Five easy ways to stop Qantas Points from expiring

Whether you're grounded and looking to keep your points alive, or have friends and family members who may not earn Qantas Points regularly at the best of times, there are some easy things you can do to keep any hard-earned points ticking along.

Here are some of the simplest tasks you can do to stop your Qantas Points expiring, as well as faster options for those able to fly. 

Do Qantas Points expire?

Yes they do! According to Qantas Frequent Flyer's points expiry rules, if you don’t earn or spend Qantas Points at least once every 18 months, your entire balance of points will be lost.

That can mean hundreds of thousands of points which you were saving up for that special occasion – maybe a family getaway, or even an indulgent around-the-world trip in business class – will vanish, and all too often with little clear warning from Qantas.

5 ways to prevent Qantas Frequent Flyer points from expiring

Here are five easy ways to stop Qantas Frequent Flyer points from expiring, other than actually flying – which is another simple way to keep your points balance afloat.

If these steps seem familiar to you, consider sharing this with your friends and family instead, who might not be a 'points pro' like yourself.

1. Fill up or shop with BP

As a key partner of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, BP allows Qantas cardholders to top-up their points when they top-up their tank.

With 2 Qantas Points per litre on premium fuel and 1 Qantas Point per litre on regular fuel, any purchase over one litre achieves the goal of earning a Qantas Point, which in turn, stretches the validity of your points by 18 months.

In fact, you don't even need to buy fuel, or even own a car.

That's because BP also provides points on most in-store buys, such as coffee, drinks, snacks, pies, and most other retail items – on which, you'll earn 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent.

You'll first need to sign up for the BP Rewards program online, and link this with your Qantas Frequent Flyer membership.

Once that's done, you can simply scan the barcode on your Qantas Frequent Flyer physical or digital card in-store (or link your Qantas number in-app, if paying through BPme), and your rewards will usually land in your account one business day after each transaction.

Read: Your guide to the Qantas, BP points partnership

2. Earn points as you walk, or even sleep, via Qantas Wellbeing

You don’t need to fly regularly to earn ‘frequent flyer points’: something as simple as checking your BMI, recording your daily steps or clocking-on for nap time can earn you a few quick Qantas Points.

This is done through the Qantas Wellbeing App for Apple and Android, which is also compatible with most big-brand fitness trackers.

First-time users can enter their height and weight to get an easy boost of 5 Qantas Points, which usually credits within two weeks.

3. Buy wine online via Qantas Wine

Here’s a simple one: head to the Qantas Wine website and buy any bottle (or case) of wine, and you’ll be rewarded with at least one Qantas Point per $1 spent on the purchase price.

Better yet, points from Qantas Wine tend to post to Qantas Frequent Flyer by the next business day after the order has been placed, so there's a good chance your points will arrive before your delivery, which is perfect if there are only a few days left until your existing points expire.

Qantas Wine does have a premium tier for selected members, but these days anybody with a Qantas Frequent Flyer account can place an order and earn Qantas Points without needing a paid membership.

4. Make a purchase via Qantas Shopping

Planning to shop online for delivery or 'click and collect'? If the website you're buying from is partnered with Qantas Shopping, you can earn points on those purchases.

It works like this: every time you shop online, click through the Qantas Shopping website to track those transactions, which rewards you with Qantas Points from a vast array of retailers including David Jones, eBay, Apple and more.

The number of points provided varies between retailers, and these can take 2-3 months to reach your account.

Accordingly, this isn't a solution for those whose points are about to expire and are in need of a quick top-up, but it's a great way to keep your points flowing in – and by extension, your points expiry date in the distance.

To make sure you don't miss out on points-earning opportunities online, installing the Qantas Shopping Points-Prompter plug-in for your web browser reminds you of any points-earning possibilities.

5. Transfer any hotel points across to Qantas

Somebody with enough frequent flyer points worth saving has most likely spent time staying in hotels, and may have racked up a small (or large) number hotel loyalty points – and those points could be converted into Qantas Frequent Flyer points to save the day.

This is possible if you have at least 2,000 points in Accor Live Limitless (ALL), 5,000 points with World of Hyatt, 20,000 points in the Choice Privileges program, 10,000 points with Hilton Honors or IHG Rewards, or 3,000 points in Marriott Bonvoy.

If so, you don’t need to convert your entire stash of hotel points across to Qantas Frequent Flyer – just the minimum amount possible, which keeps the Qantas balance alive.

What about shopping at Woolworths?

You can, of course, earn Qantas points for shopping at Woolworths, but it's a little convoluted.

Members of the chain's Everyday Rewards program start by earning a nominal 1 Everyday Rewards point per dollar spent at Woolworths and partners (such as BWS), and once you've racked up 2,000 Everyday Rewards points, these can be converted into 1,000 Qantas Points.

Earning those Qantas Points isn't too hard, given the average grocery shop these days, but you also have to select the Qantas automatic points transfer option on the Everyday Rewards website, before next reaching 2,000 Everyday Rewards points.

This is where a lot of people fall down – they shop at Woolies and think this automatically earns them Qantas Points.

It doesn't, unless the right option is selected on the Everyday Rewards website, so this can lead the less points-savvy to a false sense of security.

There are plenty of other ways to earn Qantas Points on the ground from everyday activities – such as through Uber and its Uber Rewards program, which awards points on Uber Eats orders – but we rate the strategies above as among the best, fastest, and surest ways to keep any Qantas Points balance alive.

Also read: Best Qantas Frequent Flyer credit card sign-up offers

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.