Qantas appears to be considering a new membership tier for its Points Club program, which launched in March 2020.
Currently, Qantas Frequent Flyer members can achieve Points Club membership by earning 150,000 Qantas points during one membership year. A higher tier, Points Club Plus, can be achieved by earning 350,000 points in 12 months. Of those, no more than 20,000 points can be earned from flying (meaning the program rewards members who earn large amounts of Qantas points on the ground).
Key benefits of Points Club include Qantas Club passes, the ability to earn status credits for Classic Flight Reward bookings, and various discounts and bonus points with Qantas Frequent Flyer partners. Points Club Plus members even receive complimentary Qantas Club membership.
The Points Club program, first earmarked when Qantas announced major changes to its frequent flyer program in June 2019, is designed to reward “frequent buyers”. So far, the program seems to have been so successful that Qantas is now considering adding more benefits and a third membership tier.
In a recent survey sent to Points Club members, Qantas asked for feedback on a range of topics including the value of existing benefits and possible new benefits. In this survey, Points Club Plus members were also asked for their opinions on a potential new tier above the current “Points Club Plus” level.
“A next level of Points Club membership beyond Points Club Plus is currently under review; both the benefits as well as the qualification to this level of membership”, survey participants were told.
The new top Points Club tier would be very difficult to achieve, with Qantas suggesting members might have to earn 800,000 or more points in at least 7 different ways to reach this level. Alternatively, members might have to earn 900,000 points (in any number of ways), or earn & redeem a combined total of 1 million Qantas points in a year.
But the benefits of a new ultra-elite Points Club tier would also be much more compelling than the current Points Club Plus perks.
Proposed benefits include complimentary Qantas Business Lounge membership, four First Lounge invitations, $250 vouchers for Qantas Wine and Qantas Hotels, free travel insurance and Avis President’s Club membership. Members would also have the opportunity to rollover up to 200 surplus status credits into their next membership year (up from 100 status credits for current Points Club Plus members).
Current Points Club members can already receive a complimentary one-class vehicle upgrade on Avis car rental bookings in Australia or New Zealand. Qantas also recently offered Avis President’s Club membership to some Platinum One frequent flyers.
While Australian Frequent Flyer members are generally intrigued by the benefits, most feel that the target of 800,000-1,00,000 Qantas points per year would be unrealistic for most people. As samh004 says…
A million points of ‘activity’ would be easy for some, but even with a high earning CC, the 800k point total seems very pie in the sky. While I can imagine some might get there, I imagine they’re already paying for F and don’t need F lounge passes, or a status credit rollover. Additionally, things like a $250 wine/hotel voucher seem woefully inadequate to that crowd.
We’ll find out soon enough whether Qantas decides to proceed with this new tier, and if so, how exactly it will work!
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Level above Qantas Points Club Plus
