Qantas unveils major changes to frequent flyer program and a bumper $1.46bn profit
Qantas is overhauling its frequent flyer program to entice members to climb its vaunted membership tiers, in changes designed to prevent customers from switching to rival schemes.The reforms, described by the airline as the “biggest changes to status in program history”, have been unveiled during a hugely profitable period for Qantas, with revenue rising across its domestic, international and loyalty scheme businesses.On Thursday, Qantas announced planned changes to the loyalty scheme to allow members to roll over some of their status credits - the currency used to determine membership tiers - helping people reach or maintain high levels such as gold and platinum.This differs from the previous system of unused credits resetting to zero at the end of a holder’s membership year.However, the amount of credits needed to keep status levels is increasing, according to analysis from comparison site Finder.
Unlike regular frequent flyer points, status credits determine benefits such as lounge access, priority boarding and baggage allowances, regardless of the ticket type,Members will also be able to earn status credits through day-to-day spending, not just when flying,This change was trialled in 2025, but will soon become permanent,Qantas described the changes, which will begin later this year, as a way for “members to effectively strive toward that next tier”,There are also several changes designed to encourage members to work towards “lifetime status” that results from decades of loyalty to the airline.
While critics point out the airline’s loyalty program generally means customers pay for their own points via higher prices, it is a hugely popular scheme and helps determine consumer purchases.Qantas’ loyalty business enjoyed a 19% lift in revenue in its half year results published on Thursday, with the business unit generating money by selling frequent flyer points to credit card companies, banks and retailers.Customers then redeem these for flights and products.Overall, Australia’s airline delivered a record $1.46bn pre-tax profit for the six month period, as passengers shrugged off cost-of-living pressures to travel within and outside Australia.
Australia’s biggest airline credited robust customer demand, new routes and increased flight frequency to “Japan, Bali and across the Tasman”, and more fuel-efficient new aircraft for the strong result, up 5% from a year ago.The chief executive, Vanessa Hudson, is overseeing Qantas’s most expansive fleet-renewal program ever, balancing the huge expenditure required after a prolonged period of under investment.Qantas is replacing its ageing domestic fleet and purchasing long-range planes.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailHudson said on Thursday the new aircraft were “delivering better fuel efficiency, lower maintenance costs, and providing the flexibility to open new routes”.She said customer satisfaction levels were also rising due to the new planes.
The airline lifted revenue across its operations, with its budget carrier Jetstar once again the standout performer.Revenue at Jetstar increased by 8%, and its profit margins widened.Spending reports have consistently found that while many Australians are cutting back on discretionary items due to high living costs, travel remains a priority.Qantas expects strong traveller demand to continue, while noting it will monitor the “evolving economic environment in the US”.While the US market has been a challenge for Qantas, Hudson said she was not aware of any customers being turned away at US entry points due to their social media activity.
“I don’t think that that is at all an issue that we are seeing for our customers,” Hudson said.The airline is rewarding shareholders with an interim 19.8c dividend per share, representing a 20% increase, and share buyback.Buybacks are used to reduce the number of shares in a company, often resulting in a lift in share price.
English cricket’s hunger for Indian money has led it into a moral and legal minefield | Barney Ronay
The thing about inviting a tiger round for tea is, for all the excitement, the fur, the teeth, the muscles, they do tend to walk off with your dinner and drink all the water in the taps. The thing about saying yes to the person with the biggest stick is, in the end, you don’t get to say yes, or no, or anything at all. And that person still has a very big stick.The thing about closing your eyes and just taking the money is: money passes only in exchange for something of value, and full payment will be taken. Welcome to English cricket in full blind, groping crisis mode, and the first small tremor of what lies in store whatever happens in the next few weeks
Steve Borthwick turns to 2003 World Cup heroes for Six Nations inspiration
Steve Borthwick has turned to England’s 2003 World Cup winners to arrest his side’s drastic decline after enduring another setback with the scrum‑half Alex Mitchell ruled out for the rest of the Six Nations.Borthwick’s squad were due on Wednesday night to have dinner with members of the 2003 team, including the captain Martin Johnson, the Test centurion Jason Leonard and Lewis Moody, who revealed in October that he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.Borthwick urged his players to use the opportunity to ask how they dealt with setbacks, after England’s Six Nations hopes went up in smoke for another year with the dismal 42-21 defeat against Ireland last Saturday, seven days after they were outclassed by Scotland.Borthwick is under renewed pressure as a result and will lead England into their final two matches against Italy in Rome and France in Paris without Mitchell, who sustained a hamstring injury against Ireland. Jack van Poortvliet is standing by for the No 9 jersey while Ollie Lawrence has had a knee injection and is a doubt for the Italy match
Breakaway union stands behind Tara Moore’s $20m legal battle against WTA
The breakaway players’ union that is suing the tours and grand slam tournaments has thrown its weight behind Tara Moore’s $20m (£14.7m) legal battle against the Women’s Tennis Association in a new front in the sport’s civil war.The Guardian has learnt that Moore, a former British No 1 doubles player who this week brought a legal action for negligence against the WTA after being handed a four‑year ban for doping, is using lawyers from the Professional Tennis Players Association’s legal partner, King & Spalding.The PTPA has already brought a legal claim against the WTA, the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals and three of the grand slam tournaments, accusing them of collaborating to reduce prize money and imposing a restrictive ranking system, in the same US federal court where Moore has filed her claim, that of the southern district of New York.The players’ union, which was set up by Novak Djokovic six years ago but which he left last month, is also in the midst of a $1bn investment round to fund a new global tour, in another potential threat to the WTA and ATP
Constitution Hill out of Champion Hurdle and ready for next chapter on the Flat
Constitution Hill, the brilliant Champion Hurdle winner in 2023, has been ruled out of this year’s race on 10 March and any further races over jumps after a schooling session at Nicky Henderson’s yard on Wednesday, with the trainer saying in a statement that “it is not fair to ask him and Nico [de Boinville, his jockey] to do it again” following three falls in the nine-year-old’s last four races.Confirmation that Constitution Hill will pursue new opportunities on the Flat follows his astonishing debut on the level at Southwell four days ago. While some jumps fans will regret the fact that one of the best hurdlers in racing history will not get a final chance to reclaim his former crown, others will feel relief that the risks attached to another fall have weighed heavier in the balance than the lure of a final run at the festival.“Michael Buckley [Constitution Hill’s owner] and I have not surprisingly spent a lot of time soul searching and thinking over Constitution Hill’s future,” Henderson said in a statement on X on Wednesday afternoon, “and have sadly concluded that he will not be running in the Unibet Champion Hurdle the week after next.“Last Friday night was for us all a magical occasion and we so appreciated his popularity and the love and admiration everybody showed to Conrad, as he is fondly called here
MPs back UK broadcasters in push to expand sport’s free-to-air ‘crown jewels’
Public service broadcasters are making renewed attempts to persuade the government to expand the list of televised sport’s free-to-air “crown jewels”.A call from the then BBC director of sport, Barbara Slater, to add the Six Nations Championship to the group A list of events that must be offered to terrestrial channels was rejected three years ago, but a group of Labour MPs is understood to be working with broadcasters to force a change of policy.BBC and ITV have since extended their joint rights for the Six Nations until 2029 despite fears they would be outbid by a subscription service such as Sky Sports and TNT Sport, but with budgets tight they are still seeking legislative protection.While BBC and ITV would be the main beneficiaries of any change, Channel 4 has significantly increased its sport offering in recent years and will be the free-to-air home of the Winter Paralympics next month, as well as beginning exclusive contracts to broadcast the men’s and women’s Boat Races and Women’s FA Cup this year.In addition to pushing for the Six Nations to be moved from the group B list, which permits live events to be behind a paywall as long as highlights are made available free-to-air, the public service broadcasters also want the A list expanded to include the home nations’ men’s and women’s international qualifiers for the World Cup and European Championship, one Champions League tie involving a British team from each round of matches and the men’s FA Cup
The US men’s hockey team at the State of the Union showed proximity to Trump is never neutral
During Tuesday’s State of the Union, Donald Trump welcomed members of the US men’s national hockey team to the House gallery to chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A!”. Trump revealed that Team USA’s goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “What special champions you are,” Trump told the players, who had beaten Canada on Sunday in the gold medal game of the Winter Olympics.In Trump’s America, proximity is never neutral.While the hockey players were greeted with warm applause from both Republicans and Democrats, Trump also had used the team as props in his speech
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