by This month, Singapore Airlines’ frequent flyer program KrisFlyer attracted Australian customers with its “Kris+ Miles” offer. This means members in Sydney and Melbourne can now earn money by tapping their rewards app in-store at select merchants (very select merchants – there are only 34 Kris+ partners in the country). In theory, the move makes it easier to earn points and, perhaps more interesting, represents an airline vying to become a new airline of choice.
Frequent flyer programs are a competitive space. If done right, they can net free flights and upgrades for consumers, a welcome benefit, especially in today’s economy.
But the real winners are, of course, the airlines themselves. These programs are very profitable. Airlines can sell points wholesale to banks and retail partners (who, in turn, can use them to attract new customers with things like credit card bonus point offers). They are excellent marketing tools that encourage customer loyalty. And they’re a great way to leverage marketers’ most valuable resource: our data.
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So what is the best frequent flyer program currently available to Australians? How can you earn points without having to go anywhere? And since they’re probably following our every move, is membership really worth it? We asked some experts.
What is the best frequent flyer program for Australians?
KrisFlyer may be trying to appeal to Australian travelers, but experts say it is best suited for those who regularly travel in and out of Singapore, or anyone interested in setting foot in Star Alliance, the global airline alliance of which he is a member of, of which the Australians have not. It had easy access since the days of Ansett. For the rest of us, he’s probably not on the verge of becoming a major player.
“Realistically, the two real contenders come down to being a Qantas frequent flyer and [Virgin Australia’s program] Speed,” says Kidman. “They are the ones we need to seriously consider.”
This is because Qantas and Virgin are the airlines you will be flying domestically, they have the vast majority of local credit card associations and they allow you to earn points from your supermarket shop, keeping your balance active when is on land. (Points may expire with as little as 18 months of account inactivity.)
Locally, there’s a new contender in regional airline Rex Airlines, which this month announced its own frequent flyer program, though it’s still in its infancy and has yet to announce credit card partners or reveal information about how to redeem flights. . .
So for now, which of Qantas and Velocity is the best program?
“I think Qantas because they have more redemption options, because they find more places locally and they have more partnerships globally,” Kidman says. “There are a lot of variables to consider, but at a high level, that’s how I would sum it up.”
A key factor in Qantas’ favor is its membership in the OneWorld alliance. That means you can earn points (or access reward flights) on airlines like Cathay Pacific, Qatar and British Airways. Higher-tier Qantas Frequent Flyer members can also reliably access benefits such as lounge access on those partner airlines.
Velocity, on the other hand, is not part of an airline alliance, but has individual partnerships with airlines such as Etihad, United and Singapore Airlines.
“So what we find is sometimes a little disjointed in terms of benefits,” says Daniel Sciberras of the frequent-flyer-focused website PointsHacks. He says some airline partners may give you lounge access but no priority boarding, while for others the benefits may be reversed.
While Virgin has “a lot of good partnerships”, Sciberras says they don’t operate their own long-haul international flights, meaning they “don’t actually have direct control over any long-haul reward redemptions – they’re always dependent on availability.” “And some airlines will give preference to members of their own frequent flyer program when giving out free seats.
In addition to that wide range of international routes, Qantas also has a larger domestic network than Virgin, which again means more opportunities to earn and redeem points. You can also accumulate points faster by flying on Qantas because they allocate points based on the distance you fly, while Virgin points are based on ticket prices.
“The downside for a lot of people is that Qantas fares are higher in the first place,” Kidman says. “There is no doubt that, on any domestic route, if you search more than a week in advance you will find Virgin flights slightly cheaper. “So some people prefer Virgin because it’s the airline they want to fly with.”
Of course, if you live outside of major cities, your ability to fly with Virgin may be very slim, meaning Velocity isn’t really an option. Ultimately, the decision may depend on which airline (and which partners) you are most likely to fly with.
You can also join several local programs, although it probably makes more sense to focus your efforts on one. “There’s nothing stopping you from being in both and just seeing what you ride,” Kidman says. “But the reality is, if you want to increase your point total, it’s better to go with a scheme.”
How can you earn points if you’re not flying?
“The majority of points earned through the Qantas Frequent Flyer program do not come from flying. They come from what are known as on-the-ground transactions,” says Sciberras.
Whether you work with Qantas or Velocity, the quickest way to make money on the ground is through smart use of credit cards. Kidman suggests “focusing [one scheme]get a matching credit card, use your supermarket and fly [your scheme of choice] whenever I can.”
But that advice comes with a big red asterisk.
“Never get a credit card for points if you’re not going to pay them in full,” Sciberras says. This is because credit cards that earn points charge high interest rates and the cost of paying them off far outweighs any benefits associated with points.
If you’re confident in your ability to pay off your card in full each month, credit cards that accumulate Qantas or Velocity points with every dollar spent will speed up your accumulation.
Sciberras recommends looking for cards that offer a six-figure sign-up bonus: 100,000 points or more. Next, consider how many points you earn per dollar spent. You may also want to consider spending limits, as many cards will only offer the best earning rates up to a monthly limit. And it’s worth considering that American Express cards, which often offer better sign-up bonuses and earning rates, are not as widely accepted as Visa or Mastercard.
But earning points should be weighed against the cost of owning a credit card: The biggest sign-up bonuses tend to appear on cards with higher annual fees. You should also consider whether you can realistically meet the minimum spend required to earn bonus points, which typically ranges between $3,000 and $6,000 in the first three months. (And when it comes to Qantas versus Velocity, it’s also worth noting that Velocity cards often, but not always, have lower annual fees and easier-to-achieve sign-up bonuses.)
The other great way to earn points on the ground is at your grocery store – you can earn Qantas points shopping at Woolworths (via your Everyday Rewards card) and Velocity points at the Coles checkout (via FlyBuys). There’s a not insignificant amount of points on offer at the till – Kidman says he managed to earn more than 42,000 Qantas points by shopping this year.
You can also earn points by purchasing a certain car, health or travel insurance policies, or shopping at specific outlets: 7-Eleven, for example, offers customers Velocity points every time they spend. And if you download its Wellness app, Qantas will give customers a (very small) number of points for things like getting enough steps and getting enough sleep every day.
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Is everyone just collecting your data?
The big caveat for all frequent flyer programs is that there is no such thing as free: memberships come at the cost of sharing personal data.
Katharine Kemp, an associate professor at UNSW who researches data privacy, says that while some consumers might think of frequent flyer programs as a reward for loyalty, “in fact, most of these schemes are really profiteering businesses.” data that collect a wide range of information and use it to provide ‘insights’ to other companies.”
Frequent flyer programs don’t just have access to travel reservations, spending habits, and grocery orders.
“On top of that, many of these schemes actually go behind consumers’ backs and approach third parties to learn more about them,” Kemp says.
In addition to simply being used to sell you more things, that “wide range of information about you” can be used to determine the content you view online, exclude you from certain offers, force you to pay more for certain products, or indicate that you are “too much of a risk.” big in the eyes of some companies for certain services,” says Kemp.
Unfortunately, that behind-your-back data sharing means being selective about where we link our points (for example, collecting them only through our flights and not our food) might not help.
Since these programs do not tell consumers exactly how data is used and retained, it is impossible to know if one program is safer for data than another. Australians also cannot simply opt out of data collection.
“If you are a resident of the EU or Switzerland, you can object to being included in a frequent flyer program. But if you are an Australian consumer, you have no right to object,” says Kemp. “Our privacy laws are not that strict.”
Regardless, whether or not you are willing to join a frequent flyer program is a personal choice.
“I don’t like telling people what to do,” Kemp says. “But I am not part of any of these programs. Because, in my opinion, I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”
