Don’t accidentally use all your points at the bowser.
BP Rewards unlocks the ability for customers to earn points on fuel and in-store purchases across participating BP stores.
More recently, Qantas Frequent Flyer and BP have expanded their partnership by allowing members to use Qantas Points to pay for fuel at participating BP service stations.
Whether accidentally opting to pay with Qantas Points at the checkout, or enabling an auto-redemption feature, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of using your frequent flyer points to fill up with BP Rewards.
Is it worth spending Qantas Points on fuel?
While the cost of fuel double what it was just one year ago, burning all your Qantas Points on filling up rarely makes much sense.
With 1,900 Qantas Points unlocking the equivalent of $10 in credit, the value proposition here isn’t on par with redemptions such as business and first class Classic Flight Rewards or premium cabin upgrades.
Burning points at the bowser works out to give you a value of about 0.53 cents per Qantas point, which is one of the worst value propositions we see.
Classic Flight Rewards, on the other hand, can offer several cents of value per Qantas Point, with first and business class redemptions almost always up there with the best uses of Qantas Points.
However, there’s no doubt that some consumers will find it convenient to redeem Qantas Points in this way, which is fine as long as it’s an intended redemption.
How to avoid an accidental redemption at the bowser
When paying for fuel at BP you’ll need to scan your Qantas card at the point of sale, after which you’ll be prompted to enter your Reward Code to use Qantas Points.
Entering your Reward Code is not necessary for earning Qantas Point on your fuel purchase, in fact means you’ve opted to use Qantas Points.
Paying for fuel is synonymous with being in a rush, so be sure to read the options carefully here.
A full proof way to ensure you don’t accidentally redeem points on fuel is to completely disable the ability to redeem Qanats points via the BPme app settings. Here’s how to do this:
- Open your BPme app
- Navigate to ‘settings’
- Scroll down to ‘loyalty preferences’
- Toggle ‘points redemption off’
To reiterate, entering your unique Reward Code on the PIN pad at the point of purchase means points will be deducted from your frequent flyer account immediately.
So basically, don’t enter your Reward Code if you don’t want to use Qantas Points on fuel.
Accidentally redeemed Qantas Points on fuel?
It can be easy to accidentally redeem Qantas Points on fuel, but unfortunately getting them back is not as simple.
There have been reports of some Qantas members having a redemption reversed by contacting BP Rewards or the Qantas Frequent Flyer Service Centre, but it’s in no way guaranteed.
In fact, you’re probably guaranteed to be spending hours on the phone more than anything else, so your best bet is to make sure the points redemption capability is switched off in the first place.
You can try your luck by calling BP Rewards on 1300 130 027 or Qantas on 13 13 13.
Summing up
It’s all too easy to mistakenly redeem thousands of Qantas Points for fuel at the bowser, but this particular redemption offers very poor value.
While the cost of fuel is through the roof, there are many ways to get better value out of your Qantas Points, such as Classic Flight Rewards.
If you fill up at BP and would rather fuel discounts, you’d be better off collecting BP Rewards points rather than Qantas Points, which don’t offer good value for fuel redemptions.
How do you use your Qantas Points?
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Hi Julie,
I just recently received my bonus 70000 points from Qantas. I went into BP and got 130 worth of petrol, after which I asked the staff member how to link this to my qantas rewards card I Did Not say I wanted to claim fuel rewards. The person, inefficient and no idea, I found out in hindsight, said to open My QANTAS app and put in a pin. They then said I could pay. Subsequently, there was a delay and it would not accept my NAB Qantas card so I paid with my other account.
The next day, to my dismay, I saw that the rewards had been deducted 19000 points. I was horrified. QANTAS [offshore In the Philippines and like AI robots] said I needed to call BP as it was up to them to fix the error. I Subsequently, think this is the correct information. My NAB customer service rep informed me of this.
It went from bad to horrific. BP [offshore Philippines] were a joke. They said that there is no way I could be reversed as ‘they didn’t have the Capacity to do this’ tried again and got another assistant who just kept repeating ‘sorry for this, but nothing we can do’. I asked for a manager to call me back, no call?
I can’t seem to find a person in BP with any sense! I am beside myself and don’t know what to do. Could you give me some advice? I so hope this never happens to anyone again. I was told this is not an uncommon scenario.
I ended up waiting for a reply and got nothing after 2 days. I feel I want to expose this. I will contact Fair Trading and could you suggest anyone in the media who could help me expose this problem.
1. I am not at fault as I was wrongly instructed by a BP petrol clerk, which lead to this happening.
2. BP staff have not sufficient command how to address problems with any common sense. I may as well be speaking to an AI rep.
3. Will Australia ever learn offshore customer service is a failure in every sense.
Could you give me some advice on what could perhaps do. 19000 points goes towards a good flight upgrade. Why would anyone give this up to a 130 dollar petrol bill? Only if they were wrongly instructed by a person a first time customer should be able to trust. This was the first time I have even entered a BP petrol station.
Sounds like you are trying to foil Qantas’ means of getting members to throw away their points on worthless purchases!👏
Hi Julie. We hope to encourage customers to leverage their rewards points to extract the best value possible. Some redemptions are definitely better value than others!