Qantas, Woolworths revamp loyalty deal

Qantas has beefed up its partnership with Woolworths in a deal that will see loyalty program members earn more points.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce with Chief Executive of Qantas's loyalty business, Olivia Wirth. Picture: Adam Yip

Qantas has beefed up its partnership with Woolworths in a deal that will see loyalty program members earn more frequent flyer points on their grocery shop.

From this week, every 2000 points earned under the Woolworths Rewards program will convert to 1000 Qantas frequent flyer points, up from 870.

The move coincides with changes to the Qantas frequent flyer program, requiring members to amass up to 15 per cent more points for premium seats and upgrades.

It means a business class seat on a Sydney-Auckland flight is now worth 41,500 points, or the equivalent of $83,000 in groceries from Woolworths.

Qantas Loyalty chief executive Olivia Wirth said it was important to continually improve how members could earn points through the frequent flyer program.

“Our partnership with Woolworths is one of the most popular ways for members to earn points,” Ms Wirth said.

“We see them earn literally billions of Qantas points every year.”

Up to a third of frequent flyers who shopped at Woolworths had taken a holiday using points in the past year, she said.

Amanda Bardwell, managing director of Woolworths’ digital and loyalty arm WooliesX, said members had told them they loved the Qantas frequent flyer partnership but wanted it to be “more rewarding”.

online art fo the australian

“The refresh means our members can get even more value from their same everyday shopping at Woolworths, and book their next holiday even faster,” Ms Bardwell said.

Qantas and Woolworths first teamed up in 2008 but split in 2015 when the retailer revamped its rewards program.

Customers were outraged and within a year Woolworths reunited with Qantas.

At the same time, Virgin Australia’s Velocity program jumped on board with Coles’ Flybuys in a sign of the fierce competition between the loyalty schemes.

Qantas also recently announced a new partnership with BP, signalling the end of the service station’s five-year agreement with Velocity from the end of March next year.

With more than 13 million members, Qantas Frequent Flyers is Australia’s most popular loyalty program, followed by Woolworths Rewards with 11.7 million.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is currently examining loyalty programs to ensure members are receiving the benefits advertised.