Earlier this year, Qantas announced sweeping changes to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program earn and burn rates. We have previously covered changes to domestic earn rates, and the Classic Reward flight charts.
This time around it is the turn of the Flight Upgrade charts. These are the charts that determine how many points you will need to get an upgrade, such as Economy to Business, or Business to First.
The brief summary is that you will need more points:
- Domestic upgrades to business class: The number of points required will be around 15% higher on the shorter routes (under 1,200 miles), while longer routes will required 20% more points.
- International Upgrades: Upgrades to premium economy, business or first see an increase of 10% in the number of points on shorter flights (in this case under 3,600 miles). Longer flights will require 20% more points.
The full set of charts is available on the Qantas website. As an example, the charts for a domestic upgrade from Economy to Business is shown below.
It is worth noting that the charts indicate that it is the date of the request that is important. If you make the request on or before 4 August, you will be on the current charts. On the other hand, if you make the request on or after 5 August you will be on the new charts,
Jetstar Upgrades
One of the announced changes was that Qantas Frequent Flyers would be able to request upgrades on Jetstar flights. It is not clear whether these charts cover this new option, or there will be a new set of charts. In any case, the ability to upgrade on Jetstar is not going to be available until next year. It would be my assumption that there will be a separate chart for this option.
