The best uses of Qantas Points [2025]

Qantas Points are so popular in Australia that they’re often referred to as the nation’s “second currency”.

With more than 15 million Qantas Frequent Flyer members and hundreds of billions of points in circulation, it’s easy to see why. 

But the harder question is: how should all these points collectors use their points to get the most value?

It remains the case in 2025 that redeeming Qantas Points on flight reward seats and upgrades gives you the most ‘bang’ for your points ‘buck’.

Qantas tempts members with a growing list of other redemption options: gift vouchers, hotel stays, car hire, wine, household goods … the list goes on. But these almost always provide less value that spending the equivalent number of points on flights.

If you’re sitting on a stash of Qantas Points, here are some tips for putting them to use.

Want more Qantas Points? Get a huge 100,000 bonus points + an annual $450 Qantas Travel Credit with the ultimate card for Qantas Points, rewards and benefits: the Qantas American Express Ultimate Card – ends soon!

Qantas and partner ‘Classic’ reward seats

Classic reward seats have been around for many years and are well known to frequent flyers. They have a fixed points price based on distance and cabin class, and are generally the highest value use of points.

Classic reward seats are available on flights operated by both Qantas and partner airlines such as Emirates, Cathay Pacific and American Airlines.

The ‘holy grail’ is securing a seat in business or first class, but these are in short supply.

Economy can also represent good value, especially when cash fares are high.

One factor impacting Qantas right now is that partner airlines are releasing fewer and fewer reward seats – especially in premium cabins.

This trend has been in place for a while, and we’re seeing it with carriers all around the world.

With increasing demand for reward seats globally, airlines are favouring their own loyalty program members by giving them preferential access to reward seats while restricting access by partners.

That means it’s now much harder to use Qantas Points to book seats with partners.

Classic rewards on Qantas flights have also become more difficult to secure over the last two years. That’s partly due to increasing demand, but also reduced supply by the airline.

To improve your chances of finding a seat, plan as far ahead as possible and be flexible with your departure date and route.

Look at routes outside Australia (eg. Asia-Europe), as there tend be a lot more seats available there.

If you’re in the fortunate position of being able to fly at relatively short notice (within the next 30 days), many airlines release reward seats late in order to help fill their planes. This is a great way to get sought-after business and first class seats.

Qantas ‘Classic Plus’ reward seats

In 2024, Qantas launched a new type of reward seat, Classic Plus, to address the increased demand for using points to travel.

Classic Plus seats are only available on Qantas flights, not partners.

These seats are widely available, but come at a cost: they are generally much more expensive than Classic reward seats.

“Classic Plus” seats have a flexible points price that changes based on the underlying cash fare.

Therefore, the best time to book Classic Plus seats is when cash fares go on sale, as the number of points required will also drop.

Significant price difference for Classic and Classic Plus seats

Despite their higher cost, Classic Plus rewards provide more value than non-flight points redemption options, like using points for gift vouchers.

100 Qantas Points will cover $1 of a Classic Plus economy fare, $1.25 of a domestic business class fare, or $1.50 of an international premium economy, business or first class fare. (For gift vouchers, you usually only get 50 cents per 100 points.)

Upgrading on Qantas flights

Qantas Points can be used to upgrade from one class to another on Qantas flights, and this is an excellent use of points.

Be aware that Qantas Points cannot be used to upgrade on partner airline flights – only Qantas operated flights.

On domestic flights, you can upgrade from any economy fare to business class.

However, on international tickets, restrictions are in place, meaning not all economy fares are upgradeable. You can only upgrade economy reward seats and paid fare classes G, K, L, M, S and V (“Economy”) and B, H and Y (“Flexible Economy”). The cheapest economy sale fares are not eligible.

Eligible economy tickets can be upgraded to premium economy or business class.

All premium economy fares are upgradeable to business class.

Upgrades to first class are restricted to passengers flying on paid business class fares (not reward seats).

When there are multiple upgrade requests on a flight, the upgrades are processed close to departure based on the passengers’ status and original fare class booked. Your chances of scoring the upgrade depend on how many empty seats there are and how many people are ahead of you in the queue.

The cost of upgrades can be viewed on Qantas’ website here.

Booking a tour or holiday package with Qantas Holidays

If you don’t want to (or can’t) use Qantas Points for reward seats or upgrades, the best option is to book a holiday with Qantas Holidays.

Qantas has partnered with TripAdeal to sell holiday packages (which combine airfares and accommodation) as well as premium small group tours.

All of these ready-made holidays can be booked using Qantas Points.

For tours, it appears you get around $1 of value per 100 points used (e.g. 100,000 points covers $1000) while for holiday packages, you get around 85 cents of value per 100 points (e.g. 100,000 points covers $850).

Summing up

The best uses of Qantas Points are reward seats (especially in premium cabins) and upgrades.

The value you get from spending Qantas Points this way is much higher than with any other redemption.

While reward seats and upgrades can be tricky to secure, with a little planning and effort you can make it work.

And if none of that works for you, the holiday packages and tours Qantas offers with Qantas Holidays are worth considering.

Want more Qantas Points? Get a huge 100,000 bonus points + an annual $450 Qantas Travel Credit with the ultimate card for Qantas Points, rewards and benefits: the Qantas American Express Ultimate Card – ends soon!

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