Earning Qantas Points: All the ways to earn

Qantas Points can be earned far beyond just airline tickets. Over the decades, the airline has built an ecosystem of partners that allows you to earn points on virtually all everyday expenses: credit cards, hotels, car rentals, groceries, gas, insurance, and more… For Australian residents in particular, the breadth of the network is impressive. Here’s the complete guide to maximizing your points.

Earning points while flying:

This is the primary source of points. On Qantas flights, the number of points earned depends on your travel class, fare, and Frequent Flyer status. The Australian airline has increased the points earned on domestic Australian flights by up to 25% above the base rate and has removed the earning cap for members in premium cabins. Specifically, a Platinum member traveling in Business Class on a Melbourne–Sydney flight can now earn points without limitation.

On oneworld flights (British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Fiji Airways, Japan Airlines, American Airlines, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar Airways, etc.), you earn Qantas Points according to each partner’s specific conversion rates; which can be found in the alliance’s earning tables on qantas.com. For non-oneworld partners such as Emirates, the rules are different and should be checked before each trip.

Classic Flight Rewards, as an example to visualize the points scale:

Route

Class Points Taxes/Fees
Sydney → Melbourne Economy 9,200 pts

~$52

Sydney → Melbourne

Business 19,300 pts

~$80

Melbourne → Auckland

Economy 20,700 pts ~$169
Sydney → Bali Economy 23,300 pts

~$147

Sydney → Perth Economy 20,700 pts

~$74

 

Points actually credited according to status:

Flight type

Airline Status Points earned Status Credits
Qantas flight, Economy fare Qantas Bronze 3,900 points 40 pts

40

Same flight

Qantas Gold 6825 pts 40
British Airways codeshare flight Economy Bronze 1,000 pts

15

Emirates codeshare flight, Economy

Emirates Bronze ~half the points of Qantas 0

Earning points with Partner Credit Cards:

In Australia, the American Express Qantas Ultimate Card is one of the best on the market for earning points: it offers a welcome bonus of up to 100,000 points upon sign-up (subject to applicable terms and conditions) and a higher earning rate on everyday spending than most alternatives. Other Australian banks (ANZ, CommBank, Westpac, NAB) also offer Visa or Mastercard cards that can be converted into Qantas Points, at a less favorable rate but with wider acceptance.

Card

Points per dollar spent Special feature
Qantas American Express Ultimate 1.25 points per eligible $ (0.5 on government spending), +1 additional point per $ on Qantas products/services in Australia.

Beyond 100,000 points earned in a year, the rate drops back to 1 point/$.

American Express Qantas Business Rewards

Up to 1.25 points per $ on current business expenses. High welcome bonus possible
Classic Qantas Visa/Mastercard cards Approximately 1 point per dollar on current expenses, a rate considered “average”.

Most are between 0.5 and 1 point per $, often with a monthly cap.

Ground partners in Australia:

Qantas’ network of ground partners in Australia is one of the most extensive in the world for an airline loyalty program. Among the main partners are: Woolworths (supermarket), BP (gas stations), Uber, HealthEngine (healthcare), Red Energy and AGL (energy), as well as numerous restaurants and retail chains. The Qantas Earn & Shop website lists all active partners along with the applicable earning rates, these change regularly, especially during promotions.

Hotels and Car Rentals:

Hotel reservations made through the Qantas Hotels portal earn points at a competitive rate, often between 2 and 6 points per Australian dollar spent, depending on the property and the season. Qantas Hotels is powered by the Booking.com platform; so you benefit from a wide selection of international properties, with bonus points compared to booking directly. Car rentals through Qantas (with Hertz, Avis, and other partners) also allow you to earn points with every rental.

Examples of Qantas Frequent Flyer points earned on hotel bookings:

Booking type Points per $A spent
Standard rate 3 points per $1 AUD
Occasional promotions up to 9 points per $1 AUD  or 7 points per $1
Via Qantas Business Rewards 10 points per $1 (7 for the member + 3 for the company)

Concrete example: a typical booking of 600 (3pts/) earns 1,800 points, compared to much more during a promotion at 7 pts/$.

Examples of points accumulated on car rentals with Qantas partners:

Context

Points
Rental in Australia (base rate)

4 points per Australian dollar spent on the base daily rate

Rental abroad

700 fixed points per rental, regardless of duration
Via a Qantas Business Rewards account

Up to 6 points per $ (3 for the company + points for the traveler), cumulative with 4 points/$ for the company in addition to the 4 personal points/$, i.e. 8 points/$ in total.

Points do not apply to VAT, extras (child seats, insurance, excess reduction), excess mileage or miscellaneous charges, only to the base rate.

Online Shopping:

The Qantas Shopping portal also lets you earn points on purchases at over 200 online stores; rates range from 1 to 10 points per dollar, depending on the retailer and the time of year.

Type of expense

Points
Base rate per brand

Variable depending on the store (e.g. eBay displays 1 point per $)

Occasional promotions

Up to 10 points or more per dollar during bonus offers.
Combined with credit card (“double dip”)

Example: $250 spent during a 5 points/$ promotion earns 1,500 points via Qantas Shopping, plus an additional 312 points when paying with the Qantas American Express Ultimate card.

Everyday Rewards (Woolworths, BIG W, BWS)

Minimum 1 Everyday Rewards point per dollar spent, convertible to Qantas points.

Maximizing your rewards: Practical Tips

Focus your spending on a small number of partners to maximize your point balances rather than spreading them out. Take advantage of bonus point offers regularly published by Qantas (double points on certain flights, point multipliers during partner events). Make sure your membership number is properly registered before every flight or purchase; points cannot be retroactively credited after a certain time limit. Use the Points Calculator feature on qantas.com to estimate how many points you’ll earn per trip based on your status. → Find out how to redeem your Qantas points for award flights and other services.

FAQ: Everything you need to know about Earning Qantas Points

Q: What are the two fastest ways to earn a large number of Qantas points?
A: They are:

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