Qantas frequent flyer expands points-earning options for its members

Qantas has further expanded the range of points-earning opportunities for its ever-growing frequent flyer membership base through a new partnership with Vodafone.

The tie-up allows Qantas’s frequent flyer members to earn points on eligible Vodafone mobile plans, while Vodafone will sell prepaid products on board some of the Flying Kangaroo’s international flights.

The Vodafone initiative is the latest in a series of initiatives that has included earning points on everyday and not-so-everyday activities such as going to the cinema, playing golf or taking out a home loan.

Qantas Loyalty chief executive Lesley Grant said frequent flyer members were always looking for ways to maximise their points-earning opportunities.

“Businesses like Vodafone partner with Qantas Frequent Flyer because they know that for the millions of Australians who are Qantas Frequent Flyers, they decide what to buy based on whether they can earn Qantas Points or not,” Grant said in a statement.

“In a competitive market, being able to reward customers for choosing their product or service and remaining loyal to their brand is an attractive proposition.”

Qantas has about 11 million members of its frequent flyer program, while Virgin Australia’s Velocity has about five million members.

Qantas Loyalty, the division that covers frequent flyer, its small business program as well as data analytics and advertising businesses, generated $315 million in underlying earnings before interest and tax in 2014/15, the second-highest total behind Qantas’s domestic operations at $480 million.

Qantas previously had a partnership with Optus, which included a Boeing 737 that featured Optus branding.