Qantas will launch a new website dedicated to helping customers find and redeem their lost flight credits.
The Qantas “Find My Credit” tool will be brought online in April 2023. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said it will work a bit like websites such as “Find My Super” that help Australians to track down missing superannuation savings.
Qantas customers will be able to enter their details into a database. The tool will then inform them of any outstanding flight credit balances available.
“We’re also going to be launching, like ‘find your super’, a website that says ‘find your credit’. So it makes it easier for people to [use their flight credits],” Mr Joyce said when asked at a recent media conference about the amount of outstanding travel credits held by Qantas.
It’s one of a range of measures Mr Joyce said the airline is taking to encourage customers to use up their credits.
“We’ve seen a significant use of credits over the last two years, and we’re making it easier for people to use them,” he said.
“We now have a dedicated concierge line with people that are experts at using credits. So that’s a dedicated number. Even if you go through the general call centre, in the IVR – the 1, 2, 3, 4 options – there’s an option for you to go through to that dedicated team.”
“We are sending you now an email every month to remind you you have a credit.
“And we did, just before Christmas, a double points offer if you used your credit. So we’re trying to incentivise you to use your credit, and we have some more promotions lined up to do that.”
Qantas is also paying travel agents an additional $10 fee when they help their customers to redeem Qantas flight credits. But given Qantas last year reduced travel agent commission on international bookings from 5% to 1% (and domestic bookings already earn zero commission), some agents found that offer a tad insulting.
$800 million in unredeemed Qantas flight credits
Qantas currently holds around $800 million worth of unused flight credits belonging to customers who had to cancel their trips – many of them due to COVID-19 and border closures. The COVID-related travel credits are due to expire at the end of this year. Flight credits issued more recently have a 12-month expiry date.
Many Qantas customers have complained of difficulty in using their flight credits. This is particularly the case for customers with credits issued after October 2021, which can only be used towards a new booking with the same number of passengers and for an airfare that costs at least as much as the original booking amount.
Virgin Australia does not impose this restriction on its Travel Bank credits, which can be used towards multiple bookings and even on flights for other people.
In April 2022, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced it was investigating Qantas flight credits and asked for public submissions to assist with its inquiry. That investigation is still ongoing.
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