Qantas Classic Reward & Upgrade Devaluation on 5 August 2025

[muppet]

I've got a business reward seat on SQ booked via VFF points, however due to a new business reward seat now available via QFF that better aligns with my plans and dates, I'm thinking to redeem that business reward seat instead and cancel the redemption via VFF before the devaluation / points and carrier charges increase with QFF.

The current points required is 68.4k but next week that will jump to 82.1k (a massive 20%!).

If however, I redeem it and need to change my flight after next week (ie. dates etc), I assume that in addition to the regular 5k pts change fee, it would be re-calculated according to the new points structure, instead of being under the retrospective / current structure?

Just scroll up 4 posts and all your questions will be answered.

 

[MelbFlyer]

Just scroll up 4 posts and all your questions will be answered.

Thankyou! Also found it on the Qantas website too.

That's great to know - I might go ahead to secure that seat on QF.

 

[MelbFlyer]

So, with Qantas being pretty transparent with the policy as per below, you could theoretically book a cheap economy classic reward seat 11 months into the future, then if / when required, call to change to a long haul business reward seat and still have the points calculated as what it would be now?

ie. Book something like HKG to LHR for 45k pts + taxes now to lock in the current conditions, then change to a business seat if available for 104.5k pts + taxes instead of at the new rate of 125.4k pts + taxes?

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/program-changes.html

 

[lonewolf]

Hey guys,

First time trying to use my qantas points , i am coming from past few years redeeming krisflyer points. I find the qantas booking system atrocious, at least maybe i am doing something wrong, but its really hard to find any classic business class seats even next year ? and i am also not able to see how to select direct flights until i actually go to a particular day. Am i just doing things wrong? Only method seems to be to choose flexible dates and go one day at a time and wait for it to load every day. I am looking on non peak months and non-school holidays etc.

The only Classic rewards i come across are jetstar ones which is pointless.

 

[MelbFlyer]

qantas booking system atrocious

Other than limited business reward seat availability, it's actually okay once you get the hang of it - it's much better and easier than searching for reward seats on Virgin's portal!

At the least, you'll get a useful monthly view as per below (you must select "Flexible with dates for all flights" first though):



You'll then be presented with the below:

but its really hard to find any classic business class seats even next year ?

Depends on the route - if it's a popular route ie. Australia to Singapore / HK / Tokyo etc, many of those business reward seats would have been already snapped up.

If you're flexible with dates and routes, you can find some decent business reward seats.

 

[lonewolf]

I am looking for sydney to bangkok. Problem is it does show me the monthly view, but every time i click on it, the classic seats are only the jestar and 1 stop routes, not the direct qantas flight routes. Dont want to select business class rewards and fly jetstar. I tried going through at least 2 months, 1 day at a time (next year) and not a single classic business reward for the qantas flight, only jetstar flights.

 

[I love to travel]

I am looking for sydney to bangkok. Problem is it does show me the monthly view, but every time i click on it, the classic seats are only the jestar and 1 stop routes, not the direct qantas flight routes. Dont want to select business class rewards and fly jetstar. I tried going through at least 2 months, 1 day at a time (next year) and not a single classic business reward for the qantas flight, only jetstar flights.

That is a route where there are very few J rewards

 

[lonewolf]

That is a route where there are very few J rewards

ah bugger, ok. Not sure what i should book then. Is malaysia or any other asian countries a good option with a decent amount of J Rewards. Or even i guess i could go to singapore J class and then go normal route from singapre to bkk and vice versa.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So, with Qantas being pretty transparent with the policy as per below, you could theoretically book a cheap economy classic reward seat 11 months into the future, then if / when required, call to change to a long haul business reward seat and still have the points calculated as what it would be now?

ie. Book something like HKG to LHR for 45k pts + taxes now to lock in the current conditions, then change to a business seat if available for 104.5k pts + taxes instead of at the new rate of 125.4k pts + taxes?

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/program-changes.html

Question is whether or not it goes further than that even… book a SYD-MEL and change it later to a SYD-LHR in business.

 

[MELso]

Question is whether or not it goes further than that even… book a SYD-MEL and change it later to a SYD-LHR in business.

I presume that if it keeps the same PNR, it'd keep the old pricing as it'd be an existing booking.

 

[MelbFlyer]

Question is whether or not it goes further than that even… book a SYD-MEL and change it later to a SYD-LHR in business.

Or this too - I was going to use that as an example but thought that might be a straw too long to clutch for.

Theoretically if that could be done, it would potentially save thousands of points.

 

[Hadun]

Or this too - I was going to use that as an example but thought that might be a straw too long to clutch for.

Theoretically if that could be done, it would potentially save thousands of points.

Does the website actually allow you to change destination? Last time I had a look it only let me pick a date off the calendar to check availability and nothing else.

 

[dairyfloss]

Does the website actually allow you to change destination? Last time I had a look it only let me pick a date off the calendar to check availability and nothing else.

Correct - my experience is that you can't change destination online; only the flight and date. You'd need to call up to change the destination. Unsure also whether they would allow you to change from a domestic to an international or vice-versa (in the past there have been some issues with doing this with bookings), but others may have experience there

 

[MELso]

Just trawling through the T&Cs on changes which are (generally) as follows:

Changes after ticketing and up to 24 hours prior to commencement of any travel on your Itinerary

14.5.10 Subject to this clause 14.5, the following changes are permitted and a Change Fee per passenger will apply (see the Fee Schedule):

(a) change to flight number;
(b) change to date of travel;
(c) change to class of travel;
(d) change to any Segment routing or airline [segment being the portion of a journey between two consecutive points listed on an Itinerary]; and
(e) change to name (only for Flights with a Qantas (QF) flight number on the ticket that are operated by Qantas).

Changes to a wholly domestic Australian Itinerary after commencement of travel and up to 24 hours prior to commencement of any subsequent Flight Segment

14.5.11 Subject to this clause 14.5, the following changes are permitted and a Change Fee per passenger will apply (see the Fee Schedule):

(a) change to flight number;
(b) change to date of travel;
(c) change to class of travel; and
(d) change to a direct or indirect Segment routing without a Stopover (provided that the origin city, the destination city, and the airline remain unchanged).

 

[MelbFlyer]

That's great to know - I might go ahead to secure that seat on QF.

In a stroke of luck and persistence in checking the QF website at least 10+ times a day, I managed to find the QF business reward seat that I wanted in the first place (other than the viable alternative that I found the other day).

Booked and my points balance is now in double digits just in time before the devaluation / that same seat going up to 82.1k from 68.4k!

 

[stopthecap]

I am looking for sydney to bangkok. Problem is it does show me the monthly view, but every time i click on it, the classic seats are only the jestar and 1 stop routes, not the direct qantas flight routes. Dont want to select business class rewards and fly jetstar. I tried going through at least 2 months, 1 day at a time (next year) and not a single classic business reward for the qantas flight, only jetstar flights.

Probably the worst route to find.
They come up randomly and you need to book the entire year when they come up.
I accept now ill pay economy SYD-BKK and then try to find a business seat return. Direct is hard to find and usually you need to fly by Hong Kong ( and formely Singapore but now jetstar asia is gone you can fly SIN-SYD but need to book your own flight to sg)
Anyway they do come up but lately its all been Jetstar which is not worth the points TBH especially bia brisbane or melbourne

 

[Noah Count]

Unsure also whether they would allow you to change from a domestic to an international or vice-versa (in the past there have been some issues with doing this with bookings), but others may have experience there

It can be done and have done it. In my case it was a MEL-ADL one way I had made during a DSC offer. Some plans changed so I changed the booking to ADL-SYD-HKG-MEL-ADL. The SC earn went up significantly from what would have been 40 to 640.

 

[flyguy77]

Not sure if I’m interpreting the T&Cs and previous messages correctly, but can someone clarify this?

Is it possible to book a cheap domestic or international Economy reward flight now before Aug 5, and then later call up to change it to something completely different (e.g. Business to Europe), pay just the 5,000 point change fee, and keep the current pricing?

Feels too good to be true — am I missing something?

 

[exLXCXFF]

Just emptied my remaining balance down to 4,000 QFFs by buying SYD - CGK in J in April 2026. The CGK - SIN leg doesn't work anymore as it is only offered with MH via KUL which does not work given the arrival time of QF41. So, and due to lack of points, I settled with this, and will by a cheap ticket from Jakarta over to Singapore.

How I get from Singapore to Australia is a different question... SCOOT sale?

Also, now largely immune in case the Cyber Guys want to steal my QFF points!

 

[PineappleSkip]

Well I went to book an award flight before my stock of points gets devalued tonight, as you do, and the QF website threw a new curve ball when I selected "rewards" and then the obscure town of SYD. Wondering if the QF script kiddies were tasked with making it harder to make points bookings this weekend. Deselecting the rewards button allowed me to pull up both revenue and points fares on my selected dates so I booked a points itinerary - despite the dire warning.