August 2022 could go down in history as The Great Frequent Flyer Frenzy, with Qantas loyalists spending a staggering 1.2 billion points in just two days.
Those 48 hours followed the unlocking at 12 noon on Monday of an avalanche of Classic Reward seats (offers that can be booked for the fewest Qantas points) on domestic and international routes as part of the airline’s “apology package.” to appease affected disgruntled customers. for months of service interruptions.
Qantas promised to release “up to 50 per cent more Classic Reward seats” across its network, and travelers were quick to jump.
London, Singapore, Bangkok, Los Angeles were the most popular international destinations, along with Tokyo, and while Japan has yet to fully reopen to tourists, it’s clear many people were planning well in advance for 2023.
Executive Traveler understands that one frequent flyer redeemed a staggering 1.5 million points for a round-the-world itinerary that included visits to San Francisco, London and Bangalore, one of Qantas’ newest destinations.
Round trips between Sydney and London were flying off the proverbial shelf at 290,000 points in business class; indeed, Qantas says the surge as passengers burned through accumulated points set new records for the most international classic reward seats ever booked in first, business and premium economy in a single day.
record bookings
“The response from frequent flyers to the latest launch of additional seats has been enormous,” he says. Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth added that the airline was “very focused on listening to our frequent flyers and delivering what they want”.
And despite those record redemptions, Wirth says “there are still millions of reward seats available on domestic and international routes for the coming year on Qantas, Jetstar and our partner airlines.”
Qantas’ commitment to increase the availability of Classic Reward seats on flights until the end of June 2023 came as part of a passionate apology from Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
Pledged to restore the airline “back to its best”, Joyce said frequent flyers would see their current status extended for 12 months along with free lounge passes and for Platinum and Platinum One members, up to 30,000 free Qantas Points.
The $50 one-time flight voucher proved so popular that the Qantas website was unable to handle the demand, causing a temporary system outage as members queued to claim the stipend.
Since October last year, Qantas frequent flyers have earned more than 80 billion points, with one in 11 travelers flying on a Classic Reward seat, a jump from the pre-pandemic rate of one in 16.
The best time to book with points
One of the reasons now is the time to jump into booking flights with Qantas Points is that while Classic Flight Reward seats are available for the fewest frequent flyer points, there are usually only a small number of those seats. assigned on a given flight.
Once they’re sold out, you can still buy any other seats with points, but the number of points reflects the actual cash price of each seat, so you’ll end up spending far more points, easily three times more than a Classic. reward.
The opening of more Classic Flight Reward seats means your “points budget” can stretch much further.
Matt Lennon Additional Information
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