Qantas has revamped and renamed its Aquire program. Now going under the name of Qantas Business Rewards, it is another attempt by Qantas to reward Australia’s small-to-medium enterprise market.
A brief summary of the changes:
- All members of Aquire will become Business Rewards members
- Aquire points are no more, and will simply be Qantas Points.
- The concept of Pending Points is removed,and only a single traveller is required
- Introduction of 3 membership levels, with earn rates tied to your level
Renaming Aquire as Business Rewards
When Aquire launched back in 2014, it did so at a time when Qantas had a thing about the letter Q. As a brand name, it never really gave much indication of what it was about.
Now it has been reborn under the name ‘Qantas Business Rewards’.. Members of Aquire will automatically become members of Qantas Business Rewards.
Aquire Points are now just Qantas Points
Given the rebrand of the program, Qantas now refer to the points simply as Qantas Points. The points always had a 1 to 1 conversion to Qantas Points, so it seems sensible to just call them what they are – Qantas Points.
These points will continue to sit in your Business Rewards account, just as they did with Aquire. As with Aquire, members will be able to transfer the points to a selected Qantas Frequent Flyer account. They minimum transfer of 3,000 points will remain
Easier for small businesses
The structure of the program made it difficult for some small business owners to benefit from the program. There were restrictions on when members were eligible to transfer points across to a Frequent Flyer account. Under the revamp, Qantas have removed two of those restrictions – the need for 20,000 pending points, and the need to have two travellers during the membership year.
The concept of Pending Points has been removed. As a result, you no longer need to earn 20,000 points from flying each year before you could convert the points. The requirement to earn 20,000 points was always a big ask for some of the small businesses and sole traders that would have some flying during the year, but couldn’t rack up 20,000 points.
In addition, the requirement to have two travellers during the year has been removed. Now, a sole trader can enjoy the benefits even they only have the one traveller.
Qantas Business Rewards membership tiers
Qantas are introducing the concept of membership tiers to the program, with three tiers being on offer. The different tiers feature different earn rates, and different discounts on Qantas Direct airfares. This replaces the current flat structure, where all members got the same. Your membership tier will be determined by the number of points that are earned in the program each year.
As may be expected, some benefits of the program are determined by your tier. The main items affected by your tier are the earn rate in the program, and the airfare discounts available The following table gives a basic view of this.
| Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification
(Points from flying each year) |
<20,000 | 20,000-99,999 | 100,000 or more |
| Business Reward earn rate | 20% | 30% | 40% |
| Airfare discount | 5% | 7% | 8& (except red-e-deal 2%) |
Earnings Changes
Under Aquire, points earning was based on a percentage of the points earned in the Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme. The percentage varied depending on your fare class and route (international or domestic). This percentage varied between 30% and 50%. Under the new offer, Tier 1 members step down to a flat 20%, Tier 2 members get 30%, while Tier 3 members get 40%. In many cases, this will result in decreased earnings under the new scheme.
Airfare Discount
As part of the program, members have been eligible for discounts on certain airfares. Under the revamp, the discount is now tied to your tier. For reference, the discounts are shown in the following table
More information on the Qantas Business Rewards program may be found at qantasbusinessrewards.com.