How much are Qantas Points worth?

How much is a Qantas Point worth?

Understanding your Qantas points and their value is important to help you plan how best to use them, but there’s no single answer to how much a Qantas point is worth. Qantas Points don’t have a set dollar value, so their worth will depend on how they’re redeemed. The examples we’ve provided below are estimates that are subject to change.

According to travel website Australian Frequent Flyer, Qantas Points can be worth as little as half a cent if spent on a supermarket gift card, but as much as eight cents if spent on an upgrade from Business to First Class on an international flight. This means 100,000 Qantas points could be worth as much as $8,000 or as little as $500 in equivalent value. To help your points go further, we’ve crunched the numbers to find out how much a Qantas Point is potentially worth in dollars, depending on how it is spent on upgrades, flights, hotels, or at the Qantas Marketplace.

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Using points for Qantas flight upgrades

You can use Qantas Points to upgrade your cabin class on domestic and international flights.

• If you upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy on an international flight, your points will be worth less than three cents each.
• Upgrading from Economy to Business on an international flight makes your points worth just under five cents each.
• Business to First class on an international flight yields the highest cents per point value, with your points being worth around eight cents each.
• Points used for upgrades to domestic flights work out to be worth around seven cents apiece.

Your upgrade is a request, but will be immediate for domestic flights if there’s a seat available on your chosen flight. For international flights upgrades can be a bit more complicated to secure. This is because Qantas will apply various priority rules to decide who gets given the upgrade.

For example, according to Points Hacks, those with a high Qantas Status (Platinum One is the highest status currently needing 3,600 Status Credits to reach) will be approved ahead of those with a lower Qantas Status. With this in mind, Australian Frequent Flyer recommends redeeming your points and buying a seat in the cabin you want to travel in, if possible, rather than trying to upgrade your existing seat.

Using points for Qantas flights

There are three main ways to buy flights with Qantas Points – Classic Flight Rewards, Classic Plus Flight Rewards and Points Plus Pay.

Classic Flight Rewards

Through Classic Flight Rewards, you pay a set number of points for a flight. The number of points required will vary depending on how far you are travelling and the cabin you choose (Economy, Premium Economy, Business or First Class). It’s not influenced by the actual price of the fare.

For example, Qantas sells Discount Economy class return tickets from Melbourne to Sydney for about $360 ($180 each way) or 16,000 points (8,000 points each way) for a reward ticket. This means your points are worth 2.2 cents each (not factoring in charges, taxes and fees).

It’s important to keep in mind that reward seats are subject to availability. This may be limited for long-haul international flights and premium cabins. According to Point Hacks, it’s easiest to get a reward seat when travelling with Qantas within the Asia-Pacific region, and it’s the most difficult to get a premium cabin reward seat for flights to North and South America, Europe and South Africa (which are Qantas’ longest flights).

Classic Plus Flight Rewards

Qantas now offers frequent flyer members Classic Plus Flight Rewards. This new type of reward provides more opportunity to redeem points for seats on Qantas flights, but does not currently extend to Qantas’ partner airlines. Classic Plus Flight Rewards only cover select international flights, with more international and domestic flights expected to be added by the end of 2024. It’s important to note that the number of points you’ll need to redeem fluctuates depending on the retail price, not just how far you’re travelling and the cabin you wish to sit in.

Points Plus Pay

The other way to redeem your points for flights is by using Points Plus Pay. This method converts the normal price of a fare into Qantas Points. Because this is based on the commercial price of the seat, this is typically at a lower conversion rate compared with Classic Flight Reward bookings. Using an example of a domestic flight between Canberra and Brisbane, if you were to buy return Economy class tickets using Points Plus Pay, the lowest fare would cost you $707 or 68,200 points (34,100 points each way). This drops the value of your points down to just one cent each, which is significantly lower compared with the reward option where your points are worth 4.8 cents each.

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Using Qantas points for hotels

What are your Qantas Points worth if you use them to pay for hotel accommodation? Qantas is currently selling one night’s accommodation at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne from $330 or 41,884 points. This means one point is valued at about 0.78 of a cent. Points seem to have a similar value whether the hotel is in Australia or overseas and regardless of whether it’s a three-, four- or five-star hotel. For example, to stay at the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore, Qantas at the time of writing charges from $1,863 per night or 220,710 points, so points are worth about 0.84 of a cent each.

Using points to shop at the Qantas Marketplace

You can also use Qantas Points to buy products or gift vouchers via Qantas Marketplace. But according to Australian Frequent Flyer, in terms of points-to-dollar value, this is one of the worst ways to spend your points. The Qantas Rewards Store might be worth considering if your points are about to expire (they expire if you don’t earn or redeem at least one point every 18 months), or if you don’t intend on using your points for flights.

For example, through the Qantas Marketplace you can currently redeem 29,400 points for a Fitbit Inspire 3. If you buy this directly from Fitbit, it’ll cost you about $179.95. This means your points are traded in at a rate of about 0.61 of a cent apiece.

Here’s what your Qantas Points are currently worth if spent on some other products:
← Mobile/tablet users, scroll sideways to view full table →

Source: Qantas Marketplace, prices as at 25 July 2024.

Compared to flights and upgrades, you also won’t get much value if you redeem your points for gift cards. For example, Qantas sells $100 David Jones gift cards for 21,170 points, meaning your points are worth about 0.47 of a cent each. You can also get a $100 Bunnings gift card for 23,330 points, which drops your point purchasing power down to just 0.42 of a cent apiece. At this rate 70,000 Qantas points would only be worth about $300 of equivalent value.

Other ways to redeem your points

There are a number of other ways to redeem your points. For example, you can use your points to purchase or renew a Qantas Club Membership or to partly pay for Qantas Insurance premiums such as for Qantas health insurance and Qantas travel insurance. Points can also be used for hire cars and to buy alcohol through Qantas Wine. But according to Australian Frequent Flyer, your points will only be worth an average of 0.6 of a cent if you redeem them this way.

How to earn more Qantas Points

If you’re keen to earn more Qantas Points, here are some tips that could help you top up your balance:

• If you currently have a credit card that earns Qantas Points, it can be a good idea to compare it with other cards on the market and see whether it’s offering you good value. Consider the earn rate and any sign-up bonuses against factors such as the interest rate and annual fee. Bear in mind that frequent flyer cards tend to have a higher interest rate and annual fee compared to other types of cards.
• You can also earn points by shopping with retailers through the Qantas Shopping website. Partner retailers include Apple, David Jones and Woolworths online. These points are earned in addition to any points you get from a points-earning credit card.
• Another option is to buy Qantas Points but keep in mind this may not be great value depending on what you intend to buy. Points can be bought in blocks of 1,000 up to 150,000 points. A Service Fee of $35 AUD will apply for Top-up Points purchased via the Frequent Flyer Service Centre.

You can also check out Canstar’s 8 hacks that could help you earn more frequent flyer points for more tips on earning points.

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