Source: Qantas

The basics - how to sign up and what the QFF program represents for the consumer?

The Qantas Frequent Flyer program is a loyalty system designed to both retain Qantas and Oneworld alliance customers through the award of frequent flyer points for flying with Qantas or Oneworld partner airlines, as well as a host of non-flying relating spending activities.

The program is extremely lucrative for Qantas, and works in a basic sense by vendors paying Qantas for frequent flyer points, which the vendor can then use to incentivise their customers through award of points for using their product or service. For example, hypothetically, Woolworths may purchase 10000000 points which it can then use to attract and retain its own customers with qantas points.

For Qantas, this gives the company money for points upfront, meaning that Qantas has the money before the eventual customer earns, and then actually uses said points. Its easy to see that this is a significant cash cow for the airline, which, once a consumer becomes part of the QFF program, also inherently brings large changing costs, helping with customer retention.

That said, QFF also provides extremely strong value for points earners should you earn, and importantly, use them efficiently.

• Joining QFF - To join, non-members can sign up by visiting this webpage, however this incurs a joining fee of $99.50. You can avoid this fee by using multiple Qantas partners:

Firstly, you can literally just CLICK HERE TO JOIN QFF FREE - this is supposed to be an entrance for existing QFF members to have their family join free, however, literally anyone can click this link, fill it in, and you’ll immediately have access at zero cost.

If, for some reason you don’t want to enrol via this method, you can also join if you are a Red energy customer by clicking here. Existing Woolworths everyday rewards members can also join for free by clicking this link.

There are other free ways to join, however, these are three very easy methods and we’re kind of repeating ourselves at this point.

Qantas partners, of which there are far too many to list, award customers points to varying rates for using their services. This might be 0.5 points per dollar spent, 1.0, or more.

These points typically will automatically be deposited into your QFF account, which has a statement showing all your points activities. Once you have saved enough points, you can then spend them on whatever you like, for flights, wine, hotels or items from the Qantas store.

To work out how many points you need for a flight you might be aiming for, Qantas offers points calculators here

This also includes an earning calculator where you can check how many points and status credits you will earn on upcoming flights.

Which brings us to status credits!.

Status credits are earned almost exclusively from flying with Qantas, some Jetstar fares, and oneworld airline partners. This differ entirely from points, as they determine what Qantas FF membership tier you posses per membership year, which starts the day you join QFF and renews annually. Status credit earning depends on:

• Fare type - the cheapest fares typically earn the least status credits

• Class of travel - business and first class attract significantly more than economy travel

• distance of journey

As you progress through tiers, perks dramatically increase. the default bronze simply allows you to earn points and credits, and the ability to book rewards points flights. Go to gold however, and you’ll receive free access to the Qantas club lounges, international business class lounges, and even all oneworld airline partner international business lounges for you and a travelling friend, regardless of your class of travel.

As an example, to attain gold status you’ll need 700 status credits in your 12 month membership period. As you can see, if you booked a one-way discounted business class flight from Brisbane to Los Angeles, you’d earn 180 status credits:

So two return discounted business class fares per year to somewhere like LA would get it done, then to retain gold you’ll need 600 status credits per year. This may seem a lot for some travelers, however Qantas do offer a double status credit promotion at least once per year, where one trip booked during this time will get you there.

Another major benefit for climbing the status ladder is that higher tiers are awarded more points for the same journey. Take this same example which is set to a bronze member, and convert to gold - you can see the increased points:

It’s important to note that though higher status tiers earn more points for the same flight, they do not earn more status credits.

There are far too many perks to run through here for all different tiers - you should view the official Qantas membership tier matrix here, which sets out the different perks and benefits you attain from tiers, ranging from bronze, silver, gold, platinum and platinum one.

One perk defintely worth highlighting here is, the higher the tier, the better access you have to book valuable classic rewards seats. In fact, Platinum and Platinum one tiers are able to call, and within reason, access rewards seats whenever they like!.

Platinum and platinum one members can even extend this perk to book seats for family and friends by calling Qantas to book. This further shows the additional benefits of getting to the higher tiers of the program.

Its also worth noting the your lifetime status credits are tracked on your profile, and if you hit 7000 status credits lifetime silver is awarded, 14000 for lifetime gold, and a whopping 75000 for lifetime platinum!.

Earning points from flying activity

Once signed up as a QFF member, every flight you book and pay for with cash will result in points being awarded once you have completed the flight. The amount of points depends on a few things such as:

• Qantas FF membership tier

• Fare type booked - discounted tickets earn fewer points that more flexible fares

• Distance travelled - obviously longer trips attract more points than short distances

Using the Qantas calculator, the following screenshot provides an example of how many points a bronze member can expect to earn from Brisbane to Los Angeles in discounted business class:

The same flight for a gold tier member will earn the following however, for the same fliight:

Earning points with credit cards - major income stream of Qantas points

Depending on your flying habits, you may be thinking this is not a lot of points per year, however, the majority of points I earn is through credit card sign-ups and spending. Many Australian banks offer a credit card that earns qantas points per dollar spent, as well as American Express.

I simply cannot list all credit cards here with all variations, however you can view current credit card offers at the Qantas credit card website which lists a lot of current QFF aligned cards, and the respective pros and cons of each offering including sign up bonus points!.

Sign up bonus points are offered by a lot of card issuers, and can be as many as 130000 just for signing up, and meeting the minimum spend requirement set out by the issuer.

These credit cards all come with varying costs in terms of annual fees, however many offer equivalent value back through perks, not to mention the points earning capability.

To give some perspective, 130000 points is more than enough for someone to fly return business class from Australia to Asia via classic reward.

Credit cards offer varying points earning power depending on type of spend, take the Citi prestige Qantas Credit Card for example, which offers currently 100000 bonus points, up to 1.0 points per dollar on spend, complimentary priority pass membership, and a host of other bonus perks related to travel.

American Express offer Qantas branded cards, as well as premium platinum cards which allow you to earn amex reward points and transfer them to many airlines, including Qantas.

All card issuers offer different strengths, and its best to investigate this yourself to see what suits your needs personally of course, but this example illustrates the potential for points earning credit cards possess.

• Earning points from shopping

Qantas has a huge list of shopping partners, around 450, that offer bonus points for shopping with them, and you can view the current list of parnters here.

Take Woolworths again for example, if you are a Woolworths everyday rewards member, which is free to join, you can shop at Woolworths and earn everyday rewards points, which can then be set to automatically convert 2000 everyday points to 1000 Qantas points.

Pay for that same Woolworths shop with a Qantas points earning credit card, and earn multiple ways on one transaction.

• Earning points with insurances, energy providers and phone providers

Qantas offer their own branded insurances for many services including health insurance, which comes with an app that awards you points for walking amongst other things!. Also on offer are car, travel, home and contents insurances.

These often come with sign-up bonus points, and attract ongoing points with each bill that is paid. Qantas health insurance particularly can attract significant points, up to 140000 per year and you can check out these insurances here.

A slightly newer insurance points program is through Bupa, which are partnered with Woolworths everyday rewards. You can earn these points with Bupa and have them automatically converted to Qantas points. One extra little perk of Woolworths points earning through Bupa, is that every dollar spent on fresh fruit and vegetables attracts a bonus 7 points per dollar!.

Red Energy award customers 2 Qantas points per dollar when paying on time, and you can get up to 10000 bonus points for swtiching over.

As at this time, you may earn Qantas points with Kogan mobile, at a rate of 1 point per $2 dollars spent.

• Earning points with hotel chains, Qantas hotels, petrol stations and wine

There is a large list of hotel partners that allows you to transfer points to Qantas. Hilton Honours, Marriott Bonvoy and Accor Limitless Live and Airbnb to name a few. With these programs, you can earn points as per their respective conditions and transfer to QFF should you wish.

View the full list of hotel and travel partners here

Qantas operates its own hotel booking system, as well as owning the Tripadeal company. Book travel through these guys and you will earn additional 3 points points per dollar, plus any points earned by paying with a Qantas aligned payment method.

Paying for petrol at a BP petrol station earns you points through the BP rewards program and often run promotions for up to 5 or even 10 points per dollar on fuel and in-store purchases. You can also earn points with Ampol as you can earn Woolworths everyday rewards points, which can be converted to Qantas points as we’ve already discussed.

Qantas operate their own wine and spirits website, aptly named Qantas wine! - purchased your wine and spirits through this site and earn points - some very enticing bonus points offers come up from time to time through Qantas wine with bonus points in the 10’s of thousands not uncommon.

• Earning status credits from flying

Unlike points earning and the huge amount of opportunities to earn them, status credits - the thing that determines what membership tier you belong to, is far less broad.

The overwhelming majority of status credits you’ll earn need to come from flying with either Qantas, some Jetstar fares and other Oneworld airlines.

• Earning status credits from other activities

Very occasionally, a Qantas partner may have a promotional product offering status credits for non-flying activities, but this is rare. Sorry to say, but to progress in tiers and get those sweet perks, you simply need to fly!.

• Double Status Credits Promotions

At least once a year, though often twice if you are a points club plus member, Qantas run a promotion, typically around March where all flights booked during this promotional period will award you with double the usual status credits you would earn.

This obviously makes it much easier to attain or retain that status level you value most, with the above example of a business class flight from Brisbane to LA attracting 360 status credits instead of the normal 180 one way.

A return trip would see you attain gold status in one return business class trip!

A newish part of the QFF program came out during the pandemic, called Points club and Points club plus, depending on how many points you earn in a membership year.

This was brought about to recognise and reward points earners that do not fly so much, but still support Qantas through using many of the airlines other products and services.

If you earn 150000 points from non-flying activities in your membership year, you’ll gain access to Points club - 350000 gets you Points club plus. This brings with it a number of valuable perks.

Points club members will be given two business lounge invites, and plus will be awarded free Qantas club membership!. Perhaps the most valuable perk, is that members will earn status credits when flying on a booking made through rewards redemption!

Normally, if you use Qantas points to book a flight, you will not earn any status credits or points for that flight. However, points club members will earn status credits, albeit at a reduced rate. You can view the status credit earnings here.

On top of this great perk, members will receive hotel vouchers, wine vouchers, free Qantas wine membership, and many other perks.

Points club plus members even retain 100 status credits from their previous membership year, making it easier to retain your tier for the following year. Many other perks are awarded to both points club and plus, its defintely worth checking this out at the link provided!.

Qantas green tier sits independently in the QFF program, and rewards members who choose green activities, such as carbon offsetting flights or deliveries. Other green activities include choosing to stay at sustainable hotels, drinking sustainably produced wines, or donating points to sustainability charities.

Complete 1 activity from 5 of the 6 green categories listed, and you’ll be rewarded with green tier which offers a choice of 50 status credits or 10000 points amongst other things.

This can be a very simple way to give back, but also attain 50 status credits should you be just short of retaining your membership tier in any given membership year.

On rewards flights - best ways to book rewards seats - Classic rewards

There are multiple methods you can use to book flights using points, however the best value for points is undoubtedly classic rewards. Booking a flight through this system requires the fewest amount of points, but, is also the hardest to find in terms of availability - particularly in premium cabins.

You can search for available classic rewards flights by logging into your QFF profile, and searching through the normal way, just ensure the rewards slider is on:

From here, you’ll move through to a screen which shows your options, as can be seen below:

This search will bring up many flight options routing through various cities, and even oneworld partner airlines such as Cathay Pacific. The highlighted option here shows an available route from Brisbane to Tokyo on Jetstar economy for 21500 points.

Classic rewards should not be confused with Classic plus which you can see above as well - more about that soon.

Please also note that when you find a route you’d like to book, you will need to pay any applicable taxes and fees with cash, which varies by route and will be shown to you as you proceed, and can be seen above as $159 for the Jetstar option.

This can be a sound method to search for the flight you’re after, however I find a much more efficient way is to use the Qantas multi-city search function. Searching using this function which can be found on the Qantas website through the standard booking function, users will be presented with the following table, laying out all available options around the date of choice:

As you can see, this method provides a quicker overall snapshot of what’s available on your route. Click any date that you like, and it will show you the specifics of available flights, times and which airline is operating it etc.

• Finding the ever elusive classic rewards business class seat!

I certainly can’t say its easy finding premium class travel on popular routes all the time, it’s typically not easy (though sometimes it can be) and does require some flexibility on your part, and often a lot of persistence.

• I have found a combination of searching far ahead and checking in daily or as often as possible has proven the most successful for booking business reward seats, which might not be possible for everyone.

• For those able to travel at shorter notice, searching within the next few weeks can provide excellent results. If route passenger loads aren’t sold out, additional classic rewards seats will be released. Also, some people obviously cancel existing bookings, which you may be able to take advantage of.

• Another tip, try as much as possible to be flexible with your route and destination. If you search For Brisbane to New York for example and no business class is available, try Sydney to NY. Sometimes, you may also consider allowing the available routes determine where you go as a different approach.

• The search function only seems to incorporate a maximum of 3 legs, so perhaps BNE - SYD - LAX - NYC won’t come up, but if your search is departing SYD instead of BNE, it could well show up as the route may then be SYD - LAX - NYC.

Also, be sure to evaluate the Qantas route map to get a solid idea of where Qantas fly directly themselves, and which are operated by Oneworld partners.

Qantas allows you to book reward seats 353 days in advance, and release new seats daily at 10am EST. Though a little trick that can sometimes work, is to search 353 days out, and often you will be able to see availability up to 2 weeks beyond this.

• Classic rewards plus

The classic rewards program had faced a lot of criticism over recent years due to scarcity of available rewards seats, in peak travel times and particularly in premium cabins. In response, in early 2024 Qantas announced a new type of rewards seat called Classic rewards plus.

This method of booking is a variable points system, where flights on sale will cost fewer points than when they’re at regular price. Qantas claim that at times, classic rewards plus tickets will actually require fewer points to jag a seat than the legacy classic rewards system.

The trade-off is that there is a lot more availability of this rewards seat type. Basically, most of the time these seats will cost more, and often a lot more points than classic reward, but will likely be available.

Given this program is quite new, I haven’t seen much of it first hand, however a quick comparison illustrates the points differences with the top screenshot showing points and money required for Sydney to Hong Kong via the legacy classic reward:

And the following shows the amount required for the same route with Classic rewards plus:

The difference here is quite enormous with the Classic rewards plus business seat coming in at 506300, and the classic reward 68400.

However, it must be noted the classic rewards plus require fluctuates massively, and you need to watch out for Qantas sale fares to really get the best value from this new rewards system.

Personally, I think rewards plus is an overall positive as it does provide 20 million more rewards seat every year - thats a good thing. I think the points requirement when not on sale is a bit unrealistic however, but watch for sale fares and it can be quite a good proposition.

• At the Qantas store

A non-flights reward use of your precious Qantas points comes in the way of exchanging them for products from the Qantas store. The online marketplace stock a massive range of goods and often features promotions of discounted points requirements for products.

I am not going to delve into this too much as its pretty straight forward. Shop, find something you think is good value, buy it using points, cash or a combination of both!.

• Other opportunities for points usage

There are other avenues to spend your points. You can even use points to pay for your petrol at BP petrol stations, though, I personally don’t see this as good value.

You may also use points to book hotels through Qantas, which can at times present reasonable value for points.

Finally, you may exchange points for wine through the Qantas wine website should you wish, similarly to the Qantas store you can pay cash, points or a combination of both.

To sum up, the Qantas Frequent Flyer program does present some extraordinarily good value for your spend on things you would ordinarily be doing anyway. Sure, it can require some persistence when it comes to using them on certain cabins and routes, but its absolutely achievable.

I should also mention, you don’t always need to spend your points on the premium cabins obviously, and economy classic reward seats are far more readily available. Domestically also, you’ll tend to find good availability on both economy and business class flights.

A short action plan to begin your Qantas Frequent Flyer journey:

1. Open your QFF account free by following links above.

2. Evaluate which QFF partners you can join or switch to for maximum points earning.

3. Start searching regularly for QFF classic rewards seats, even if you’re not in a position to book, familiarity is a very good thing.

4. Enjoy flights domestically and internationally for next to nothing, for purchases you already make!.

I very much hope this article has helped you get a better understanding of how QFF works, and that it may assist you in booking that next trip!

Thanks for reading.