American Express has announced that it will be reducing the earn rate on its Qantas and Velocity cards as from April 15, 2019. The changes see the earn rates shaved by 0.25 points per dollar across the card range.
At the same time as these changes are introduced, American Express will also be changing the earn and burn rate across it flexible Membership Rewards cards.
American Express offer a pair of cards for each of the Qantas Frequent Flyer and Velocity programs. The cards affected by these changes are
- Qantas
- Discovery and
- Qantas American Express Ultimate
- Velocity
For the high end cards (the Qantas Ultimate and Velocity Platinum), the basic earn rate will fall from 1.25 points per dollar down to 1 point per dollar. While the bonus point available when spending on the associated airline remains, it does see that earn drop from 2.25 points per dollar down to 2 points per dollar.
For the basic cards (the Qantas Discovery and Velocity Escape cards), the base earn falls from 1 point per dollar to 0.75 points per dollar. Again, this flows through to the points earn with the relevant airline.
Qantas Frequent Flyer Cards
The Qantas cards see a reduction in earn of 0.25 points per dollar for most categories. The exception is government spend which is unchanged.
Ultimate Card
The earn rates for the Ultimate card will change as follows
| Earn Category | Current Earn until April 14 | Earn from Apr 15 |
|---|---|---|
| Qantas | 2.25 | 2.00 |
| All Other | 1.25 | 1.00 |
| Government | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Discovery Card
The earn rates for the Discovery card will change as follows
| Earn Category | Current Earn until April 14 | Earn from Apr 15 |
|---|---|---|
| Qantas | 2.0 | 1.75 |
| All Other | 1 | 0.75 |
| Government | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Velocity Cards
The Velocity cards also see a reduction in earn of 0.25 points per dollar for most categories. The exception is government spend which is unchanged.
Velocity Platinum Card
| Earn Category | Current Earn | Earn from Apr 15 |
|---|---|---|
| Virgin Australia | 2.25 | 2.00 |
| All Other | 1.25 | 1.00 |
| Government | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Velocity Escape Card
| Earn Category | Current Earn | Earn from Apr 15 |
|---|---|---|
| Virgin Australia | 2.0 | 1.75 |
| All Other | 1 | 0.75 |
| Government | 0.5 | 0.5 |