Loyalty key for Qantas

THE diversified earnings provided by the Qantas Loyalty division during the pandemic made a significant contribution to how the airline navigated COVID-19, with the company today confirming forecasts of a return to double digit growth in 2022.

Qantas Loyalty expects to contribute as much as $600 million to the overall Qantas bottom line by FY2024, with earnings from the TripADeal acquisition (see p1) expected to boost this even further.

“The Group has continued to invest in building Qantas Loyalty’s ecosystem across multiple sectors, particularly travel, as well as building a coalition of partners which is driving growth in membership and earnings,” according to Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth.

Alan Joyce, Qantas CEO, said the purchase of 51% of TripADeal was an important strategic investment for Qantas Loyalty, which performed well during COVID.

‘Members earned and used large volumes of points on the ground, and customer satisfaction levels were at record highs.

“It’s easy to get customer satisfaction to record levels when you’re not flying...people seem to be a lot happier engaging with the program on the ground surprisingly,” he quipped.

Joyce and Wirth confirmed that the investment in TripADeal was seen as complementary to the existing Qantas Hotels and Qantas Holidays businesses, allowing points redemptions on more complex, curated itineraries in destinations across the world.

They confirmed that TripADeal would continue to work with a range of airlines, including Qantas and Jetstar, on the holiday packages it offers.

As well as allowing points redemptions on TripADeal packages, Frequent Flyers will earn three points per dollar spent on all TripADeal purchases.

The alignment between the brands kicked off quickly this morning, with the companies confirming bookings under the deal within minutes of its announcement at 8.30am today.