Frequent flyer rewards: How Aussies can win 1 million Qantas points

Qantas has announced a new deal with a popular ride sharing platform offering Aussies the chance to win a share of 20 million frequent flyer points. See how.

The rivalry between Virgin and Qantas is heating up, with changes to frequent flyer rewards programs that could see more Aussies travelling for free.

Qantas and Uber have teamed up to offer 1 million Qantas Points to one lucky Uber rider each day from April 11 - April 30 — or 20 million points across the campaign.

Self-proclaimed frequent flyer expert Adele Eliseo, of The Champagne Mile, said “I’m sure there are millions of Qantas points that remain unclaimed due to Aussies not linking their Uber and Qantas Frequent Flyer (QFF) accounts”.

She said linking the accounts would help Aussies earn Qantas points while taking Ubers, as well as the chance to win 1 million points a day.

Eligible Australians will get one entry into the daily draw, and a second entry if they made an eligible trip to or from the airport using the Uber account linked with their QFF. Winners will be informed by email.

LInked Uber and QFF accounts can earn one Qantas point for every $1 spent on all eligible airport Uber Reserve trips, or 1 point for every $2 spent on all other rides to or from an eligible airport.

It comes after Velocity Frequent Flyer announced a new deal, where new and existing residential AGL Energy customers were offered the chance to get up to 35,000 Velocity points over 12 months, depending on which state they lived in.

The points on offer could get Aussies up to five one-way domestic Virgin Australia flights, Velocity said on Wednesday.

“We know that value continues to be important for Australians amidst the high cost of living, and this partnership opens up more possibilities for our members to stretch their dollar further using Velocity Points to redeem on flights, household goods and more,” Velocity Frequent Flyer chief executive Nick Rohrlach said.

Wirth 35,000 Velocity points up for grabs, Aussies could get up to five free domestic flights. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Brenton Edwards

I Fly Flat founder and chief executive Steve Hui said the new deal gave energy customers an alternative to Qantas’ deal with Red Energy, and other incentives dangled by power companies.

“If you have more partners offering more points, consumers see it as a good thing and can use for travel or other redemptions — it’s literally a cherry on top,” he said.

Joel Gibson, of One Big Switch, is not as convinced about the benefits promoted by frequent flyer programs.

“If you can earn points just for paying your bills, that’s great. Especially if you’re one of those people who travels a lot and assiduously collects points. But for the average person, you’re much better off choosing your energy plan based on the rates, not the points,” he said.

“We found out this week, for example, that the cheapest plan in Victoria is over $700 less than the government reference price. You’d need 70,000 to 140,000 frequent flyer points from Virgin or Qantas to make up for that difference in price.”

Mr Gibson said frequent flyer points were “generally worth less than we think they are”.

“When it comes to energy plans they’re (the points are) usually a nice to have, not a primary reason for choosing a plan,” he said.

“A number of energy retailers right now are offering upfront credits of say $200 for switching over, for example – that’s probably more valuable for most people than points.”

The airline battle has heated up again with changes to frequent flyer rewards programs. Picture: AFP

Earlier this week Qantas revealed a change to its rewards seat offering, where frequent flyers will be able to redeem points more easily on over 20 million reward seats on most Qantas international flights from July 1. Domestic flights will also be available from later in the year.

Mr Hui said while the new offer was giving more choice, the new tier was setting a value of 1 cent for economy and 1.5 cents for business, but could diminish the overall value of the concept.

“(Qantas’) new points plus tier is good for the points rich (members) but it requires more points.

“The beauty of points was a bit of the mystery surrounding their value. Frequent flyer points are only worth the effort if you can convert those points into something amazing or more expensive that you weren’t prepared to pay for.

“But if those frequent flyer points are 1-1.5 cents, compared to classic rewards seats of 3-4 cents, then it’s more like a discount program, and not as exciting. It’s then no different to a cashback type system.

“It’s good that Qantas has given a commitment to classic rewards staying the same but disappointing that they didn’t increase it.

“It does enable people who have invested in the program to still achieve their goals.”

He advised Aussies who wanted to adopt a frequent flyer program to look at the airlines that flew to the destinations they wanted — and what it cost in points for those flights.

“It’s not about picking Qantas or Virgin – its about which one gets you there for the lowest effort … and charging you less.”

HOW THE AGL VELOCITY OFFER WORKS

The AGL Velocity offer is available from now until June 30 for eligible customers who switch to it.

“AGL customers have identified travel as a high priority to maximise their energy rewards and that’s why we are proud to be Velocity’s key energy partner. We can’t wait for this partnership to take off and see our customers benefit,” AGL Chief Customer Officer Jo Egan said.

How to earn Velocity points with AGL:

– New and Moving Customers (Electricity and Gas VIC, NSW, QLD & SA, where AGL operates): Sign up to electricity and gas with AGL on the AGL Velocity offer and receive 30,000 Velocity Points and 5,000 Velocity Points after 12 months.

– New and Moving Customers (Electricity Only VIC, NSW, QLD & SA, where AGL operates): Sign up to electricity with AGL on the AGL Velocity offer and receive 20,000 Velocity Points and 2,500 Velocity Points after 12 months.

– New and Moving Customers (Gas Only, VIC, NSW, QLD, SA & WA, where AGL operates): Sign up to gas with AGL on the AGL Velocity offer and receive 10,000 Velocity Points and 2,500 Velocity Points after 12 months.

– Existing AGL Customers (Electricity and/or Gas, VIC, NSW, QLD, SA & WA, where AGL operates): Switch to the AGL Velocity Offer with AGL for electricity and/or gas and receive 3,000 Velocity Points per gas and electricity product.

Originally published as Frequent flyer rewards: How Aussies can win 1 million Qantas points