Melbourne to Delhi in Dec ( Any Route) with Qantas or Amex Points

[aanujmalhotra262]

I am a new member and trying to understand what is the best way to find business class ticket to travel from Melbourne to Delhi in Dec.
What is the best route and which site to use? Open for multiple hops.. I have Amex points and Qantas Points to use..

 

[SeatBackForward]

You may have left it too late given December is heading into prime summer holidays and Airlines can make good revenue over that time.

 

[Mwenenzi]

I am a new member and trying to understand what is the best way to find business class ticket to travel from Melbourne to Delhi in Dec.
What is the best route and which site to use? Open for multiple hops.. I have Amex points and Qantas Points to use..

What have you found when looking?
For QF points you look at the QF web site.
Look at other airports in India and Sri Lanka. Then local transport.
For Dec 2026 "best" is what ever you find. Then book immediately, as options will be limited.
Want to come back or a one way trip?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Then book immaculately,

Very Christmas appropriate!

 

[MELso]

Very Christmas appropriate!

It's certainly a new conception of how to book!

Anyway OP, welcome to AFF!

You'll want to use https://flightrewardfinder.qantas.com/ for Qantas. A pro tip I have is that connecting flights often don't show up (e.g. if you search Australia to South Asia or vv. Try breaking the search into individual legs (e.g. Australia to south-east Asia and south-east Asia to south Asia) and then booking them together using the multi-city booking tool.

For Amex, try a site like seats.aero as this will allow you to check other programs you can convert points to.

 

[aanujmalhotra262]

What have you found when looking?
For QF points you look at the QF web site.
Look at other airports in India and Sri Lanka. Then local transport.
For Dec 2026 "best" is what ever you find. Then book immaculately, as options will be limited.
Want to come back or a one way trip?

Found the seats but way expensive in terms of points. Yes need to come back as well in Jan.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Found the seats but way expensive in terms of points. Yes need to come back as well in Jan.

Qantas has two levels of award… classic and ‘points plus’. The latter is sort of the current fare, converted into points.

It means far greater availability, as most seats can be converted this way, but sometimes at a very high price.

With amex points you could also check star alliance options… singapore airlines, or thai.

 

[aanujmalhotra262]

Qantas has two levels of award… classic and ‘points plus’. The latter is sort of the current fare, converted into points.

It means far greater availability, as most seats can be converted this way, but sometimes at a very high price.

With amex points you could also check star alliance options… singapore airlines, or thai.

Shall I check the airlines sites directly or any third party search engine?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Shall I check the airlines sites directly or any third party search engine?

Depends if you have accounts with those airlines, or can otherwise access the seats without needing an account.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Qantas has two levels of award… classic and ‘points plus’. The latter is sort of the current fare, converted into points.

It means far greater availability, as most seats can be converted this way, but sometimes at a very high price.

With amex points you could also check star alliance options… singapore airlines, or thai.

• Classic (the cheapest),
• Classic Plus (more availability but higher points) and
• Points + Pay (available on any seat, worst conversion rate)

OP has left it too late for Classic rewards

 

[MELso]

OP has left it too late for Classic rewards

Certainly seems that way using Qantas points. Not much available going over after 3 December.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Certainly seems that way using Qantas points. Not much available going over after 3 December.

Yup, either burn a tonne of points on the other options, pay for business class, or just lower expectations a bit

 

[Mwenenzi]

Shall I check the airlines sites directly or any third party search engine?

QF points can only be used on QF & JQ Jetstar web sites-by phone. Not other airlines or 3rd party sites.
QF classic awards can be on other airlines, but still need to book via QF web or phone.
Getting the business award out of Au is hard. If a second award flight needed to the destination that can be a little easier.

Yup, either burn a tonne of points on the other options, pay for business class, or just lower expectations a bit

.... lower expectations a lot

 

[blacksultan]

Air India thrpugh KrisFlyer

 

[SeatBackForward]

QF points can only be used on QF & JQ Jetstar web sites. Not other airlines or 3rd party sites.
QF classic awards can be on other airlines, but still need to book via QF web or phone.
Getting the business award out of Au is hard. If a second award flight needed to the destination that can be a little easier.

.... lower expectations a lot

It's shocking how many of the general QFF membership assume just having points means being able to book any flights they want.

I remember once overhearing the conversation at the next table, to paraphrase: " We're thinking of using our Qantas points to book our family to Europe next school holidays, might get lucky and find business class seats!"..

wow, I'd be certain they ended up using points plus pay, confirming why Qantas Loyalty is the most profitable part of their business!

 

[drron]

On January the 8th this year we travelled to DEL on SQ J awards BNE - SIN - DEL but I had booked them in March 25.
You have left it too late to get normal priced awards. By coincidence I was looking at a possible Med cruise in March next year and although I could see awards they were very expensive.
Aeroplane though had the cheapest but always on AI via DEL virtually every day from January on with some days in December.

 

[Mwenenzi]

It's shocking how many of the general QFF membership assume just having points means being able to book any flights they want.

The OP is a year too late in starting to learn how to get QF business awards at a peak time.
Other airline frequent flyer programs, via Amex, may offer more choice.
For Dec 2027 now is the time to start learning.

 

[offshore171]

I am a new member and trying to understand what is the best way to find business class ticket to travel from Melbourne to Delhi in Dec.

If you're referring to Dec 2026, all of the J reward seats will likely have been snapped up back as early as January or February.

Are you open to travelling at a different time outside school holidays, or to a different destination?

Best bet is to travel midweek, outside school holidays, to a destination that is fairly light for business travel. And even then you need to book well ahead.

How many seats are you chasing?

 

[Quickstatus]

Too late, if you want a business class classic reward ticket , these should be booked late December LAST year 2025.

You can use your points on a Points plus pay (very expensive in terms of points) or maybe a classic plus reward ticket - less points but still a lot more points than a Classic reward.