More than 1,700 Qantas domestic flights across 30 domestic routes are set to become bona fide “Points Planes” throughout August, tempting Qantas Frequent Flyers looking to jet around the country for a winter holiday with their choice of over 130,000 Class Flight Reward seats. Now in case you need that spelt out for you, this means that every seat onboard these Qantas Points Planes will be available at the lowest possible Classic Flight Reward rates. And to make this deal even sweeter, frequent flyers will need 30% fewer points to make the booking for economy seats, both throughout the month of August but also from June 1st to November 30th.
The Qantas domestic Points Planes will be available in August between capital cities Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane and numerous regional destinations including Coffs Harbour, Broken Hill, Merimbula, Mildura, Newcastle, Orange, Tamworth, Mount Gambier, Burnie, Uluru, Sunshine Coast and Townsville.
While Qantas has thrown up similar promotions in the past, this kind of scale represents a first for Australia’s flagship carrier and should go far in pushing Qantas Frequent Flyers around the country for less during the shoulder season. It also goes against Qantas’ usual practice of reserving more Any Seat Award rates than Classic Flight Reward for Qantas Frequent Flyers looking to spend their points on travel.
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Any Seat Award rates are variable and can be much higher than their Classic Flight Reward counterpart. The latter is known to start from around 8,000 points (excluding taxes, fees and carrier charges), so you can imagine that slashing this rate by up to 30% for pretty much the entire season will make getting around the country much more feasible for points-hoarders who have more than likely been saving up their stash for an international sojourn.
Starting from Monday 9th May and running until Sunday 15th May, Qantas Frequent Flyers can book these seats online at the aforementioned reduced rate. Obviously, speed is going to be important here – these Qantas reward seats will fly.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in demand for regional travel since the start of the pandemic and these Points Planes will help tens of thousands of frequent flyers discover regional Australia this winter,” said Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth.
“These Points Planes will help boost tourism right across the country during August and make it easier for residents in these regional towns to get away for a city escape.”
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With the 30% discount, that means you’ll be able to book say an economy seat from Sydney to Launceston for 5,600 points (+ $44 with all the associated fees) or one from Melbourne to Mount Gambier for 5,600 points (+ $29 with all the associated fees). The most expensive rewards seats during this June to November period top out at 12,600 Qantas points, extending to routes like Perth to Hobart, Sydney to Uluru and Canberra to Cairns.
Qantas’ frequent flyer shakeup also extends to Qantas Hotels and Qantas Holiday bookings – part of an announcement made earlier this year. That is, from now on Qantas Frequent Flyers will need 30% fewer Qantas points to book rooms at more than 440,000 hotels via the airline’s Qantas Hotels platform, and 45% fewer Qantas points when pairing accommodation and flights across all Qantas Holidays packages.
To give you a better idea of what to expect, see below the applicable routes and points required with the 30% Classic Flight Reward discount from June to November. Note that the following figures are based on one-way travel in economy class.
NSW Classic Flight Reward Routes
Sydney – Broken Hill | 5,600 points
Sydney – Byron Bay | 5,600 points
Sydney – Griffith | 5,600 points
Sydney – Launceston | 5,600 points
Sydney – Merimbula | 5,600 points
Sydney – Mildura | 5,600 points
Sydney – Orange | 5,600 points
Sydney – Townsville | 8,400 points
Sydney – Uluru | 12,600 points
Brisbane – Tamworth | 5,600 points
Brisbane – Wagga Wagga | 8,400 points
Adelaide – Newcastle | 8.400 points
Brisbane – Coffs Harbour | 5,600 points
Brisbane – Port Macquarie | 5,600 points
Adelaide – Albury (Seasonal) | 5,600 points
Brisbane – Albury | 5,600 points
Melbourne – Albury | 5,600 points
Melbourne – Coffs Harbour | 8,400 points
Melbourne – Merimbula | 5,600 points
Melbourne – Wagga Wagga | 5,600 points
Victoria Classic Flight Reward Routes
Melbourne – Albury | 5,600 points
Melbourne – Burnie | 5,600 points
Melbourne – Coffs Harbour | 8,400 points
Melbourne – Merimbula | 5,600 points
Melbourne – Mount Gambier | 5,600 points
Melbourne – Newcastle | 5,600 points
Melbourne – Townsville | 12,600 points
Melbourne – Wagga Wagga | 5,600 points
ACT Classic Flight Reward Routes
Canberra – Cairns | 12,600 points
Canberra – Sunshine Coast | 8,400 points
Queensland Classic Flight Reward Routes
Brisbane – Albury | 8,400 points
Brisbane – Coffs Harbour | 5,600 points
Brisbane – Hobart | 8,400 points
Brisbane – Port Macquarie | 5,600 points
Brisbane – Proserpine | 5,600 points
Brisbane – Tamworth | 5,600 points
Brisbane – Wagga Wagga | 8,400 points
Adelaide – Townsville | 8,400 points
Sydney – Townsville | 8,400 points
Canberra – Cairns | 12,600 points
Canberra – Sunshine Coast | 8,400 points
Perth – Gold Coast | 12,600 points
Melbourne – Townsville | 12,600 points
South Australia Classic Flight Reward Routes
Adelaide – Albury | 5,600 points
Adelaide – Hobart | 8,400 points
Adelaide – Mount Gambier | 5,600 points
Adelaide – Newcastle | 8,400 points
Adelaide – Townsville | 8,400 points
Melbourne – Mount Gambier | 5,600 points
WA Classic Flight Reward Routes
Perth – Gold Coast | 12,600 points
Perth – Hobart | 12,600 points
Tasmania Classic Flight Reward Routes
Adelaide – Hobart | 8,400 points
Melbourne – Burnie | 5,600 points
Sydney – Launceston | 5,600 points
Perth – Hobart | 12,600 points
Brisbane – Hobart | 8,400 points
Northern Territory Classic Flight Reward Routes
Sydney – Uluru | 12,600 points
