When seeking to reserve Qantas reward seats, having insight into certain strategies can provide a significant edge. A growing number of Australians are accumulating Qantas Points and aiming to utilize them for international travel.
Here’s a guide and some tips on when to start searching for Qantas reward seats, how to search for them and tips on securing the best seats on the aircraft.
When do Qantas release classic reward flights?
On Domestic flights and short haul international flights such as New Zealand, Qantas opens up economy and business class reward seats for domestic routes 353 days prior to departure. These reward seats are accessible to all frequent flyer members irrespective of their status.
However, once these seats are claimed, Qantas seldom introduces extra seats, except in occasional “batch” releases.
For international long haul flights, it’s a different story. Here’s the timeline depending on status:
Gold frequent flyer status and above can access seats at 353 days out.
Silver frequent flyer members at 323 days.
Bronze members at 297 days.
Emirates Reward flights with Qantas Points are released at 330 days prior to departure. If you want a real bargain checkout the Emirates fifth freedom routes which have very little taxes associated with the redemption ticket.
Seat Release Date Calculator
Here’s a Seat release date calculator to help you out. All you have to do is enter the date you wish to travel, then enter the amount of days to the opening date and it will display the date the seats would logically be released. If you need help with understanding what is good value when redeeming tickets then use a mile redemption calculator.
What time does Qantas release it’s reward seats?
11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time or GMT Midnight.
How do I find the Qantas Reward Seats?
The million dollar question!
Finding classic reward seats on the Qantas website can be a bit painful because of constant errors and glitches. Whats worse, theres barely any availability so you have to be quick!
With the recent introduction of classic PLUS, availability is now trickling through however be prepared to fork out four times the amount of points depending on the dynamic pricing. Not worth it in my opinion.
Use the multi-city tool, even if you’re only going between two cities. This tool gives you a calendar view.
When using it, select “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only” and choose “Flexible with dates for all flights.”
If you face errors on the Qantas site, then head on over to seats.aero, an app that’s great for finding reward seats not just on Qantas but also other airlines. I have a full subscription and love it. It’s my go to app. In fact, I rarely use the official airlines as my first stop. I use it both for Qantas and finding seats on Virgin Australia Velocity.
You can even set up alerts to get an email right when a seat becomes available. Once you have found availability, just go to the Qantas site, and look for that seat on the date and time it shows you. It’s a helpful way to improve your chances of getting the seats you want.
Here’s an example of what all this looks like:
Melbourne to Hong Kong
I would like to depart on November 4th 2024. I have bronze status with Qantas. So I calculate 297 days to see when the seats will open up.
The date is 12th January 2024.
I head on over to Qantas on January 12th 2024 and see if indeed there are seats for this route. Here’s what I have found:
Economy Class availability on a Qantas Flight
Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class availability on a Cathay Pacific flight.
In fact in the calendar view it is also giving me additional dates of availability both in economy class and business class.
When I look at seats.aero I can see the same kind of thing:
Does Qantas release seats at the last minute?
Sometimes, yes. You may also find through the Qantas site last minute reward flights on one of their partners like Cathay Pacific, British Airways, China Airlines, Emirates to name a few.
For example, today being 15th January 2024, I have run a search and found a flight 2 days later (even 3, 4 and 5 days later) from Melbourne to Hong Kong on Qantas for just 68,400 miles business class. I have also found a flight on a Cathay Pacific flight for 75,500. (I recently flew Cathay Pacific on board their A350-1000 from Auckland to Hong Kong, on Qantas points)
Melbourne to Los Angeles was available on a Qantas flight.
Melbourne to London also showed availability flying Cathay Pacific.
It’s worth checking because you just never know what you will find and when you will find it.
The T80 Qantas Rule
If you are not already familiar with the T80 rule, this is also a handy tip where you can snag some better seats at the front of the plane. It’s essentially a hack that unlocks Qantas aircraft coveted seats 80 hours before the flight’s departure time.
You can follow my guide T80 Qantas rule as well as make use of my T80 Calculator.
Summing Up
In summary, when seeking Qantas reward seats, it’s advisable to use the multi-city tool on their website, even for a simple route. Make sure to select options like “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only” and “Flexible with dates for all flights” to refine your search.
In case you encounter difficulties on the Qantas site, exploring seats.aero, a comprehensive app for finding reward seats across various airlines, can be a valuable alternative. With the added benefit of setting up alerts for seat availability, this combined approach provides a practical strategy for securing preferred reward seats and maximizing the use of Qantas Points.
If you are a points collector, my number one advise is – diversify. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket especially not into Qantas. I have managed to travel for free in business and first class for the last 25 years and have never missed a flight, simply by spreading out my eggs. Good Luck!
