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Flying overseas doesn’t have to cost a fortune – or even tens of thousands of frequent flyer points! Cheap reward flights on international routes out of Australia are available for as little as 6,900 frequent flyer points each way.
We’ve searched far and wide to find the international award flights out of Australia that require the fewest number of points using frequent flyer programs that are accessible to Australians. For the purposes of this article, we’re looking at one-way points pricing for Economy Class. But on routes where Business Class is available, this is often also a good deal.
Here are the cheapest international award flights from Australia:
1. Brisbane-Port Vila for 6,900 Etihad Guest miles
One of the cheapest award flights available from Australia is from Brisbane to Vanuatu. It’s possible to redeem Etihad Guest miles for Virgin Australia flights, and Brisbane-Port Vila is a sweet spot in the Etihad Guest award chart. Flights cost just 6,900 Etihad miles each way, plus taxes.
- Cost: 6,900 Etihad Guest miles + $94.31 taxes
- How to book: Call Etihad Guest on 1300 532 215
2. Sydney-Queenstown for 6,900 Etihad Guest miles
Virgin Australia flights from Sydney to beautiful Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island is another great Etihad Guest redemption, costing just 6,900 miles.
This is the cheapest trans-Tasman award flight route available using Etihad Guest miles. Most other Virgin Australia flights to New Zealand can be booked for 10,900 Etihad Guest miles – which is still a good deal.
- Cost: 6,900 Etihad Guest miles + $126 taxes
- How to book: Call Etihad Guest on 1300 532 215
3. Darwin-Dili for 8,000 Qantas points
Qantas’ partner Airnorth flies 10 times per week from Darwin to Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. As Dili is situated just 451 miles from Darwin, this places the Darwin-Dili route into Zone 1 (the cheapest redemption zone) on the Qantas award chart. In addition, there are no carrier or fuel surcharges when you redeem Qantas points for Airnorth flights!
- Cost: 8,000 Qantas points + $95.99 taxes
- How to book: Qantas website
4. Cairns-Port Moresby for 8,000 Qantas points
QantasLink flies daily from Cairns to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea using Dash 8-Q400s. The route is just under 600 miles in length, which means it’s also just 8,000 Qantas points plus taxes to book a seat. Air Niugini also operates this route, with a reward seat on Air Niugini costing an additional 2,000 Qantas points but $14 less in fees.
- Cost: 8,000 Qantas points + $152.37 taxes ($14 are Qantas carrier charges)
- How to book: Qantas website
5. Port Hedland-Denpasar for 11,800 Velocity points
Virgin Australia flies every Saturday from the West Australian town of Port Hedland to Bali. You can book a seat for just 11,800 Virgin Australia Velocity points. (Unfortunately, this route is not eligible for Etihad Guest redemptions as it is not included in Etihad’s award chart.)
- Cost: 11,800 Velocity points + $85 taxes ($25 are Velocity carrier charges)
- How to book: Virgin Australia website
6. Darwin-Denpasar for 11,800 Velocity points
Both Jetstar and Virgin Australia fly from Darwin to Bali (Virgin’s service is a seasonal route running until October). You can redeem 9,600 Qantas points to take the Jetstar flight, or 11,800 Velocity points for the full-service Virgin Australia experience.
- Cost: 9,600 Qantas points + $129.30 ($35 are carrier charges) for Qantas or 11,800 Velocity points + $119.30 ($25 are carrier charges) for Virgin Australia
- How to book: Qantas website (for Jetstar) or Virgin Australia website (for Virgin Australia)
7. Brisbane-Noumea for 12,000 Qantas points
Cheap reward flights are available using Qantas points from Brisbane to Noumea in New Caledonia, flying either on Qantas or Aircalin.
- Cost: 12,000 Qantas points + $104.40 taxes ($14 are carrier charges)
- How to book: Qantas website
8. Australia to New Zealand or Pacific Islands for 12,500 KrisFlyer miles
If you have Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles (or Velocity points that you can transfer to KrisFlyer), you can book any itinerary across the Tasman – or from Australia to any Pacific Island destination – for just 12,500 KrisFlyer miles. Of course, this is subject to Air New Zealand award availability, which can be limited on some of the Pacific Island routes. But it’s still a great deal, especially if you’re booking a trip like Perth-Auckland-Tahiti or Sydney-Rarotonga at just 12,500 miles each way!
In Australia, Air New Zealand flies to/from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Cairns.
It’s worth noting that this same loophole exists with the Aegean Miles+Bonus program, which also sells miles. Aegean redemptions anywhere within Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific cost 12,500 Aegean miles in Economy for travel on Star Alliance airlines.
- Cost: 12,500 KrisFlyer miles + taxes which vary by route
- How to book: Singapore Airlines website
Would you like help using your frequent flyer points?
Australian Frequent Flyer offers a personalised service that’s designed to take the hard work out of redeeming your frequent flyer points!
Frequent Flyer Concierge can help you to find the perfect reward flights. Just let the team know how many points you have and where you would like to go, and they’ll prepare an itinerary for you using your points.
Having trouble finding and booking reward seats?
Our Frequent Flyer Concierge is here to help!
