Qantas-Uber tie-up

AshM

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
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45
Qantas
LT Gold
Virgin
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Received the email, below, from Qantas today.

It's unclear to me how a reduction by two-thirds of the points I earn on Uber airport rides - buried further down in the email - qualifies as "Good news". This email is incredibly disingenuous.

I rarely use Uber other than for travel to/from the airport. So the fact that I would need to use Uber's rewards program and convert those points into Qantas points does not strike me as an improvement, especially when conversion is at a rate (ie. a minimum of 750 Uber points for 200 Qantas points) that means I'm rarely, if ever, going to do so.

To me, this continues Qantas' creeping practice of diminishing its frequent flyer program and painting it as a win for members, which is pretty ugly.



An update on earning Qantas Points with Uber

Good news, there are now even more ways to earn Qantas Points with Uber. From 12 November 2019, Uber began rolling out Uber Rewards, their new loyalty program. Uber Rewards members will be able to earn Uber Rewards points every time they ride with Uber and order with Uber Eats, and eligible Uber Rewards members can convert these points into Qantas Points.^

Uber are trialling their new program with a small group of customers at first. Keep an eye out for your invitation from Uber to join Uber Rewards over the coming months.

As well as this new way to earn Qantas Points, you will continue to earn on eligible airport rides, however there is a change to how you earn on these trips. From 13 December 2019, as a Platinum member your earn rate of 3 points per $1 will change to 1 point per $1 spent on eligible airport rides.*

Stay tuned for more updates on Uber Rewards. You could soon be converting your Uber Rewards points from every Uber ride and Uber Eats order, on top of earning on your eligible airport rides, helping you grow your Qantas Points balance.
 
As you'll be able to earn Uber Rewards on ALL trips, not just airport ones, and then convert them to Qantas points later I can see how this could be good. The sad part is that they are reducing the earn before the program is open to all. I tried to find some info about the new Uber program and was only able to find driver rewards, which is something completely different.

Edit: So I see I need 1200 points for Gold, 4000 for Platinum and 7500 for Diamond. Most rides earn at 2 points/$1 – premium is 3 points/$1. So for the most part that's $375 spent to earn 200 points? Seeing as you're not going out of your way to earn the points, it's not the worst deal. It would appear you need to be at least Gold to use your rewards points though, which means spending $600/year (per the table at the bottom).
 
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I basically Uber for work (meaning airport trips anyway), so it's definitely a downgrade for me... 750 uber point to 200 QF points likely won't compensate for the 66% reduction on 90% of my uber trips.

It may be good for the non-frequent flyer but it does feel bad for me.

I'm not too annoyed at the end of the day as those trips were just a bonus for me regardless.

Side note I was asked to join and was put to Diamond tier straight away...
 
As you'll be able to earn Uber Rewards on ALL trips, not just airport ones, and then convert them to Qantas points later I can see how this could be good. The sad part is that they are reducing the earn before the program is open to all. I tried to find some info about the new Uber program and was only able to find driver rewards, which is something completely different.

Edit: So I see I need 1200 points for Gold, 4000 for Platinum and 7500 for Diamond. Most rides earn at 2 points/$1 – premium is 3 points/$1. So for the most part that's $375 spent to earn 200 points? Seeing as you're not going out of your way to earn the points, it's not the worst deal. It would appear you need to be at least Gold to use your rewards points though, which means spending $600/year (per the table at the bottom).

I take your point, except that, at least in my case, I don't really use Uber for non-airport travel. So $375 in Uber spend for 200 points compares with my current $67 in Uber spend for the same 200 points - and without the minimum spend to be able to convert the points.
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

I agree with the OP’s assertion that an email advising of these changes as “good news” is disingenuous.

However, on what basis Is this change the sole responsibility of Qantas to warrant a claim of “To me, this continues Qantas' creeping practice of diminishing its frequent flyer program and painting it as a win for members, which is pretty ugly.” ?

i would suggest that Uber have driven these changes, not Qantas, with the introduction of the Uber rewards program. At the end of the day, if Uber don’t want to be paying Qantas for points on trips to airports then that is a commercial decision that rests primarily with Uber, not Qantas.
 
However, on what basis Is this change the sole responsibility of Qantas to warrant a claim of “To me, this continues Qantas' creeping practice of diminishing its frequent flyer program and painting it as a win for members, which is pretty ugly.” ?

Well, Qantas - not Uber - sent the email, which opened with "Good news"! And immediately reminded me of Qantas' other recent good news, where the email opened with it being an "exciting day for our Frequent Flyers"... and where premium redemptions got a whole lot more expensive.
 
Side note I was asked to join and was put to Diamond tier straight away...
Do you know if you can invite others to join once you are already a member? :p

To be moved to diamond straight away it means you've earned 7500 points-equivalent in the prior 6 month period. If you're taking Uber Premier services that's about $2500 spend over that period. If you're taking regular UberX services then you have probably spent slightly more to get to that level.
I take your point, except that, at least in my case, I don't really use Uber for non-airport travel.
I feel in the grand scheme of things this opens up earning to more people – and is therefore a better implementation of Uber earning within QFF – as previously it was restricted to before/after a trip and only on travel to/from an airport, while the new program when it eventually rolls out encompasses every trip you take, every food delivery order you make, etc... a program will never work well for all people at the same time, but probably for the majority this is a step in the right direction.

Whether or not I'll ever convert my Uber Points to QFF or use them for Uber services instead, who knows? Will have to look at the value of the different rewards.
 
I’ve been a member for about six months, it gave me the option when I was in the US after taking quite a few trips. I have gold status.

Catch is, I think my status is US based, as a lot of the perks say “Not available abroad” here in Australia.
 
Do you know if you can invite others to join once you are already a member? :p

I have no idea actually, I only open uber for work...! I do fly about 3-6 times a month and on average each trip ends up about $150? (depends on if I drive myself to the airport or not) - that's easily $500-600 a month so yes that sounds right.

I do take normal taxis if I happen to see one but a lot of the time it's easier to uber especially as the destination is pre populated and I don't have to waste a few minutes at the end to pay and ask for a receipt...
 
I like Ola'a 1 VFF point for dollar spend a better deal - and happens instantaneously rather than waiting to clock up 750 or so points.
 
Whilst the downgrade in points earn sucks, being able earn for all rides I guess is handy even though the conversion rate is horrible. Beats getting nothing.
 
Whilst the downgrade in points earn sucks, being able earn for all rides I guess is handy even though the conversion rate is horrible. Beats getting nothing.

Depends on each persons Uber-usage. For me it's a downgrade as I mainly use Uber to-from airports. Like they say on that CSI tv show.... enhance...Enhance... ENHANCE !!! :( :D
 
Assume youll still need to book through the Qantas app for points

I find that the option to book an Uber from the QF app disappears as soon as the flight in question lands, however as per the member above I can confirm that points do post if booking through the Uber app. The only difference is that the QF app bookings used to post fairly promptly, the Uber app takes about 2 weeks post flight.

I haven't received this e-mail yet, but I am sure it will come.
 
Well I tried this, converted 750 Uber points in the Uber app to what was supposed to be 200 Qantas Points. This is what posted to my QFF.

Wed 1 Jan 2020UBER REWARDS 24-DEC-20190-0-

Fantastic! How much runaround do you think I should expect from Uber and Qantas support?
 
I just checked mine - have claimed 3 separate lots of 200 Uber points and like you posted as Zero:

Mon 6 Jan 2020UBER REWARDS 02-JAN-20200-0-
Thu 2 Jan 2020UBER REWARDS 17-DEC-20190-0-
Thu 2 Jan 2020UBER REWARDS 17-DEC-20190-0-

And i cant see anywhere on Qantas site to complain? But raised a general enqury online - now to contact uber and try the same. I know its only 600 points but still!
 
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So i raised a general ticket with Qantas yesterday (no reply) and also an Uber ticket via their app (which didnt really have anywhere for me to explain the issue).

But being Uber Rewards Diamond status, their customer service emailed me today to ask me to provide more information. This is what I sent:

"I chose to redeem my Uber Rewards Points (750 points) for Qantas Frequent Flyer Points (200 points). I did three separate redemptions, two on 17-Dec and one more on 2-Jan, so should have received 600 Qantas Frequent Flyer points in total. I got email confirmation from Uber rewards so know the redemption was sucessful.

However, when I log into my Qantas Frequent Flyer account, i see the Uber rewards listed but they are all shown as zero "0" points (see screen shot below). So the 2,250 Uber rewards points (3*750) have been deducted from my account but I received no Qantas points.

Speaking with another friend who also redemmed Uber Rewards for Qantas points they also received 0 points in their Qantas accounts. So I want to understand why Uber sent Qantas 0 points instead of 200 points on each of these transactions? And what can be done to fix this?"

So hopefully they can work out if the issue is on the Uber or the Qantas end and I will get the 600 points Im owed.

Update: Got a uber response that was less than useful "Upon checking, it seems you haven't completed your Rewards redemption for Qantas points yet. After you’ve chosen the 200 Qantas points option, you should be able to see it in your Qantas account in the next 6 weeks. We appreciate your patience"

Have replied again:

"Sorry but I have actually completed the redemption (3 separate ones) and they have posted to my Qantas Account (no record of them would show in my Qantas account if there hadnt been a transaction sent from Uber), but per the screen shot I sent on previous email, they posted 0 points instead of the 200 points each. The issue isnt that the redemption hasnt been processed, but that Uber sent 0 points instead of 200.

When I take Uber to the airport the points post correctly to my Qantas frequent flyer account so I know my Uber and Qantas accounts are properly linked. But the Uber Rewards redemptions are not actually giving me any Qantas points despite posting the transaction into my Qantas Frequent Flyer account.

Please have someone in IT investigate why Uber rewards redeemed for QFF points are sending 0 instead of 200. If Uber IT confrm they are sending correct information, please ask Qantas why showing 0 instead of 200 points?


Attaching screen shot of my Frequent Flyer statement again which shows 0 points where there should be 200 points."

@kpro If yourself and other AFF members havng the same issues could also log both Uber and Qantas tickets it might be more likely they will investigate.
 
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