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Business Owner? Here’s How To Book Business Seats At Economy Prices

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Tom Goward | 24/03/2024

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American Express has just unleashed a deal hotter than a seatbelt in summer! If you own a business and love to travel, be it for work or fun, don’t miss out on the rare opportunity to pocket an enormous bonus of 175,000 Qantas Points thanks to Amex’s premium Qantas Card for businesses – the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card. This offer is available exclusively through partners such as Flight Hacks.

Get ready to soar through the skies, sipping on complimentary champagne while your competitors are stuck at the back, wondering how anyone with legs fits in economy. No need to pinch yourself – American Express is here to help make that dream a reality.

This Card also comes jam-packed with a range of perks, including Qantas Club lounge access twice per year, triple Qantas Points when you book with the Red Roo, no pre-set spending limit, up to 99 employee cards at no additional cost, plus more. You’ll also enjoy a superior earn rate on everyday business spending made on your Card.

Enjoy 175,000 bonus Qantas Points when they apply online via our Amex partner link by 3rd April 2024, are approved, and spend $3,000 on their Card in the first 2 months. New Amex Card Members only, T&Cs apply.

This is the largest signup bonus we’ve seen on the Amex Qantas Business Rewards Card in over a year, and is enough points to fly to nearly anywhere in the world, as we will explore below.
Remember, you won’t find this deal on Amex’s website! This is an exclusive promotion available via Flight Hacks, so be sure to apply via one of the links on this page to score the full bonus.

TIP: Click here to get this exclusive Amex offer!

The Offer: Amex Qantas Business Rewards

From the enormous signup bonus points to brilliant spending flexibility, The Amex Qantas Business Rewards Card is a seriously powerful piece of plastic. It’s your passport to a world of elevated privileges and exclusive rewards, and with every swipe, you’re not just making a transaction, you’re unlocking points to enhance your business travels.

Here’s some of the perks offered on the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card;

  • 175,000 bonus Qantas Points when you apply by April 3rd 2024 and spend $3,000 in the first 2 months
  • Airport lounge access with two domestic Qantas Club lounge passes each year
  • No pre-set spending limit with 51 days to pay the balance, a huge advantage to business owners looking to free up cash flow
  • Up to 99 supplementary cards at no additional cost
  • American Express AccessLine to make fast trusted payments virtually anywhere in the world while earning valuable points
  • Simplify your finances with direct feeds from your Amex card accounts into Quicken, Microsoft Excel, and MYOB
  • Fraud detection and protection against unauthorised transactions thanks to liability coverage

What Is Qantas Business Rewards?

Instead of funneling points to your personal Qantas Frequent Flyer account, all points earned through purchases made on any of your businesses’s Amex QBR Cards are consolidated into a Qantas Business Rewards account. This account is linked to your company’s ABN, and provides the card manager with unparalleled flexibility to leverage the Qantas Points earnt through business spending. Whether that’s by transferring Qantas Points to specific team members, sending them to your own account or redeeming for company flights and other products, the choice is yours.

If your business isn’t already a member of Qantas Business Rewards, the joining fee of $89.50 is waived for businesses with an Amex Qantas Business Rewards Card.

Earn Rates – Amex QBR Card

Spending on an Amex Qantas Business Rewards Card will reward your business with the following earn rates;

  • 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent on eligible Qantas products and services
  • 1.25 Qantas Points per $1 spent on everyday purchases
  • 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent at participating utilities, government or insurance merchants
  • Triple Qantas Points on eligible Qantas flights (in addition to 2 points per $1)

I Have A Personal Amex Card – Do I Get The Bonus?

Unfortunately, this offer is only available for new card members, which means that if you already have a card issued through Amex, you will not receive the bonus points. That includes if you have a personal American Express Card.

Keep in mind that while you might miss out on the signup bonus, it’s perfectly fine to have multiple Amex cards under one account. As a business owner, each of the 99 free cards still offers significant value due to the enormous points earning potential on business expenses.

The only exception is for those who are an additional cardholder on someone else’s account, and those who hold a corporate Amex Card. If you fall into one of those categories, you can receive 175,000 bonus Qantas Points when you apply for the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card by 3 April 2024 and spend $3,000 within the first 2 months.

Qantas International First Lounge Sydney

How This Card Gets You Business Class At Economy Prices

Those bonus 175,000 Qantas Points are quite substantial and can unlock some amazing redemption opportunities, being enough points to fly Business Class to any continent on planet Earth! Before someone emails us – no, obviously that doesn’t include Antarctica.

Let’s check out six specific examples of how you could spend 175,000 bonus Qantas Points. We will be using Sydney as our departure point, but with the exception of WA, most Australian cities will fall in the same points bracket.

If you can’t be bothered reading below, here’s a quick list of what those points could get you;

  • Qantas domestic business to anywhere in Australia (from 18,400 pts + taxes)
  • Southeast Asia in Qantas business (from 57,000 pts + taxes)
  • Tokyo in Japan Airlines business (90,000pts + $97 tax)
  • The Middle East in Qatar or Emirates business (119,200pts + $366+ tax)
  • United States in Qantas business (from 126,500 pts + $383 in taxes)
  • Christchurch in Emirates first (62,200 pts + taxes)

1) Qantas Domestic Business To Anywhere In Australia

If your business requires regular domestic travel, points will certainly get you there. Domestic business with Qantas isn’t as exciting as an international bed, but could save you thousands on work travel. Redemptions with Qantas start at 18,400 Qantas Points plus taxes.

  • 18,400 points: Less than 600 miles (eg. Sydney to Melbourne)
  • 27,600 points: 601 to 1,200 miles (eg. Sydney to Adelaide)
  • 41,500 points: 1,201 to 2,400 miles (eg. Sydney to Perth)

2) Qantas Business Class Sydney To Southeast Asia

Qantas operates an extensive network throughout Southeast Asia, with business class redemptions priced from 57,000 to 94,900 Qantas Points one-way. With up to 175K in the bank, you’ll have more than enough for a return trip on most routes. As an example of the tax payment, you’ll need $171 for Hong Kong, $256 for Singapore or $258 for Bangkok.

  • 57,000 points: Denpasar (Bali), Jakarta
  • 68,400 points: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore
  • 82,000 points: Manila, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo
  • 94,900 points: Bengaluru

Qantas Boeing 787 Business Cabin

3) Japan Airlines Business Class Sydney to Tokyo

Japan Airlines operates a daily service between Sydney and Tokyo (Haneda). The 10-hour flight is operated by JAL’s Boeing 787 aircraft and will set you back 90,000 Qantas Points plus $97 in taxes.

4) Qatar Or Emirates Business Class Sydney To The Middle East

You can use Qantas Points to book a business class seat onboard two of the three major Middle Eastern carriers, Qatar Airways and Emirates. Paying with cash, Qatar is charging $5,500 for Sydney to Doha and Emirates wants us to drop at least $6,000 for Sydney to Dubai. But by using Qantas Points, all you need is 119,200 to fly with either airline. Add $588 in taxes for Qatar, or $1,246 for Emirates.

5) Qantas Business To The United States

Qantas operates their 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A380 aircraft on non-stop flights to the United States. To travel from Sydney to San Francisco or Los Angeles it’s 108,400 Qantas Points, plus $353 in taxes, and to Dallas, you will need 126,500 points and $383 in taxes.

For 144,600 points, you could even book business on Qantas’ direct flight between Sydney and New York, via a short technical stop in Auckland.

6) Sydney To Christchurch In Emirates First Class

Arguably one of the best cheap Qantas redemptions is to fly Emirates First Class to New Zealand. You can even enjoy a shower onboard the fantastic Emirates A380 first class suite. A one-way redemption costs just 62,200 Qantas Points, meaning the signup bonus alone is enough for a return trip!

OK – I’ve Got The Points, How Do I Actually Book Points Flights?

Ready to book that dream holiday using your signup bonus? Here’s how;

Step 1: Apply for the Amex Qantas Business Rewards Card, meet the minimum spend requirement and wait for the bonus points to land in your account.

Step 2: Visit the Qantas website, and search for your preferred route and dates, ensuring the ‘Rewards’ is toggle is switched on.

Qantas New Reward Search Results Feb24

Step 3: Locate your preferred flight that has Business Classic Reward seating available. Remember that flights that cost millions of points ARE NOT reward seats, the best priced points bookings are ‘Business Classic Rewards’.

Qantas Classic Flight Reward

Step 4: Once you find a seat, select it and progress through to make your booking.

Tip: To open up a handy calendar view, try a multi-city search. Even if you only want to fly one-way, searching this way will bring up the calendar view.

Help! I Can’t Find Any Business Classic Reward Flights

If your chosen flights aren’t available, you might need to be more flexible. Because Qantas’ Business Classic Reward seats are so cheap, airlines limit the amount of seats on each flight.

It’s normally best practice to plan your trip well in advance, but sometimes, you can see Business Rewards pop up a few days or even weeks from departure, as other travellers cancel their own bookings. If flexible dates aren’t helping, try searching for a different route. After all, it’s easy to book a cheap cash fare for your shorter flights and enjoy Business Class on those long ocean-crossing journeys.

Seats.Aero – Our Secret Weapon

If you stuck around until the end, here’s our secret weapon to finding award seats in seconds!

The tool we use is called Seats.Aero, which we have covered in a detailed guide here. In short, this tool allows you to see ALL the award seats up to a year in advance with Qantas Frequent Flyer. Here’s what you do:

  1. Join seats.aero (new user? Click for your first month free)
  2. Click routes
  3. Click Qantas Frequent Flyer
  4. Enter your departure and destination airports, eg. SYD-LAX
  5. Filter by business class
  6. Voila! You’ll see reward seats that are available for you to book!

Seats Aero even allows you to set alerts so if your preferred dates aren’t yet available, the site will monitor them for you and send you a text when they pop up. This way you’ll beat everyone to it when it comes to booking reward seats. Enjoy!

Eligibility Criteria You’ll Need To Meet

To apply for an American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card you’ll need to meet the following criteria;

  • Be over 18 years of age
  • Be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident
  • Have a good credit history and no payment defaults
  • Have an annual business revenue of $75,000 or more
  • Your business must have a valid ABN registered for GST

Summing up: American Express Qantas Business Rewards

The Amex Qantas Business Rewards Card is ideal for small to medium business owners looking to travel better for less or to reward their employees with points and upgrades. Your business could be earning Qantas Points from everyday business spend, which you’d likely make anyway, so why not try a rewards card instead of one that gets you nothing.

With an Amex Qantas Business Rewards Card, your business could become a points-earning powerhouse with a solid earn rate plus 175,000 bonus Qantas Points just for joining. While non-business owners might be better off with a personal card like the Qantas Amex Ultimate (currently offering a sign-up bonus of 100k + $450 travel credit), if you are looking to extend supplementary cards to your team and want the flexibility of Qantas Business Rewards, this might be the card for you.

TIP: Click here to get this exclusive Amex offer!

PS – If you found this content helpful, consider applying via our American Express partner link. There’s no additional cost to you, but your support will help to keep the lights on at Flight Hacks, since we earn a small commission if you are approved. Plus, the increased bonus offer is only available through Amex partners such as Flight Hacks, with the standard bonus only 150k if you didn’t use our link to apply. Additionally, we always offer flight booking assistance to those that support us, so if you have ANY questions, you can always reach via email or Instagram DM.

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Tom Goward

Chief Operating Officer & Aviation Nerd at Flight Hacks

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  1. What a shame no one at Amex has seen the light and allow current personal Amex cardholders to apply for the Business Card with the bonus points to use in our businesses.
    I would sign up straight away and I am sure there would be many out there in the same position.
    Very short sighted.

    • Hi Ian, I’ve asked this question before as it would be a great incentive but I also understand their position. I personally pay for both Platinum and Business Platinum and while I didn’t get a sign up bonus for Business, it’s still a card I can’t do without as the points earn on business expenditure outweighs the fee and lack of sign up bonus for me.

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