Redeem Points on Qantas' New Samoa & Tonga Flights

Qantas Airbus A330-300 Business Class — Qantas is now flying Airbus A330s to Apia and Nuku’alofa. Photo: Qantas.

Qantas recently launched weekly flights from Sydney to Tonga and Samoa, with the latter service operating via Brisbane.

Seats to Tonga start from $866 return, while Sydney-Apia fares start from $966 return in Economy Class. Fares in Business are obviously a lot more expensive. But if you have Qantas points to spend, there’s currently good award availability on both flights!

Both routes are operated by Qantas’ international Airbus A330-300 aircraft, with a 2-4-2 seating layout in Economy and lie-flat Business Suites up the front.

Inflight economy cabin passengers are getting food served in Qantas A330 — Qantas international A330 Economy Class. Photo: Qantas.

Both Samoa and Tonga recently reopened their international borders to international visitors. COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements remain in place as a condition of entry to both countries for the time being.

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Qantas Sydney-Nuku’alofa flights

If you’d like to visit Tonga, Qantas is currently flying between Sydney and Fua’amotu International Airport (TBU) in Nuku’alofa every Thursday until the end of October. This is the schedule:

QF341 SYD 09:30 – TBU 17:05
QF342 TBU 18:35 – SYD 21:20

There appears to be up to 5 Business Classic Reward seats available on each flight, and at least 9 Economy reward seats per flight.

Qantas has good award availability between Sydney and Tonga with up to 5 Business seats per flight. Screenshot from the Qantas website.

A round-trip Business Class Reward would cost 83,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points + $193.68 in taxes and carrier charges per person. A round-trip Economy ticket would cost 36,000 Qantas points and the same amount of taxes & carrier charges per passenger.

There are currently no Qantas flights available for sale from Sydney to Tonga beyond October 2022. This could change at some point.

Qantas’ Sydney-Apia flights

Qantas is currently operating flights from Sydney to Faleolo International Airport (APW) in Apia on Tuesdays. This flight stops in Brisbane on the outbound journey (only), where there is a crew change. This is the schedule:

QF333 SYD 06:25 – BNE 07:55/09:30 – APW 17:10
QF340 APW 18:40 – SYD 21:35

From November, the schedule will change to a Thursday & Saturday service operating as QF197 and QF196.

A round-trip Business Classic Reward ticket from Sydney to Apia would cost 114,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points + $194 in taxes & carrier charges. A round-trip Economy ticket would cost 40,600 Qantas points and the same amount in taxes & charges. Flights from Brisbane to Apia would cost the same number of points.

We found some flights from Apia to Sydney with as many as 9 Economy and 9 Business reward seats available to book using Qantas points!

APW-SYD award availability — This flight from Apia to Sydney has 9 Classic Reward seats available in both classes of travel. Screenshot from the Qantas website.

It’s also possible to book a seat just on the Sydney-Brisbane portion of the Sydney-Brisbane-Apia flight. This flight departs from the international terminal in Sydney, which also means that Qantas Platinum and Platinum One frequent flyers would be able to use the Qantas First Lounge at Sydney Airport before departure.

Book through any Oneworld frequent flyer program

Qantas points are the most accessible Oneworld frequent flyer program currency to Australians. But if you happen to have points or miles with another Oneworld airline, you can also use those to book a seat with Qantas to Tonga or Samoa.

If you happen to have American Airlines AAdvantage miles, for example, it costs a flat rate of 15,000 miles in Economy or 30,000 miles in Business to fly from anywhere in Australia to anywhere in the South Pacific with Qantas and/or Fiji Airways.

This means a Qantas Business Class redemption from Perth to Apia, for example, would cost just 30,000 AAdvantage miles and USD83.60 (~AU$122) in taxes, one-way. American Airlines does not pass on carrier charges on Qantas award bookings.

AAdvantage award itinerary PER-BNE-APW — Example of an AAdvantage award itinerary from Perth to Apia via Brisbane.

If booked through Qantas Frequent Flyer, the above itinerary would cost 68,400 Qantas points + $149.

Virgin Australia will resume Apia flights in 2023

Prior to COVID-19, Virgin Australia flew from Australia to both Tonga and Samoa. Virgin has permanently discounted its flights to Nuku’alofa, but plans to resume Boeing 737-800 services from Sydney and Brisbane to Apia from March 2023. Tickets on these flights are already on sale and reward seats are available to book with Velocity points.

Virgin Australia's Boeing 737-800 cabin — Virgin Australia’s Boeing 737-800 cabin. Photo: Virgin Australia.

Velocity Frequent Flyer charges 44,600 Velocity points + $283 in taxes & carrier charges for a round-trip Economy reward seat from Sydney to Apia. For Business Class, a round-trip reward ticket on the same route would cost 99,000 Velocity points + $353 in taxes & carrier charges.

VA SYD-APW award availability — Example of Velocity reward seats on the SYD-APW route on the Virgin Australia website.

Would you like help with redeeming your points?

Frequent Flyer Concierge, a personalised service offered by Australian Frequent Flyer, can also help with redeeming your frequent flyer points! Click here to learn more about Frequent Flyer Concierge.

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 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.