Our obsession with frequent flyer points faces a key test

April 6, 2026 — 5:15am

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Frequent flyer points are almost like a second currency in Australia.

More than 18 million people are members of Qantas’ loyalty scheme, which issues more than 200 billion points a year, while Virgin’s scheme has 12 million members.

The two programs have tentacles throughout the economy. You can rack up points for spending on your credit card, via a supermarket loyalty scheme, or for switching your electricity or phone provider.

However, the love of earning points for spending on credit cards may well be tested later this year, according to some expert predictions. That is because of changes from the people responsible for our actual currency, the Reserve Bank.

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As a result of RBA reforms announced last week, it should become harder for banks and credit card companies to insert sneaky costs into payments on debit and credit cards that help to fund reward perks, such as Qantas points. These changes may well result in banks making their credit card reward schemes less generous.

What happens to reward schemes - and whether the airlines’ loyalty schemes take a hit as part of this - will be an interesting test of the power of the banks, the airlines, and of consumer behaviour.

The allure of credit card reward schemes is that you’re seemingly........

© Brisbane Times