Qantas, Australia’s largest domestic and international airline, and a leader in long-distance air travel, is nearing its 100th anniversary. While that anniversary will take place in 2020, 2019 was an important year for the company’s loyalty programs. Qantas revamped its frequent flyer program and announced a partnership with BP. Loyalty360 recently had the opportunity to dive into loyalty, rewards programs, personalization and more with a Qantas representative.
Can you please provide a brief overview of the Qantas Business Rewards program?
Qantas Business Rewards is all about rewarding small to medium businesses. Through the program, employees and businesses can earn Qantas Points through their everyday business expenses with over 50 program partners across banking, energy, payments and many more. The program also provides access to flight savings and the ability to double their points when they fly – once for themselves and once for their business account.
How many members are currently active in, or a part of, the QFF program? How have those members traditionally earned and redeemed points?
There are now more than 250,000 Qantas Business Rewards members, and close to 13 million Qantas Frequent Flyer members overall.
Approximately 70 percent of all Qantas Points are earned through on-the-ground transactions like credit cards or online shopping. The majority of points earned are used on travel (80 percent). Last financial year almost 5 million reward flights were taken. Four flight redemptions are made every minute and sixty upgrades are confirmed every hour.
Can you define what customer loyalty means to Qantas?
Customer loyalty is about creating a relationship with your customer beyond the transactional. For Qantas Frequent Flyer it’s not just about points and rewards, it’s about forming an emotional connection with our members. The member experience is at the heart of our program, and a deep understanding of the needs, wants and habits of our customers is critical to servicing that.
Qantas recently announced a partnership with oil and gas giant BP for a new customer loyalty initiative. Can you share details on the partnership and how it will work?
Launching in early 2020, the BP Rewards program will allow customers to earn Qantas Points on fuel and eligible in-store purchases across participating BP retail sites. Additionally, BP Plus fuel card will become the exclusive fuel partner of Qantas Business Rewards.
What was the inspiration behind the partnership? How did your brand consider customer insights and/or feedback in the process?
We know Australians love earning Qantas Points and there’s an increasing appetite to be able to earn those points on everyday expenses. This helps members gain value from regular expenses and grudge purchases, while bringing them closer to their next dream trip.
You mentioned that highly valued, personalized offers are a key pillar to your brand’s loyalty strategy. Can you share more on how Qantas is meeting customers’ demand for personalization?
Personalization is core to keeping members engaged in the program and making them feel connected to the brand. We invest heavily in understanding the habits and behaviors of frequent flyers, enabling us to serve content to members that’s timely and relevant to them.
Are there additional examples of how Qantas is meeting or exceeding customers’ expectations of your loyalty program and brand?
In June 2019, Qantas announced a number of changes to its frequent flyer program. The changes were about making rewards more accessible and giving frequent flyers even more value. The response has been extremely positive. Already we have seen a 30 percent growth in the number of people booking reward seats, with a third of those bookings going to people who had never made a reward seat booking before or within the last 18 months.
We’re always looking for new and innovative ways for our members to earn Qantas Points. Last week we launched Qantas Car Insurance, which will reward motorists with Qantas Points for performing brake and tire checks and booking their car in for a service.