Qantas to increase points earned on flights, and those needed for Classic Reward seats

The airline is rolling out a raft of changes to its frequent flyer program, including the first increase in points needed for Classic Reward seats in six years.

The head of Qantas Loyalty has denied big changes being made to the frequent flyer program including an increase in the cost of Classic Reward seats, devalue members’ points.

Among the changes announced on Wednesday, include a hike in the points needed for seat redemptions and upgrades and higher carrier charges on some routes from August.

At the same time, Qantas will boost the points earned from flying from July, and lower the minimum points needed for an economy seat on Jetstar to 5700.

Qantas will also open up a million more Classic Reward seats on partner airlines, including Hawaiian Air, Finnair, KLM, Air France and Iberia Airlines.

The bulk of the reward seats will be with new partner Hawaiian from later in the year, with the remainder with the European carriers.

Qantas Loyalty chief executive Andrew Glance said the changes contributed to a “great value proposition for frequent flyers” and did not devalue points.

“We’re actually building on Classic Rewards with today’s announcement including with our partner airlines, we’re also building on Classic through the exciting price point you’re getting through Jetstar, and we’re also remaining committed to the Classic Plus proposition,” Mr Glance said.

“I certainly wouldn’t bring the word ‘devaluation’ into the conversation. If anything I think this is an investment in our members to make sure we can create a sustainable and valuable program moving forward.”

The increase in pricing for a Classic Reward seat was the first in six years, and only the second hike since 2004.

As an example, a Classic Reward business class seat on Sydney-Melbourne would require 19,300 points instead of 18,400 plus $76 instead of $55.

Sydney-London in business class will jump from 144,600 to 166,300 points, and carrier charges from $473 to $648.

Those changes were set to kick in from August, which Mr Glance said gave frequent flyers plenty of time to find a Reward seat at the current price point.

“Essentially we are being extremely fair with regards to giving members the greatest time possible to be able to secure that seat at the price point they desire,” he said.

Frequent flyer experts were not quite so enamoured with the changes however, suggesting the programs 17 million members would likely be disappointed.

Frequent flyer expert Adele Eliseo of The Champagne Mile.

Adele Eliseo of The Champagne Mile said most members earned points on the ground and not from flying, so it would be a setback for those hoping to attain a premium Classic Reward seat.

“It is already quite difficult to redeem for premium seats in particular so it adds another frustration,” said Ms Eliseo.

“Having said that, I don’t see it as a surprising change. We know that a number of airline programs have made moves to increase the points cost of redemptions, particularly desirable ones, and Qantas hasn’t made changes in this space for the past five years.”

Steve Hui of iflyflat.com.au said it was clearly a devaluation of points and another blow to frequent flyers with Classic Reward seats on Qantas international flights already hard to find.

“They haven’t promised any additional Qantas seats, and most of those partner airlines don’t even fly to Australia so that doesn’t help if you can’t get out of the country in the first place,” said Mr Hui.

“It definitely devalues the points, the writing was on the wall earlier and it’s set in stone now.”

He said lowering the points threshold for a Jetstar seat was more about competing with Virgin Australia, and was questionable value for passengers.

“If you want to fly Jetstar you might as well buy a ticket when they’re on sale for $39,” Mr Hui said.

“The taxes on a reward seat are probably the same price as a sale seat anyway.”

Mr Glance said the changes were about “making investments where see investments making sense”.

“Last week 13,000 Reward seats were booked every day and of those 13,000, 1000 seats were booked in premium international cabins,” he said.

“We are not a program for one, we’re a program for many and I fundamentally believe the announcements we’ve made today address even further what we see as being a very balanced and diverse program.”

Originally published as Qantas to increase points earned on flights, and those needed for Classic Reward seats