Qantas Business Classic Reward Release

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Qantas

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  itx on 19/04/2022 - 13:21

  +4

  Qantas may release more reward seats throughout the year depending on the load factors they're seeing on the flight/route, but there are no guarantees. You can monitor it by checking frequently or by setting up availability alerts through third parties like ExpertFlyer (you'll need to pay for a subscription). They're not known for being particularly generous with business reward availability though.

  I can see JAL has business seats available from Melbourne on the 28th, bookable with QFF points for 159K + $204 per person (one way) (with a transit between Narita and Haneda in Tokyo) - any reason why you wouldn't want those? Is it because it's more expensive points wise?

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    Caerdyddblue on 19/04/2022 - 13:50

    I'll have a look at ExpertFlyer, might not be worth it for 1 trip but definitely good to know! Yeah a little more expensive with the points but mainly due to us being in Sydney. We live in Melbourne but getting back on the 28th would be difficult due to the wedding in Sydney, the 29th is the earliest we could get back. We are also considering just leaving a week or so later as there seemed to be a little more availability into February.

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  dahax77 on 19/04/2022 - 13:33

  +3

  Unfortunately direct Australia to US reward seats on Qantas in J/F are rare as hens teeth at the best of times and now you have the perfrect storm of everyone wanting to travel, people sitting on piles of points and airlines chasing the dollars of revenue tickets. If any happen to appear book first and think later - you can use a tool like Expert Flyer as mentioned.

  The problem with the JAL option is the transit between airports (entering the country for tourists) is not currently allowed…..you'd like to think it will be all open come Jan 2023 but who knows with Japan as people have been speculating on the opening date for a year now.

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    Caerdyddblue on 19/04/2022 - 13:52

    Yeah unfortunately seems to be the case, is it generally easier from cities other than Melb/Sydney? Is it fully refundable for the business rewards? I'm pretty sure economy are but not sure if that changes from each class. Didn't know about Japan still being closed to tourists!

    • 

      dahax77 on 19/04/2022 - 14:24

      +1

      Fully refundable to the end of the year from memory, details will be on Qantas website - so you could get lucky people cancelling reward tickets they have booked 'just in case' - i've been chopping and changing all my J flights but I did book them months ago.

      Qantas points for flights out of Australia are the hardest to redeem because you are literally competing against thousands of people wanting the same seats and only a couple of seats usually available per flight.

      You are also competing with all the higher status QFF members who have access to reward tickets earlier so if you are a lowly bronze you are left fighting over the scraps.

      You could also look for flights out of Brissy (slightly less demand) and also possibility of partner airlines such as Fiji Airways etc. Keep an eye out for new routes or flights being added throughout the year. If you do find flights from another city you can book as a Multi-City and the domestic flight is often 'free' points wise due to being in the same milage band for points and you will only pay the additional taxes.

      Good luck!

  • 

    itx on 19/04/2022 - 16:28

    +1

    That's a great point re transiting in Tokyo! From that perspective, Vancouver is a safer option as that route flies out from Narita - so there'd be no need to go through immigration (but the connection times are long - though the upside is if borders are open by then, you can go out and explore for a full day before heading back to the airport). J reward seats available on the 30th from Melbourne for 159K points + $135 per person one way (you can add a Sydney - Melbourne flight but that's considered "backtracking", so the points requirement will increase).

    For reference, JAL flies:
    Sydney - Haneda
    Melbourne - Narita

    Haneda - Chicago, Dallas, New York, LA and San Francisco
    Narita - Chicago, New York, Boston, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego and Vancouver

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      Caerdyddblue on 19/04/2022 - 22:05

      Thanks for all the info! Weird that I searched that date regularly on the Qantas website and there was only flights for 800k+ points but when I searched through multi city it came up… is that usually the case?

      Are you able to clear Canadian immigration in Narita?

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        itx on 19/04/2022 - 23:31

        Yea the website's a little funny - you have to click on the "Rewards Only" filter option on the results page to see some of the partner options, including the JAL ones.

        And nope no pre-clearance facilities in Japan as far as I know, but immigration at Vancouver is not like LAX. My experience pre-pandemic was around 30 mins from getting off the plane to bags in hand.

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  TheMindsetTraveller on 19/04/2022 - 17:17

  +6

  With business/first-class travel using points - you plan your holiday around the flights you can get - and rarely the other way round.

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    Caerdyddblue on 19/04/2022 - 22:06

    I agree! It was always the plan but my partners 30th and a group of friends started the idea so just trying to see if we can make it work :)

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  SmiTTy on 19/04/2022 - 22:08

  +1

  This doesn't answer your question, but may be a good read and give you some ideas

  https://www.pointhacks.com.au/qantas/using-points-to-fly-to-…

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    Caerdyddblue on 19/04/2022 - 22:10

    Thanks!