Qantas, Virgin Australia refuse frequent flyer expiry extension

Qantas and Virgin Australia are refusing to extend the expiry period for frequent flyer points in the coronavirus crisis.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce. The airline’s frequent flyer program is one of the most profitable parts of the business. Picture: AAP

Qantas and Virgin Australia will not extend the expiry period for frequent flyer points in the current coronavirus crisis, despite the difficulty of earning points from flying.

Members of the Qantas frequent flyer program lose their points after 18-months of inactivity and Virgin’s Velocity members get 24-months’ grace before their points are wiped.

Both airlines have confirmed they will not be following a number of overseas carriers and extending those periods in the current pandemic, because of the “ease” of keeping accounts active.

Travel expert with consumer group Choice, Jodi Bird, said extending point expiry dates would be a show of support for customers by airlines.

“A lot of Australians have stopped flying and may not be up in the air for sometime. They shouldn’t feel pressured to earn points by spending in certain stores or to redeem their points for relatively poor value options,” Ms Bird said.

She said Choice investigations had found points provided good value for flight upgrades and domestic travel but very poor value when exchanged for goods or gift vouchers.

“Most people won’t be in a position to use their points for travel for many months,” said Ms Bird. “Extending point expiry dates would be a good sign that airlines are looking to support customers in the long-term.”

But a Qantas spokeswoman said two-thirds of frequent flyer points were earned on the ground, through things like shopping, credit cards, fuel purchases and their health and wellbeing app.

She said members needed only to earn one point every 18-months to keep their accounts “active for a lifetime”, and that could easily be done by shopping at Woolworths, or filling up at a BP service station.

The airline’s health and wellbeing app also gave members the option of earning points while sleeping or exercising.

Virgin Australia said the airline already had the most generous terms in the market and had no plans to make changes.

A number of other airlines have announced “pauses to points expiration” for loyalty club members who would otherwise lose their points due to travel restrictions that have put a stop to most flying.

Singapore Airlines has extended the validity period for its KrisFlyer points by six-months, along with KLM-Air France, Air Canada and Emirates.

The KrisFlyer program works differently to Qantas and Virgin Australia with points expiring 36-months after the date they were obtained, regardless of activity.

Expiry periods for frequent flyer points have been a source of controversy for Qantas, with members objecting to the deletion of thousands of points, amid claims they were not forewarned.

In response Qantas has offered to reinstate lost points on the conditions members earn a certain number of new points in a set period.

Virgin Australia and Qantas have already announced automatic renewal of members’ status credits, and Qantas has given its Qantas Club members an extra six months, before their membership lapsed.