Using American Airlines AAdvantage miles within Australia is excellent value, with any domestic route costing 20,000 miles in Business class. Why not take advantage of this deal to cross the country and visit far-flung destinations like Broome, Darwin, Perth, Cairns or Hobart?
The Opportunity
Did you know that you can fly Qantas Business class to any destination in Australia – including Perth, Darwin, Broome & Cairns – for just 20,000 frequent flyer points?
American Airlines charges a fixed rate of 20,000 AAdvantage miles for any domestic flight within this great country. Given the sheer size of Australia – and the price of domestic airfares – this can be a fantastic deal if used to its potential!
AAdvantage redemptions on short domestic routes like Sydney-Canberra or Melbourne-Adelaide are unlikely to provide good value. But longer flights such as Cairns-Perth or Melbourne-Broome are an excellent use of AAdvantage miles within Australia!
Another benefit of redeeming AAdvantage miles within Australia is that there are no fuel surcharges on award flight bookings. So, for example, a flight from Brisbane to Perth attracts just $23 in taxes.
Qantas Business class flights between Australia and New Zealand are also a great use of AAdvantage miles. All trans-Tasman bookings cost 25,000 miles in Business class (even on the Perth-Auckland route!)
Alaska Airlines miles can also be redeemed for domestic Qantas flights within Australia. It costs 20,000 Alaskan Mileage Plan miles to book any domestic route in Qantas Business class. And like AAdvantage, there are no fuel surcharges with Mileage Plan either!
Don’t have any AAdvantage or Mileage Plan miles? No worries! Both Alaska Airlines and American Airlines sell miles. In fact, both programs regularly offer generous discounts and bonuses on mile purchases! 40,000 Alaskan miles – enough to fly from Brisbane to Perth and back in Business class – could be bought for $1,170 during their recent promo. By comparison, Qantas sells return Business class tickets on the same route for $4,400!
You can also transfer Amex points to AAdvantage, by first transferring points to SPG.
The Facts
- Currency: American Airlines AAdvantage miles
- Airline: Qantas
- Routes: Any domestic route within Australia
- Class of travel: Business
- Cost: 20,000 American AAdvantage or Alaskan miles + $23 taxes (e.g. Brisbane-Perth)
- Availability: Generally very good
- How to book: Qantas award flights can be booked on the American Airlines and Alaska Airlines websites, respectively.
Would you like help using your frequent flyer points?
AFF’s Frequent Flyer Concierge service to take the hard work out of redeeming your frequent flyer points!
Our experts can help you to find the perfect flights using your points. Just let the team know how many points you have, where you’d like to go and when you’d like to travel. They’ll find the best available reward flights for you.
