Privacy concerns prompt Qantas boarding pass change, as airline strengthens ties with American Airlines

Privacy concerns prompt Qantas boarding pass change, as airline strengthens ties with American Airlines

Qantas has confirmed it is removing frequent flyer numbers on boarding passes in response to concerns that hackers could use them to access other flight data from passengers and manipulate bookings.

In a statement to Travel Weekly, a spokesperson for the airline said Qantas Frequent Flyer numbers are being removed from both digital and printed boarding passes “to maintain customer privacy”.

“The customer’s tier status will remain,” the spokesperson said.

Travel Weekly understands that Qantas Frequent Flyer members will still be able to locate their numbers within the Qantas App and on digital Qantas Frequent Flyer cards.

Security issues around boarding passes have been a topic of discussion for some time now, particularly as more people share them in their travel posts on social media.

A passenger’s name and frequent flyer number is all a hacker needs to guess their account password and gain access to other personal details.

Qantas and American Airlines forge closer bond

Qantas and American Airlines

Qantas has also rolled out improved frequent flyer benefits with American Airlines (AA), including higher earn rates for points and status credits on each other’s networks.

As part of the new benefits, Qantas Frequent Flyer customers can now earn up to 3.5 times more Qantas Points on AA flights between Australia and the United States, and earn up to 4.5 times more Status Credits on AA flights between the two countries.

Additionally, Qantas Frequent Flyer customers can earn up to four times more status credits on AA flights for travel within the US and Canada.

They can also use Qantas Points for Classic Flights Rewards on AA flights in premium economy for the first time, in addition to economy, business and first class.

Qantas customers will also benefit from new codeshares across North America, with access to more than 50 new routes and almost 30 new destinations, while American customers will enjoy 32 total codeshare routes in Australia.

The changes are being implemented following the US Department of Transportation’s final approval of Qantas and AA’s joint venture.

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