This week's wrap for Qantas, Singapore Airlines high flyers

It’s been a busy week for Qantas Frequent Flyer members who can now earn Qantas Points on taxi fares throughout the country and at seven new partners including Microsoft, Priceline, and ASOS.

Also up for grabs: quadruple Qantas frequent flyer points when staying at Hilton Hotels and Resorts, or if your loyalty lies with Singapore Airlines, make that quadruple KrisFlyer miles instead.

Rounding out our wrap for another week, we chat with a Cathay Pacific executive about the upcoming overhaul to its Marco Polo Club loyalty program, and also show what it means for Qantas passengers who prefer to accrue points and status with Cathay Pacific rather than Qantas itself.

Qantas partners with GoCatch for points on taxi fares

Forget booking your taxi the old-fashioned way – use the GoCatch smartphone app to reserve your cab and you’ll now earn a fistful of frequent flyer points on your fare.

Once the meter passes $10, you’ll earn one Qantas Point for every $1 spent – so if your total bill comes to $20, you’ll walk away with 20 Qantas Points in addition to what you’d normally earn by using your credit card.

Travellers using the app to book taxis between October 9 and November 9 2015 can also win a share of 500,000 Qantas Points, with one lucky member pocketing a cool 250,000 and two more riders collecting a still-impressive 125,000 Qantas Points.

For more information, head to the GoCatch website.

Earn 4x Qantas, Singapore Airlines points with Hilton

Both Qantas and Singapore Airlines are serving up quadruple Hilton HHonors points on stays within the Asia Pacific region (including Australia), with Singapore Airlines also promising triple HHonors points everywhere else.

Qantas’ deal runs through December 31 2015 which you’ll need to register for via Hilton’s website, while Singapore Airlines’ offer covers stays until January 31 2016 and can be activated here.

To earn frequent flyer points on Hilton stays with either airline, switch your HHonors earning option to ‘Points & Miles’ and opt for your preferred airline.

Cathay exec: why it’s time to revamp Marco Polo

Cathay Pacific’s sweeping changes to its Marco Polo Club loyalty program are a rather mixed bag, with benefits for travellers both in the cheapest economy seats and those frequently flying at the pointy end in business class, or even first class, with free upgrades for the airline’s top passengers.

But with the good, there’s always the not-so-good: Diamond members lose ‘anytime access’ to Cathay Pacific lounges, while the tiers themselves become harder to reach for passengers on the less-expensive tickets or when jetting about on Cathay’s Oneworld airline partners such as Qantas.

Australian Business Traveller spoke with Julian Lyden: Cathay Pacific’s General Manager Marketing, Loyalty Programmes and Customer Relationships Management to understand the airline’s rationale behind the revamp.

Read: Cathay Pacific exec: why it’s time to revamp Marco Polo

Also read: Cathay Pacific overhauls Marco Polo Club

What Cathay’s Marco Polo Club changes mean for Qantas flyers

With Cathay Pacific moving to reengineer its Marco Polo Club loyalty program from April 2016, it’s not only Cathay Pacific travel that’s affected: MPC members flying with Qantas but building status with Cathay will also find changes to the way they reach each membership tier.

(For the uninitiated, Qantas’ membership in the global Oneworld alliance means you don’t have to earn points with Qantas Frequent Flyer when travelling with Qantas: you can instead opt for the frequent flyer program of any Oneworld airline to build both points and status from your Qantas flying.)

We take a look at how many flights it takes to retain your Marco Polo Club Silver, Gold or Diamond status under the current system, and how that changes once the new rules take effect.

Read: What Cathay’s Marco Polo Club changes mean for Qantas flyers

Qantas signs seven new Online Mall partners

Frequent flyers – and indeed, frequent shoppers – can now collect extra points when filling their cart via the Qantas Online Mall with seven new retailers added to the Red Roo’s roster of shopping partners.

You can now earn four points for every dollar spent at Priceline, The North Face and Nike, three points per dollar at ASOS, Marcs and Reiss, and two points per dollar at the Microsoft Store.

Simply visit the Qantas Online Mall website, login to your frequent flyer account, select an online store to visit and make your purchase, with points being automatically awarded approximately one month down the track.

Also read: Qantas Mall offers new ways to earn frequent flyer points

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Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.