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

With more than 14 million Qantas Frequent Flyer members and hundreds of billions of Qantas Points in circulation, it’s easy to understand why. 

During the pandemic, Qantas Points became even more sought-after when arch-rival Virgin Australia went into voluntary administration, putting Velocity Points holdings at risk and motivating people to transfer their loyalty to Qantas. 

So the situation now is that we have more Qantas Frequent Flyers members than ever, more Qantas Points than ever, and huge demand for travel – all of which has increased competition for reward seats and forced Qantas to take steps to make it easier to use points for travel.

It remains the case that using Qantas Points to secure reward seats or upgrades gives you the most ‘bang’ for your points ‘buck’.

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

However, it’s much easier to spend points on non-flight redemptions, so many people do.

As always, it pays to compare the actual value of points redemption options.

In 2024, here are some great ways to put your Qantas Points to use. 

Just fly – anywhere, in any class

Everyone wants to travel right now, and airfares can be eye-wateringly high – even in economy.

Previously, we discouraged Qantas Points holders from using points to fly economy, but now this can be a worthwhile choice. 

If you can find a reward seat, chances are it will save you a lot of money. 

In terms of finding seats, we’ve written a separate article on this topic – but in short, while it’s not that hard to find domestic reward seats, international seats are a bit trickier to secure, and your best bet is to look out for one of Qantas’ batch releases.

Before you book, make sure to compare the cost of the reward seat (plus taxes and fees) and paying for the fare outright. 

Aim to get at least 1.5 cents of value per point redeemed, otherwise it’s probably worth saving your points for a future trip. (The only exception is if you’re desperate to travel and have no other way to afford it. In that case, you get a pass – because after everything we’ve gone through the last few years, everyone deserves a holiday.)

The ultimate use of Qantas Points – fly round the world in business class

The oneworld award is hands-down the best way to redeem Qantas Points, in my opinion. It allows you to fly up to 35,000 miles with five “stopovers” using any of the airlines in the oneworld alliance.

Since a total of 16 flight and land segments are permitted, you can actually visit more than five destinations by making land segments on your own.

You don’t need to fly round-the-world if you don’t want to – it’s not required under the rules – which means you can loop or zig-zag anywhere you like.

The cost in business class is 318,000 Qantas Points plus taxes and fees, which is on par with some return flights from Australia to Europe or the USA – so this is a fantastic deal.

Booking this award can be tricky, so I’ve written a separate article with tips on how to go about it.

Book a premium economy, business or first class reward seat with Qantas

Qantas provides an excellent business class product across its fleet, with the cabin available on all destinations except some lower-capacity domestic flights.

Premium economy and first class are only available on select international routes operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Airbus A380s.

Domestic and short-haul international business class is always a great use of points, especially on the Airbus A330s which feature the first-generation ‘Business Suite’ on board. It’s a superior option to business class on the smaller Boeing 737s or 717s – though even that’s a comfortable choice and a good use of points.

On long-haul international routes, premium economy and business class are also excellent products and a fantastic use of points.

Qantas prices reward seats based on distance. For example, domestic business class starts at 18,400 points for short flights like Sydney-Melbourne and tops out at 41,500 for longer flights like Sydney-Perth (plus taxes and fees).

Overseas flights top out at 108,400 points in premium economy, 144,600 in business class and 216,900 in first class one-way, plus taxes and fees. All the pricing can be viewed on Qantas’ site here.

Upgrade a Qantas flight

Qantas Points can be used to upgrade from one class to another on Qantas flights.

Qantas Points cannot be used to upgrade on a partner airline flight.

On domestic flights, you can upgrade from any fare class, including the cheapest economy fares.

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

In addition, upgrades to first class are restricted to passengers flying on paid business class fares.

More information, including all the costs, is on Qantas’ website here.

Fly in a premium cabin with Qantas partners

Qantas is a member of the oneworld alliance which includes airlines like Japan Airlines, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways.

Qantas also has one-on-one partnerships with airlines like Emirates.

You can use points to fly with these partners, meaning your points can take you virtually anywhere in the world.

Be aware that you cannot use Qantas Points to upgrade on a partner flight. Your only option is to book a reward seat outright.

To get a feel for what you can expect, I’ve reviewed a number of Qantas partners.

For example, Japan Airlines 787 business class is a fantastic way to fly. While the layout is 2-2-2, everyone has direct aisle access due to the staggered configuration. The service, food and drinks (sake!) are also top-notch.

Malaysia Airlines A350 business class is also a good use of Qantas Points.

Many people regard Qatas Airways’ Qsuites as the world’s best business class product, and it’s another great option for Qantas Points holders – but has been severely limited lately due to a decision by Qatar Airways to restrict access for most partners.

Emirates’ business and first class have also been very popular choices for Qantas Points holders, but reward seats are hard to find right now, again due to a conscious choice by the carrier to limit access.

Plus, Emirates has jacked up the additional charges payable, so that they can add up to thousands of dollars on some routes. That has substantially reduced the value of Emirates reward seat redemptions.

I’ve written a separate guide to using Qantas Points to fly Emirates business and first class, which you can read here.

Qantas partners have varying taxes and charges they levy on reward fares. Airlines with lower charges include Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, SriLankan Airlines and Japan Airlines. On the other hand, high charges are most often found with Emirates, British Airways, Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian.

Book a tour or holiday package via Qantas Holidays

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

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

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

For tours, it appears you get around 1 cent of value per point used (e.g. you can cover $5000 with 500,000 points) while for holiday packages, you get around 0.85 cents of value per point (e.g. you can cover $5000 with around 584,000 points).

That is much better value than using points for gift cards or purchases on the Qantas Markeplace, where you typically get 0.5 cents for each point redeemed.

Summing up

The best use of Qantas Points is flying in a premium cabin, whether that’s a reward seat or an upgrade.

The value you get from spending Qantas Points this way is much higher than with any other redemption, plus it can be an amazing experience.

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

Alternatively, economy reward seats can also be good value, especially when paid economy fares are very high.

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

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Have you ever wanted to sip a cocktail at a bar while flying at 40,000 feet? Or get refreshed during a long-haul flight with a nice, hot shower?

You may think these kinds of experiences are out of reach, but that’s not the case if you’re a Qantas Frequent Flyer member.

Qantas Points can be used to fly business and first class with Emirates (which is where you’ll find such luxuries), and this is easily one of the best uses of Qantas Points.

Here’s how it works.

About Emirates

Emirates is one of the most popular airlines in Australia, thanks in part to its huge international network. Just take a look at its route map to see the array of places the airline can take you to.

In Australia, Emirates flies from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane to its Dubai base and onward to destinations across the world. 

It also operates a couple of shorter sectors, such as Sydney-Christchurch and Melbourne-Singapore, which can be booked as standalone flights (and are a cheaper way to enjoy the Emirates experience!).

Emirates used to fly to Adelaide before the pandemic, but this route hasn’t resumed yet. It probably will later in 2024.

The Emirates experience

Emirates’ long-haul fleet comprises Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft.

All aircraft that service Australia have both business and first class. However, come of these planes have ‘old’ cabins while others have been modernised and refreshed. It’s matter of luck which version you’ll get.

I’ve reviewed Emirates’ old business class and first class on the A380s, so you can read those posts for a detailed overview of what to expect. 

First class is excellent on both aircraft and quite similar, with spacious seats and top-notch dining and service.

Business class is definitely superior on the A380s, with more space, fully lie-flat seats, and direct aisle access for every passenger thanks to the 1-2-1 layout. On the 777s, there’s an outdated 2-3-2 ‘angled-flat’ seating layout.

The onboard bar (available to both business and first class passengers) and first class shower are also exclusive to the A380s. So, in short – aim for the A380s if you can!

Elsewhere in the world, you’ll also find a 777 configuration with no first class cabin and 2-2-2 in business class, and several A380s with no first class. There’s also a small number of 777s with six fully enclosed suites in first class – which are among the best first class products in the world – but these are hard to find and book with points.

Emirates operates an extensive lounge network. In Dubai, the lounges are huge and essentially mini terminals in their own right. First class passengers can board directly from the lounge in Dubai.

How to book with Qantas Points

You can use Qantas Points to search for and book reward seats with Emirates on the Qantas website.

You can’t use Qantas Points to upgrade to a higher class of travel on Emirates-operated flights.

To search for reward seats, I recommend using the multi-city booking page, even if you only want to book a single route, because the search results will appear in a handy monthly calendar view (make sure to tick “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only” and “Flexible with dates for all flights”).

When you identify a seat and click through to the next page, you’ll see the flight details and points cost, and then the subsequent page will also display the additional taxes and fees payable with money.

The amount of points you’ll need is based on distance, as follows.

Emirates recently jacked up the additional fees payable, so they can now add up to thousands of dollars, unfortunately.

For example, you’re looking at $3000-$4000 in taxes and fees when flying Australia-Europe return in business or first class. This is very disappointing and substantially reduces the value of the points redemption.

Shorter flights will have lower fees and charges. For example, the Sydney-Christchurch hop can be done in first class for 129,000 points plus $287 total return.

In addition, Emirates has reduced the number of reward seats available on popular routes. The airline used to reliably release seats around 330 days out on all flights, but now it’s more erratic. It could be a temporary situation while the airline gets back to its pre-pandemic capacity. Fingers crossed!

Emirates award seats now seem to be released in spurts. The airline does also release last minute seats (i.e. for the next few weeks), which could be an option if you have that kind of flexibility.

Summing up

Using Qantas Points for Emirates first or business class seats is a great option for Qantas Frequent Flyers and one of the best uses of Qantas Points – despite the high taxes and fees.

Right now, seat availability is quite limited, though your chances rise the closer you get to the departure date.

You’ll enjoy comfort on board, high-quality food and drinks, and potentially the memorable experiences of the A380 onboard bar and shower.

To read more about what it’s like to fly with Emirates, check out my reviews of the old A380 business class and first class.

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When it comes to booking Qantas reward seats, knowing a few tricks of the trade can give you a huge advantage.

That’s truer than ever in 2024, with so many Aussies collecting Qantas Points and wanting to use them for flights.

To give our readers an edge with finding the optimal seats, here are some tips you need to know.

Qantas domestic and short-haul international 

Qantas releases economy and business class reward seats on domestic and select short-haul international (e.g. New Zealand) routes at 353 days out from departure.

These seats are available to all frequent flyer members regardless of status.

Only a small number of reward seats (i.e. low single digits) are released in each cabin, and once they’re snapped up, Qantas doesn’t provide any more – except in special ‘batch’ releases that occur occasionally (more on that later).

Qantas long-haul international

Getting reward seats on long-haul flights is the goal of most travellers.

Qantas used to automatically release seats from 353 days out from departure on most flights, but that is no longer the case.

There are still a few routes where this does occur, such as high-capacity flights to the USA and Asia – but definitely not lower capacity routes like New York, London, Paris or Rome.

Where seats are released from 353 days out, those seats are only accessible by Gold frequent flyers and above. If any aren’t snapped up by these elite frequent flyers, they can be booked by Silver members at 323 days out, and Bronze members at 297 days out.

Batch releases

For most Qantas international flights, by far the best way to book reward seats is via batch releases.

In 2023, Qantas on several occasions made thousands of seats available to all frequent flyers, like in February and October. This included some domestic seats too.

This was the best way to book seats in 2023, and is likely to continue in 2024.

Usually, these batch releases are not announced ahead of time, which makes it hard to plan. So your best bet is to monitor availability closely and be ready to book (we always alert our readers via email – sign up at the end of this article!).

Partner airlines

Qantas doesn’t control how partner airlines release reward seats. Those airlines are responsible for the timing and quantity of seats released, and their methods vary.

When they are released, they are available to all Qantas frequent flyers. Status doesn’t matter.

Other things to know

Qantas seats are released at exactly midnight GMT, which is 8 am in Perth and 10 am in the east (or 11 am during daylight savings).

When searching for international seats, we recommend using the multi-city tool on Qantas’ website, even if you’re only looking at one route. The advantage is that it gives you results in a handy monthly calendar view, unlike the default search tool on Qantas’ homepage. Just make sure to select “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only” and “Flexible with dates for all flights”.

When there’s a big release of seats, we always let our readers know. If you’d like to be informed, subscribe to our weekly newsletter below.

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