Numerous AFF members say their Qantas Business Rewards points have expired recently without any warning.
Just like Qantas points, Qantas Business Rewards points expire after 18 months of account inactivity. If you haven’t taken any flights or earned any Qantas Business Rewards points since the beginning of the pandemic – which happens to be 18 months ago – this means your points could now be at risk!
Specifically, Qantas Business Rewards points will expire at the end of the 18th consecutive month that a member does not earn or transfer at least one point. This is spelt out in section 11.2 of the Qantas Business Rewards Program Terms & Conditions:
11.2 All Qantas Points in a Membership Account will expire at midnight Sydney, Australia time at the end of the 18th consecutive month for which the Member has not earned Qantas Points in Qantas Business Rewards, redeemed Qantas Points for Rewards, or transferred Qantas Points from a Membership Account to a QFF Member’s membership account. Qantas Points are deemed to be earned on the date of an Eligible Flight, or in the case of other Program Partners, on the activity date as advised by the Program Partner.
Qantas Business Rewards is the airline’s loyalty program for small-to-medium businesses. Business owners can earn points on business expenses and transfer earned points to any nominated Qantas Frequent Flyer account. But the Business Rewards program is separate to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.
Members say they weren’t warned of points expiration
One AFF member whose Qantas Business Rewards points recently expired, dacom, says they never received any notification of this.
Just wanted to get some feedback. I found out today that Qantas Business Rewards had removed all my points due to inactivity (of course only due to COVID) but at the same time send me an email to advice they extended my Level 2 membership. I didn’t realise they expire on the Business Reward side as well since the account is linked to an active QFF account.
They could have just send me a reminder email they about to expire or transferred the points instead. Has anybody ever got them refunded?
– dacom, 5 September 2021
Another member, Flying Fox, reported a similar experience.
This is my PSA about QF Business Rewards – your points expire after 18mths of inactivity.
I only found this out/reminded myself when I logged into my account and noticed 270,000 odd points had been zero-ed out on 01/08/2021. I basically forgot about QF Business Rewards since I haven’t been flying.
Yes it my own fault for not remembering (mea culpa) but to my best knowledge I didn’t receive any reminders/emails about this.
– Flying Fox, 30 August 2021
Qantas says that members can keep track of their points activity on the Qantas Business Rewards website.
The airline also says that Qantas Business Rewards members receive reminders and notification warnings if their points will soon expire, via email and the QBR Newsletter. Unfortunately, this was not the experience of some AFF members.
A Qantas spokesperson told Australian Frequent Flyer that members have been able to continue earning and redeeming Qantas Business Rewards points on the ground, keeping their points alive. But in an acknowledgement that flying has been difficult, the airline has extended members’ levels within the program.
“Qantas Business Reward members have continued to earn and use points on the ground throughout this period and, while travel restrictions have meant members can’t fly or use points in some of the ways they usually would, we have provided status support through level extensions so they can continue to enjoy the same flying benefits when they travel again,” the Qantas spokesperson said.
How to stop your Qantas Business Rewards points expiring
Fortunately, preventing your Qantas Business Rewards points from expiring is relatively simple.
If you have at least 3,000 points in your account, the simplest option is to transfer points into an active Qantas Frequent Flyer account. Business Rewards points can be transferred to anyone’s Qantas account at a 1:1 rate, with a minimum of 3,000 points per transfer.
Another option is to earn at least one point. Even if you’re stuck at home, there are ways to do this without flying.
“Qantas Business Reward members can keep points active by earning points with over 50 partners across a range of everyday business expenses including fuel, paying invoices, business insurance, office supplies and on credit card spend,” the Qantas spokesperson said.
Program partners include Qantas Hotels, Avis & Budget car rentals, Booktopia and Supercheap Auto.
You can also earn Qantas Business Rewards points with bill payment services such as B2Bpay, Yak Pay and now also pay.com.au via its new PayRewards program.
But perhaps the easiest (and quickest) way to earn points on the ground is with Qantas Wine. By linking your Qantas Frequent Flyer number to your Qantas Business Rewards account, you can earn an additional 2 Business Rewards points per $1 spent on wine.
If you don’t trust Qantas to notify you when your Business Rewards points are at imminent risk of expiry (and you probably shouldn’t), you may wish to use a free service like Award Wallet which keeps track of your loyalty points. Award Wallet does support Qantas Business Rewards accounts.
What to do if your Qantas Business Rewards points have already expired
Of course, the best practice is to ensure your points do not expire in the first place. But if your points have already expired, don’t panic – you might be able to get them back!
After losing their points recently, Flying Fox was able to get them reinstated by calling the Qantas Business Rewards service team on 13 74 78.
The positive news is that I had the points reinstated after speaking to a customer service person who read the standard paragraph about keeping my account active. Points should be put back in approx 24hrs. Fingers crossed.
– Flying Fox, 30 August 2021
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Reminder – QF Business Rewards
P.S. If you’d like more tips about preventing your loyalty points from expiring, you might be interested in next Wednesday’s webinar on preserving your points & status during COVID-19!
