Qantas increasing points required for Classic Upgrades

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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.

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About Author

Mark is the founder of FlyStayPoints, and caught the travel bug early in life. He discovered the benefits of travel loyalty programs in 2001, and is always learning how they can make travel better. While work takes him between Perth and Melbourne, he is always plotting his next adventure.