Eyeing a Qantas Reward Flight redemption or Business Class upgrade but falling short of the Qantas Frequent Flyer points required? One quick fix is to buy those points with cash. Here's how to go about it and the traps to watch out for.
Alternatively, you can buy points by contacting the Frequent Flyer Service Centre at 13 11 31 between 7am and 7pm (AEST), Mondays to Saturdays. A service fee of $35 applies for purchases made over the phone.
You can only buy top-up points for your own Qantas Frequent Flyer account. It isn't possible to buy points for someone else, though you could purchase points and then transfer them to a family member.
Qantas doesn't publish a full table of points pricing, so we've done the hard work and pulled a full list of the current pricing below. (Prices accurate as of 9 October 2023).
We've also listed how much you'll pay per 1,000 Qantas Points. That rate ranges from $56 to $26.66. Qantas sometimes runs "bonus points sales" where you get more points if you're buying a larger quantity. These can be a good way to top up more cheaply.
| Qantas Points | Price | Cost/1,000 points |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $56 | $56.00 |
| 2,000 | $89 | $44.50 |
| 3,000 | $128 | $42.67 |
| 4,000 | $168 | $42.00 |
| 5,000 | $208 | $41.60 |
| 6,000 | $245 | $40.83 |
| 7,000 | $279 | $39.86 |
| 8,000 | $313 | $39.13 |
| 9,000 | $347 | $38.56 |
| 10,000 | $388 | $38.80 |
| 11,000 | $408 | $37.09 |
| 12,000 | $440 | $36.67 |
| 13,000 | $468 | $36.00 |
| 14,000 | $497 | $35.50 |
| 15,000 | $532 | $35.47 |
| 16,000 | $544 | $34.00 |
| 17,000 | $570 | $33.53 |
| 18,000 | $590 | $32.78 |
| 19,000 | $612 | $32.21 |
| 20,000 | $645 | $32.25 |
| 21,000 | $662 | $31.52 |
| 22,000 | $691 | $31.41 |
| 23,000 | $718 | $31.22 |
| 24,000 | $747 | $31.13 |
| 25,000 | $790 | $31.60 |
| 26,000 | $803 | $30.88 |
| 27,000 | $830 | $30.74 |
| 28,000 | $857 | $30.61 |
| 29,000 | $884 | $30.48 |
| 30,000 | $929 | $30.97 |
| 35,000 | $1,038 | $29.66 |
| 40,000 | $1,155 | $28.88 |
| 45,000 | $1,267 | $28.16 |
| 50,000 | $1,427 | $28.54 |
| 55,000 | $1,511 | $27.47 |
| 60,000 | $1,647 | $27.45 |
| 65,000 | $1,782 | $27.42 |
| 70,000 | $1,919 | $27.41 |
| 75,000 | $2,055 | $27.40 |
| 80,000 | $2,192 | $27.40 |
| 85,000 | $2,328 | $27.39 |
| 90,000 | $2,464 | $27.38 |
| 95,000 | $2,600 | $27.37 |
| 100,000 | $2,730 | $27.30 |
| 105,000 | $2,860 | $27.24 |
| 110,000 | $2,990 | $27.18 |
| 115,000 | $3,120 | $27.13 |
| 120,000 | $3,250 | $27.08 |
| 125,000 | $3,380 | $27.04 |
| 130,000 | $3,510 | $27.00 |
| 135,000 | $3,640 | $26.96 |
| 140,000 | $3,770 | $26.93 |
| 145,000 | $3,900 | $26.90 |
| 150,000 | $3,999 | $26.66 |
| Response | |
|---|---|
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 73.41% |
| Velocity Frequent Flyer | 15.87% |
| Other | 4.37% |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 2.78% |
| Emirates Skywards | 1.59% |
| Asia Miles | 1.19% |
| Air New Zealand Airpoints | 0.79% |
Paying for points makes the most sense if you're very close to being able to earn a high-value reward, and you can see current availability. Remember, purchasing the points does not guarantee that you'll earn a reward flight or upgrade.
How you spend the points is crucial. As our full guide to what a Qantas Point is worth explains, upgrades generally get you the most value. While I'm a fan of spending points on domestic flights, that's less effective when you're buying small numbers of points.
If you're paying $56 per 1,000 Qantas Points but redeeming for a reward with an effective value of $25 per 1,000 Qantas Points, such as a domestic flight, that's a bad value deal.
You may also be better off paying full fare for your flight now and accumulating more points and status credits towards your next redemption, rather than buying points to redeem the flight.
There are some rules for buying Qantas Points:
Discover all the different ways you can redeem your hard-earned Qantas Frequent Flyer Points.
This guide sums up the five Qantas Frequent Flyer tiers and the increasing number of benefits you receive as you move up a notch to the next status level.
A step-by-step guide to how to book a flight using your Qantas Points. Here are four ways you can use your Qantas Points to book your flights.
From fuel to supermarkets to hotels to insurance and credit cards, discover all of the different ways you can earn more Qantas Frequent Flyer Points.
Earn more Qantas Points by booking your next car rental through Qantas.
How to earn Qantas Points on corporate flights and purchases with the Qantas Business Rewards program.
Cost of transferring funds points to my wife’s ff
Hi Ron,
Thank you for reaching out to Finder.
Though there is no cost in transferring points to your family member. You must send a minimum of 5,000 Qantas Points per transfer. You can complete as many transfers as you’d like up to 600,000 points in a 12-month period. You may learn more about this through our guide on transferring Qantas Frequent Flyer Points to family members. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Reggie