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Qantas has announced changes to its frequent flyer system, including increased earn rates, more reward seats, and higher points costs.
The changes, to be rolled out over the next 12 months, will see up to 1 million more Classic Reward seats go on sale through the Flying Kangaroo’s international partner airlines. They come after last year’s introduction of “Classic Plus” made more reward seats available.
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Qantas domestic customers will see points earned increase by up to 25 per cent, while tier caps on points from premium cabins will be removed, and Jetstar reward seats will be available for as little as 5,700 points one way.
From August 2025, however, Classic Upgrades and Classic Reward seats on domestic and international flights as well as through partner airlines will cost more points. This will be the first cost increase for Classic Reward since 2019, Qantas says.
“A lot has changed in the last six years. These adjustments will ensure we can continue to invest in enhancing the program for the long-term and continue to grow the levels of Classic and Classic Plus Reward seat availability for members year on year,” Qantas Loyalty CEO Andrew Glance said.
“With a number of airlines making changes to their loyalty programs recently, we wanted to give our members as much notice as possible so they can plan their future travel. That’s why our reward fare changes won’t come into effect for at least another six months.”
According to Glance, around 13,000 Classic Reward seats are booked every day, and the changes are “designed to further enhance the ways our members can book Classic Reward seats and the destinations and cabins they can access when they fly”.
“Classic Plus, which represents a $120 million investment in the program, has been a game changer since launching last April. Bookings are up threefold on initial expectations and over the December holiday period we saw an 80 per cent increase in members travelling overseas with their points,” he said.
“We’re also introducing the lowest reward seat fare in Australia, with Jetstar seats for 5,700 points on all short haul domestic routes like Sydney to the Gold Coast and Melbourne to Adelaide, helping members get away faster.
“This is just the beginning of a broader suite of changes to Jetstar rewards that will deliver even greater value for members in 2025 and beyond.”
Qantas now has more than 45 partner airlines around the world, which Glance says gives frequent flyer members “greater flexibility and choice in how they want to be rewarded”.
“The addition of Hawaiian Airlines and more premium cabin seats with Finnair, Air France, KLM and Iberia will later this year begin unlocking up to 1 million additional Classic seats and more opportunities for our members to use their points to book that dream overseas trip,” he said.
“This year will see our members earn an additional 4 billion points thanks to an increase in points earned when travelling domestically and the removal of the earn cap for tiered members travelling in our premium cabins.
“This means tiered members flying in premium cabins domestically require fewer flights to earn their next reward booking.”
