Qantas has added new benefits for Points Club and Points Club Plus members including hotel vouchers, wine vouchers and exclusive offers. The airline is also introducing a new “Milestone Bonus Reward” at the half-way point between Points Club and the higher Points Club Plus tier.
It’s the first time Qantas has made changes to its Points Club program since launching it in March 2020.
Qantas Points Club is a Qantas Frequent Flyer initiative that rewards members who earn lots of points on the ground, such as from credit cards or earning points with program partners. Qantas Frequent Flyer members can automatically join Points Club by earning at least 150,000 Qantas points per year. Or, to get to the higher Points Club Plus level, you would need to earn at least 350,000 Qantas points in a year. Up to 20,000 of those points can come from flights.
The main benefit of Points Club membership is the ability to earn status credits on Qantas reward flights. But there are various other useful perks as well.
Read more: Beginner’s Guide to Qantas Points Club
New Points Club tier benefits
In addition to all existing benefits, Qantas Points Club now comes with…
Qantas Hotels vouchers
Qantas Points Club members can already earn bonus points when booking accommodation via Qantas Hotels. Now, Qantas is also giving a bonus $50 hotel voucher to Points Club members and a $100 voucher to Points Club Plus members. (These cannot be used on Airbnb bookings.)
The vouchers will be sent to eligible members by email within 21 days of attaining any Points Club tier. To receive the voucher, you would need to be opted in to receiving “Exclusive offers for Qantas Frequent Flyers” marketing emails.
Qantas Wine birthday vouchers
Points Club members already receive complimentary Qantas Wine Premium membership. In addition, Points Club Plus already comes with a 10% discount on all wines excluding Penfolds.
If you’re in Points Club, you’ll now also receive a $50 Qantas Wine voucher at the start of your birthday month. And Points Club Plus members receive two $50 vouchers.
The vouchers are valid for one year and can be redeemed when spending at least $149 (excluding GST) at the Qantas Wine store. Again, you’d need to be opted into marketing emails from Qantas to receive these.
Exclusive offers
Qantas is also now promising exclusive flying offers and exclusive “handpicked offers” for Points Club members.
The first of the exclusive flying offers is a Double Status Credits promotion for Points Club members running from 18-20 May. Other flying offers in the future could include things like “pre-release tickets and bonus Qantas Points throughout the year”.
The handpicked offers could include “exclusive discounts, bonus Qantas Points, early access and sneak previews”. Presumably, we’ll learn more over time about what exactly Qantas has in mind for this.
A full list of Points Club benefits, terms & conditions can be found on the Qantas website.
New “Milestone Bonus Reward” at 250,000 points
There’s quite a large gap between the number of Qantas points you’d need to earn to attain Points Club (150,000 points) vs Points Club Plus (350,000 points). But you’ll now at least get a Milestone Bonus Reward once you get half-way to upgrading to the “Plus” tier.
If you earn 250,000 Qantas points within your membership year, you’ll get a small reward of 2,500 bonus Qantas points.
Admittedly, 2,500 Qantas points is not a lot in the grand scheme of things. In fact, it’s just 1% of the 250,000 points you would need to earn in order to achieve the Milestone Bonus Reward! It’s certainly better than nothing, but a higher reward (or perhaps the option to choose between points or status credits, as with the Loyalty Bonus) would encourage more people to aim for it.
No tier above Points Club Plus has been announced
There had been some speculation that Qantas could introduce a new “ultra-elite” tier above Points Club Plus in late 2020, when Qantas proposed various program changes in a survey of members. But so far, Qantas hasn’t announced any concrete plans to introduce another Points Club level.
Some AFF members are speculating that the idea may have been abandoned, with the new benefits and Milestone Bonus Reward being introduced instead.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Points Club – new bonuses and benefits!
