(29 Nov 2021)
Qantas is expanding its frequent flyer programme
with a new
Green membership tier, set to roll out early next year.
The
Green tier is
designed to educate, encourage and reward the airline’s 13 million
frequent flyers for all the sustainable good they do, from offsetting their flights
and
staying in eco-hotels, to walking to work and installing solar panels
at home.
Basically, Qantas will
reward frequent flyers for being more sustainable in the air and
on the ground.
Members will need to complete at least five
sustainable activities across six areas – flying, travel,
lifestyle, sustainable purchases, reducing impact and giving back
– each year to achieve Green tier status.
Qantas is expanding its frequent flyer programme with a new Green membership tier, set to roll out early next year.
Once achieved, members
will be rewarded with benefits like bonus Qantas Points or status
credits. These benefits will be in addition to the rewards they
get under their existing flying status or as part of Points Club.
While the program will not officially start until
early next year, frequent flyers can already offset flights, home
and car, install solar panels or make a contribution towards
protecting the Great Barrier Reef and will see these actions go
towards meeting their sustainability target as part of attaining
Green tier status.
Other environmentally friendly behaviours, like walking to
work and contributing to the purchase of sustainable aviation
fuel, which significantly reduces the emissions from flying, will
also be rewarded after the program launches officially next year.
Offset Emissions
Members can now offset their home and car
emissions through the Frequent Flyer program.
The investment from
customers will see Qantas, which is already one of the largest
private sector buyers of Australian carbon credits, support more
conservation and environmental projects. This includes restoring
local inland ecosystems, reforestation projects, Indigenous fire
management projects in Arnhem Land and the development of wind
farms in developing countries.
In practical terms, members
can use a simple calculator on the Frequent Flyer website to
estimate direct emissions from their home and car and choose to
offset them for a year at a time.
Members earn 10 Qantas
Points per $1 spent when they offset their home or car. The
average annual cost to offset home energy for a family of four
with two cars would be approximately $200 or 26,000 Qantas Points.
If just 100,000 frequent flyers offset their home and car
emissions for a year, the initiative could see a reduction of more
than 1 million tonnes of carbon – the same amount that would be
saved from installing 170,000 rooftop solar panels.
Alan Joyce, Qantas Group CEO, said, “Our
customers are concerned about climate change and so are we.
There’s a lot of action we’re taking as an airline to reduce our
emissions and that means we have the framework to help our
customers offset and take other steps to reduce their own
footprint. This new Green tier is a way of encouraging and recognising those who want to do their part by offering Qantas
Points or status credits, which we know helps shape customer
choices.
“Offsetting is one of
the main ways Australia can reduce its net emissions in the short
to medium term until new low emission technology becomes
available. As an airline, we’re looking at structural
changes to reduce our greenhouse gases, including investment in
more efficient aircraft that can cut emissions by 15 per cent and
using sustainable aviation fuel that typically cuts it by up to 80
per cent.
“In Europe and the United States, there’s a
growing sustainable aviation fuel sector that proves the potential
for Australia to create one of its own. We’re having conversations
with the rest of the industry and governments on how we kickstart
that. In the meantime, we are finalising our first significant
purchase of sustainable aviation fuel.”
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