Earn Qantas, Aquire points on personal banking, corporate travel
By Chris C., April 8 2014
Bankwest customers can now earn Qantas points on their account balance and everyday spend with the launch of a new transaction account.
For every $100 held in deposit at the end of each day, the Bankwest Qantas Transaction Account awards 0.4 points (credited monthly) – on a $3,056 balance, that works out to 12 points per day.
Points aren't accrued on any remaining balance under the $100 threshold – in this case, the points earn is calculated at 30 x 0.4 = 12 points per day, with no points earned on that stray $56.
New customers can earn a bonus of 10,000 Qantas points if opening an account by May 31 and depositing $2,000 in each of the first three months, while such deposits also keep any account keeping fees at bay.
The easiest way of satisfying this deposit requirement would be to simply have your salary paid into your new Bankwest account – even if you later withdraw it or transfer it elsewhere.
Armed with either a regular or platinum Debit MasterCard, customers can also earn five points per eligible purchase made in person or online (regardless of the spend amount) – making the card great for PayPass micro transactions.
As a general transaction account, interest is accrued only at 0.01% p.a., while Bankwest and Commonwealth Bank ATMs can be used at no charge.
American Express Qantas Corporate card
Businesses holding the American Express Qantas Corporate card that are members of the Aquire loyalty program can now choose between the traditional ‘Qantas rebate’ or double Aquire points on all eligible Qantas domestic and international flights taken by their employees.
With an Aquire account cap of one million points annually, this double offer stretches your potential earn to two million Aquire points each year – provided you’ve used the corporate card to finance the travel.
Although a traveller’s frequent flyer status isn’t used in the Aquire calculations, other extras like the minimum points guarantee and cabin bonuses are taken into account. The number of Aquire points earned for employee travel depends on the fare, while Aquire points can ultimately be converted to personal Qantas Frequent Flyer points on a 1:1 basis.
For example, a return trip from Sydney to London in flexible business class would see Aquire-registered companies earning 50% of the usual Bronze-level points haul, or double that if a company uses the AMEX Qantas Corporate card to pay for the booking.
As such, a Bronze frequent flyer would currently earn 31,758 points on the return trip. At that 50% earn rate for flexible business class, the bounty amounts to 15,879 Aquire points for most companies, or the full 31,758 points when the points are doubled.
Business travellers continue to earn points and status credits for their travels, while corporate card holders enrolled in the Membership Rewards 'Spirit' program will maintain their current Qantas earn rates – which are in addition to either the double Aquire points or Qantas rebate offerings.
The existing rebate option – providing savings of 2-5% on eligible domestic and trans-Tasman flights – remains available, including the existing rebate cap of $50,000 per annum.
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
15 Apr 2011
Total posts 580
It's an interesting concept, but that Bankwest account seems like a pretty awful deal IMO. You'd end up further ahead if you kept $2,500 of that $3,056 in an easily accessible everyday savings account (earning 2-3%).
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Earn Qantas, Aquire points on personal banking, corporate travel