Qantas unveils early reward seats to Paris and Bali in major points blitz
Qantas frequent flyers can now book premium Paris seats and dedicated Bali flights using points, in an unprecedented early release usually reserved for January.
Qantas is showering frequent flyers with an early release of 100,000 reward seats, including 1000 in business class to Paris, as well as hundreds of “points planes” to Bali with Jetstar.
The early Christmas present is designed to give frequent flyer members a “headstart” on 2026 travel bookings with reward releases typically made in the New Year.
It comes as the airline announces its return to Port Moresby from Sydney in March next year, in response to growing demand from business travellers.
The twice-weekly service on Boeing 737s, will add about 35,000 seats to the route year-round, and complement existing Brisbane-Port Moresby services.
Qantas International chief executive Cam Wallace said as well as anticipated demand from NRL fans when Papua New Guinea joins the NRL in 2028, they were seeing growth in business travel between Sydney and Port Moresby.
“That’s building further as PNG ramps up preparations for Australia’s premier rugby league competition in 2028,” he said.
“The preparation work alone is generating travel and once the team starts playing and fans and teams are travelling for matches, we expect that to increase significantly.”
Meanwhile Qantas’ 100,000 reward seat “Christmas surprise” for frequent flyer members is available to book between Tuesday and Saturday, for various travel dates throughout 2026.
As well as thousands of seats on routes to Paris and Bali, frequent flyers should be able to find reward seats on flights to Santiago, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, starting from around 10,300 points.
Business reward seats from Sydney to Paris are priced at 166,300 points plus $637, and 151,800 from Perth.
Jetstar seats on Melbourne to Bali can be booked with 20,700 points.
Qantas Loyalty CEO Andrew Glance said with January typically a busy month for bookings, they wanted to give members a headstart.
“This release is a great mix of the tried-and-true favourites, uncrowded beaches and exciting cultural destinations,” said Mr Glance.
“Whether you’re chasing the charm of Paris in our premium cabin, or a beach holiday to Bali on one of our dedicated points planes, there’s never been a better time to turn your points into a dream getaway.”
Points planes are so-named due to the fact every seat on-board the aircraft is available to book with points.
Routes will include Jetstar’s new Sunshine Coast and Avalon to Denpasar’s services starting in the first half of 2026.
The reward seat flights are also operating out of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Cairns, Newcastle and the Gold Coast.
Those in the hunt for a reward seat are advised to look at a destination’s shoulder season — so February to March for Bali and Paris; May for Santiago and February for Honiara and Port Vila.
The Qantas move comes as Virgin Australia launched its new Doha flight from Melbourne, operated by Qatar Airways.
The route is the last in the “wet lease” arrangement struck between the airline partners, that also includes daily flights from Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
August international airline data showed Virgin was enjoying sold bookings for the services, with 86.5 per cent of seats sold on outbound flights, and 77.2 per cent inbound.
Bali and New Zealand remained the strongest routes for Virgin Australia with very few empty seats in either direction in August.
Indonesia, India and Fiji were Qantas’ most popular services in the month, and Jetstar’s most packed flights were to and from Bali, Thailand and Vietnam.
As well as the reward seat drop, Qantas has announced improvements to its first class experience onboard A380 aircraft to help justify five figure one-way fares.
The new additions include redesigned pyjamas, Aesop amenity kits and Bollinger champagne, plus “elevated dining options”.
Mr Wallace said first class customers valued the quality in every detail.
“On longer flights, fine dining experience, premium amenities and complete comfort really matter, so we’ve focused on improving each of these areas,” said Mr Wallace.
“Our incredible cabin crew have been undergoing inflight trials and an intensive training program. It is great to welcome new premium partners onboard and we look forward to delivering this new experience for our first customers.”
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Originally published as Qantas unveils early reward seats to Paris and Bali in major points blitz
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