Optus has introduced three new phone plans that earn Qantas points
Optus has introduced three new phone plans that earn Qantas points. Photo: Qantas.

Optus is once again offering Qantas Frequent Flyer points on selected SIM Only mobile plans. Optus customers signing up for a new mobile plan can earn up to 10 points per dollar on their monthly bill, plus up to 20,000 bonus Qantas sign-up points.

There are three exclusive Optus plans for Qantas Frequent Flyer members available at qantas.com/optus with prices ranging from $39 to $79 per month:

Optus plans with Qantas points available
Summary of Optus plan inclusions from the Qantas website.

The $79 SIM Only plan is the only Optus plan to include international roaming, which is available in 99 selected “Zone 1” countries such as New Zealand, Canada, USA, UK, Brazil and South Africa.

However, none of these month-to-month Optus plans include any international calls or texts from Australia. This is a standard feature of even the $25 monthly mobile plan from Aldi Mobile.

With these plans, you’ll earn 5 or 10 Qantas points (depending on the plan chosen) for every $1 spent. You’ll also be eligible for bonus points, which are awarded in increments of 5,000 Qantas points for every 3, 6, 9 or 12 months that you keep the plan active. For example, if you purchase a $59 plan, you would receive 5,000 points after 3 months and another 5,000 points after 6 months as long as you keep your plan continuously for six months.

“The pandemic has taught us just how important connection is to all of us, whether it’s over the phone or in person. As international travel reopens, we believe frequent flyers will jump at the opportunity to have roaming included with their mobile plan,” Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth said.

While the ability to earn Qantas points with Optus is currently limited to these three specific SIM Only plans, which are only available on the Qantas website, Optus Managing Director of Customer Success Maurice McCarthy hinted that more features could be added to the partnership over time.

“This is just the beginning of our partnership, with our two brands sharing a vision to explore ways to add value for Australians. As our partnership grows, it will see us broadening the opportunities to trial new digital innovations in market, in line with the Optus ‘digital everywhere’ strategy,” McCarthy said.

Qantas has previously partnered with Optus

Qantas Frequent Flyer already partnered with Optus from 2011 until 2015. When the new partnership was launched a decade ago, Qantas even painted a plane in a special Optus livery.

Qantas 737 in Optus livery
Qantas Boeing 737-800 in Optus livery. Photo: Robert Frola via Wikimedia Commons.

That partnership was axed in 2015, with Qantas Frequent Flyer then tying up with Vodafone the following year. The partnership with Vodafone quietly ended a couple of years ago, leaving Qantas without a telco partner until now.

Last year, Optus had been offering Velocity points on various products. Optus is also currently offering bonus Flybuys points on home internet packages.

Qantas was reportedly considering launching its own mobile service using the Optus network earlier this year.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Optus and QFF – Phone Plans

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 economics, aviation & 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.
________________________

Related Articles