ImmanuelWould you lose weight to earn Qantas Points? The CSIRO thinks you might…
For those that don’t know, the CSIRO is the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, an independent Australian federal government agency responsible for scientific research.
Back in 2005, they came out with a groundbreaking diet (read that in a sarcastic tone): eat a high protein, low carb diet and lose weight. Boom.
It was a published book that sold pretty well in Australia and overseas.
What they forgot was that Australians like a healthy diet with a dose of Qantas Points, so they started offering a 10,000 bonus sign up offer for anyone wanting to invest in their $199 twelve week nutrition plan.
While that’s not a terrible deal, it could be better.
Two of my readers Matt O. and pro triathlete Sam B. (thanks guys!), tipped me off this morning that the CSIRO had increased their offer to 18,000 bonus points.
While it’s not THE best value proposition 18,000 for $199 (the fee of the program), it’s definitely not bad value (ideally I would want to see 20k Qantas Points for $199).
As it turns out, on the regular sign up of the CSIRO “TWD” (total wellbeing diet), there is a 100% refund policy in place for those who successfully complete the diet and lose weight. However, anyone signing up for the Qantas offer is excluded from that.
Back to the drawing board…
Of course, my first instinct with these kind of deals is “how can we get maximum value for minimum work + money”. So after a bit more reading I discovered that TWD is considered “Dietary Advice” for many health insurance companies. This means that if you are already paying for a policy and have extras included that cover this, you will be able to get it paid back partially or in full by your healthcare provider.
You can find the list of participating health funds here: https://www.totalwellbeingdiet.com/au/pricing/health-fund-rebates/
Since I’m with NIB, I called them up to check what policy would be required and how much they paid back.
With NIB, the Extras package you will need is the “Core And Wellbeing Extras” which goes for around $11.78 per week depending on your personal circumstances.
The total amount you can claim for dietary advice is $150 a year (according to the phone rep I spoke to). She also advised me that I would need to get a letter from my doctor saying that it was in the interest of my health to sign up for TWD.
So for this particular example, you could bring the cover down to $49 if you were signed up to the extras package.
Of course if you are not already paying for it and have no need for the added extras, it doesn’t make sense to just sign up for it (it would cost you an additional $612 (+/-) a year.
Keep in mind that this will be different for each healthcare fund so DYOR and see if you can get any money back.
What you need to know
While the offer is still the standard 10,000 points (paid out within 45 days), the boost of 8,000 points on top of that is only paid out after you complete the 12-week program.
To complete the program, you do have to be happy to share a bit of information, and it does require some work.
Here are the rules
- Record your weight in the online diary at least once a week for 12 consecutive weeks, within the week of your scheduled weigh-in; and
- Upload a photo of yourself every week for the 12-week program via your private weight tracker within the website; and
- Achieve a net weight loss over the 12 weeks; and
- Complete a program completion survey; and
- Contact the customer service team within 14 days of completing the program; and
- Consent to TWD using your story to help inspire other members.
- This deal also excludes anyone who has already completed the program.
Obviously, there’s no way for them to know if you actually lost weight over the 12 weeks since it’s up to you to log it in the online portal.
Deal Conclusion
Is it worth it? There’s a bit of time involved with this one since you have to record your weight every week for 12 weeks and upload a photo of yourself every week (I assume you could just upload the same picture each week – who would know?
However, if you do need to lose a few kilos and Qantas Points easily motivate you, this deal is definitely worth it, especially if you can get a rebate through your health fund.
To read the full terms & conditions for this offer see: https://www.totalwellbeingdiet.com/au/terms/qantas-terms/
To sign up for the Qantas offer, you MUST use the following link: https://my.totalwellbeingdiet.com/registration/AU/qantas
The landing page for the Qantas offer can be found here: https://www.totalwellbeingdiet.com/au/partners/qantas/