I Have Zero Qantas Points and It Feels Liberating

Ever since I first joined Qantas Frequent Flyer in 2011, I’ve never had a balance of zero points in my account… until now.

No, I didn’t let my Qantas points expire from inactivity – quite the opposite! Over the past 14 years, I’ve been regularly accumulating and redeeming my points. It’s been a great ride. But today, finally, I used up every last point that I had left in my account. And it feels great.

On one hand, this means I’m not starting from scratch with collecting Qantas Frequent Flyer points. I always thought that this would feel daunting, but now that this day has actually arrived, it really doesn’t. As I’ll explain in this article, there are several reasons why I’m actually really happy with this situation.

I’ve redeemed my Qantas points for experiences that I truly value

I’ve always been a firm believer that points are there to be used. And I’m pleased to say that I’ve well and truly managed to redeem all of my Qantas points for rewards that I’m both excited about and value highly. If that’s not what frequent flyer points are for, then what are they?!

No, I didn’t waste any of my Qantas points on toasters, kettles or microwaves. I also didn’t “cash out” any points on low-value Classic Plus redemptions.

Over the past few months, I’ve redeemed my remaining Qantas points for several Classic Reward bookings. These include a Qantas Business Class ticket from Vancouver to Sydney and a Finnair Economy flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. That trans-Pacific booking saved me thousands of dollars, and the Finnair flight gets me to beautiful Lapland – a destination that had been on my bucket list for a long time!

Those bookings had already whittled my points balance down, but there was one final redemption that used up all the rest.

The booking that cleared out my entire Qantas points balance

This week, I was looking for Classic Reward seats from Sydney to Johannesburg. My plan was to book a Premium Economy or Business seat on QF63, which happens to be one of my favourite flights. But when I checked for availability on the Qantas website, the only Classic Reward seat on my preferred travel date was in First Class.

I’ve never flown Qantas First Class before. But it’s something I would love to try at least once in my life. This seemed like the perfect opportunity!

There was just one (very first world) problem: I was slightly short of the points I needed to actually book this.

To make up the shortfall, I transferred all of the points from my Qantas Business Rewards account into my personal account, as well as the few more that I needed from another partner program. Thankfully, this did enough to bridge the gap I didn’t have to resort to buying top-up points at poor value.

With all of that done, I had exactly the number of points I needed to book this flight:

I’m sure this will be a great flight. I’ve already chosen seat 1A, and I’m really looking forward to it.

I was happy to use my points up before the upcoming devaluation

Another reason I was happy to use up my existing Qantas points now is that they will be devalued in August.

On 5 August 2025, Qantas will increase the number of points you need to book a Classic Reward or upgrade by 10-20%. It will also increase the carrier charges that apply to premium cabin bookings. If I hadn’t already used my points, this would effectively mean that the points I’d already earned would have lost some of their value at midnight on 5 August.

For example, a First Class seat on this exact Qantas flight from Sydney to Johannesburg will cost 170,800 Qantas points + approximately $432 in taxes & carrier charges from August. That’s a 20% increase in the points required and a 59% increase in the co-payment. I see no reason to cop that increase when I can instead just use the points now. 😉

Points don’t increase in value over time. That’s why it’s not a good idea to save points for the sake of it. They’re not money, don’t earn interest and are subject to inflation. In fact, frequent flyer points could become worthless at any moment through devaluations, a removal of reward availability, or – in the worst case scenario – the airline going out of business.

I’m not saying that I think Qantas will imminently go out of business. They seem to be doing just fine at the moment, and thank goodness for that! But as I wrote last year, if you have a huge balance of points that you’re not using, you might be playing the game wrong.

To give Qantas credit, they’ve at least given members plenty of notice about the upcoming devaluation. These days, regrettably, some airlines simply increase award prices overnight without bothering to tell anyone.

This doesn’t mean I’m abandoning Qantas Frequent Flyer

Theoretically, I could now take this opportunity to reset my frequent flyer points-earning strategy and stop engaging with Qantas’ loyalty program. If I wanted to switch my focus to a different program right now, I wouldn’t have to worry about leaving any lonely Qantas points stranded in my account.

But I’m not going to do that.

In fact, since I’ve been able to redeem my points for highly valuable rewards, I feel more inclined to continue earning Qantas points. My recent redemptions have proven to me that I can still make Qantas points work for me enough of the time that they’re still worth collecting.

But this may not be the case for everyone. In fact, depending on your goals, you may be far better off collecting points in a program other than Qantas Frequent Flyer.

Personally, I still find it really easy to Qantas points in Australia. I’m happy to continue taking advantage of that opportunity.

I’m not too worried about topping up my Qantas points again, as I should be able to earn enough for another long-haul Business Class redemption with just one or two good Qantas credit card sign-up bonuses.

The points I’m earning on my existing co-brand Qantas credit card also continue depositing into my account each month. And if I really needed a quick boost, I could just buy a few more cases of Qantas Wine with bonus points attached.

I similarly cleared out my entire Virgin Australia Velocity points balance in 2023, after using my points for a bunch of redemptions that I valued. I had no regrets then either, and have since earned plenty more Velocity points to build my balance back up.

The “flywheel effect”

There’s plenty of data and research showing that loyalty program members who redeem their points – and are happy with the value they got – actually end up earning points at a higher rate in the future.

In its investor presentations, Qantas regularly refers to this concept as the “Loyalty Flywheel”. By providing more “valued and aspirational” ways for members to redeem points, Qantas argues this will increase member engagement – thus increasing shareholder value even further.

This only works if people do in fact get value from their points

Of course, this only works if members feel that they’re getting value for and can easily use their points. If this isn’t the case, the reverse can also happen.

With the amount of Qantas points in circulation continuing to grow at a higher rate than redemptions, Qantas risks its perceived lack of Classic Reward availability becoming a major problem.

On this note, I have three confessions to make:

1. I had to call Qantas to request the release of a Business reward seat from Vancouver to Sydney as a Platinum member, as there were no seats available otherwise
2. I had to follow up with the Qantas call centre to get my Helsinki-Rovaniemi flight ticketed because the Qantas website misquoted the taxes, initially causing the ticketing of my booking to fail
3. I managed to pick up that Sydney-Johannesburg flight in First Class because Qantas had just done a “batch release” of reward availability on this route. If I’d looked a week earlier, there would have been no Classic Reward seats available.

Thankfully, I was able to get around the above issues and make each of these bookings successfully. Many clued-up AFF members would be able to do the same, by taking the time to understand how Qantas Frequent Flyer works, how seats are released in 2025, and the quirks of Classic Reward ticketing.

But I can also totally see how many people might struggle to successfully redeem their Qantas points for flights that they want, and then get frustrated with the program. Qantas needs to tread carefully here.

Diversifying your points remains the best strategy

One of the other reasons why I’m not concerned about my newly lacking Qantas points balance is that I still have enough points with other frequent flyer programs that I can use if I need to book a flight at short notice.

I’ve long diversified my points, collecting with multiple airlines and favouring flexible points currencies – such as credit card reward programs that let you transfer your points to many different airlines, as needed.

In my opinion, this remains the best strategy for frequent flyers because you get maximum flexibility to use whichever is the best program for each type of redemption. It’s also a good “insurance policy” against frequent flyer program devaluations.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & 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.