The two-year deal marks the first time the San Francisco-based Airbnb — which allows individuals to rent out a private room or their home to travellers — has worked with an airline loyalty program.

Frequent flyer business are important revenue generators for both Virgin and Qantas. In the 12 months to June 30, Velocity’s six million members helped to ­generate $328 million in revenue for the airline.

It is a similar story at Qantas, where in the same period its loyalty business contributed $1.45 billion in revenue.