In a bid to provide more value to its loyal members, Qantas has announced a significant improvement to its frequent flyer program.
Effective immediately, members will need 30 to 45 per cent fewer points for all bookings made through Qantas Hotels and Qantas Holidays. This is a permanent change that aims to deliver more per point, making the 13 million members of the program stretch their points further.
This adjustment to the frequent flyer program works to complement the benefits that members already enjoy when they fly with Qantas.
It’s great news for anyone with a healthy balance of Qantas Points, and here’s why:
- For those who love bundling their flights and accommodations, you’re in luck. When combining accommodation and Qantas or Jetstar flights in one booking across all Qantas Holidays packages, you’ll now require 45 per cent fewer points.
- Booking Qantas Hotels just got a whole lot more rewarding. You’ll now need 30 per cent fewer points across over 440,000 hotels (excludes classic hotel rewards).
Additionally, there’s a sweet deal for those making use of Points Plus Pay on flight bookings.
Frequent flyers will need 20 per cent fewer points for bookings made before the end of April 2022, for travel up until April 2023.
When booking hotels, you now get around 0.86 cents of value per point, up from around 0.6 cents previously (for example, I just looked up a room that costs $261 per night, which can be paid with 30,307 points. Due to a special offer, that’s actually cheaper than booking it as a classic reward, which costs 33,000 points!).
When booking a holiday package, you can get over 1 cent of value per point – which is actually a decent deal.
Of course, you can get more value from using points for flights, especially in premium cabins.
For example, an economy flight from Sydney to Perth costs 18,000 points + $44 as a classic reward. Depending on the cash price of a seat, you’re likely getting 1-2 cents of value per point.
Meanwhile, a business class flight from Sydney to Melbourne costs 18,400 points + $40, which means you’re easily getting several cents of value per point, as this fare usually costs at least $600.
If you don’t want to (or can’t) spend points on flights, then hotels and holiday packages are the next best option. You’ll certainly get more value this way than spending points on gift vouchers or at bp.
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