Amex partners with Air New Zealand

The Qantas Frequent Flyer move to a direct earn points system has sparked plenty of re-positioning in the reward program market. While some card issuers have beefed up their offerings to keep customers in their proprietary programs and stop too much leakage to QFF, others (most notably National Australia Bank) have dropped out of the loyalty market altogether.

The latest to move is American Express, which announced last week that it had added Air New Zealand to its Membership Rewards program.

According to Amex vice president for brand, loyalty and rewards, Corrina Davison, the ability to convert points to Air New Zealand's Airpoints Dollars program should be popular; New Zealand is the most popular overseas destination for Australian travellers.

Amex has Membership Rewards partnerships with Virgin, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Thai International, Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.

Davison said the deal with Air New Zealand was not a response to QFF's changes. "We are always working with partners. It is an ongoing strategy."

Last year Qantas Frequent Flyer announced that it wanted to deal directly with participants in its rewards program rather than through credit card issuers' programs.

Under existing arrangements cardholders earned points in their card issuer's rewards program and then elected to have some or all of them transferred into their QFF account.

The effect of QFF's new direct earn system is that from April 1 members will have to use a card that is directly linked to QFF to earn Qantas frequent flyer points on their credit card spend.

An information sheet Amex has sent out to Membership Rewards members suggests the QFF changes are helping shape the group's strategy. It says: "Through Membership Rewards you are not locked in to one airline. You can use your points to fly with any of our airline reward partners."

Amex is also spruiking the idea that Membership Rewards members can still fly Qantas if they want to. "All cardmembers have to do now is book their Qantas flights using their points online with www.americanexpress.com.au/travel or in store at Travelscene American Express or Harvey World Travel."