Qantas has kicked off the year by announcing a series of changes to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. The changes broadly sweep across areas around the point you earn while flying, and the number of points needed to redeem a rewards flight, or apply for an upgrade..
Overall, there are a mixed bag of changes with some good, and some bad. In this article we will take a look at ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’ of the changes.
But first, a quick list of the changes that are coming down the pike:
- The Good
- A boost to the number of points you can earn on domestic flights (from July 2025)
- Removal of Caps on Status Bonus (from July 2025)
- Additional Classic Reward seats that will be available through various airline partners (one million extra seats during 2025)
- Introduction of a new lead-in one way Economy Reward seat on Jetstar (from August 2025)
- Ability to request Business Upgrade on Jetstar (2026)
- The Bad and The Ugly
- Increases in the number of points required for Classic Rewards (from August 2025)
- Increases in the number of points required for Classic Upgrades (from August 2025)
- Increases in the cash co-payment on reward flights, for carrier charges (from August 2025)
The Good
Let’s start off with the good news.
More points earned on Qantas domestic and international flights
First up, Qantas Frequent Flyers will be able to earn up to 25% more points on Qantas Domestic flights. The changes take two forms. Firstly, there will be an increase in number of points earned on domestic flights. Secondly, the removal of an earning cap on the status bonus will see an increase in the number of points earned in premium cabins. This second change kicks in for international flights as well as domestic.
While Qantas have not yet published the tables for these increased earnings rates, they have provided some examples. These examples are for a bronze member:
- Sydney to Perth in Economy will earn 1,815 Qantas Points (up from 1,450 points).
- Melbourne to Brisbane in Business will earn 2,625 Qantas Points (up from 2,100 points).
The second change is the removal of the Status Bonus cap for members with Silver, or better, status. At present, the Status Bonus has a cap set at the Flexible Economy earn rate. This cap will be removed, and members will earn a bonus based on the full base fare in the cabin they are in. Examples are
- A Platinum member flying Sydney to Melbourne in Business will now earn 3,500 points (up from 2,000 points).
- A Gold member flying Sydney to Los Angeles in Business will now earn 25,594 points (up from 21,375 points).
Cheaper Jetstar lead-in Economy Reward Seats
Sure, it’s Jetstar, however, the points required for the shortest flights will decrease. This change will see the Zone 1 Jetstar domestic flights being made available for just 5,700 points. This hands the crown for the ‘lowest one-way Economy reward seat in Australia’ to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. This points fare will be available on all Jetstar short haul routes such as
- Sydney to the Gold Coast
- Melbourne to Sydney
- Adelaide to Melbourne
One interesting tidbit is that such short flights make up almost half of Jetstar’s flights.
There is a little bit of other good news on the Jetstar front. From February 2026, you’ll be able to use your points to upgrade from Economy to Business on Jetstar’s international Boeing 787s.
More seats with new and existing partners
With the addition of Hawaiian Airlines to OneWorld, Qantas Frequent Flyers will gain access Classic Rewards seats on Hawaiian Airlines. In addition, Qantas Frequent Flyers will be able to use their points for Premium Economy Classic Rewards on Finnair, Air France, KLM and Iberia for the first time.
The Bad and The Ugly
Moving on to the not so good news.
Increase to points for Classic Rewards
From August 2025, the number of points required to book most Classic Rewards flights will increase by up to 20%. The one exception is the previously mentioned short-haul Jetstar flights that will decrease by about 10%,
That increases will apply to reward bookings travelling with Qantas and Jetstar, as well as Oneworld and all partner airlines.
While the updated reward charts have not been published yet, Qantas has provided the following examples:
- Sydney-Melbourne Economy increase from 8,000 points to 9,200 points (15%)
- Sydney-Melbourne Business increases from 18,400 points to 19,300 points (4.9%)
- Sydney-Bali Economy increases from 20,300 points to 23,300 points (14.8%)
- Sydney-London Economy on QF increases from 55,200 to 63,500 points (15%)
- Sydney-London Economy on BA increases from 66,200 to 76,100 points (15%)
- Sydney-London Business on QF increases from 144,600 to 166,300 points (15%)
Increase in Carrier Charges
Qantas will be increasing the cash component, which covers carrier charges, when booking a Classic Reward seat in Business and First cabins. These charges will be increased to align with Classic Plus bookings.
While these can be modest increases, in some cases they are more substantial. For example, in the case of a Classic Rewards in Business from Sydney to London, the co-payment will be increasing from $473 to $648 (or about a 37% increase)
Increases in points required for an Upgrade
Qantas will also be increasing the number of points you need to upgrade from 5 August 2025. Here are some examples provided by Qantas:
- Sydney-Perth, upgrading from Discount Economy to Business – increases from 27,200 points to 32,600 points (up 5,400 points)
- Sydney-Melbourne, upgrading from Flexible economy to Business – increases from 5,400 points to 6,200 points (up 800 points)
- Sydney-Los Angeles, upgrading from Economy to Business – increases from 98,100 points to 117,700 points (up 19,600 points)
- Sydney-Bali, upgrading from Flexible Economy to Business – increases from 17,900 points to 19,700 points (up 1,800 points)
Final Words
These changes are not really unexpected. Increases in the number of points for Classic Rewards seats have not happened often, with the last change being in 2019. Unfortunately, Qantas have only provided some examples of the changes – we have to wait until May to see the full extent of changes.
On the positive side, there will be an increase in the number of points earned on a range of flights. While many of the keen frequent flyers probably earn more points on the ground, this is still a small win.
The promise of additional Classic Rewards seats is interesting. It seems that most of these are being provided by partners. For example, most of the additional seats seem to be being provided by Hawaiian Airlines, which is coming onboard as a one-world partner.
All that said, Qantas have really only provided examples of the changes. Until the full redemption and upgrade charts are published, we won’t have a complete picture of the changes.
