What To Do With 10,000 Qantas Points

If you have a large balance of Qantas Frequent Flyer points, you could use them to book an international flight or a luxury train trip. You can even redeem Qantas points to book a round-the-world trip starting from 132,400 points.

But if you only have a relatively small balance of Qantas points, you can still redeem them for valuable rewards! This article shows you the best ways to use 10,000 Qantas points.

How much is 10,000 Qantas points worth?

As we explain in our guide to redeeming Qantas points effectively, the value of a frequent flyer point depends on how you use it.

For example, 10,000 Qantas points could get you a gift card worth around $50. But those points could also get you a flight worth a few hundred dollars.

Qantas sells 10,000 top-up points for $388. But that’s not a fair valuation as it just represents the full-price amount that Qantas sells points to the public. That doesn’t necessarily represent the value you’ll get when redeeming points.

As a general rule, you could say that 10,000 Qantas points are worth around $50 if you redeem them for a non-flight reward or around $100-$300 if redeeming for a flight or upgrade. But, depending on how you use the points, they could be worth even more than that.

What you can get for 10,000 Qantas points

In order from best to worst value, here are 12 things you can get for 10,000 Qantas points…

Book a Qantas Classic Flight Reward (fly up to 600 miles)

It costs 8,000 Qantas points (plus taxes & carrier charges) to book a Qantas Classic Flight Reward in Economy Class on any route up to 600 miles in distance. This covers most Qantas flights under around 1 hour and 45 minutes, including routes such as:

• Melbourne-Sydney
• Brisbane-Sydney
• Sydney-Gold Coast
• Adelaide-Melbourne
• Hobart-Melbourne
• Brisbane-Mackay
• Perth-Kalgoorlie
• Sydney-Broken Hill
• Mount Isa-Townsville
• Adelaide-Port Lincoln
• Cairns-Horn Island

Qantas Economy Classic Rewards can be good value on routes where airfares are normally quite expensive. For example, instead of paying $255 for a flight from Canberra to Brisbane, you could book an Economy Classic Reward for 8,000 points + $73.

After accounting for the $73 in taxes & carrier charges, those 8,000 Qantas points would be saving you $182. (That gives your Qantas points a value of 2.28 cents per point.)

To book a Classic Reward on the Qantas website, look specifically for the flight options marked “Classic Reward” on the right of the screen. You can also select the “Reward seats” filter to only show Classic Reward seats.

Classic Reward seats can also be particularly good value on regional QantasLink routes, where cash fares may be high, but you still only need 8,000 Qantas points if the flight’s distance is under 600 miles.

The Perth-Geraldton route is one example.

The Brisbane-Longreach route is another good example.

You can even book an international flight for 8,000 Qantas points, flying from Darwin to Dili in Timor-Leste.

But perhaps the highest value you could get for under 10,000 Qantas points would be a Classic Reward ticket from Sydney to Lord Howe Island!

In the above example, you’re getting almost $500 worth of value for 8,000 Qantas points. Plus, Lord Howe Island is an absolutely fantastic holiday destination!

Book a Jetstar Classic Flight Reward (fly up to 1,200 miles)

Qantas charges 20% fewer points when you book Classic Flight Rewards on Jetstar.

Jetstar is the low-cost carrier owned by Qantas. All Qantas Classic Reward tickets on Jetstar include 20kg of checked baggage, but you would need to pay extra for things like seat selection or on-board meals.

It costs 6,400 Qantas points (plus taxes and carrier charges) to book any Jetstar Economy flight up to 600 miles. For routes between 601-1,200 miles, you would need 9,600 Qantas points. That means your 10,000 Qantas points can get you further on Jetstar!

Jetstar, Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Japan routes under 1,200 miles include:

• Brisbane-Cairns
• Adelaide-Gold Coast
• Brisbane-Melbourne
• Singapore-Bangkok
• Darwin-Bali
• Sydney-Townsville
• Cairns-Darwin
• Bali-Singapore
• Auckland-Queenstown
• Tokyo-Okinawa (Japan)

For example, Jetstar flights from Melbourne to Uluru are available for 9,600 Qantas points and $60.

Fly up to 600 miles on a Qantas partner airline

You can also use Qantas points to book flights on any of Qantas’ many partner airlines!

Classic Reward flights on American Airlines, Fiji Airways and Air Vanuatu are priced the same as Qantas flights. So you’d need just 8,000 Qantas points to book a short flight with any of those airlines.

Economy Classic Reward tickets on all other partner airlines cost 10,000 Qantas points for routes up to 600 miles. For example, it’s possible to redeem Qantas points for domestic flights on Air New Zealand.

Other Qantas partner airlines include LATAM Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Alaska Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, KLM and Emirates.

If you’re interested, AFF has a full guide explaining how Qantas prices Classic Flight Reward tickets.

Upgrade a Qantas flight

You can also use Qantas points to upgrade eligible Qantas flights.

The Classic Upgrade Reward tables on the Qantas website outline the number of points required for different types of upgrades. Although 10,000 points aren’t enough to upgrade on a long-haul international flight, you could upgrade a domestic or short international flight to Business Class.

For example, it costs 5,400 points to upgrade an Economy Flex ticket to Business Class on routes under 600 miles, such as Melbourne-Sydney or Sydney-Brisbane. Or, for 10,900 points you can upgrade from a cheaper Economy Red e-Deal fare to Business Class on these routes.

You could also upgrade:

• From Economy Flex to Business Class on a Qantas domestic flight between 601-1,200 miles (e.g. Melbourne-Brisbane) for 8,100 points
• From Economy Flex to Premium Economy on QF9/10 between Melbourne-Perth or QF33/34 between Sydney-Perth for 4,300 points
• From Economy Flex to Business on a Qantas international flight between 601-1,200 miles (e.g. Brisbane-Noumea) for 9,200 points

Get $83 towards a Qantas Hotels booking

If you’re not planning on flying any time soon, you could also use Qantas points for a reward on the ground. You might not get quite as much value, but you will at least get something for your points!

When using your points with Qantas Hotels, you can get around $83 worth of value from 10,000 points. That’s enough, for example, to book a villa in Bali for one night.

Book a rental car

You can redeem Qantas points towards car rental bookings with Avis and Budget. In general, 10,000 Qantas points would be worth around $65 towards a vehicle hire.

Save $60-65 off any Qantas or Jetstar flight booking

You can use points to reduce the cost of any Qantas or Jetstar flight by using Points Plus Pay. This is different to booking a Classic Flight Reward because the number of points needed is based on the commercial airfare price. Your points will simply be converted to money at a rate of around 0.6 to 0.65 cents per point.

10,000 Qantas points would save you around $60 off a Qantas flight or $65 off a Jetstar flight.

On the plus side, you only need at least 5,000 Qantas points to use Points Plus Pay and you can book any available seat on any Qantas flight. For Jetstar flights, you only need to use a minimum of 3,500 Qantas points.

Use the Qantas website to book a Qantas flight using Points Plus Pay, or the Jetstar website to book a Jetstar flight.

Enjoy some wine or spirits

You can redeem points at the Qantas Wine store for cases of wine and other alcoholic beverages such as beer and spirits.

For example, during a current sale, 10,000 Qantas points could get you a bottle of Roku gin, which usually retails for around $70. Note that this price doesn’t include delivery, which costs around $10 or is free for Qantas Wine Premium members.

Get around $57 worth of products from Qantas Marketplace

You can use Qantas points towards any purchase from Qantas Marketplace, which offers a wide range of merchandise from lawnmowers to make up, and toasters to beach towels.

While the value you’ll get for your points varies from item to item, 10,000 points would generally get you around $57 worth of products from Qantas Marketplace.

Get $52.50 worth of fuel from BP

You can redeem your Qantas points to pay for fuel from BP, with 1,900 points getting you a $10 discount. This means 10,000 Qantas points would save you $52.50 on fuel. That isn’t necessarily a great way to use your points, but is nonetheless an option.

Go to the movies

HOYTS Rewards members can use 4,000 Qantas points to get $20 off their movie tickets at HOYTS. That means 10,000 points would get you $50 of value here.

Redeem for a gift card

10,000 Qantas points is almost enough for a $50 gift card from Qantas Marketplace. For example, you could get a $50 digital voucher to use at Supercheap Auto, Rebel, BCF or Macpac for 10,030 points.

If you just want to “cash out” your Qantas points, buying a gift card is an easy way to do that. However, this represents fairly poor value for your points.

What you could get with a few more Qantas points

If you’re able to earn just a small number of extra Qantas points, some other rewards that you could access include:

• Book a Qantas Economy Classic Reward flight on a route between 601-1,200 miles (e.g. Brisbane-Adelaide or Perth-Broome) for 12,000 Qantas points + taxes & carrier charges
• Book a Qantas Economy Classic Reward flight to New Zealand (e.g. Melbourne-Auckland) for 18,000 Qantas points + taxes & carrier charges
• Book a Qantas Business Classic Reward flight on any route up to 600 miles (e.g. Sydney-Melbourne) for 18,400 Qantas points + taxes & carrier charges

Also keep an eye out for special promotions when Qantas offers discounts on Classic Reward flights. For example, Qantas Frequent Flyer gave 30% off domestic Classic Reward bookings in January 2023.

How to earn more Qantas Frequent Flyer points

There are so many ways to earn Qantas points in Australia that it shouldn’t be difficult for you to build up your balance! For example, you could earn Qantas points by:

• Shopping at Woolworths and converting your Everyday Rewards points into Qantas points
• Purchasing fuel from BP
• Spending on a Qantas points-earning credit card
• Shopping at Qantas Marketplace
• Riding Uber to/from Australian airports
• Purchasing an Optus phone plan via Qantas

There are even multiple free ways to earn Qantas points, such as via the Qantas Wellbeing App or by completing Red Planet surveys.

If you want to earn a large amount of Qantas points quickly, you may also consider purchasing top-up points or taking advantage of a great bonus points offer from Qantas Wine.

But one of the cheapest ways to accumulate large amounts of Qantas points is with credit cards. As well as earning points every time you swipe or tap your card, many Qantas Frequent Flyer credit cards offer large sign-up bonuses of up to 150,000 Qantas points!

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.