Qantas has launched a new loyalty program aimed at small to medium-sized businesses, allowing any business with an ABN to earn Qantas Points for travel by its owners, employees or contractors. This includes sole traders.
The new program, Qantas Business Rewards, is essentially a reboot and simplification of the three year-old Aquire program.
As with Aquire, individuals will continue to earn Qantas Points and status credit when flying. But, under the new program, the business will also earn Qantas Points from day one.
Qantas has scrapped the annoying requirement that a business had to rack up 20,000 Aquire points before they could be converted to Qantas Points.
Also gone is the Aquire rule that a business must have at least two employees to qualify, which is good news for sole traders.
This means that anyone with an ABN can register their business in the program and earn the extra points by quoting their ABN and the traveller’s Qantas Frequent Flyer number at the time of booking.
All current Aquire members will be automatically transitioned into the new scheme with their ‘pending points’ converted to Qantas Points.
In addition, Qantas is offering a 10% discount for Qantas Club membership for program participants.
Earning for flights
Under Qantas Business Rewards, businesses will earn Qantas Points from the first dollar spent on flights.
For every 100 Qantas Points earned by the individual person flying, the business will earn at least 20 Qantas Points.
The business can earn more points by moving up the three levels of membership, as illustrated below, which also unlocks modest savings for flights booked through a travel agent or Qantas Business Direct.
Qantas Business Rewards levels
Eligible flights on partner airlines Emirates and American Airlines will also earn Qantas Points for the business.
Earning on the ground
Similar to the Frequent Flyer program for individuals, businesses can also earn points for purchases on the ground with more than 40 non-airline retail partners.
This includes retailers in travel; vehicle hire, leasing and parking; banking, finance and accounting; phone, internet and cloud solutions; accommodation; cleaning and waste services; insurance; office supplies; energy; freight, delivery and storage; recruitment, staff and training; advertising and printing; and construction and trade.
How to join
Any Australian-based business with an ABN can join Qantas Business Rewards. Businesses that join by 28 February 2017 can do so for free (saving $89.50).
For more information and to join, go to www.qantasbusinessrewards.com.