Qantas and Virgin hold concerns a 'run' on points could be a drain on their cash reserves during an unprecedented shutdown of the aviation industry.
Virgin last week suspended the transfer of points from its Velocity loyalty scheme to partner Singapore Airline's KrisFlyer scheme, and has also limited the purchase of retail gift cards using points to one per day.A note on Virgin's website says the points transfer suspension is "temporary" and that it looks forward to "providing you with this program feature once flight schedules return to normal", while the gift card limit was "due to high demand".
The issue is particularly important for Virgin, which analysts have estimated will use up its remaining liquidity in three to six months. Qantas is expected to be able to last closer to a year. Credit Suisse analyst Paul Butler said in a research last month that there was a risk that loyalty members redeeming points at a higher level than normal could "significantly reduce Virgin’s unearned revenue related to loyalty points and be a drag on cash flow".
A Qantas spokeswoman said there had not been a significant increase in points redemption, with most members continuing to save up their points "over long periods of time to take a big dream trip". However like most retailers, it was seeing people buy more gadgets online, she said.
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