Australia’s most popular airline loyalty program is set for some major changes.
This week, Qantas announced it was broadly increasing the amount of frequent flyer points needed to redeem Classic Reward flights – a move that has already irked points collectors.
With Qantas effectively lowering the value of frequent flyer points, many are now questioning what exactly the points are good for.
What’s changing?
The changes affect Qantas’s Classic Rewards seats and Classic Upgrades, which have long been the best value use of points when taking into consideration the other ways the airline allows members to spend points on travel.
From August, the number of points required to book a Classic Reward seat or buy a Classic Upgrade will increase for domestic and international flights, affecting Qantas flights and seats on codeshare airlines.
How many points will I need for rewards flights now?
The specifics of what each Classic Rewards seat will cost under the new scheme have not yet been revealed, but Qantas has given some examples to illustrate the scale of the increase.
Currently, a Classic Rewards economy seat on a Qantas service between Sydney and Melbourne costs 8,000 points plus $55 in fees, which will increase to 9,200 points plus $55 in fees from August.
A Classic Rewards business class seat on the same service will increase from 18,400 points plus $55 in fees to 19,300 points and $76 in fees.
On a Qantas-operated Sydney-London flight, the existing Classic Rewards one-way economy seat cost of 55,200 points and $263 in fees will rise to 63,500 points and $263 in fees.
A business class Classic Rewards seat on the same service, which now costs 144,600 points and $473 in fees, will rise to 166,300 points and $648 in fees from August.
While the cost of Classic Rewards seats on Qantas services is increasing, it is lowering the cost of Classic Rewards seats on services run by its budget carrier Jetstar.
A Classic Rewards seat on a Jetstar flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast, which now costs 6,400 points and $35 in fees, will drop to 5,700 points and $35 in fees from August.
What does this mean for Frequent Flyer members?
Ultimately, the increasing cost of Classic Rewards seats will make it more difficult and costly for Qantas customers to take advantage of their loyalty program.
Alongside the changes, Qantas has also announced it will add extra Classic Rewards seats into its system, as well as give members a higher points earning rate when they fly on Qantas services.
However, the extra points members will earn pale in comparison to the higher amount of points needed to redeem a seat on the same flight.
The increasing cost to redeem Classic Rewards seats follows the unveiling of a new tier of reward flights – Classic Plus Flight Rewards – last year.
Under the Classic Plus Flight Rewards, seats have varying costs for redemption, which at a minimum are above the Classic Rewards cost but below the Points Plus Pay option. Points Plus Pay has provided the worst value for redemption as it treats frequent flyer points as a currency with a poor exchange rate to dollars and leaves customers paying the dynamic cash price of the ticket.
Some viewed the introduction of Classic Plus Flight Rewards as a response to criticism of the frequent flyer program in recent years, with members complaining they were left to choose from fewer and fewer Classic Reward seats or spending in excess of 1,000,000 points on a flight using the Point Plus Pay option.
Should I spend my Qantas points now and change loyalty programs?
For many customers who have travel plans in coming months, it will make sense to spend points before the changes come in, airline loyalty experts have said.
Adele Eliseo, from the Champagne Mile, has noted that despite Qantas increasing the number of points members will earn when flying on certain QF flights, most frequent flyer members earn points through credit card initiatives.
“It’s important to note that the majority of points are earned on the ground through everyday spending, not from flying,” Eliseo wrote. “For a majority of members, the additional points earned through flights are unlikely to offset the rising cost of redemptions.”
The concerns follow long-held complaints about the scarcity of Classic Reward seats in general, especially in premium classes, with claims Qantas is nudging its members into costlier redemption options.
Steve Hui of iflyflat.com.au said recent searches failed to find a single Classic Rewards seat in business class from Sydney or Melbourne to London for the whole of 2025, adding it was the first time in 12 years he had seen that occur.
“It raises serious concerns about the value of collecting Qantas points if this is the start of what frequent flyers can expect in the future,” Hui told News Corp.
What else is out there?
There are about 16 million Qantas frequent flyer members, making it the most popular Australian loyalty program.
However, Qatar Airways’ plan to buy a 25% stake in Virgin Australia could change the landscape of loyalty programs available to Australian travellers.
If the move is approved by the government, not only would Virgin Australia’s Velocity loyalty scheme have more international codeshare flights on offer, it raises the prospect of Qatar Airways’ loyalty scheme becoming an option for Australians.
Qatar Airways uses the Avios program. Unlike traditional loyalty schemes from each airline, Avios works across multiple airlines that use it, including British Airways and Finnair. The interchangeable nature of Avios has been available to Australians flying international airlines that use the program.
However, many in the travel loyalty community are hoping that if the Qatar Virgin deal proceeds, it will open the door to Australians earning Avios points on domestic travel, which would seriously threaten Qantas’s dominance in the local loyalty market.
What has Qantas said?
The airline has acknowledged the changes will leave many members spending more points and more on fees. It noted it had not adjusted the value of its loyalty scheme since 2019, and that the August changes were only the second since 2004.
Andrew Glance, the CEO of Qantas’s loyalty business, said the adjustments “will ensure we can continue to invest in enhancing the program for the long-term and continue to grow the levels of Classic and Classic Plus Reward seat availability for members year on year”.
“With a number of airlines making changes to their loyalty programs recently, we wanted to give our members as much notice as possible so they can plan their future travel,” he said.
