Australians may soon be able to use their frequent flyer points to book a flight to Singapore, London or Los Angeles on Qantas.
When vaccination targets are met, the national carrier is rumoured to launch several “points flights,” with passengers able to book a seat for free.
According to the airline, it will increase the number of Classic Flight Reward seats on international flights by up to 50%, “providing members with more opportunities to use their points to travel when borders are open.”
Instead of setting aside only a limited number of Classic Flight Reward seats and selling the rest at the variable and much higher Any Seat Award rates, which are tied to and reflect the actual cash price for each seat, the Qantas ‘Points Flights’ concept makes every seat on a specified flight available at the lowest Classic Flight Reward rates.
While Any Seat Award rates can easily be triple those of a Classic Flight Reward, a ‘Points Flight’ makes every seat on the flight available for the same low rate.
Long-term frequent flyers will be able to use their growing stash of Qantas Points to book business class, premium economy, and economy seats on popular routes such as Singapore, London, and Los Angeles.
When the trans-Tasman bubble opened in April, the airline used the promotion to make all seats in all cabins on flights between Australia and New Zealand available as Classic Rewards bookings.
It comes after Qantas began scheduling Singapore flights in mid-December.
This is the point at which 80 percent of the eligible population is expected to have been immunised.
Qantas stated last week that it hopes to restart routes to Singapore and other “COVID-safe” destinations including the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and Fiji.
The travel bubble with New Zealand would also be reopened by then, the airline said.
The airline admits that the plan is contingent on the vaccine rollout, with international travel resuming once the target of 80% uptake is met.
Vaccinated Australians have no restrictions on outbound international travel in Phase C of the four-phase plan to reopen the country.
According to the Doherty Institute’s modelling, this is triggered by an 80% uptake.
According to current projections, Australia will reach that milestone in November.
Qantas launched its vaccination rewards campaign earlier this month, offering double jabbed frequent flyers the option of free points, status credits, or a $20 flight voucher.
In order to increase vaccine uptake and get borders opened sooner, the national carrier is also holding ten mega draws for a year of free Qantas and Jetstar flights.
By Joe Cusmano
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