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Qantas Save 30% on Economy Classic Flight Rewards - 5 Day Sale

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5 Day Qantas Classic Rewards Sale. Starting at 11am today. If you can find flights that suit, have a great trip!

Update: Some savvy people are cancelling an existing QF points booking, then re-booking with this 30% off offer to save overall. There will be a 6k points cancel fee to make up though for existing bookings.

Take 30% off the Qantas Points required for Economy Classic Flight Rewards on eligible Qantas, Jetstar, Jetstar Asia and Emirates operated flights.

*30% discount will be automatically applied to the Qantas points required for Eligible Classic Flight Rewards Flights booked between 11am (AEDT) 21 March and 11:59pm (AEDT) 25 March 2019, for travel 1 May 2019 – 29 Feb 2020 on Qantas (QF), 1 May 2019 – 23 Feb 2020 on Emirates (EK) and 1 May – 11 Dec 2019 on Jetstar (JQ/3K).

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closed Comments

  • +4

    Awesome stack with amex cashback!

    • How good are stacks. Bravo!

    • How do we do this if we're only allowed to use points?

      • +5

        Wait till you see how much the taxes are

        • +1

          HAHAH, I might as well book with virgin airlines, getting <$300 return :\

  • -2

    It requires QFF point to save 30%?

    • +13

      I read it as 30% off rewards points redemption.
      Eg 100,000 points usually needed but for 4 days it'll be 70,000 to redeem the flight.

  • +2

    Had to read this just as I'm boarding the plane with Qantas…

    • +22

      Not valid for your travel dates

      • Yesss! Sleep deprived me read it wrong

    • +15

      Please set your electronic devices to flight mode

  • Valid only ONCE per account, after one successful discounted return booking second one gives normal price :/

    Edit my bad, tried to book outside of dates

  • Appears to be live already?

  • Thanks OP. How do you get notified of this deal from Qantas?

    I would like to sign up for future sales.

    Thanks

    • +1

      Just visited the site first thing 5am and it was already up on the homepage as a featured offer. Early bird gets the…flight! :)

      • Thanks for the reply, I'll bookmark their homepage moving forward.

    • I got an email. Maybe check your frequent flyer email preferences?

  • +1

    Doesn’t work for Lord Howe

    • +1

      Pretty hard to get points redemption flights there (if it's at all possible, I couldn't find any flights).

      • It's definitely achievable. Largely dependent on the location/dates/airline. I've been planning a family trip for a few weeks now and the luckily the dates were still available this morning. Just booked ourselves a return trip to Italy on Emirates.

        • +5

          lord howe availability is a completey different ball game from europe economy…

    • Just been. Redemptions will only become available a few weeks before the flight. Best suggestion would be to book a fully refundable Qantas fare and then some flexibility in your travel (almost impossible on LHI). Based on my experience reward fares will come up but may not be for your exact dates.

      This is the best 'value' economy reward probably anywhere in the world, so it's going to be hard to secure.

      • This is the best 'value' economy reward probably anywhere in the world, so it's going to be hard to secure.

        Lol what.

        I know it's a high value redemption but.. that's a pretty big statement?

        • +1

          Its very possible though. Theres a monopoly on flights

          I'm Qantas gold and I see no flights there with classic awards either.

          • @PCHammond: Oh I'm absolutely not saying it's not possible - I'm just saying I'd be surprised if it was only "high value economy reward" in the whole world…

            Surely there are other monopolistic routes on which using points, even on Economy, can be good (or even better) than using QFF points specifically to LHI. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a similar high value redemption on the Qantas network though, I'll give you that.

        • Agreed world might be a stretch.

      • Where did you stay at?

    • Did you see accommodation prices there? Flights are peanuts comparing to that.

    • +2

      No man is an island (except Lord Howe).

  • Does it also apply to points plus cash?

    • +22

      If you use points plus cash you shouldn't be on this site.

      • +3

        First time trying to redeem Qantas points so excuse my ignorance but I just checked and even with Classic Rewards, you still have to pay some amount with cash?
        I'm looking at booking a one way to London and it's 69,600 points but still $336 on card. Is there an option to pay everything with points?

        • +1

          Always a cash component - taxes, fees

    • -1

      Never use points plus cash.. It has of the worst redemption exchange rate…

      • +1

        With only two options….Cash or Points + Pay, how do you avoid using Points + Pay if trying to use your points?

        • Worked it out.

  • How do I know the 30% applied?

    • The points required to book the flight will be reduced by 30%.

      Use the calculator to see full points required:
      https://www.qantas.com/fflyer/do/dyns/InitialPointsRedeemed

      • I just tried to book Sydney to KL and the number of points indicated by this initial points vs the amount I'm actually seeing to book, is way different.
        This calculator indicates circa 56K and yet in the 30% off period, I'm seeing 81K .. what the hell! What am I missing here?

        • +1

          That is just the other way around. 30% x 81k is 56k

        • +1

          Not available on all flights or not all flights have the same required low points. I searched SYD to BBK and SYD to SIN. The lowest I can find needs 39k for return plus around $320. It's good, but not really worth it considering the tickets could be as low as $550 for the low season if paid by cash.

    • The points are automatically applied at the bottom of the screen once you select your flights.

      Can confirm it is currently live.

  • +5

    Sale definitely live already. Changed one of my flights on pre-existing booking and it repriced whole trip at 30% off. I did have to pay 5k change fee but well worth it as saved over 20k points.

    • -1

      $5k change fee < 20k QFF points? Am I reading this right?

      EDIT - ok, you probably meant 5k QFF change fees :)

    • +1

      Well played Swan

      • +2

        Confirms he's definitely not Wayne Swan…

  • Damn, I just booked yesterday… :(

    • Could be worth cancelling and re-booking, depending on the savings! I just did :|

    • Just follow the comment right above yours, pay 5000pts change fee and get save 30% points for your whole trip.

      • Was domestic flight anyway, will end up break even doing the change, might be time to book something else instead :)

    • +3

      I believe there are limited quotas of flights set aside for classic rewards, the demand is much higher for school holidays, I believe you have to book those dates immediately when they become available (11 months in advance if you can plan well ahead…..)

  • +1

    Cheers OP

  • +3

    Their rip-off surcharge really put me off redeeming with them.

    • +1

      my flights would cost $780 in taxes and surcharges (for 2) … but fully paid flights would cost almost double that. That means that 1/2 the airfare is 'surcharges and taxes'?

      • +5

        That's what Qantas do. That have a huge fuel surcharge to push up the surcharges price. Some airlines don't charge a fuel surcharge at all. This is why business is regarded as better value for point redemption with Qantas as the surcharges can be 1/2 to 3/4 of a normal economy sale fare. You'll still pay similar surcharges in business, but the "value" is better compared with paying for a business fare.

        • +1

          This is why business is regarded as better value for point redemption with Qantas

          Actually, redemptions in premium cabins, generally (except sometimes with the exception of premium economy) is generally regarded to be better value in almost any program. It's certainly not specific to Qantas and not because of the fuel surcharge. It's because of how the cost of redemptions in points increases vs how the cost of fares in cash increases.

          • @illumination: What about domestic vs international redemption? I get the sense that there is better value with domestic economy redemption?

            • @donamique:

              I get the sense that there is better value with domestic economy redemption?

              I tend to agree with this. At a very basic level, I would put it down to the fact that domestic airfares are higher yielding than international airfares. Domestic airfares cost more (on a per km basis) compared to international airfares, and redemption fares are charged by distance (broken down into zones). That's kinda the summary of why I agree and the theory behind why I think this is the case.

              • @illumination: Hmmm I see what you're getting at. Though I'm guessing they do scale the zones accordingly and definitely not just by distance.. Suppose there's fixed costs involved with every flight given the landing take off etc, an extra hour or two is just fuel cost? Might increase exponentially as it becomes a much longer flight, and when international airspace rights come into play. Is there some AMA on an Economist or Strategist who's worked for an airline? Lol.

                • @donamique:

                  Though I'm guessing they do scale the zones accordingly and definitely not just by distance..

                  It depends on the program. QFF and Velocity both go by distance, and their distance-based zones are categorised based on distance. As an example, it's along the lines flights between 0-1000mi costing the same number of points, followed by flights between 1001-2500mi costing the same number of points.

                  So - it is basically by distance but because they're grouped into "bands", certain types of redemptions within that band are better value than others. Consider a redemption for a flight that's 1001mi vs 2499mi. Literally would cost you the same number of points.

                  The other aspect to it which I didn't mention above is consider the domestic market vs the international market. For example, imagine you're flying SYD-HKG and you've got Cathay Pacific and Virgin Australia up against you. For Sydney, you've got 2x flights a day, Cathay have 4x, and Virgin have 1x. Virgin are a new player trying to grab market share. Cathay are established, but have a crapload of capacity. Airlines never want to fly with empty seats, so this sort of market is likely to have lower fares because of the competition/capacity available. However, how does this affect the cost of using your points on such a market? It doesn't. Because the redemption costs are relatively fixed based on those zones/bands. So in the current market, using points on SYD-HKG return is probably not a good idea, because the cash fares are too cheap, and the amount of points you're redeeming to "offset" the cash component is worth less than a less competitive market.

                  That's also why there's a mention above of Lord Howe, because it's a market only operated by Qantas with very expensive cash fares ($500+ return?) due to lack of competition/limited capacity. However, the distance is only 489mi, so guess what zone it'd fall into? A cheap zone. Same as SYD-MEL, which is served by Tiger, Virgin, Qantas, and Jetstar, and can have cash fares as low as ~$50 one way (possibly even lower).

                  edit: Whoops. Went on a lot longer than I intended to lol.

                  • @illumination: Yea that makes sense. I'm guessing that redemption customers and business fare purchasing customers are two very different clientele. Which is why they price discriminate accordingly to maximize their profits. For all flights whether domestic or international, there's a fixed cost component (taking off/landing, preparation, checks, rental of gates at airport, airport tax) vs a variable component (distance flown, fuel, wages, opportunity cost of flying elsewhere). So you're saying that a zone 2 redemption (2500 km for example) is about twice the distance of a zone 1 redemption (1000 km for example) and only require twice the points, but a fare purchasing customer would have to pay less than twice the fare. Hence making a zone 1 fare expensive to purchase but relatively cheaper via redemption? So when paying with points there is less of a fixed cost component, whereas when purchasing a fare the fixed cost component (which weighs hefty for domestic flights) is charged mercilessly? Lol.

    • Yes. 4500 points SYD>MEL but $30 surcharge! On Jetstar!

      • Most of that $30 is Airport and Security charges

    • The surcharge for Jetstar Darwin-Bali is always $100 each leg, much more of the average cost if you book normally.

      • Adult - Passenger Movement
        1 x @ $60.00
        Adult - Safety and Security
        1 x @ $15.57
        Adult - AU Int Passenger SC
        1 x @ $18.73

        There are the taxes for DRW-DPS, airline gets none of that.

        • +2

          That's what they want you to believe. So when the flight is only $100 or less, do they lose profit?

  • How much are the "taxes and surcharges" for a classic reward flight SYD to LAX?

    • +4

      $262.37 one way and 31500 points

      • +1

        Return is $500 in tax and fees? I can buy the return ticket for about $1000. So I am basically using 63,000 points to save $500? I might as well use my points in Qantas store lol.

        • You get better "returns" for business class. Same taxes.

          • -3

            @Autonomic:

            You get better "returns" for business class.

            Bit of a sweeping statement.

            Same taxes

            Usually same taxes. Sometimes a tad more depending on route/airline.

          • +1

            @Autonomic: Yes but thats not included in this 30% off.

            Also its all but impossible to get points redemmptions for J seats unless u have high status with qantas.

            The whole qantas FF system is a bit of a joke really.

            • @harthagan: I got 2x J via Emirates Sydney to Zurich, and then 2x J via HKG to Sydney. All on Qantas points, and that was with Bronze status. Booked almost 1yr out.

              Now I'm gold and I can see a huge amount of seats

              • @PCHammond: Thats interesting. Are u able to see any J award availability for routes to SFO or LAX? They seem to be as rare as hens teeth.

                • @harthagan: Some months have way less, but it's usually still doable even if you have to go via China or Melbourne or something. If you like to plan big holidays well in advance like I do, you would have no problem. I usually book my bigger holidays (Europe/USA for 4 weeks) 1yr in advance even when paying cash.

                  With a Gold membership, there is a huge amount of economy seats available, and alot of Premium Economy. If you're booking 10-12 months in advance, there's plenty of F and J too. In the peak periods (school holidays/Christmas) theres not much at the moment, but thats because it's only ~9 months away. Seems to be more J availability via Melbourne too.

                  I'll have another check in a few months when I hit Platinum

        • +1

          That's why i believe that classic rewards is only good for domestic, unless you are planning to fly overseas in business class.

        • Yeah totally not worth it for the route im interested.

  • Is there no option to pay everything with points? I know with Velocity there is the option to pay it all on points.

  • That explains why I got cheaper flights when paying!

  • +1

    Thanks OP, cancelled & rebooked a booking, saved 27.6k.

    • Well done to you! Thanks for the feedback :)

    • What happen to the tax and fuel surcharges when you cancel the previous reward booking?

      • It gets refunded to the card you paid for it on

  • +1

    Thanks OP. Rebooked and save 4.4k points :)

  • No discount for business reward flight oh well

  • waiting for 50%off, maybe once per year.
    QF's huge TAX kills the points deal. even 50%off then bit worth to do

  • Can one buy tickets for other family members and no fly themselves?

    • Yes you can. Theres a list of eligible family members you can book for on qantas’ website

  • +3

    I don't have many points left, looked at perth->bali.

    Poor availability of FF seats, but when found it was 14,400 points + $147 (Jetstar, no QF any more), vs $139 fare direct booking.

    Frequent flyer points used to be good, a very very long time ago.

    • +1

      Frequent flyer points used to be good, a very very long time ago.

      Frequent flyer points were never good in every scenario and all you've done is found a scenario in which it isn't worth using points. There are so many combinations of routes and so many airline options. Not every single option is good.

      So, I kind of agree that points have gotten worse (FF points only get devalued and pretty much never get "better" in value) but this statement is somewhat misleading and imo not an entirely fairly conclusion to have come to based on a search for one redemption.

      • +1

        You used to be able to do multi-stop tour flights, and the points depended only on the total km.

        e.g. PER->SIN->Bali->Darwin->Ayers Rock-> PER. for fewer points than a PER->SIN return now, and no big fees, easy flight changes.
        Those were the days!

        based on a search for one redemption.

        Just an example. I sat on a big pile of points for many years, and always either could not get seats, or it was not worth it, and I bought regular tickets instead. We finally used them by booking far ahead for school holidays, when we wanted the luggage allowance.

        Should say I'm in Perth, and you probably have a lot more options over east, (and fewer cheap alternatives to Asia?)

        • I think the example you gave is still possible (to be priced at PER-SIN-PER prices), provided you can find availability, and provided every stop is less than 24 hours (so it doesn't become a stopover).

          Just an example. I sat on a big pile of points for many years, and always either could not get seats, or it was not worth it, and I bought regular tickets instead. We finally used them by booking far ahead for school holidays, when we wanted the luggage allowance.

          Yea, this is reasonable. As I said, I was not and I do not disagree with your sentiment.

          Should say I'm in Perth, and you probably have a lot more options over east, (and fewer cheap alternatives to Asia?)

          Yep this is also relevant. Considering how East Coast-centric Qantas can be, it certainly would have an impact. Although there are plenty of cheap alternatives to Asia because of the substantial volume provided by low cost carriers.

    • It really depends on the destination you're going. PER -> LEA is a good way to use the points. Now its 16800 + $110 (June 2019) return instead of $520.

      Probably good for domestic flights more so than international.

      • +3

        Learmonth? An air-force base in the middle of nowhere. I thought Qantas only landed there in emergencies :-)

        They must be carrying FIFO workers, who only stay long enough to transfer to smaller aircraft. Tourists going there usually drive, as the journey is more interesting than the destination.

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