Qantas Frequent Flyer members will soon find it takes more points to snare a Classic Upgrade award. The announcement out of Qantas today comes into effect for Upgrades that are processed after February 20, 2017.
The increase apply to anyone applying for an upgrade from today. They do not apply if you got your request in before today.
Having said that, they don’t apply for upgrades in the next three months. Only upgrades processed from February 20, 2017 will see the increased charges.
Classic Upgrade increases
The biggest changes to the increases affect a range of international Upgrade Awards. Domestic is not spared, though, with increases to some awards.
International
Members submitting requests for international upgrades will see points increases on the following upgrades:
- Economy Saver to Premium Economy
- Economy Saver and Economy Flex to Business
- Premium Economy Sale to Business
- Business Class Sale and Saver to First
Premium Economy
Upgrading an economy ticket to a premium economy seat on international flights will require more points from an Economy tickets. If you have a Flexible Economy ticket, there is no change.
| Economy to Premium Economy | Flexible Economy to Premium Economy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone | One-Way Miles | Before Feb 20 | After Feb 20 | Before Feb 20 | After Feb 20 |
| 1 | 0-600 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 2 | 601-1,200 | 7,500 | 9,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 3 | 1,201-2,400 | 10,000 | 12,500 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 4 | 2,401-3,600 | 15,000 | 18,500 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 5 | 3,601-4,800 | 25,000 | 31,500 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 6 | 4,801-5,800 | 30,000 | 37,500 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 7 | 5,801-7,000 | 35,000 | 44,000 | 14,000 | 14,000 |
| 8 | 7,001-8,400 | 45,000 | 56,500 | 18,000 | 18,000 |
| 9 | 8,401-9,600 | 50,000 | 62,500 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| 10 | 9,601-15,000 | 60,000 | 75,000 | 24,000 | 24,000 |
Business From Economy
Upgrading to Business from Economy or Flexible Economy will become more expensive. From Economy, the increase is around 20% – 25%. If you are upgrading from Flexible Economy, you’ll see an increase of around 10%
| Economy to Business | Flexible Economy to Business | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone | One-Way Miles | Before Feb 20 | After Feb 20 | Before Feb 20 | After Feb 20 |
| 1 | 0-600 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 5,500 |
| 2 | 601-1,200 | 12,000 | 15,000 | 7,500 | 8,500 |
| 3 | 1,201-2,400 | 16,000 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 11,000 |
| 4 | 2,401-3,600 | 24,000 | 30,000 | 15,000 | 16,500 |
| 5 | 3,601-4,800 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 25,000 | 27,500 |
| 6 | 4,801-5,800 | 48,000 | 60,000 | 30,000 | 33,000 |
| 7 | 5,801-7,000 | 56,000 | 70,000 | 35,000 | 38,500 |
| 8 | 7,001-8,400 | 72,000 | 90,000 | 45,000 | 49,500 |
| 9 | 8,401-9,600 | 80,000 | 100,000 | 50,000 | 55,000 |
| 10 | 9,601-15,000 | 96,000 | 120,000 | 60,000 | 66,000 |
Business From Premium Economy
If you are upgrading from Premium Economy to Business, the good news is that there is no change to the number of points required. For completeness, the table is shown below.
| Premium Economy to Business | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone | One-Way Miles | Before Feb 20 | After Feb 20 |
| 1 | 0-600 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 2 | 601-1,200 | 7,500 | 7,500 |
| 3 | 1,201-2,400 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 4 | 2,401-3,600 | 15,000 | 15,000 |
| 5 | 3,601-4,800 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
| 6 | 4,801-5,800 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
| 7 | 5,801-7,000 | 35,000 | 35,000 |
| 8 | 7,001-8,400 | 45,000 | 45,000 |
| 9 | 8,401-9,600 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| 10 | 9,601-15,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 |
First
Upgrading to First can only be done from Business, and until now the same rate has applied regardless of your Business Fare. The changes coming through affect the cheaper Business tickets. There is no change to travellers upgrading from a Flexible Business ticket.
| Business to First | Flexible Business to First | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone | One-Way Miles | Before Feb 20 | After Feb 20 | Before Feb 20 | After Feb 20 |
| 1 | 0-600 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 2 | 601-1,200 | 7,500 | 9,500 | 7,500 | 7,500 |
| 3 | 1,201-2,400 | 10,000 | 12,500 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 4 | 2,401-3,600 | 15,000 | 18,500 | 15,000 | 15,000 |
| 5 | 3,601-4,800 | 25,000 | 31,500 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
| 6 | 4,801-5,800 | 30,000 | 37,500 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
| 7 | 5,801-7,000 | 35,000 | 44,000 | 35,000 | 35,000 |
| 8 | 7,001-8,400 | 45,000 | 56,500 | 45,000 | 45,000 |
| 9 | 8,401-9,600 | 50,000 | 62,500 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| 10 | 9,601-15,000 | 60,000 | 75,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 |
Domestic
Domestic travellers will see increases when applying for an upgrade from discount economy top business on sectors longer than 600 miles. These are the so called Zone 2 and Zone 3 routes.
The following table shows the changes:
| Discount Economy to Business | Flexible Economy to Business | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone | One-Way Miles | Before Feb 20 | After Feb 20 | Before Feb 20 | After Feb 20 |
| 1 | 0-600 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 2 | 601-1,200 | 15,000 | 17,500 | 7,500 | 7,500 |
| 3 | 1,201-2,400 | 20,000 | 25,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 4 | 2,401-3,600 | 30,000 | 34,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 |
Using points for an upgrade has been considered by many to be one of the best ways of using points. These changes mean that they may not give the same bang for you buck as previously.
Depending of the fare classes that you have booked, there may be little change. On the other hand, you could be facing a significant increase. The increases are certainly most pronounced on the discounted international airfares.
Having said that, while they are not as good value as they were, upgrade awards still provide a good way of using your points.
