If you’ve ever tried to redeem Qantas points for flights to the United States – especially in Business class – you’ve probably come across lack of award availability. Business class award seats from Australia to North America are in very high demand. And the few Business class reward seats that Qantas does release are often taken before they’re even released to Silver or Bronze Qantas frequent flyers around 10 months before the flight.
When you search for award flights from Sydney to Los Angeles, for example, the Qantas website will probably only show availability in Economy class:
But flying Qantas is not your only option! You can also redeem Qantas points to fly with Fiji Airways. Flying daily from Sydney to Los Angeles via Nadi, Fiji Airways offers both Economy and Business class. And, unlike Qantas Business class awards to Los Angeles, Fiji Airways tends to release a decent amount of seats. You still need to be flexible with dates, but you’ll be more likely to find something. Below are the results of the same search on the Qantas website for award availability from Nadi to Los Angeles. Gold ribbons represent Business class award availability.
Once you’ve found a suitable flight from Nadi to the USA, use the multi-city search tool on the Qantas website to book this in conjunction with another Fiji Airways award flight from Australia to Nadi.
Fiji Airways also flies from Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide, although the flights from Melbourne and Adelaide don’t connect well to the Nadi-Los Angeles service.
If you’re flying from Sydney, you can fly on an Airbus A330 with flat-bed seats the whole way to the United States. Admittedly, these Business seats do have a slight incline but they are still a comfortable way to fly.
Fiji Airways also flies from Nadi to San Francisco a few times per week. If you can’t find any reward seats to Los Angeles, try searching for Fiji Airways seats to San Francisco instead.
Better award availability is just one benefit of flying with Fiji Airways. It will cost you 96,000 Qantas points to fly Business class from Sydney to Los Angeles with either Qantas or Fiji Airways. But when redeeming Qantas points on Fiji Airways, the co-payment is only $126.38 of taxes. By comparison, you’d need to pay an additional $471.54 if flying Qantas. (This includes a $335 Qantas “carrier charge”.)
You can also redeem American Airlines AAdvantage miles to fly with Fiji Airways. A Business class ticket from Sydney to Los Angeles costs 80,000 AAdvantage miles plus $126.38.
Frequent Flyer Solutions can help you to redeem your points
Would you like help to find reward flights? The Frequent Flyer Concierge service can find you the perfect flights using your points. Just let the team know how many points you have and where you would like to go, and they’ll prepare an itinerary for you.
