Qantas Assure health insurance wants fitter frequent flyers
By David Flynn, March 31 2016
Frequent flyers can now earn points for walking under a new health insurance scheme hatched between Qantas and NIB, with up to 70,000 Qantas frequent flyer points on offer to new customers.
The Qantas Assure program will also offer travel insurance, which the airline already provides to more than half-a-million customers a year.
Assure policy-holders can download an iPhone 'wellness app' to sync with popular forms of wearable technology to track their steps, with the app setting specific step-count challenges and awarding frequent flyer points as a reward to those who complete them.
All up, members can net up to 50,000 Qantas Points or a free Apple Watch when purchasing an eligible Qantas Assure health insurance policy, up to 5,000 Qantas Points for paying the insurance premium and up to 15,000 Qantas Points each year as a reward for stepping and reaching your targets.
Further, members can set daily, weekly and group targets depending on their lifestyles, with the number of points earned increasing with the size of the target and when winning group challenges.
A large portion of the Qantas Assure membership base is expected to be drawn from the ranks of the Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme, with Qantas Assure aiming to snare a 2-3 per cent share of Australia's private health insurance market in its first five years.
Qantas has over 11 million frequent flyers on its books, although this figure includes children and people living overseas.
The hook-up sees Qantas Loyalty handle marketing, data and customer retention while NIB looks after the core product via health insurance, risk assessment and underwriting capability.
“This is not about simply earning points when you pay a bill. It’s about offering members the opportunity to be rewarded for being more active, which is something that also has a direct impact on improving your wellness.”
The aptly-named actor Christopher Walken is on board for the launch and demonstrates just how easily you can now earn Qantas Points in this 1.5-minute video:
Assure marks another of Qantas Loyalty's break-out growth plays beyond its foundation of the Qantas Frequent Flyer reward program.
In 2014 the airline launched a golf community and the Aquire small business rewards scheme, which operate in parallel with its long-running epiQure food and wine program.
Qantas Loyalty contributed a record $315m to the airline's $975 million pre-tax profit for the 2015 financial year.
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas
02 Sep 2015
Total posts 37
How many steps do i need to take to say earn 1000 points. If 10000 steps are done per day for 365 days per year, does it mean i get 15k qff points? So much missing.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2424
The exact number of points earned depends on the policy you choose, the level of cover and the goals you set, so it's less 'points per step' than 'points per target' – the app should provide further details after you browse for a policy.
02 Dec 2015
Total posts 30
This is slightly disappointing... only Apple?! Nothing for the Andriod or Windows users?
21 Oct 2015
Total posts 26
They should hook this up with Fitbit.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Aug 2014
Total posts 213
My health insurance is up for renewal, and thus I was interested in delving into this new Qantas product...
On closer inspection, I was very disappointed to learn their policies are horrible value for money; even at the entry level, they are priced FAR above the marketplace for insurance products that are the same as (or worse than) competitors.
Basic cover, no extras? $840.
Add typical extras such as optical, dental, and chiro? Sorry, only available on "Top" extras package, at an additional $1,210 ...for a total of $2k...
That kind of cover is available from other providers for about a $1k... Pfft.
Some rude exclusions as well... For example, my insurer Australian Unity covers prescription sunglasses incl. specialized coatings such as anti-glare and polarisation, whereas Qantas Assure will not pay benefits for that. What??
The promise of a measly QFF points bonus won't be enough to mask the crap value of these insurance products. Not impressed.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
11 Oct 2014
Total posts 688
Good analysis, Jay.
Perhaps a poor choice of partner by QFF given the 'ping' given NIB by Choice / SMH in their reporting of useless / limited value health cover performance last week?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Nov 2016
Total posts 4
Hey Team, Has anyone reconsidered the latest batch of points on offer Qantas Assure? up to 25k of points for sign up and double points for the life of the policy. I'm considering swapping over for a year to nab the points and then change back to a better level / value of cover with someone else. Does anyone know if you can sign up to the top level of cover and then reduce this after a couple of months to a more intermediate cover to get the full allocation of points ? I'm aware of the terible value for money but feel pretty healthy at the moment :)
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