- Double Qantas points on all eligible flights booked using a travel credit.
- $1.2 billion in travel credits already used.
- Qantas to boost domestic capacity from end-March 2023 with more A330 flying.
Qantas is reaching out to hundreds of thousands of customers with ‘COVID credits’ – travel credits left over from the pandemic – and offering double Frequent Flyer points on eligible flights if they book before February 2023.
During the pandemic, Qantas provided customers with more flexibility for flight changes and credit redemptions than ever before. Each time borders closed, more travel credits were created as people were unable to take planned trips, with more than $1.2 billion used by customers over the past two and a half years.
An analysis of the $600 million in COVID credits still held by Qantas customers shows:
- Almost 900,000 customers still have COVID credits.
- Almost $300 million of COVID credits are made up of bookings worth under $1000.
- 52 per cent of COVID credits are worth between $100 and $499.
- 15 per cent of COVID credits are worth between $1000 and $5000.
- 1 per cent of COVID credits are worth over $5000.
The offer applies to the base rate of points earn and extends to all domestic and international flights with a Qantas flight number booked before February 2023 using a travel credit.
COVID credits received during the pandemic expire at the end of 2023, with customers needing to book and travel before then.
Over the coming days Qantas will send reminders to customers with COVID credits either directly or through their travel agent about how to access the double points offer. Customers who are not already members will be able to sign up as a Qantas Frequent Flyer for free.
The double points offer follows a number of other initiatives earlier this year to make using travel credits easier for customers. This included establishing a dedicated travel credit help line resourced with specialist contact centre staff, as well as an updated Travel Credits Hub with advice for customers using their travel credits.
INCREASED DOMESTIC FLYING
In line with its commitment to steadily increase domestic capacity as operational performance normalises, Qantas will increase flying on the east coast as well as east-west from late March 2023.
Services between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane will increase by 57 additional return services per week, increasing capacity on the triangle by 11 points to 93 per cent of pre-COVID levels. Qantas is also adding seats on transcontinental services to-and-from Perth using the airline’s Airbus A330 fleet. Following this change, around 50 per cent of Qantas’ flights to from Melbourne and Sydney to Perth will be operated by widebody aircraft.
These and other changes will see total Group domestic capacity increase by 2 points to 104 per cent of pre-COVID levels in the fourth quarter of FY23.
This is in addition to a boost to domestic capacity by Qantas over the summer holidays and several new international routes starting in December, summarised in a recent industry update. Further opportunities to increase capacity are being explored while maintaining operational reliability.
COMMENTS
Qantas Group Chief Customer Officer Markus Svensson said the national carrier had seen strong take up of travel credit redemptions as more international flights returned in recent months.
“The data shows most customers have already redeemed their COVID credits but there’s still a significant number who are yet to put them to use,” Mr Svensson said.
“Our systems were never designed to unwind literally millions of bookings due to a pandemic and there have been some obvious challenges for us and for customers that we’ve worked hard to fix.
“We’re committed to reminding customers to use their credits over the next year. Throughout the pandemic we’ve made using travel credits easier, including extending their expiry, and we’re now encouraging the remaining customers to put their travel credit towards their next holiday.
“We know that people start planning their next holiday while they are on their current one, which is why we’re launching this offer at the start of the Christmas break.
“With our operational performance now effectively back to pre-pandemic levels we’re gradually adding more domestic capacity from early next year. We’re the only airline flying widebody aircraft domestically and we know how much our customers in Business class value having a lie-flat seat on longer flights to and from Perth.
“Your credit doesn’t need to cover the cost of the booking for you to receive double points as long as you use the entire value. For example, a family of four flying economy return to London could each receive an additional 18,600 bonus points just from putting a single $50 credit towards the booking. The points you earn can then go towards your next trip,” added Mr Svensson.
Example bonus points earn:
- Sydney – London (family of four, return in economy). Additional 74,400 bonus points. (148,800 in total)
- Melbourne – Dallas (single traveller, return in premium economy) Additional 24,500 bonus points (49,000 in total).
- Brisbane – Perth (couple, return in business class) Additional 13,200 bonus points (26,400 points in total).
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