Pay.com.au has added Qatar Airways Privilege Club as a transfer partner for PayRewards loyalty points, giving Australians a new way to easily earn Avios without flying.
Pay.com.au is a bill payment service that lets you earn full credit card points on your business payments. You can use the platform to pay bills by credit card, including ATO and government payments, and earn points for your credit card spend at the full everyday earn rate.
When making payments through pay.com.au, you can also opt to pay a little bit more for a package that includes PayRewards Points. For example, by paying an extra 1.8% in processing fees, you can earn 2 PayRewards Points per $1 paid through the platform. (That’s in addition to any points you would earn through your credit card.)
You can also earn PayRewards Points when using the platform to pay business expenses by bank transfer.
You can then redeem your PayRewards Points for a choice of rewards, or transfer them to any of the following airline program partners:
| Loyalty program | Transfer rate |
|---|---|
| Qantas Business Rewards | 2.5 PayRewards = 1 Qantas Point |
| Virgin Australia Business Flyer | 2.5 PayRewards = 1 Velocity Point |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 2.5 PayRewards = 1 KrisFlyer Mile |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club (new) | 3 PayRewards = 1 Qatar Avios |
What you can do with Qatar Airways Avios
Avios is the shared loyalty program currency of five airlines: Qatar Airways, British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling. Plus, later this week, Finnair will become the sixth airline to start using Avios.
As well as redemptions on Oneworld and other partner airlines, you can redeem Qatar Avios for Business and First Class reward seats and upgrades on Qatar Airways flights.
Members of Qatar Airways Privilege Club get earlier access (and lower pricing) to Qsuite redemptions, compared to Velocity Frequent Flyer and Qantas Frequent Flyer members.
Privilege Club members also get exclusive access to “Flexi” rewards on Qatar Airways, which cost more Avios but have more availability than regular awards. And Qatar Avios is the only type of points you can use to upgrade Qatar Airways flights.
See our guide to using Qatar Airways Avios for more information about the program.
You can also transfer your Avios at a 1:1 rate to British Airways Executive Club, or onwards from there to any of the other frequent flyer programs using Avios.
Earning Avios in Australia
Avios are valuable, but there aren’t that many other ways to earn them in Australia. The other main method would be by transferring Amex Membership Rewards points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
Great Cards for Amex Membership Rewards Points
- Card Name
- American Express Platinum Edge
- Earn
- 1
- Signup Bonus
-
No current signup bonus
- Annual Fee
- $0 in the first year, $195 p.a.
- Read more
- Read the guide
American Express Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases
- Card Name
- American Express Explorer
- Earn
- 2
- Signup Bonus
-
50,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points
- Annual Fee
- $395 p.a.
- Read more
- Read the guide
American Express Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases
- Card Name
- American Express Platinum Card
- Earn
- 2.25
- Signup Bonus
-
200,000 bonus Membership Rewards points
Apply by 01st Oct 2024
- Annual Fee
- $1,450 p.a.
- Read more
- Read the guide
American Express Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases
Pay.com.au processing fees
Pay.com.au offers three membership levels: Free, Regular and Premium. You can fully use the platform to pay your bills using the free plan, but the processing rates are lower if you have a paid subscription.
These are the standard payment processing fees, which exclude GST:
| Card type | Free plan | Regular plan ($85/month) | Premium plan (normally $165/month) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mastercard | 1% + GST | 0.9% + GST | 0.8% + GST |
| Visa | 1.2% + GST | 1.1% + GST | 1.0% + GST |
| Amex | 1.95-2.1% + GST | 1.9-2.05% + GST | 1.75-1.9% + GST |
When paying business expenses, you might be able to claim a tax deduction on these processing fees.
Special deal for AFF Gold & Platinum members
As an exclusive offer, AFF Gold & Platinum members can access pay.com.au’s Premium plan processing rates for 90 days at no cost. That’s two months longer than the usual 30-day free trial offered to new Premium members.
Go to the AFF Member Lounge for more details.
Disclaimer: Australian Frequent Flyer is affiliated with Pay.com.au.
