Qantas is currently offering a discount on Classic Flight Reward bookings made using Qantas points. Until midnight on Monday 25 March, you can get 30% off the points required for Classic Flight Rewards on Qantas, Emirates and Jetstar flights. However, this discount only applies to Economy awards – and not to Premium Economy, Business or First redemptions.
With this promotion, it’s possible to book Jetstar flights on routes like Melbourne-Adelaide and Sydney-Launceston for as little as 4,480 Qantas points, plus taxes and charges. That’s 30% off the usual price of 6,400 Qantas points for any Jetstar flight under 600 miles in length. Qantas and Emirates flights under 600 miles are currently available for a promotional price of 5,600 Qantas points.
If you’re already planning to book a Classic Flight Reward seat in Economy, this is a pretty good deal. However, the discount does not apply to the taxes, fees and carrier charges that Qantas levies in addition to the points on Classic Flight Reward bookings. The carrier charges, which are not genuine taxes, start at $14 per flight for domestic and trans-Tasman routes but can add as much as $180 per flight to long-haul bookings. These additional fees do limit the value of Qantas award bookings, particularly for Economy flights where airfares are not that expensive to begin with. But this promotion could still be a good deal on domestic routes where fares are normally high.
You can see a full list of Qantas carrier charges here: A List of Qantas Carrier Charges on Reward Flights
The Classic Flight Reward discount will be automatically applied when booking flights on the Qantas website. If you have an eligible itinerary, you should see the words “Includes promotion discount” at the bottom of the booking page, after selecting your flights.
Only award flights operated by Qantas, Emirates, Jetstar and Jetstar Asia are eligible for this discount. The discount will apply to flights taken on or after 1 May 2019. For Qantas flights, the deal includes travel until the end of February 2020. For travel on Emirates, only flights up to 23 February 2020 are covered. Jetstar seats for travel up to 11 December 2019 will be discounted.
There is no limit to the number of bookings you can make during this promotion. However, the discount will only apply if all flights in the booking are eligible for this offer. The discount does not apply to QantasLink flights to or from Lord Howe Island.
Although this promotion is not for everyone, some AFF members have managed to find some value in it.
I’ve found this type of promo to be ok value when needing/wanting to fly to regional towns that are usually disproportionately expensive for a short distance. Eg, PER – KGI was a good value redemption for me last time this promo came around.
Cancelled & rebooked CNS/CGK via SYD later in the year for two pax, 27,600 points back into my account after the 6,000 points cancellation fee. All good, agree the so called taxes & fuel surcharges are a joke.
Over recent years, Qantas has been running similar promotions twice per year – every March and September. The most recent discount on Classic Flight Rewards was offered last September. Last time, the discount was only 25%.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: 30% off Classic flight reward in Economy (QF, EK, Jetstar)
