QANTAS: Changes to Business Rewards program – for more loyalty

The Business Rewards program is a loyalty program for small and medium-sized businesses to earn and redeem points for the flying that they fund. It also provides booking and travel management tools and discounts on flights.

About the Business Rewards program

Essentially it is a way of ‘benefitting twice for travelling once’ as their tagline goes. You get points as an individual traveller, and points for the business.

The program offers different levels of membership which reflect the level of business spend. As you progress from levels 1 to 3, you gain greater benefits. Level 1 is entry-level. If your business earns 15,000 or more, you will tick over to Level 2 (where my business sits). If you earn over 80,000 points, then you qualify for Level 3.

Your discounts on flights reflect those levels, with Level 1 getting 6% off flights, Level 2 – 9% and Level 3 – 10%. Similarly, you earn different numbers of points depending on which level you achieve, and the traveller gets bonus points too.

At Level 3, you even get to fast-track a Frequent Flyer to Gold.

Changes to the Business Rewards program

Qantas has announced some changes to the program after feedback from members.

• International Fares – savings have been increased and extended to a wider set of international fares, including partner airlines
• Qantas Hotel bookings now give you more points – an increase from 4 to 6 points per $1 spent (3 for the business and 3 for the flyer)
• Faster progression – now points across a trip count towards your membership level including car hire, hotels and flights including on Jetstar
• More Jetstar flights are now included. Flex, Flex Plus and Business Max bundles are now included

2PAXfly Takeout

These changes are advantageous to members, and I receive them happily.

I just wonder what has motivated this. My suspicion is that business travel has declined in contrast to before the pandemic. I suspect that these measures are to tempt businesses back into the air for more face-to-face meetings instead of the dreaded Teams or Zoom calls. A quote attributable to Andrew Glance, Qantas Loyalty CEO are telling:

“We understand how important face-to-face connections are for building strong relationships, which is why these
changes are designed to not only help businesses reduce their travel costs but make it easier for them to
connect with colleagues, clients and partners. Whether it’s extra Qantas Points to reward employees for their hard work, or greater savings to re-invested back into the business, we’re committed to delivering more value for Australian businesses.”

Andrew Glance, Qantas Loyalty CEO

… and loyalty also benefits Qantas.