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.
Select the number of points you want to buy, accept the terms and conditions and hit the payment button.
Enter your credit card or debit card details and confirm the payment. You can pay with a valid Visa, Mastercard or American Express card.
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.
How much do Qantas Frequent Flyer Points cost?
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
Finder survey: How many Australians with credit cards pick Qantas to earn points?
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%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1113 Australians, December 2023
Is buying Qantas Points worth it?
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.
How many Qantas Frequent Flyer Points can I buy?
There are some rules for buying Qantas Points:
Points are sold in blocks of 1,000. You can purchase a minimum of 1,000 points up to a maximum of 150,000 points at one time.
The number of points you can buy will vary depending on your current Qantas Frequent Flyer Point balance.
Qantas Frequent Flyer may change the dollar amount required for top-up points at any time, without notice.
When can I buy Qantas Frequent Flyer Points?
You can purchase points up to 4 times in a 12-month period.
You must be a member of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program for at least 30 days before buying points.
Angus Kidman is the international editor-at-large at Finder. He's an award-winning journalist who has reported on technology, travel, finance and other topics for over 30 years. Angus appears regularly on Sunrise, Today, The Project, Seven News and other TV and radio shows.
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.
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!
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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