Qantas New Zealand points plane frenzy! The best routes
Every Qantas and Jetstar flight in May is there for the points plucking.
New Zealand is reopening its borders to Australians from 12 April, and Qantas has responded by making every seat on its new Zealand flights during May bookable with Qantas Points.
The initial schedule will see up to 30 return flights across 5 routes from 13 April:
- Sydney-Auckland on Qantas
- Sydney-Christchurch on Qantas
- Melbourne-Auckland on Qantas
- Brisbane-Auckland on Qantas
- Gold Coast-Auckland on Jetstar
In May, Qantas and Jetstar will add more flights and resume services to Wellington and Queenstown (ski season ahoy!).
Cynic note: April flights clearly aren't included because there will be an initial glut of enthusiastic Australians looking to make a trip to New Zealand.
Flights booked before 30 June also qualify for Qantas' "Fly Flexible" policy, meaning you can change flight dates if necessary and only pay for any fare difference.
The best Points Plane bookings to New Zealand
For frequent flyers, the really big news is the return of Qantas' "Points Plane" services.
"As a thank you to our frequent flyers for their ongoing loyalty throughout the pandemic, we've made every flight across the Tasman for the month of May a Points Plane, which means every seat can be booked using points," Qantas domestic and international CEO Andrew David said.
Normally, only a handful of frequent flyer seats would be available.
As ever, the best-value deals are if you can score a Business seat.
A quick check online shows lots of Business seats on those routes, though I imagine these will sell quickly. Sydney route availability is already quite limited.
Business Classic Reward seats to Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch cost 41,500 Qantas Points one way from the east coast Australian capitals. Queenstown is a little higher, at 57,000 Qantas Points.
Qantas also says reward seat availability on New Zealand flights has been increased by up to 50% for the rest of the year.
Excuse me, I'm off to do some travel planning, and the Auckland Qantas Lounge is calling...
Want to keep your frequent flyer points balance growing? Check out the latest credit card sign-up deals.
Angus Kidman's Findings column looks at new developments and research that help you save money, make wise decisions and enjoy your life more.
Picture: Angus Kidman
