QANTAS ANNOUNCES NEW FREQUENT FLYER BENEFITS

Qantas today announced new and varied benefits to members of the airline's Frequent Flyer program.

Qantas Executive General Manager Marketing, Denis Adams, said one of the immediate benefits of the Program was the removal of the current five-year expiry period for Frequent Flyer points.

"Members who earn or redeem points at least once every three years will be able to keep their points balance indefinitely," he said.

Mr Adams added the measure and currency of earning points per kilometer would change to points per mile.

"This subtle change will bring the Qantas Frequent Flyer Program into line with other international airline loyalty programs measured in miles rather than kilometres," he said.

"We will also, from today, remove the Account Service Fee (ASF) which previously applied to some members of the Program. Those members who had previously not paid the Account Service Fee will have their suspended accounts reactivated," he added.

Mr Adams said the changes followed six months of detailed research and analysis into what members told the airline they were looking for.

Other changes will come into effect from 15 September, including:

Full points for travel on discount Economy Class fare types.

A guaranteed 1,000 points for travel on any Qantas designated Economy Class flight and 1,250 points on any Business or First Class flight.

The ability to use Frequent Flyer points for upgrades to First or Business Class on international flights.

Five Award redemption travel zones with no distinction between domestic and international travel.

Newly branded four levels of Qantas Frequent Flyer membership levels: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Mr Adams said the Qantas Frequent Flyer program was first introduced to customers in 1987 and today had more than 2.6 million members, worldwide.

"The Qantas Frequent Flyer program is the most successful loyalty program in Australia offering customers services on the airline's worldwide network together with more than 100 program partners," he said.

Mr Adams added the newly announced benefits were automatic to Qantas Frequent Flyer members from the effective dates.