Types of Travellers

In an attempt to compare the Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity programs we considered 4 types of travellers:

• A typical Leisure traveller � Qantas Bronze member, $6,000 annual credit card spend, 2 return short �Discount� Economy Class domestic flights a year, 1 return �Discount� Economy Class international flight a year.
   

• A typical Small Business traveller � Qantas Silver member, $12,000 annual credit card spend, 10 return short �Flexible� Economy Class return flights a year, 2 return long �Flexible� Economy Class return flights a year, 1 �Flexible� Economy Class international flight a year.
   

• A typical Corporate traveller � Qantas Gold member, $24,000 annual credit card spend, 20 return short �Flexible� Economy Class return flights a year, 4 return long Business Class return flights a year, 2 Business Class international flight a year.
   

• A typical Corporate traveller � Qantas Platinum member, $24,000 annual credit card spend, 20 return short �Flexible� Economy Class return flights a year, 4 return long Business Class return flights a year, 2 Business Class international flight a year.

Points Earned

We then calculated the number of Qantas Frequent Flyer points each type of traveller would earn by using Qantas services, taking into account all bonus points earned through Status and Cabin Class.

Similarly, we calculated the number of Velocity points a Virgin Blue customer would have earned.

Points Burned

The Qantas and Virgin programs have very different BURN rates.  So, to make any meaningful conclusion, we need to consider the other side of the equation - the number of points required for free travel.

We did this for 2 popular routes (Sydney-Melbourne and Sydney-London) and then worked out the number of free trips a traveller in each category can expect to earn each year.

Sydney - Melbourne

So, for example, a Leisure traveller can expect to earn an average of 1.8 free Syd-Mel flights per year with Qantas and 1.1 free flights with Virgin Velocity.

Sydney - London

So, for example, a Small Business traveller can expect to earn an average of 0.5 free Syd-Mel flights per year with Qantas and 0.6 free flights with Virgin Velocity.

CONCLUSION

To put it simply, from points value perspective there isn't much difference between the two programs.

The Qantas Frequent Flyer program offers slightly better benefits for Leisure and Corporate Platinum members; whilst Virgin Velocity offers a better deal for Small Business and the smaller Corporate customers.

Note that this analysis focuses on points value only.  It does not include other factors - such as availability of reward flights or number of international partners - which are also important in evaluating the programs.  For a more general discussion see the December 2005 edition of The Frequent Flyer Gazette.

You can download the Excel spreadsheet we used for our analysis HERE.