Qantas and Woolies launch their alliance

Qantas Frequent Flyer and Woolworths provided details yesterday of the loyalty program alliance they announced back in December 2008.

Under the terms of the deal Woolworths customers will be able to link their Everyday Rewards account to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program or link an existing QFF membership.

Members will earn one QFF point for every dollar spent above $30 in one transaction.

Customers who link their Everyday Rewards and Qantas Frequent Flyer membership accounts and pay for their purchases with a credit card that earns QFF points will earn points on their card program and on their Everyday Rewards program.

Woolworths general manager of customer engagement Richard Umbers reported yesterday that there were three million Everyday Rewards members,

Qantas Frequent Flyer chief executive Simon Hickey said QFF had 5.6 million members. One million people came aboard earlier this year as part of the QFF's move to a direct earn rewards system.

Hickey said he was aiming for QFF membership to build to seven million over the next 12 months.

The offer will be available to Woolworths Supermarket and Woolworths Liquor customers from June 22 and Big W customers from July 16.

The offer will be extended to customers of BWS, Dick Smith and Caltex Woolworths petrol stations in the next few months. The four cents per litre fuel discount will remain in place.

There's no link between the Qantas Frequent Flyer program and the Woolworths Everyday Money credit card, which is presumed to be a disappointment for the retailer and HSBC as the card issuer.

HSBC reported a decline of one per cent in credit card balances over the three months to March 2009 and growth of only 3.6 per cent in the 12 months to March 2009, with the bank's market share of credit card debt steady at 1.8 per cent.