Qantas to offer select vaccinated travellers free flights for a year

Vaccinated travellers flying with Qantas could win a year’s worth of free flights, according to the head of the airline.

Alan Joyce, Qantas’ chief executive, told local Australian media on Monday that the airline plans to offer a range of incentives as a reward to passengers for getting vaccinated against Covid-19.

These rewards will range from flight discounts and frequent flyer points, to upgrades or vouchers for future travel.

Joyce said that Qantas would also offer 10 “mega-prizes” of free flying for a year.

Speaking to local television station Nine Today, Joyce said this would represent at least one bumper prize for each state and territory across the country.

Details are still being finalised, but it’s expected that each prize would be valid for a family of up to four people to enjoy unlimited economy class travel for a year on Qantas and budget sibling airline Jetstar.

Winners would reportedly also get one million Accor All loyalty points to use towards booking hotel accommodation, said Executive Traveller. This could effectively give each winning family free holidays for a year.

Eligible travellers must have either already had their Covid-19 vaccine or receive it before the end of 2021.

Australia’s national airline grounded the majority of its international flights in March 2020 as the country closed its borders to battle the Covid-19 pandemic.

Domestic travel continues, however, and the airline has been busy adding new domestic destinations and pleasure flights to its network. Qantas says it’s planning a December 2021 restart for its international network.

Despite an effective battle against the coronavirus pandemic, Australia’s vaccination roll-out has been noticeably sluggish. Only 14 per cent of the population have had one dose of the vaccine, and less than 2 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to local media.