Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Qantas Points

QantasLink offers Q-Streaming entertainment on its jet services
Qantas Frequent Flyer is your ticket to rewards and perks when you fly. Photo: Qantas.

Qantas Frequent Flyer is Australia’s largest frequent flyer program. The loyalty program of Qantas, members can earn points towards rewards like flights and upgrades, as well as status credits which count towards earning status.

Once you’ve signed up for free (use one of these links to save $99.50!), it’s time to start collecting Qantas points. These are the “currency” of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.

In this beginner’s guide, we’ll show you the different ways you can earn Qantas points – getting you closer to your next reward!

Earning Qantas points from flying

There are two main ways to earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points – in the air or on the ground. Let’s start by looking at how to earn points from flights…

You can earn points when flying with Qantas by adding your frequent flyer number to your booking.

The number of points earned per flight depends on the route, class of travel and your type of ticket. For example, Economy Flex and Business Class fares earn more points than the cheaper Economy Red e-Deal tickets.

You can check the tables on the Qantas website or the Qantas Points Calculator to see how many points you’ll earn for any given flight. Note that there’s a “minimum points guarantee” of 800 points whenever you fly Qantas.

Qantas Link Bombardier Q300
Fly with Qantas or its partner airlines to earn points. Photo: Qantas.

Collecting Qantas points on partner airlines

You can also earn points by flying with any of Qantas’ partner airlines. This includes all Oneworld airlines and around nine additional Qantas partners that are not part of the Oneworld alliance.

The following carriers are members of the Oneworld alliance:

Oneworld airlines as of June 2022

Here are the other airlines that you can earn Qantas points with:

  • Air France
  • China Eastern
  • El Al
  • Emirates
  • Fiji Airways
  • Jetstar
  • KLM
  • LATAM Airlines
  • Westjet

Jetstar is Qantas’ low-cost subsidiary. When flying with Jetstar, you’ll only earn Qantas points when booking a fare with a Flex, Flex Plus or Max bundle.

Jetstar A321neo and Qantas 787 aircraft tails with Qantas and Jetstar cabin crew
You can earn Qantas points when flying Jetstar, but only with certain fare bundles. Photo: Qantas.

In addition, you can collect points with other partners such as China Airlines, Bangkok Airways and Air Tahiti Nui when booking a Qantas codeshare flight with a “QF” flight number.

See our guide to calculating how many Qantas points you’ll earn flying partner airlines for details.

You don’t earn points when travelling on Classic Flight Reward bookings.

Frequent Flyer training courses banner

Become a frequent flyer points expert!

Learn all the tricks to travel better, for less, with our Frequent Flyer Training courses. The first two courses are free for all AFF members.

Earning Qantas points on the ground

Despite being a frequent flyer program, around 60% of Qantas points are not actually earned from Qantas or Jetstar flights! The majority of Qantas points are earned through third-party partners such as banks and retailers.

If you live in Australia, there are many different ways to earn Qantas points without flying. Here are 24 of the most popular methods:

Qantas points credit card

Spending on or signing up for a Qantas Points-earning credit card

Hotel room in Thailand

Booking accommodation with Qantas Hotels or Airbnb

Woolworths supermarket in Mascot, Australia

Converting Woolworths Everyday Rewards points to Qantas Frequent Flyer

Product package boxes and shopping bag in cart with laptop computer which web store shop on screen for online shopping and delivery concept

Shopping online through the Qantas Shopping online mall or Qantas Marketplace

A Qantas Wine delivery box

Buying wine from Qantas Wine

Qantas Frequent Flyer partners with BP

Filling up at BP petrol stations

Alan Joyce Qantas Insurance

Taking out a Qantas Insurance policy

Camels in Morocco

Booking on Qantas Activities (Viator)

Car keys

Hiring a car from Avis or Budget

Qantas has launched a new partnership with Ticketek

Booking event tickets with Ticketek

House verandah

Qantas Money home loans

Stock prices graph

Trading shares with Superhero

Earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points with HOYTS

Watching a movie at HOYTS

Signing up for a BINGE streaming account

Earn Qantas points for free

Completing your step & sleep targets in the Qantas Wellbeing App

Uber app

Riding to or from selected Australian airports with Uber

Person using computer shopping

Switching to Red Energy and paying your bills

Qantas partners with TripADeal

Booking a holiday with TripADeal

Bordeaux , France -  02 15 2024 : Audika logo text chain and sign facade entrance store medic hearing aid distribution shop brand company

Getting a hearing check or buying a hearing aid from Audika

Pets dogs cats

Booking a pet sitter from Mad Paws via Qantas Pet Sitting

Woman with phone and computer in restaurant in Malta

Completing Red Planet surveys

Cooking

Signing up with HelloFresh

Woman paying at a bazaar with credit card

Using the Qantas Pay travel money card

Cruise ship

Booking a cruise with Qantas Cruises

Some of these methods of earning Qantas points are even free!

The Qantas website has a complete list of frequent flyer program partners.

Collecting Qantas points with credit cards

Credit cards are one of the most popular ways to earn Qantas points because you can easily earn points for every dollar spent on purchases you would have made anyway. In Australia, around a third of all credit card transactions are made on cards that earn Qantas points!

You can also earn tens of thousands of bonus points by applying for a new credit card with a good sign-on bonus. With some offers, you could even earn up to 150,000 bonus points! See our guide to the best Qantas credit card offers for current deals.

Great Credit Cards for Earning Qantas Points

Qantas Premier Titanium
Earn
1.25

Qantas Frequent Flyer Qantas Points on everyday purchases

Signup Bonus

150,000 Qantas Points

Annual Fee
$1200 p.a.
Read the guide
Qantas Premier Platinum
Earn
1

Qantas Frequent Flyer Qantas Points on everyday purchases

Signup Bonus

Up to 100,000 bonus Qantas Points*

Annual Fee
$349 for the first year and $399 p.a. ongoing
Read the guide
Qantas American Express Ultimate
Earn
1.25

Qantas Frequent Flyer Qantas Points on everyday purchases

Signup Bonus

50,000 bonus Qantas Points

Apply by 14th Jan 2025

Annual Fee
$450 p.a.
Read the guide

Buying top-up points

If you need some extra points quickly, you may buy top-up Qantas points directly from the airline. But this isn’t necessarily good value.

An alternative method is to buy a case of wine from Qantas Wine that comes with a large amount of bonus points. Not only will this often cost you less than buying top-up points, but you’ll also get a case of delicious wine!

Don’t pay $790 for 25,000 Qantas top-up points… wait for a good deal from Qantas Wine to pay less and get some nice wine as an added bonus!

Family transfers

Need extra points now – or have a family member who does? You can transfer up to 600,000 Qantas points per year to or from a family member.

You can also redeem your own points to book flights for eligible family members, as defined by Qantas. Eligible family members include your immediate family as well as de-facto partners, in-laws, first cousins, aunts and uncles.

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 80 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & 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.
________________________

Related Articles