Australian carrier has upgraded its loyalty programme with the launch of Qantas Classic Plus points, opening up over 20 million more seats for points redemption.

Frequent flyers on Australian flag carrier Qantas will be able to access over 20 million additional seats for redemption of their loyalty points.

According to a press statement issued by Qantas, frequent flyers will have access to more than 20 million more reward seats with the launch of ‘Classic Plus’ flight rewards, a new way for members to use their Qantas Points to redeem flights.

The airline adds that usually requiring more points than the existing ‘Classic’ reward seats, ‘Classic Plus’ options will show much wider availability and these reward seats are also eligible for upgrades.

The points required to book ‘Classic Plus’ reward seats will vary like normal airfares, which means they will be lower during off-peak periods or when booking early, and higher during peak periods.

During sales and promotions, ‘Classic Plus’ reward seats may drop below a ‘Classic’ reward seat on the same route.

The airline adds that its ‘Classic Plus’ reward seats can now be booked on Qantas international flights departing Australia for travel from July 1 exclusively via its website and will be rolled out across the rest of the oneworld airline’s international and domestic network on Qantas-operated flights by the end of the year.

“The widespread availability of Classic Plus means that frequent flyers have more options to fly where they want, when they want and more often, using their points. The new type of reward seat will usually require more points than the highly sought after existing Classic seats, and will be available to all destinations on the Qantas international and domestic network, across First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy cabins,’’ says Andrew Glance, CEO, Qantas Loyalty.

The statement adds that bQantas will continue to offer more than 5 million existing ‘Classic’ rewards seats across Qantas, Jetstar and 45 partner airlines, with no change to the points required to book these seats since 2019.

Meanwhile, last week Qantas also launched its inaugural service from Sydney to Port Moresby, the carrier’s first commercial passenger flight between the two cities in more than five decades. Two return flights will operate each week with the airline’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft, adding more than 36,000 seats on the route each year. The flights add to Qantas’ existing daily Brisbane-Port Moresby service, it says.