Bizarre Change to the Qantas Frequent Flyer T&Cs

Qantas Frequent Flyer recently updated its terms & conditions – as it does from time to time. It wasn’t a major change, but it sure was an unusual one…

It seems that Qantas added a new paragraph to section 9 of the frequent flyer program’s terms & conditions on 27 January 2023. This section governs the earning of Qantas points.

Section 9.1.5 now says:

9.1.5 A member of a oneworld Member Airline or Airline Partner loyalty program will not earn that program’s loyalty points or status credits on any Qantas domestic flight where the oneworld Member Airline or Airline Partner permits their program points or status credits to be earned directly or indirectly on any non-Qantas Group flight on the same domestic route (where that domestic flight does not form part of a Qantas marketed international itinerary).

Confused? I don’t blame you. This sentence contains 72 words and I had to read it several times to work out what on earth is going on here!

What does this change mean?

Firstly, it’s a rather unusual addition to the Qantas Frequent Flyer terms & conditions because it doesn’t even concern the earning of Qantas points or status credits. Instead – although it doesn’t directly say this – the sentence seems to be specifically referencing the earning of Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios & Qpoints on Qantas flights.

What Section 9.1.5 seems to be saying is that you cannot earn Avios or Qpoints when crediting certain Qantas domestic flights to the Qatar Airways Privilege Club program. This would apply on domestic routes within Australia where Virgin Australia also offers service, such as Sydney-Melbourne. But it would not apply on routes where Virgin Australia does not fly, such as Sydney-Dubbo.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club is specifically implicated by this rule because, with Virgin Australia’s new partnership with Qatar Airways, it’s now possible to earn Qatar Airways Avios on Virgin Australia flights.

Under Oneworld alliance rules, when someone credits a Qantas flight to the Qatar Airways Privilege Club program, Qantas would need to pay Qatar Airways for the Qpoints & Avios earned by the Privilege Club member. (The same is also true in reverse.)

Perhaps Qantas doesn’t want to pay Qatar Airways for this on domestic routes also served by Virgin Australia. (By doing so, Qantas is also incentivising Qatar Airways Privilege Club members to choose a Virgin Australia flight over one of its own.)

This rule does not apply to domestic flights taken as part of a “Qantas marketed international itinerary”. But it’s not really clear what that actually means.

Presumably, this would refer to an international ticket booked through Qantas with a “081” ticket number. But it could also mean any international booking containing flights with “QF” flight numbers. “Marketed itinerary” is not a standard industry term and is not defined by the Qantas Frequent Flyer terms and conditions.

What do the Qatar Airways Privilege Club rules say about this?

Interestingly, the Qatar Airways website has already said for years that Qantas domestic flights are ineligible for Privilege Club accrual unless part of an international Qantas or Qatar Airways itinerary. We understand that this wasn’t previously enforced.

The Qatar Airways Privilege Club terms & conditions (which Privilege Club members are actually bound by – not the Qantas Frequent Flyer rules) do not appear to exclude the earning of Avios or Qpoints on Qantas flights.

Can’t Qantas and Qatar Airways just get along?

When announcing the launch of its frequent flyer partnership with Qantas’ competitor Virgin Australia last year, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker revealingly said that this wasn’t his airline’s first choice. But Al Baker claimed thats Qantas didn’t want to work with its Doha-based Oneworld alliance partner. He said Qantas was instead prioritising its joint venture with Emirates, which was recently extended until 2028.

Qantas has also reportedly been lobbying the Australian government to block Qatar Airways from obtaining the right to add more flights to major Australian cities.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways last year blocked Qantas Frequent Flyer members from accessing many of its reward seats. As of today, Qantas Frequent Flyer members still can’t access most Qatar Airways reward seats.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.