Qantas Frequent Flyer Program Gets a Revamp
There's some good changes and some not so good changes...
Hey friends,
A little over a week ago Qantas announced sweeping changes to its Qantas Frequent Flyer loyalty program that will roll out across 2025.
There’s been some positive changes and some negative changes, there’s a lot to unpack so try to touch on some of the key changes in this weeks newsletter.
🙂 Let’s talk about the good first!
So let’s start off with the good changes:
More Seats and Airline Partners
Qantas is adding a 1 million additional seats for Frequent Flyers next year. While these won’t come directly from Qantas, they’ll actually from Qantas’s partner airlines like Hawaiian Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, Air France, and KLM.
Plus, Hawaiian Airlines will join the Oneworld alliance in 2026, making it even easier to use your points on international flights.
This announcement comes at a good time, with a lot of buzz circulating over the past few weeks about how Qantas has limited the number of Classic Reward Seats they have release and instead opting to only release Classic Reward Plus seats (which offer significantly less value to members)
Boost to Points on Domestic Flights
Qantas is also sweetening the deal for domestic flights. Frequent Flyers will see up to a 25% boost in points earned on Qantas domestic routes.
And for those traveling in premium cabins, the earn cap for status members is being removed! This means an estimated 4 billion extra points for members each year.
Here are some examples of the new points earning structure:
Bronze: SYD to MEL (Economy) – +365 points
Platinum: SYD to MEL (Business) – +1,500 points
Gold: SYD to LAX (Business) – +4,219 points
Cheaper Jetstar Economy Reward Seats
For those looking to use their points on short Jetstar flights, there's good news!
Economy reward seats on routes like Sydney to Melbourne or Gold Coast will now be available for just 5,700 points. This makes Qantas the go-to for the lowest one-way Economy reward seat in Australia!
However, other longer Jetstar routes will see a price hike in line with the broader changes. So, there are definitely some positive changes coming up, with more ways to earn and redeem points, along with better seat availability (fingers crossed this actually eventuates)
🤔 Okay now the bad…
Whilst there’s only two bad change, both of them will de-value your Qantas frequent flyer points.
Increase in Points for Classic Upgrades and Reward Seats
Starting in August 2025, the number of Qantas Points required for Classic Reward seats and Classic Upgrades will go up. This includes both Qantas and Jetstar Economy flights (longer haul flights only), as well as Premium Economy Classic Reward seats.
For example:
A flight from Sydney to Melbourne in Economy will go from 8,000 to 9,200 points, with an extra 1,200 points needed.
Business Class on the same route will increase from 18,400 to 19,300 points, plus an increase in the cash component as well.
Long-haul flights will see significant point increases, with a Sydney to London Economy seat going from 55,200 to 63,500 points, and Business Class rising from 144,600 to 166,300 points.
This means you'll need more points for the same flights, which could make it harder to get those sweet redemptions.
Increased Tax charges for Business and First Class
Along with higher points, the cash charges for Business and First Class Classic Reward seats will also rise.
For example:
Business Class from Sydney to Melbourne tax component will jump from $55 to $76, representing a $21 increase (38% increase).
Business Class from Sydney to London tax component will jump from $473 to $648, representing a $175 increase (37% increase).
While Qantas is adding more reward seats overall, these increases may make it tougher to score the same value from your points in the future.
💭 What are my thoughts?
Qantas Frequent Flyer members will soon need more points to book most reward seats, with price increases coming in August 2025. While no one loves a devaluation, it's been six years since the last increase, so it was expected. You still have at least six months to book flights at the current rates before the changes take effect.
The increases in points for reward seats and upgrades are relatively modest, averaging 0.83% to 3.33% annually – certainly lower than inflation.
On the plus side, there will be more Premium Economy seats available with European airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines joining the program is a win for those looking to visit Hawaii.
As of now, there are no changes to status tiers or Status Credits, but Qantas has hinted at more changes in 2025, so we’ll have to wait and see what’s next.
💳 Credit Card Deal Of The Week
American Express has limited time offers for new customers when you use a referral link:
American Express Explorer: 100,000 bonus AMEX reward points points (usually 50,000) when you spend $4,000 in the first 90 days. The Explorer card is probably my favorite from American Express, which I’ve extensively discussed in my videos.
Qantas are offering an extra 20,000 Qantas Points for First-Time Cardholder (Who Earned 0 Point on a Points Earning Card in Last 12 Months)
If you haven’t earnt any Qantas points from a point earning credit card over the last 12-months, now might be a good time to sign-up! If you’re not sure if you’re eligible you can check here Qantas Offer
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