COVID-19: Qantas will reward you for getting vaccinated

Yep, that’s right. If you are already or will be vaccinated by the end of December and you register and share a bit of data with Qantas (your vaccination certificate from Medicare) you will get an instant reward of 1,000 frequent flyer points, or 15 status credits, or an AU$20 discount on an airfare flying Qantas or Jetstar. Let me summarise that for you again:

• 1000 Qantas points
• 15 status credits (which help Frequent Flyers move up between Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers)
• $20 flight discount for Qantas or Jetstar

Mega prize – Squeal!

But the main prize dangled in front of you like an OZ Lotto win is ‘A year’s worth of free flights, Accor hotel stays and BP fuel up for grabs*‘. That’s 10 prizes – one for each state and territory, and 2 ‘mega’ prizes associated with a TV campaign.

After registering and sharing your vaccination certificate, you need to do no more as you will automatically be entered into the competition for the 10 prizes.

Let me share the hype with you:

“This is one of the biggest giveaways we’ve ever done. The impact of the pandemic on the travel industry and our own Qantas Group team members means we have a clear vested interest in the success of the vaccine rollout.”

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce

Beware the Asterisk

We foreshadowed this a week or so ago when we found some incomplete terms and conditions lurking on the Qantas website.

You can find the full T&C’s for the competition here, but below is a quick summary of some of the limitations of the prizes:

• The Prize Draws will take place at 2pm on 12 January 2022
• The ‘value’ of each Mega prize is $85,450 covering the flight (AU$50,000) and fuel vouchers (AU3,650), and Accor points (AU$31,800). The total notional prize pool is $683,600
• Winners get 12 x $4000 and 1 x $2000 Major Prize Flight Passes by email. These must be used on Qantas flights with a QF flight number and are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. Not bad, that’s AU$50,000 worth of flights
• The Accor accommodation prize will come in the form of 1,000,000 ALL – Accor Live Limitless reward points with a notional value of $31,800. You need to be enrolled in the ALL – Accor Live Limitless program
• The BP fuel component comes as a physical BP Gift Card worth AU$3,650
• You can’t sell or transfer any of these prizes, and you will be in deep shit if you lose the vouchers/gift card.

How to

For Australians to claim their points/status credits/AU$20 flight discounts and automatically enter in the mega prize draw, you need to download the Qantas App (via the App Store or through Google Play) – if you haven’t already, use the Medicare app (which you will need to download if you haven’t already) and access and upload your COVID-19 digital vaccination certificate and select your reward choice.  Qantas is promising to delete your Vaccination certificate information once it has been verification. Oh, and of course you need to be a Qantas frequent flyer.

The Mega Prizes

Winners of ten mega prizes will win a ‘year’s worth of flights’ (see my takeout below). That will allow the winners to fly to more than 60 destinations in Australia, plus overseas destinations once/if borders open within the 12 months window for using the flight credits. You will also win accommodation available at 345 Accor hotels, which includes the Sofitel, Pullman, Peppers, Mantra, Mercure, Mövenpick, Novotel and Ibis brands, plus the BP fuel vouchers.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

Sorry I just got distracted thinking of how I would spend that AU$50,000 of Qantas flight vouchers . . . I just realised that amount of money is only going to last about 3 return flights to Europe – hardly a years worth of flights in my case.

Am I entering this competition? Definitely.

Am I worried about Qantas having access to my vaccination certificate? Sort of, but they have a big public profile, so if they abuse the access, they are likely to get into trouble

Do I want the instant fare discount, the points or the status credits? Status credits, always.

Are you really entering for the remote chance of winning one of those mega prizes? Of course, I am.

Enough of this, I need to move on and enter this competition.