Business Class flights to the United States and Canada are a popular redemption for Qantas frequent flyers. These reward seats are traditionally difficult to secure, particularly on Qantas flights. But if you’re flexible with dates and routes, you can redeem Qantas points to fly Business to North America in 2024!

In the past, Qantas released its international Classic Flight Rewards in a staggered pattern that favoured members with Gold or higher status:

• Business and First Class seats on international flights were released to Gold, Platinum and Platinum One frequent flyers (and often snapped up shortly after) 353 days prior to departure;
• Anything remaining 323 days out from departure would then be released to Silver members;
• Finally, with 297 days to go, Bronze members could access what was left.

Post-pandemic, the system appears to have changed from scheduled daily releases to irregular batch releases. For example, Qantas unexpectedly released a lot of extra premium cabin seats to Los Angeles and Dallas/Fort Worth last week.

This system makes it easier for all members to access reward seats in premium cabins, sometimes even during the busier travel months. However, it’s less predictable.

Qantas Frequent Flyer members can also use their points to cross the Pacific on partner airlines such as American Airlines, Fiji Airways, China Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and LATAM Airlines.

If you can’t find any Classic Flight Reward seats, Qantas also now offers Classic Plus redemptions. There are more seats available at the Classic Plus level, but these also generally cost a lot more points.

Qantas routes from Australia to North America

Currently, Qantas operates nine non-stop routes from Australia to the United States and Canada:

The most recent addition to Qantas’ North American network was QF3/4 between Sydney-New York via Auckland.

List of routes

Here’s a full list of current Qantas departures from Australia to North America, and the number of Qantas points required for a Business Classic Reward seat:

Route	Flight number/s	Aircraft	Points*
Sydney-Los Angeles	QF11 & QF17	A380/787-9	108,400
Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth	QF7	787-9	126,500
Sydney-Vancouver	QF75	787-9	108,400
Sydney-San Francisco	QF73	787-9	108,400
Sydney-Honolulu	QF103	787-9	82,000
Sydney-Auckland-New York	QF3	787-9	144,600
Melbourne-Los Angeles	QF93 & QF95	A380/787-9	108,400
Melbourne-Dallas/Fort Worth	QF21	787-9	126,500
Brisbane-Los Angeles	QF15	A330-200	108,400

The return flights from America to Australia use successive flight numbers and mostly return the same day.

Qantas Business Class seating on North American routes

As per the table, the majority of routes employ the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with 42 lie-flat Business seats, all with direct aisle access. The Airbus A380-800 is used on the Sydney-Los Angeles and Melbourne-Los Angeles routes. The A380 layout includes 14 First Class suites and 70 Business Class seats, all with direct aisle access.

The Airbus A330-200 used on the Brisbane-Los Angeles route is fitted with 27 lie-flat Business seats in the same 1-2-1 layout.

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Read more: The Ultimate Qantas Business Class Seat Guide

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Business Classic Reward availability on Qantas flights to North America

It’s traditionally quite hard to find Classic Flight Reward seats in Business and First Class on Qantas flights to or from North America. But you can sometimes find seats if you’re flexible with dates – and perhaps a bit lucky.

For example, we’ve recently seen seats available in all cabins to Los Angeles and Dallas/Fort Worth. There has also recently been a surprising amount of availability on the Sydney-Honolulu route.

We’ve also seen a smattering of Premium Economy availability lately to Vancouver and San Francisco.

Please note that this availability can change at any time as passengers grab the available seats. More seats may also become available in the future if cancelled seats are returned to award inventory or Qantas releases further batches of reward seats. These releases may be route-specific or for a particular month… or they may not happen at all.

Booking Qantas Classic Plus rewards

As an alternative to booking a Classic Reward, you can use Qantas points to book a Classic Plus reward.

Classic Reward seats cost a fixed number of points and are generally the best value, but have limited availability. Classic Plus seats are available on more flights, but the number of points required fluctuates depending on the cost of a cash ticket on the same flight.

When you book a Classic Plus reward in Business Class, you’re basically just cashing out your Qantas points at a fixed value of 1.5 cents per point. That’s not terrible value, compared to redeeming for a toaster or hairdryer. But you can usually get much better value with a Classic Reward.

Business Class award availability from Australia to USA on partner airlines

A number of Qantas Frequent Flyer partner airlines fly from Australia to North America.

You might pay more in points, compared to booking a Classic Reward on Qantas, or spend longer hours in a plane. But a long transit or a stopover can also make for a more leisurely trip. Why not take the opportunity to try a different airline or explore a new city?

Award availability on American Airlines

American Airlines flies a Boeing 777-300ER daily from Sydney to Los Angeles as AA72.

It’s unlikely that you’ll find Business rewards seats to Los Angeles, but you may find late-release availability to other American cities via LAX.

This is because American Airlines uses married segment logic when releasing award inventory. For example, we’ve seen examples where you could fly Business Class from Sydney to San Francisco, Phoenix or Las Vegas for 108,400 Qantas points, plus taxes and carrier charges. But point-to-point redemptions on AA72 from Sydney-Los Angeles were not available on these same dates. You could only book a seat if connecting onwards to certain other destinations in the USA!

Later this year, American Airlines will launch new flights from Brisbane to Los Angeles and Dallas/Fort Worth. You can also fly American Airlines from Auckland, New Zealand to the USA.

Fiji Airways award availability to North America

Fiji Airways flies ex Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra to Nadi, its hub. From there, you can connect to Los Angeles (daily), San Francisco (four times per week) and Vancouver (twice a week).

Business Class rewards on Fiji Airways used to be relatively easy to find. It seems people have now caught up with the good reviews, particularly of the A350-900 services with its lie-flat Business seats. These seats can now be tough to secure, but you can still sometimes find seats when booking around 11.5 months out.

If you do find Business Class rewards for the long haul from Fiji to/from North America, you might consider a cash or Economy reward ticket for the short leg and perhaps enjoy a sunny stopover!

As an added bonus, there are no carrier charges when redeeming Qantas points to fly Fiji Airways to Nadi and/or North America.

Business Class availability on China Airlines to North America

Since March 2023, it’s possible to redeem Qantas points on all China Airlines flights.

China Airlines flies from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Taipei. From Taipei, you could fly onward to Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Ontario – that’s Southern California International Airport, not the Canadian one!

Flights from Australia arrive in Taipei in the very early morning, with evening to late night departures to North America, so you will be up for a long transit. But China Airlines has a great lie-flat Business Class product.

Availability between Taipei and America is good, but Business seats to/from Australia are steadily selling out. The best availability appears to be to/from Melbourne and you may be lucky enough to find this good connection from Los Angeles to Melbourne:

The cost one-way is 159,000 Qantas points, plus taxes & charges.

The southern route: Business Class on LATAM Airlines

LATAM Airlines flies daily from Sydney to Santiago (Chile) via Auckland. It also has a non-stop Melbourne–Santiago service three times per week. Both services feature lie-flat Business Class seats on its Boeing 787-9.

From Santiago you could fly onwards to Miami, New York or Los Angeles. LATAM Business Class award availability from Santiago to Miami is easier to find than to Los Angeles or New York.

It would cost 144,600 Qantas points + taxes & charges to fly from Sydney or Melbourne to the USA via Santiago, or 198,400 Qantas points if you break up the trip with a stop in Santiago for more than 24 hours. (Note also that Australians need a visa if entering Chile.)

Qantas also flies Sydney–Santiago four times per week, with onward connections available on LATAM or other partners such as American Airlines.

Other airlines and routes to the USA & Canada

Pre-Covid, two favoured routes to North America for Qantas frequent flyers were Cathay Pacific (via Hong Kong) and Japan Airlines (via Tokyo).

Both airlines operate multiple flights to/from Australia, and fly into numerous American and Canadian cities. But in what remains of 2023, it’s tough to find convenient Business Class redemptions that connect through Hong Kong or Tokyo. You really need to jump on these seats when they are first released around 360 days before departure.

For travel to Hawaii, you can use your Qantas points to fly “Business Class” on Jetstar to and from Honolulu. The Jetstar Business Class cabin is more akin to Premium Economy and is priced accordingly at 61,500 points.

JQ1 flies Melbourne–Honolulu twice a week. JQ3 flies Sydney–Honolulu three days per week. You can sometimes find up to four Classic Reward seats per flight in Jetstar Business Class.

One more way to redeem Qantas points to the USA or Canada is flying on Emirates via Dubai. The flights are long and the carrier charges can be staggering. But – if you can find availability – Emirates will get you to North America in style using your Qantas points. In First Class on the Airbus A380, you will even get to use the on-board shower!

Finally, if you have Velocity points, you might want to check out our guide to finding Velocity Business Reward Seats to North America.

How to search for award availability on the Qantas website

Because Qantas Business Class reward flights to North America aren’t widely available, we suggest using the multi-city booking tool on the Qantas website to search for availability. That way, you can check for a month worth of Classic Flight Reward availability on one screen!

While the multi-city tool allows you to combine up to six flights in the one booking, you can use it for a return journey using Flight 1 for the outward leg and Flight 2 for the return. You can even use it to search for, and book, a single flight.

For example, if you wanted to fly from Melbourne to Los Angeles in August:

• Check the “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only” box.
• Enter your route as Flight 1.
• Choose a mid-month date and check the “Flexible with dates for all flights” box.

Once you’ve entered the number of passengers, click to Search Flights.

The following page shows availability in a calendar view format. The different coloured rosettes represent Classic Flight Reward availability in each cabin class:

The gold icon represents Business Class. For example, in the screenshot below, there are three dates showing the gold-for-business rosette. Click through to check which airlines and flights are available on August 21, 23 and 30. 

How to monitor award availability

There may be no Business Class awards available on your preferred route now, but how do you know when new redemption opportunities open up?

It helps to subscribe to newsletters such as the Australian Frequent Flyer Gazette and to participate in forums such as the Australian Frequent Flyer community. AFF members share a wealth of knowledge acquired through travel experience!

Also useful is a subscription to seats.aero. This makes it much easier to search for availability, and allows you to set up alerts for reward seats.

And if you’d like professional help in finding award seat redemptions, check out our Frequent Flyer Concierge service.

Having trouble finding and booking reward seats?

Our Frequent Flyer Concierge is here to help!

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Additional reporting by Matt Graham.