Qantas has announced that it will be extending its Classic Plus rewards program to its domestic flights on 12 December 2024. This comes six months after the original release of the program on its international flights.
Classic Plus Rewards
As a refresher, Classic Plus are a new type of Reward seat. Instead of being priced at a flat rate, they are directly tied to the cash price of a ticket.
The ‘exchange rate’ used to determine the number of points you need is:
- 1 Qantas Point per 1c in Economy and
- 1 Qantas Points 1.5c in Premium Economy, Business or First.
This would normally make the number of points required for a Class Plus Reward more than for a Classic Rewards. There are exceptions, as we will see, during sale periods, where the pricing is the other way around.
That said. the big advantage is that there are more seats available as Classic Plus Rewards. To highlight this Qantas say that the upcoming rollout will make 20 million rewards seats available on domestic flights. Compare that to the 5 million Classic Rewards seats that Qantas says is on offer across Qantas and partner airlines.
According to Qantas Group CEO, Vanessa Hudson
Adding Classic Plus to domestic flights means frequent flyers will have more options to fly where they want, when they want, using their points which we know is an important part of rewarding them for their loyalty.
“Since we introduced Classic Plus to international flights, we have seen frequent flyers book more reward seats than ever before and the number of points earned and redeemed reach record numbers.
Domestic Classic Plus Reward Pricing
It is worth remembering that the points required for a Classic Plus Reward are directly tied to the cash price of a ticket. As a result, the best time to buy one would be during a sale period. That said, during sale periods you may be better off just paying the cash. Rather conveniently, Qantas say there will be a sale on for the release of Classic Plus Rewards.
All that in mind, Qantas give the following examples of Classic Plus pricing at today’s prices, and during the launch sale.
Qantas Points required to book Classic Plus reward seats (and taxes, fees and carrier charges)
Example Economy Fares
| Route (One way) |
Classic (Fixed price) |
Classic Plus (Fares on sale at launch for select travel dates) * |
Classic Plus (Fares as at today’s pricing) ** |
Current Taxes, Fees & Carrier Charges *** |
| Sydney to Gold Coast | 8,000 points | 5,600 points | 9,600 points | $54.00 |
| Sydney to Byron Bay | 8,000 points | 6,700 points | 9,700 points | $42.00 |
| Melbourne to Launceston | 8,000 points | 6,900 points | 8,900 points | $50.00 |
| Sydney to Melbourne | 8,000 points | 8,300 points | 12,600 points | $53.00 |
| Adelaide to Alice Springs | 12,000 points | 18,900 points | 23,800 points | $60.00 |
| Melbourne to Perth | 18,000 points | 25,900 points | 32,500 points | $50.00 |
Example Business Fares
| Route (One way) |
Classic (Fixed price) |
Classic Plus (Fares available at launch for select travel dates)* |
Classic Plus (Fares as at today’s pricing)** |
Current Taxes, Fees & Carrier Charges*** |
| Sydney to Melbourne | 18,400 points | 32,000 points | 32,000 points | $74.00 |
| Melbourne to Launceston | 18,400 points | 28,900 points | 28,900 points | $71.00 |
| Hobart to Sydney | 27,600 points | 30,200 points | 30,200 points | $77.00 |
Final Words
The launch of Classic Plus Rewards hasn’t been without its controversy. Many (on social media) have made claims that they there has been a decrease in the number of Classic Reward seats available. I find it hard to tell – Business Class rewards redemptions were always a challenge. Which seems to be one of the reasons Classic Plus was created in the first place.
For their part, Qantas, says there has been no change in the availability of Classic reward seats. They maintain there are still 5 million Classic Reward seats made available across the Qantas, Jetstar and partner network.
All that said, if you are a points-rich Qantas Frequent Flyer, Classi Plus Rewards could provide more opportunities to secure a seat, And, if your timing is just right, you could require fewer points than for a Classic Rewards.