Qantas Gives Frequent Flyers What They’ve Always Wanted

Qantas Gives Frequent Flyers What They’ve Always Wanted

Image Credit: Marc Newson Ltd

Qantas has given frequent flyers what they most want: the opportunity to use their points to upgrade.

Though this might sound straightforward – obvious, even – the truth is that using your points to get a free upgrade isn’t always simple. Usually, there will be a limited number of seats per flight that are available to book purely with points, depending on the route, and the demand for that route.

The result? Travellers consistently tell airlines in polls, despite all the bells and whistles on offer (from toasters to duty-free trinkets), more than anything, what they’d rather use their points on, is a free upgrade.

On that note: Qantas is giving Australian travellers the chance to use their points for exactly that purpose. If they want to fly to New Zealand, that is.

That’s right: every Qantas flight to New Zealand in May will be a points plane.

The airline announced on Wednesday: “Throughout May, every Qantas and Jetstar flight will be a Points Plane meaning Frequent Flyers can use Qantas Points to book any seat as a Classic Reward Seat.”

“Classic Flight Reward seats across the Tasman start from 18,000 points with Qantas and 14,400 with Jetstar plus taxes, fees and carrier charges.”

Qantas News Room

Seats on these flights can also be purchased with cash.

This comes after news broke that New Zealand will reopen to Australians from April the 13th.

Qantas says it will increase the frequency of flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Auckland, and Sydney to Christchurch, from mid-April. The flights will be on Boeing 737s and Airbus A330s.

Flights to Queenstown and Wellington are due to start during May and June.

Qantas also said that for the rest of the year it has already increased the availability of seats that can be booked with points on its trans-Tasman routes – by up to 50%.

Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David said: “As a thank you to our frequent flyers for their ongoing loyalty throughout the pandemic, we’ve made every flight across the Tasman for the month of May a Points Plane, which means every seat can be booked using points.”

He also emphasised the importance of this latest travel freedom saying: “New Zealand was Australia’s second biggest source of international visitors before the pandemic, and Australians were the biggest source of visitors to New Zealand, so this is an important milestone as part of the recovery for both countries.”

“With restriction-free travel possible from next month for Australians, we look forward to rebuilding our trans-Tasman flights.”

Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David

“We know that testing requirements can deter some people from travelling. As the world shifts to truly living with COVID, it’s important that we normalise travel between Australian and New Zealand by removing layers of testing given the virus is endemic in both countries and both have some of the highest vaccination rates in the world.”

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