What are Qantas points worth?

For the value of Velocity points, see What are Velocity points worth?

The amount of value you can extract from your Qantas points varies considerably with some redemption options worth five times as much as others. Qantas themselves do little to highlight this fact as it’s better for them if you cash your points in for a lower value reward.

Whilst there have been many attempts to assign a value to Qantas points, most fail to account for how and where Australians actually travel, resulting in inflated figures that are unobtainable for most Qantas Frequent Flyer members.

This guide uses a data-driven approach to break down the value of all major Qantas redemptions to help you understand how to get the best deal when spending your hard earned Qantas points.

Methodology

For this analysis we’ve developed a model that aims to provide the most honest and realistic assessment of the value of Qantas points.

Instead of pulling random reward flights out of a hat, our dataset focused only on Australia’s busiest ten domestic routes and the ten most visited countries by Australian travellers according to BITRE and ABS data.

Every single flight analysed was a return trip as these are often cheaper to book than two one-way journeys.

Most significantly, each reward flight was compared against the lowest consistently priced paid fare on any airline, not just the carrier that the reward happens to be on.

Lastly, the nominally fixed values of Classic Plus and Points Plus Pay redemptions have been adjusted down to account for the average premium you will pay to book through Qantas.

Whilst this provides us with a realistic idea of the value that you can expect to see from each type of Qantas redemption, there are still a few things you should keep in mind:

• These numbers are for guidance only; the value of Classic Rewards can be much higher (or lower) depending on the route, date and other circumstances
• Reward flights are limited in availability so they’re not always easy to book
• Value is subjective, especially when it comes to business and first class flights
• There’s no right or wrong way to redeem your points – how you choose to use them is entirely up to you

Flight redemptions

There are three different ways you can redeem Qantas points on flights, each with their own benefits and disadvantages:

• Classic Rewards – 1.0-2.0+ cents
• Classic Plus Rewards – 0.8-1.0 cents
• Points Plus Pay – 0.4 cents

Classic Rewards

Classic Rewards are what most people are referring to when they talk about using Qantas points to book flights. With these fares, you pay a points price which is determined by flight distance and a cash amount to cover taxes, fees and carrier charges (e.g. Sydney to Singapore in economy for 29,000 points and $171).

Classic Reward flights are usually the most valuable Qantas points redemption. Premium economy, business and first class Classic Rewards are the best but even economy can sometimes be worthwhile, particularly on routes where regular airfares are overpriced (e.g. regional Australia).

The catch with Classic Rewards is that they’re only released in limited numbers so they’re not always easy to book – especially if you want to fly in a premium cabin or during peak travel periods. Finding Classic Rewards requires patience, flexibility and quite a bit of research but sometimes even that’s not enough.

Qantas’ new Flight Reward Finder is a great way to gauge availability of international Classic Rewards. There are also more advanced third-party tools like Gyoza Flights and FlightSeats.io that allow you to create alerts for reward seat releases.

If you’re an Instagram user, it’s worth following experts like The Point Whiz or The Points Coach as they share lots of news and tips about Classic Reward availabilities.

Classic Plus Rewards

Classic Plus Rewards, on the other hand, are a newer type of reward flight that Qantas introduced in April 2024. What makes these flights different to Classic Rewards is that the points component of the price is determined not by flight distance but by the cash price of the same airfare.

As a result, the nominal value of a Classic Plus Reward is fixed at 0.9 cents for domestic economy, 1.0 cent per point for international economy and 1.25 cents for business class, first class and premium economy.

However, Classic Plus Rewards are only available on Qantas-operated flights so once you factor in the average premium that Qantas charge, it’s more like 0.8-1.0 cent per point.

Sometimes a Classic Plus Reward will be cheaper than the equivalent Classic Reward if the cash price is low enough (you often see this on trans-Tasman flights) but if that’s the case then you might as well just pay cash and save your points for a higher value redemption.

However, the advantage that Classic Plus Rewards have over standard Classic Rewards is that there are more of them available to book. If you have the points but there are no Classic Rewards left on the dates and routes you want then Classic Plus may well be the only option you have.

Points Plus Pay

Lastly, there is Points Plus Pay. This is the process of paying for a normal cash airfare, either partially or entirely, with Qantas points at a fixed rate of 0.5 cents per point (adjusted to 0.4 cents to account for Qantas’ price premium).

Whilst this is an abysmal rate compared to Classic Rewards and Classic Plus Rewards, the benefit of Points Plus Pay is that you can use it to book any airfare sold by Qantas so it suits those who are points rich but cash poor.

Upgrades with points

Using your Qantas points to upgrade your flight can sometimes be great value but it depends on several factors. Points upgrades are currently only available on Qantas and American Airlines flights and not all fare types are eligible (e.g. international sale fares can’t be upgraded).

Also, the amount of points needed to upgrade varies depending on your original booking. For example, it takes substantially more points to upgrade a Classic Reward economy booking compared to a flexible economy airfare.

Even if you do have all the points required and consider it worthwhile, upgrades are far from guaranteed – especially if you’re trying to upgrade a long haul international flight as a lowly Qantas Bronze status holder.

For that reason, it’s almost always a bad idea to pay for a Qantas (or American Airlines) airfare that you wouldn’t have otherwise booked just in the hope of potentially receiving an upgrade.

Upgrades make the most sense if someone else is paying for your base fare (e.g. your employer only lets you fly economy). That way you haven’t spent anything and if your upgrade is successful it shouldn’t require as many points.

Other points redemptions

For simplicity’s sake, the graph above lists only hotels, gift cards and products but there are several other ways to redeem your points that aren’t necessarily related to flying. Here’s the approximate value you can expect to see when using your points on some of these other redemptions:

• TripADeal – 1.0 cent
• Hotels – 0.7 cents
• Car rental – 0.6 cents
• Wine – 0.5 cents
• BP Fuel – 0.5 cents
• Products – 0.4 cents
• Gift cards – 0.4 cents

At 1.0 cent per point, the Qantas-owned package holiday provider TripADeal is perhaps the best value redemption after reward flights.

With Qantas Hotels, the value per point can reach as high as 0.95 cents per point on more expensive bookings but for cheaper stays it falls to just 0.7 cents – better than a lot of the other non-flying redemptions but still not great.

Products, gift cards and wine are some of the worst value redemptions, especially once you consider how often those items are available for less through other stores.

Whilst there are sometimes discounts on the number of points needed to buy products, gift cards, wine and fuel, they’re seldom generous enough to threaten the supremacy of Classic Rewards.

If you understand this and still decide to cash your points in for one of these lower value redemptions, don’t feel bad about it. After all, those who do help subsidise the business class reward flights for the rest of us.

However, you should think carefully about how you actually earn your Qantas points as you may have better options available to you.

For example, 50,000 Everyday Rewards points could pay for $250 in groceries but if you converted them into Qantas points you would only be able to spend $100-125 on products or gift cards. In that scenario you would get twice the value by keeping your points in the Everyday Rewards system.

In summary

Whilst you’re entitled to spend your Qantas points on whatever you want, the data shows that you’ll get the most value when booking business and first class Classic Rewards. Economy Classic Rewards can also sometimes be worthwhile, especially on routes where cash airfares are overpriced (e.g. regional Australia).

However, reward flights are released in limited numbers so you can’t always rely on them being available. Booking these flights often requires a lot of patience, flexibility and effort to make it all work.

Nevertheless, you should always at least explore the idea of using your points to book flights before resorting to other options. If you still decide to redeem them on something else (e.g. gift cards, wine, toasters etc), try to time your purchase with a points discount promotion so that you’re getting the best possible deal.

Qantas points value calculator

Curious what your Qantas points balance is worth? Use our calculator to find out: