Qantas FFP moves to hurt Virgin Australia: RBS

Royal Bank of Scotland stated Qantas' recent moves to strengthen its frequent flyer programme will make it harder for well-heeled passengers to switch to Virgin Australia's new loyalty scheme (The Australian, 20-May-2011). The broker said the deal with telco Optus would add incremental value to the programme and said the expansion of the programme was designed to cement loyalty, adding that the steps were "defensive measures intended to increase the attractiveness of [Qantas] to the corporate travel market and thereby reduce the incentive to switch to [Virgin Australia]".