When it comes to booking Qantas reward seats, knowing a few tricks can give you a big advantage.
That’s truer than ever in 2026, with so many Aussies collecting Qantas Points and seeking to use them for flights.
To give our readers an edge with finding the best seats, we’ve compiled the following must-know tricks.
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Classic v Classic Plus reward seats
Qantas Frequent Flyer members can access two different types of reward seats: Classic (which have been around for many years) and Classic Plus (which launched in 2024).
Classic reward seats have a fixed price based on distance and cabin class. They are issued by Qantas and partner airlines like Emirates, but availability is extremely limited.
Classic Plus seats, on the other hand, are much more plentiful – but they are usually a lot more expensive and are only available on Qantas operated flights.
Classic Plus seats have a flexible points price that fluctuates based on the underlying cash fare. In short: 100 Qantas Points will cover $1 of an economy fare or $1.25 of a premium economy, business or first class fare.
Classic Plus availability is also restricted – just because cash fares can be purchased doesn’t mean Classic Plus seats are available – however they are much easier to find than Classic reward seats.
Significant price difference for Classic and Classic Plus seats
The best time to book Classic Plus seats is when there’s a sale on cash fares, as the number of points required will also drop.
Qantas domestic and short-haul international reward seats
Qantas releases economy and business class Classic 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.
In recent years, the number of seats released this way has been falling, so that on many flights now there are no Classic reward seats – only Classic Plus.
Qantas long-haul international Classic reward seats
Getting Classic 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 of its flights, but that is no longer reliably the case.
When it does occur, Gold and higher status holders get access first. Any seats that remain become available to Silver members at 323 days out, and Bronze members at 297 days out.
If you don’t have gold status but a close family member does, they may be able to book the seats for you as soon as they are released.
Qantas batch seat releases
For most Qantas international flights, by far the best way to book Classic reward seats is when Qantas releases a batch at once.
In recent years, Qantas has regularly made hundreds or even thousands of seats available at once.
Typically, these batch releases are not announced ahead of time, which makes it hard to plan. The business and first class seats are also snapped up within a few hours, so you really need to monitor availability closely or sign up for one of the many reward seat alert services that are around (you can Google them).
Partner airlines
Qantas doesn’t control how or when partner airlines release reward seats. Those airlines are responsible for the timing and quantity of seats released, and their methods vary.
Sadly, we’ve seen a trend the last few years of partners releasing fewer and fewer reward seats, particularly in premium cabins.
Due to high demand, airlines are favouring their own loyalty program members by giving them preferential access to reward seats while restricting access by partner airlines.
That means it’s now much harder to use Qantas Points to book seats with partners at the pointy end of the plane.
When they are released, they are available to all Qantas frequent flyers. Status doesn’t matter.
The seats will show up in searches on the Qantas website.
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”.
Good luck!
Want a big boost of Qantas Points? Get up to 100,000 bonus points + an annual $450 Qantas Travel Credit with our favourite card for points, rewards and benefits: the Qantas American Express Ultimate Card!