Qantas Business Rewards now lets you book hotels and car hire
Discounted flights, special offers and a Gold status fast track make benefits highly accessible for businesses of all sizes.
By Staff Writers, August 10 2023
Businesses with employees regularly travelling the globe can enjoy discounted flights, lounge memberships and even a double-dip on points through the Qantas Business Rewards (QBR) program.
Operating in parallel to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, the Flying Kangaroo’s business incentive scheme features a suite of benefits, which not only allows companies to manage their travel but makes trips more comfortable for road warriors.
Recent changes have made it more convenient too, expanding its original flights-centric brief to now include hotels and even car hire. Qantas says booking functionality will roll out to select users as a trial from August 2023 before expanding to all members by the year’s end.
Here’s your comprehensive guide to Qantas Business Rewards and how to make it fly for your business.
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Small and medium-sized enterprises can join more than 450,000 others in the Qantas Business Rewards program to make their travel needs, whether concise or consistent, work better for them. Whether you’re a sole trader, partnership or incorporated, all you need is your ABN and be registered with ASIC to prove you’re a legitimate operation, and you can create a business account to get started and earn rewards right from the very first domestic or international flight taken in economy, premium economy or business class. Plus, travellers earn Qantas Points for the company’s Qantas Business Rewards account on top of the points they earn for their own Qantas Frequent Flyer account. There’s a once-off join fee of $89.50 to sign your company up to Qantas Business Rewards, however this is currently being waived for a limited time. There are three tiers in the Qantas Business Rewards program and your business will graduate to the next level once a certain points threshold is met per membership year. Level 2 is for businesses earning between 15,000 and 79,999 Qantas Business Rewards points per year. Level 3 is for businesses earning 80,000 Qantas Business Rewards points or more in a membership year. Like the individual Qantas Frequent Flyer program, your account will progress to a higher tier once you’ve achieved the required points threshold, which will qualify you for the same level for a subsequent year. Further annual assessments will determine whether you remain at the same tier for next year or drop to a level more in line with points accrued in the preceding 12 months. Once your account is set up, you can go ahead and register the names and details of all your travelling employees, including yourself. Level 1 businesses will then earn 20 Qantas Business Rewards points for every 100 accrued by the individual travelling (plus status credits for the traveller) on all eligible flights taken by any employee registered under your QBR account and booked in Australia. An eligible flight is one operated by Qantas (with a QF flight number) or by one of its codeshare partners, such as Emirates and Oneworld partners. Just make sure there’s a QF flight number on the service being taken and you’re all set. Companies at Level 2 will earn 30 QBR points for every 100 their flyer earns, while businesses at Level 3 will rake in 40 QBR points per 100 accrued by the travelling team member. Travellers will also earn an additional 250 Qantas points into their own accounts when travelling for work on top of what they would ordinarily earn for the flight taken. The points don’t stop when you’re not at 40,000 feet either, with special deals in place for businesses to earn through more than 50 Qantas Business Rewards partners on purchases such as fleet vehicle fuel, accommodation and car hire, office supplies, technology, insurance, uniforms, purchases for your office’s furniture fit-out, electricity and energy usage and much more. A handy calculator on the Qantas Business Rewards website shows how many points you can earn through domestic and international flights to various parts of the world. In addition to booking flights, members of the Qantas Business Rewards program now organise hotels and car hire through the platform – making it a veritable one stop shop for many of the key aspects of business travel. Qantas says the inclusion of hotels and car hire, added in August 2023, will be offered to a “select group of businesses over the next few months as a trial, before being rolled out to all members later this year.” At QBR Level 1 (businesses earning up to 14,999 Qantas Business Rewards points (not Qantas Frequent Flyer points per year): members earn a flat 6% discount off the base airfare (not including taxes, fees and surcharges) on domestic flexible economy and business seats, and 5% on international flexible economy, premium economy and business seats. At QBR Level 2 (businesses earning between 15,000 and 79,999 Qantas Business Rewards points per year): for domestic travel, members enjoy a 2% price cut on the cheapest S-class Red e-Deal fares; 3% on classic M, L and V class economy fares; 7% on H and K-class flexible economy fares; 8% on higher Y and B-class flexible economy and 8% on J and C-class business seats. International fares enjoy a flat 7% saving regardless of the cabin and fare class booked. At QBR Level 3 (businesses earning 80,000 Qantas Business Rewards points or more in a membership year): on domestic fares, members can cut 2% off the bargain S and N-class Red e-Deals; 3% off mid-range V-class; 5% on higher M and L-class; 8% on H and K-class flexible economy; 9% on mid-level B-class and 10% on higher Y-class, while business discounts are 9% on C-class and 10% on J-class. For international, it’s a flat 8% across the board. Once your QBR balance reaches at least 3,000 points, you can then start to redeem them directly from the account on eligible Classic Flight Rewards services with Qantas or any of its partners. Want to stretch out on the flight? You can use points for Classic Upgrade Rewards, requesting an upgrade directly from your Qantas Business Rewards account – no transfer to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account is required. Upgrades on domestic flights can be requested up to 10 hours before departure, while international flights require a minimum 24-hour grace period. If successful, you'll be notified by SMS and the required points will be deducted from your account. If you don’t quite have enough points for the fare or desired upgrades, seating or baggage needs, you can supplement the redemption by paying for the rest of your purchase in cash as per normal. If you have your eye on something else, points earned under the business account can be transferred to an individual’s Qantas Frequent Flyer account (either yours or an employee’s) to spend at thousands of retailers in the Qantas Partner Store. The Qantas Business Rewards program offers a range of online tools designed to help businesses manage all activity taken under their account, especially where employees are granted access to make and manage their own bookings. Administrators on the account can track eligible flight bookings, grant and revoke employee access, reconcile monthly travel-related business expenses and export points statements to make account management much easier. Details of company credit cards can also be securely saved, making it easier for employees with access to book and manage their business flights. Your employees can start their trip in the comfortable surroundings of the Qantas Club lounge at 22 airports around Australia, with discounted membership available through your Qantas Business Rewards account. Discounts of 20% for Level 1 members and 30% for Levels 2 and 3 members mean your team can enjoy priority check-in, a higher baggage allowance, better chances of a same-day seat upgrade and a host of other benefits on top of the pre-flight food and drinks available in the lounge itself. You’ll find a Qantas Club lounge in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Broome, Cairns, Canberra, Coffs Harbour, Darwin, Devonport, Emerald, Gladstone, Gold Coast, Hobart, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Launceston, Mackay, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Tamworth and Townsville. There are two more in Port Hedland and Rockhampton, but at the time of writing, these are closed. Regular priced membership of the Qantas Club starts at $600 per person for one year (plus a $99 once-off joining fee) or can be purchased for two years at $1,100. So with your Qantas Business Rewards discount, this could take membership down as low as $420 (plus the joining fee). Of course, if you’re already a Gold, Platinum or Platinum One-tiered frequent flyer, your access to Domestic Business and International First lounges is included with that status. Once your business reaches QBR Level 3, one of your employees (or yourself) each year will be able to supercharge their status with the Qantas Gold Tier Accelerator program. This puts Qantas Gold (and Oneworld Sapphire) status within easy reach, with a requirement of just 200 Qantas status credits within 90 days for your first year of Qantas Gold: unlocking perks such as lounge access, priority boarding, Accor Live Limitless Silver status with one stay and much more. The only conditions on this are that the employee must not have activated a different Qantas Gold fast track offer in the last six months and must reside in Australia or New Zealand. Additional reporting by Chris Ashton.
Points for you, points for your business: Qantas sees QBR as a 'win-win'.Qantas Business Rewards: Who is it for?
Qantas Business Rewards: What are the different membership tiers?
Qantas Business Rewards: How can I earn Qantas Points?
Qantas Business Rewards: Hotels and car hire
Qantas Business Rewards: What airfare discounts I can enjoy?
Qantas Business Rewards: How can I redeem Qantas Points?
Qantas Business Rewards: How easy is it to manage my account?
Qantas Business Rewards: Discounted Qantas Club membership
Qantas Business Rewards: Qantas Gold Tier Accelerator
