Not a big flyer? There are still plenty of reasons to collect Qantas Points.
Despite being a frequent flyer program, Qantas Frequent Flyer members have many ways to use their Qantas Points without actually stepping foot on a plane.
Although Qantas Classic Flight Rewards – specifically first and business class redemptions – almost always offer the best value for your points, there’s no reason you should let your Qantas Points expire if you’re staying on the ground.
Whether you prefer to travel by rail, road trip to luxe hotels or indulge in a case of wine, there are countless ways to use your Qantas Points on the ground.
Read on to find out the best ways to use Qantas Points without flying.
Use Qantas Points for Accommodation
Classic Rail Rewards – from 100,000 Qantas Points
A Classic Rail Reward arguably offers you the most value for your points of any ground redemption.
Back in 2020, Qantas Frequent Flyer launched a new partnership with Journey Beyond, unlocking the ability to earn and use points on rail journeys across The Ghan, Indian Pacific and the Great Southern.
There are nine different routing and accommodation combinations available to redeem across the three rail products.
Pricing starts from just 100,000 Qantas Points for two days and one night travelling from Adelaide to Sydney or vice versa in a private Gold Single cabin on the Indian Pacific.
Beyond the ability to stretch a redemption to several days and to enjoy multiple meals, there are no taxes, fees or surcharges to pay in addition to Qantas Points. Simply select to pay with points from the Journey Beyond website, and they are deducted from your Qantas Frequent Flyer account – easy.
A multi-day journey – meals and accommodation provided – without carrier charges is a pretty good way to use your Qantas Points when you think about it.
For more information on this redemption, check out our comprehensive guide to booking a Qantas Classic Rail Reward.
Qantas Hotels
Qantas Hotels is an accommodation booking portal that brings together over 200,000 properties globally.
Unlike other booking portals, hotels can be paid for with either points or cash, giving you the benefit of being able to redeem or earn Qantas Points on your accommodation.
There are two ways to redeem Qantas Points for accommodation via Qantas Hotels – Qantas Classic Hotel Rewards, and Points Plus Pay.
The following example highlights the value on offer with Points Plus Pay:
Fancy a superior room with ocean views at one of the world’s best bucket list locations? It’s possible to stay a night at Cinnamon Dhonveli in the Maldives for 98,961 Qantas Points (with an additional fee levied of around $270 AUD).
This room ordinarily costs $1,137 AUD per night (for the night of 21 March 2024), which means 100 points are worth about $1.15 – still not the best value, especially considering you’re looking at hundreds of dollars of fees on top.
Qantas Holidays – from 5,000 Qantas Points
Qantas Holidays allows you to use your points to book holiday packages in some of the world’s best destinations and resorts.
From Margaret River to Fiji, Qantas Holidays could have your next itinerary sorted. Holiday packages include flights, accommodation and tours, so you won’t have to lift a finger!
Simply visit Qantas Holidays, select a destination and ‘Use Qantas Points’. You’ll need a minimum of 5,000 Qantas Points to book any destination, which can be a good way to cover some of the cost of a luxe resort stay.
TripADeal
Qantas Frequent Flyers can also use their points on a huge range of holiday packages thanks to a partnership with TripADeal.
TripADeal packages range from African safaris, Japanese ski trips, and exploring Antarctica, to South Australian wine tasting tours and Bali beach holidays.
Whether it’s a matter of covering the cost entirely with Qantas Points, or using Points Plus Pay to make a holiday come around sooner, here’s how to use points with TripADeal:
- Visit the TripADeal website and select an experience
- Proceed to checkout or call 1300 296 618 to book
- Provide your Qantas Frequent Flyer number
- Select ‘Qantas Points’ as your payment option
Luxury Escapes – from 2,857 Qantas Points
Authors Note: Come mid-year, the Velocity partnership will signal the end of Luxury Escapes’ long-term tie-up with Qantas Frequent Flyer, which wraps up on 30 June 2023.
Luxury Escapes specialises in decadent holiday packages worldwide. Think: breathtaking hotels and resorts in some of the world’s most amazing locations.
Luxury Escapes opens up a world of opportunities for Qantas Frequent Flyers who can cover all or part of a booking (you’ll need to redeem a minimum of 2,857 Qantas Points if you’re topping up the rest with cash).
Simply visit Luxury Escapes online and select a holiday featuring the Qantas Frequent Flyer logo.
Use Qantas Points on the road
Car hire bookings (around 0.64 cents value per point)
Hitting the road? You can use your Qantas Points for car hire bookings with Avis and Budget car rental. There are two ways to book a car rental using points: Classic Car Rewards or Points Plus Pay.
At the time of writing, the cheapest Points Plus Pay redemption we can find at the time of writing for a one-day car hire from Sydney Airport 11 months from now costs 21,5000 Qantas Points or $138.37.
As such, 100 Qantas Points are only worth around 0.64 cents here, which is quite low, but slightly higher than the value on offer when using points for gift cards and goods.
Paying for fuel at BP (around 0.53 cents value per point)
Qantas Frequent Flyer and BP have expanded their partnership by allowing members to use Qantas Points to pay for fuel at participating BP service stations.
Reward Code technology allows frequent flyers to cover the rising cost of fuel and eligible purchases over $10 with a minimum of 1900 Qantas Points.
As such, you’d be getting 0.53 cent value per 100 Qantas Points here, which again, isn’t outstanding value.
Use Qantas Points to indulge in dining & entertainment
Qantas Wine
You can also shop the full range of champagne and other wines at Qantas Wine, including a range of sale items.
Once logged into your Frequent Flyer account, simply select the option to use points at checkout to use your points to pay.
Note that you’ll need to be over 18 years of age to redeem Qantas Points for the handpicked selection of alcohol and gifts from Qantas Wine.
Dining
Thanks to a partnership with Seagrass Boutique Hospitality Group, Qantas Frequent Flyers can even opt for a free meal by using points to cover the bill at the following venues:
• 6HEAD
• Hunter & Barrel
• Italian Street Kitchen
• Ribs & Burgers
• The Meat 7 Wine Co
At the time of writing, information on the conversion rate from Qantas Points to dollars for dining does not seem to be available.
However, Qantas describes the arrangement as ‘Points Plus Pay’, which generally suggests that the value unlocked per Qantas Point would sit around the 50 cents per 100 Qantas Points mark, which wouldn’t be considered aspirational by any means.
Hoyts Rewards (0.5 cents value per point)
Are you a movie buff? You can also use your Qantas Points towards tickets and treats at Hoyts Cinemas. 4,000 points gets you $20 off the order total, offering just 0.5 cents value per point.
You’ll need to link your existing Hoyts Rewards and Qantas Frequent Flyer Accounts before selecting a movie session and then selecting Qantas Points as the payment option.
Note that you must spend more than $20 to pay with your points.
Use Qantas Points for shopping
Qantas Marketplace (around 0.5 cents value per point)
Qantas Frequent Flyers can choose to redeem points on over 20,000 products across 900 brands at Qantas Marketplace.
From electronics to appliances, homewares and luggage (and more) it’s entirely possible (but not necessarily wise) to use Qantas Points to purchase gifts for anyone.
Gift cards via Qantas Marketplace (around 0.5 cents value per point)
Qantas Points can also be redeemed for gift cards and experience vouchers with countless retailers from BCF to Country Road via Qantas Marketplace.
While you can redeem points for high value goods with gift cards (think JB Hi-Fi), it’s important to note that the value on offer here for Qantas Points is typically quite poor.
Take a $500 Airbnb gift card, costing 101,520 Qantas Points at the time of writing.
When you consider it costs fewer Qantas Points than this to book a Maldives stay worth over $1,000, it’s obvious the value on offer is very low. You’d only be extracting 0.49 cents value per 100 Qantas Points here, which would almost always be a poor use of points.
That said, from time to time Qantas runs promotions on gift card redemptions, which may help your points currency to go a little further.
However, there’s no denying that using 100,000 Qantas Points for gift cards is a convenient redemption that can make sense in some circumstances.
Qantas Insurance
Qantas Insurance offers a wide range of cover while rewarding members for being policyholders with large bonuses.
You can choose to pay your Qantas Travel insurance with points when you book your flight on qantas.com.
If you’re not taking to the skies any time soon, it’s also possible to may a mixture of points and cash to settle your initial premium with Qantas Health Insurance.
Qantas Health Insurance has been known to reward policyholders with up to 140,000 bonus Qantas Points for signing up, so this may be a worthwhile use of points depending on your situation.
Disclaimer: The Champagne Mile holds no commercial relationship with Qantas Health Insurance. Before deciding to take up this product, you should assess your individual needs when considering whether Qantas Insurance inclusions suit your personal circumstances.
Qantas Club membership – from 93,000 Qantas Points
Although pre-departure lounge access goes hand in hand with flying, a Qantas Club membership could make sense in some circumstances.
Joining the Qantas Club will see you unlock access to an extensive network of Qantas lounges in Australia and overseas where can relax before a flight whilst enjoying complimentary refreshments, high-speed internet, business, and shower facilities.
Once you’re a carded-up Qantas Club member, you’ll also gain access to selected perks outside the Lounge when you fly Qantas. This includes priority check-in, preference for domestic upgrades, and an additional checked baggage allowance, regardless of your fare class.
Normally, a one-year membership costs $540 to renew or $699 for a new membership (including the join fee). You’ll need 93,000 Qantas Points to cover a one-year membership, which would only be worth it if you plan to use the benefits.
Use Qantas Points for family transfers
Lastly, if you have a stack of Qantas Points that you don’t plan to redeem at all, transferring them to a family member to enjoy a first or business class redemption can be a great way to part with your points.
Qantas family transfers offer a way for Qantas Frequent Flyer members to share points with eligible family members. Similar to Velocity’s Family Pooling feature, Qantas family transfers allow eligible family members to move points between accounts instantly.
You can make an unlimited number of Qantas Family transfers in any 12-month period. However, a maximum of 600,000 Qantas Points per year is allowed, and the transfer needs to be a minimum of 5,000 points.
Read our Qantas family transfers guide for more information.
Summing up: What are the best ways to use Qantas Points
There you have it. From sipping champagne to splurging on luxury accommodation or enjoying a cross-country rail journey, there are countless ways to use your Qantas Points without flying.
Compared to Classic Flight Rewards and upgrades, redemptions on the ground typically won’t offer as much value. But value is in the eye of the beholder, and not everyone wants to take to the skies.
If air travel isn’t on your itinerary, a Qantas Classic Rail Reward may be the next best thing value-wise, with multi-day trips costing from 100,000 Qantas Points (and no pesky carrier charges to pay).
Generally speaking, redeeming your Qantas Points for goods offers a very poor value proposition, but it may make sense if you don’t plan to use them in any other way.
Do you use your Qantas Points without flying?
FAQ – Best ways to use Qantas Points?
What is the best way to redeem Qantas Points?
Using your Qantas Points to redeem a Classic Flight Reward for a first or business class seat almost always offers the highest value for your points.
What happens if you don’t have enough Qantas Points?
It depends on your redemption, but Qantas has a Points Plus Pay option that allows you to cover the redemption with a portion of points and cover the rest with cash.
How do Qantas Frequent Flyer credit cards work?
You can earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent on a Qantas Frequent Flyer credit card. Simply spend and watch your points balance grow. Some Qantas-branded credit cards also offer thousands of bonus points for signing up.
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