Finding First Class award availability to Europe can be difficult at the best of times. But if you’d like to redeem Qantas points to fly to Europe – in First Class on Qatar Airways’ Airbus A380, no less – look no further than Qatar’s Perth-Doha route.
Qatar Airways First Class award availability from Perth to Doha is surprisingly generous, with up to two reward seats available on many dates. If you wish to travel all the way to Europe, you’ll get the best award availability in Qatar Airways First Class by flying onwards to Frankfurt in Germany.
Unsurprisingly, you’ll get the best award availability if you book as far in advance as possible. You can redeem Qantas points for Qatar Airways award flights up to 360 days in advance. We searched for 2 First Class award seats from Perth to Doha in June 2020 – as far as the current schedule allows bookings – and found award availability on many dates:
You can normally book Classic Flight Reward seats using Qantas points on the Qantas website. However, if you wish to book a Qantas award itinerary that originates in Doha, you’ll need to call Qantas.
It costs 134,000 Qantas points + $494.81 one-way (including $406.80 in carrier charges) to fly Qatar Airways First Class from Perth to Doha. Alternatively, you could fly from Perth to Frankfurt (via Doha) in First for 177,000 Qantas points + $512.21 one-way (including $412.60 in carrier charges). Return flights cost double these amounts. Note that the number of Qantas points required will increase when the Qantas Frequent Flyer changes take effect on 18 September 2019.
If you’re flexible with your travel dates, book well in advance – and have a bit of luck – you may also be able to find Qatar Airways First Class award availability from Sydney or Melbourne to Doha. But there are far fewer seats being made available from these cities than from Perth.
Qatar Airways only offers First Class on its Airbus A380 aircraft. These aircraft fly from Doha to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Bangkok and Guangzhou. As it happens, Doha-Guangzhou is also a great route for Qatar First Class award availability.
Qatar Airways will temporarily use Boeing 777s on its Perth-Doha route between 12 September and 12 December 2019. During this time, First Class is not available out of Perth with Qatar Airways. (But the replacement Boeing 777s will feature the airline’s popular Business class Qsuites.)
If you happen to have American Airlines AAdvantage miles, you can also redeem those to book Qatar Airways First Class awards. It costs 115,000 AAdvantage miles + $100 in taxes for a Perth-Frankfurt redemption in First Class. This is much cheaper than using Qantas points – both in terms of miles and fees paid. But you’ll only be able to book award flights up to 330 days in advance using American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
Qatar Airways was recently named the world’s best airline in the 2019 Skytrax awards.
Would you like help using your frequent flyer points?
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