iscover
Qantas has launched an ad campaign to remind customers to take advantage of their unused travel credits before they expire at the end of the year.
The Flying Kangaroo has taken out a combination of radio and full-page newspaper ads as it pushes customers to use around $400 million in unclaimed credits accrued during the COVID-19 shutdowns, and says more than $1 billion in credits has already been claimed across Qantas and Jetstar.
“Many of these credits are years old and many range between $100 and $500, so may not be on the top of people’s mind. That’s why we’re working hard to remind them,” said Qantas Group Chief Customer Officer Markus Svensson.
“It’s been great to see the response to our last reminder campaign, which resulted in millions of dollars in credits being redeemed, but there’s still a lot yet to be claimed.
“We’ve built a new online tool to make it easier to find COVID-era credits, set up a dedicated hotline and streamlined the refunds process. We’ll keep reaching out directly to customers, particularly ahead of these credits expiring at the end of this year.”
Qantas’ “Find My Credit” tool, launched in June, can track bookings up to three years old that may have changed several times due to the pandemic. The national carrier has faced huge criticism over the last few years for its handling of COVID-19 credits during and after the pandemic.
Last year, for example, consumer advocacy organisation Choice even filed a formal complaint with the ACCC after consumer surveys highlighted the “many obstacles” faced by customers seeking to cash in their credits. Choice said one survey showed nearly a third of people trying to use flight credits to purchase new flights were forced to pay more than the cost of the original flight.
Qantas denied the accusation and indicated fare discrepancies were due to rules that restricted flight credit holders to only purchase tickets of the same fare class or higher.
The airline last extended its credit expiry deadline in March after pressure from Choice, with credits now available for use until the end of 2023 for flights departing before 31 December 2024.
The “final extension” will alleviate criticism that the decision to cancel credits would see the airline effectively profit from airfares being far higher than pre-pandemic.
