Qantas Points are the rewards currency of Qantas Frequent Flyer, Australia's biggest loyalty program. You earn them on flights and on everyday spending (credit cards, groceries, shopping, insurance), and you can spend them on flights, upgrades, hotels and products. The trick is that the same points can be worth less than 1 cent each or more than 4 cents each, depending on how you use them.
This guide covers how Qantas Points work, the fastest ways to earn more of them without flying, and how to get the most value when you use them. In short, that means Business Class Classic Reward seats.
Prefer to watch? I walk through the whole thing, from zero points to your first Business Class booking, in this video:
How Qantas Points work
To earn Qantas Points you need a Qantas Frequent Flyer membership. There's normally a one-off joining fee, but it's regularly waived through partner offers, so it's worth looking for one before you pay.
Once you're a member, points land in your account from:
- Flying with Qantas and its partner airlines
- Credit cards that earn Qantas Points directly, or that earn flexible points (like Amex Membership Rewards) you can transfer to Qantas
- Everyday partners like Everyday Rewards at Woolworths, BWS and BIG W, plus health insurance, energy, wine and shopping
- Bonus promotions, which Qantas and its partners run almost every week
Qantas Points expire if your account has no earning or using activity for 18 months. Earning even a handful of points (for example, by scanning Everyday Rewards on a shop) keeps them alive.
New to all this? Here's Qantas Points explained in 100 seconds, and the 5 things I wish I knew before I started earning.
How to earn Qantas Points without flying
Most of the points Aussie members earn now come from the ground, not the air. These are the biggest levers, roughly in order of impact. I actually rank every way to earn Qantas Points, from worst to best, in this video:
1. Use a Qantas Points-earning credit card
A good points card is the engine of almost every big points balance. You earn on every purchase, and sign-up bonuses on the best cards can be worth tens of thousands of points. Pay the card off in full each month, though. Interest wipes out the value of the points very quickly. Don't want a credit card? I show how to earn Qantas Points without one.
2. Stack your groceries
Link Everyday Rewards to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account and set it to convert to Qantas Points rather than "$10 off". Then pay with your points card, add Everyday Extras, and buy gift cards when they're on bonus. Done properly, a $250 weekly shop can earn 100,000+ frequent flyer points a year. Our step-by-step guide to earning more points on groceries walks through every level, and I show the full system in how to earn 10x more Qantas Points on groceries at Woolworths.
3. Shop through Qantas and its partners
Qantas Shopping, Qantas Marketplace, Qantas Wine and Qantas Hotels all earn points per dollar, and regularly run multiplied offers (like triple points on gift cards). If you were going to buy it anyway, check for a points offer first.
4. Earn on bills and business spend
Many bills (rent, tax, council rates, strata, suppliers) don't take credit cards directly. Payment platforms like Pay.com.au let you pay them on a points-earning card, and business owners can also earn Qantas Points through Qantas Business Rewards. I go through how I earn Qantas Points for under 1.5 cents each by paying bills, and how to earn Qantas Points when you pay rent.
5. Jump on bonus promotions
Big one-off bonuses (health insurance switches, travel bookings, transfer bonuses, double points weeks) are the fastest way to add a large chunk of points at once. We cover the good ones as they land in our points news. For a step-by-step plan, watch how to earn 50,000+ Qantas Points in 2026.
What is a Qantas Point worth?
There's no single answer, because the value depends entirely on what you redeem for:
- Gift cards and the Qantas Rewards Store: often well under 1 cent per point
- Economy flights: usually around 1 to 2 cents per point
- Business and First Class Classic Reward seats: frequently 4 cents per point or more
So the same 100,000 points could get you a few hundred dollars of products, or a Business Class seat worth several thousand dollars. Plug your own numbers into our free Qantas Points value calculator to see what a redemption is really worth before you book. I discuss exactly how to tell whether you're getting good value in this video:
The best way to use Qantas Points: Business Class Classic Rewards
Classic Reward seats are reward seats sold for a fixed number of points plus taxes and carrier charges. They're the best-value way to use Qantas Points by a long way, but each flight only releases a limited number, so you need to know when and where to look. These are the highest-value ways I've found to use 100,000 Qantas Points:
For more, here are the worst to best ways to redeem Qantas Points for flights and my top 3 favourite Qantas Points redemptions.
You can book Classic Rewards on Qantas and on partner airlines like Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Emirates and American Airlines. Partners are often the secret to finding seats: for example, we recently found Japan Airlines Business Class to Tokyo from 82,100 Qantas Points each way.
A few rules that save the most points:
- Be flexible on dates and cities. One stop through Asia or the Middle East opens up far more seats than direct flights. See our guides to flying to Europe via Asia, finding seats to the USA and flying to China.
- Compare taxes between airlines. The same route can cost hundreds of dollars more in carrier charges on one airline than another. Our Europe sweet spots guide shows how.
- Book connecting flights as one trip. Booking two flights as a single multi-city reward instead of two separate bookings can save tens of thousands of points. Here's the multi-city booking hack.
- Avoid Classic Plus where you can. Classic Plus seats are always available, but usually cost far more points than a Classic Reward seat on the same flight. I compare the two in Classic Reward vs Classic Plus explained.
Qantas Points mistakes to avoid
- Leaving Everyday Rewards on "$10 off" instead of converting to Qantas Points
- Spending points on products and gift cards, which is usually the lowest value
- Searching only direct flights on your exact dates, then deciding there are "no seats"
- Paying credit card interest that costs more than the points are worth
- Letting points expire after 18 months of no activity
More on this in the Qantas Points redemptions to avoid.
Qantas Points FAQs
How much is 1 Qantas Point worth?
It depends on how you use it. Products and gift cards are often worth under 1 cent per point, while Business Class Classic Reward seats are frequently worth 4 cents per point or more. Our free calculator shows the value of a specific redemption.
How many Qantas Points do you need for Business Class?
It depends on the distance and the airline. As an example, we recently found Japan Airlines Business Class to Tokyo from 82,100 Qantas Points each way, plus taxes. Longer flights like Europe and the USA cost more.
Do Qantas Points expire?
Yes. Qantas Points expire if your account has no earning or redeeming activity for 18 months. Any activity, even earning a few points on a grocery shop, resets the clock.
What's the fastest way to earn Qantas Points?
For most people it's a credit card sign-up bonus, followed by stacking everyday spending: groceries through Everyday Rewards, shopping through Qantas partners, and big one-off bonus promotions.
Can you use Qantas Points on other airlines?
Yes. You can book Classic Reward seats on partner airlines including Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Emirates and American Airlines. Partners often have more Business Class seats available than Qantas itself.
Is it better to use Qantas Points for flights or shopping?
Flights, almost always. Business and First Class reward seats usually give several times more value per point than products, gift cards or the Qantas Rewards Store.
Want help finding the seats?
Finding Business Class reward seats is the hard part. In The Points Hub we search for Business Class reward seats you can book with Qantas Points every day and share the best ones, with the points and taxes for each, so you can book before they're gone. Want to search yourself? Here's how to find Qantas Business Class reward flights in minutes.
Prefer to start free? Browse all of our Qantas Points guides.
