How Qantas Platinum Members Can Request Extra Reward Seats

Finding Classic Reward seats on Qantas can be tough, especially on long-haul flights in premium cabins. If you hold Qantas Platinum status or above, one phone call can have you sorted.

Platinum members can ask the airline to create reward seats on request: on any Qantas flight, in any cabin. From money-saving hops in domestic economy to international first class, here’s how to book flights with points even when Qantas’ website says there’s nothing available.

Requesting Qantas Classic Flight Rewards: The Basics

Qantas keeps this perk exclusively for Platinum, Platinum One and Chairman’s Lounge members. If you’re Gold or below, the best alternative is to log into the Qantas website before searching for reward flights, as your status might still reveal options not visible to entry-level members.

For eligible flyers, requests are possible on all Qantas-operated flights with a QF flight number. This includes QantasLink, as well as Qantas’ wet-lease flights between Australia and Asia served by Finnair aircraft. Flights on all partner airlines are excluded, so this doesn’t work for travel on Emirates, Jetstar and other partners.

You can make requests for new Qantas bookings, as well as for changes to existing reward flights. You can’t use this process to upgrade. The only exception is where you’ve already booked a reward seat and you ask for a seat to be released in a higher cabin on the same flight. That’s technically a ‘flight change’, not an ‘upgrade’.

If Qantas approves your request, the usual Classic Flight Reward rates and conditions apply, along with the usual co-payments for taxes and carrier charges. Flights can be requested for yourself and for eligible family members, while any changes cost 5,000 Qantas Points per passenger, with outright cancellations charged at 6,000 Qantas Points per passenger.

Why Classic Flight Reward Releases Are A Real Power Play

People often complain about Qantas’ reward seat availability. When you’re not bound by the usual rules and can ask for the flight you want, it changes the entire game.

With this trick, flights on points during school holidays become more achievable. Need to fly in the week before Christmas, when airfares are costly? That’s possible too. I’ve done both.

This trick can even help you fly at the times that suit best. For instance, I’ve been able to request business class from Brisbane to Melbourne on Christmas Day itself. I didn’t want to miss family catchups by taking a lunchtime flight, the only time reward seats were available online. I called and asked for the last flight of the day, and voila. A few minutes on the phone and it’s confirmed.

That’s the fun part. Success is possible but not guaranteed, and getting your ideal flight isn’t quite straightforward.

Not All Flights Can Have Reward Seats Released

A request is exactly that: something that might happen. To be in with a chance, most flights need to have a certain type of ‘sale’ fare still available for those spending cold hard cash.

This varies slightly between routes, cabin class and Qantas status. Here’s an overview.

(‘Chairman’s Lounge Platinum One’ is a distinction for members of Qantas’ invite-only club who also do the hard yards to earn Platinum One in their own right.)

Don’t understand the alphabet soup of fare letters? That’s okay. All that matters is whether Qantas is still selling that fare letter (fare bracket) on the flight you want.

How To Check Fare Availability

Websites like ExpertFlyer and Seats.aero (premium subscriptions required) can help you check this. For instance, here’s what we see when searching ExpertFlyer for a Qantas flight from Sydney to Los Angeles.

Ignore the full alphabet and hunt down the fare letter you need, based on the table above. Then check the number displayed next to it. You’ll need that number to match or exceed the number of reward seats you’d like to request. For instance, on this flight:

• Platinum One and Chairman’s Lounge Platinum One members could request up to four first class seats (F=4) or up to nine in economy (N=9), but requests in business class and premium economy are unavailable (D=0 and R=0, respectively).
• Platinum and Chairman’s Lounge members could request up to nine economy seats (Q=9), but nothing in first class (A=0), business class (I=0) or premium economy (T=0).

Searching the same route the following day provides a new set of opportunities.

• First class (F=8 and A=8) and business class (D=2 and I=2) are open for request by all eligible flyers.
• Premium economy remains too full to request (R=0 and T=0), while in economy, Qantas already has at least nine reward seats open for booking (X is the economy reward fare letter, and it’s X=9 here). If those weren’t available, economy would be open for request (N=9 and Q=9).

Having the right fare on sale means your request will be considered. It doesn’t guarantee a yes.

When Your Reward Seat Request Gets Knocked Back

If you’re unsuccessful, don’t give up. Think about how else Qantas could get you to your destination and request that as an alternative.

For instance, on a recent trip to Canada, I’d requested business class reward flights from Melbourne to Vancouver via Sydney. The domestic flight was approved but the international leg was declined, so it was onto Plan B.

My real goal was to reach Toronto, so I requested flights from Melbourne to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas instead. After a few minutes, I had two approvals: via Sydney in business class, or direct in first class. (I chose business class with a detour to save around 55,000 points for a future trip.)

Requesting flights on alternative dates can also help, as can flexibility with cabins, connections and destinations. Qantas’ computers generally give a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each request, although Platinum One and Chairman’s Lounge Platinum One members can ask for a manual review if their request is declined.

As a Platinum member, I’m successful around two thirds of the time, though it often requires a compromise. For instance, flying economy on my most recent Melbourne to Hong Kong trip, as business class was declined despite the numbers looking good.

How To Request Your Qantas Classic Reward Seat

Give Qantas a call (13 13 13, or the priority number shown in your Qantas app) and follow the prompts to make a new booking using points.

Once connected, the phrase “I’d like to request the release of a Classic Reward seat” makes the task clear. Give the agent as much information as possible, including your desired route and flight number, travel date, number of passengers and preferred cabin.

I’ll usually start with a straightforward request on a single, preferred flight. If that works, I’ve saved some time (and some work for the agent). Otherwise, I’ll try a handful of alternatives as a single, combined request.

When you’re on the phone, the agent creates a pseudo booking to submit your request. Once entered, it’ll be visible on the My Trips tab of the Qantas app while you’re still on the phone. You’ll be placed on hold for a few minutes while it’s processing. If you’re eager to find out the result, refresh the booking in your app and see if the flight status changes from ‘Requested’ to ‘Confirmed’. If so, congratulations.

If you’re successful, the agent will clear out any surplus flights from the ticket and finalise the booking on your chosen flights. You’ll usually see the points deducted and have the PDF itinerary in your inbox within 24 hours.

Summing Up

When you have far greater access to Qantas reward flights, your points become significantly more valuable. If you’re also a Qantas Points Club member, you’ll even be able to earn status credits on these tickets, helping to keep your Platinum status for another year, or perhaps even move up from Platinum to Platinum One.

Booking reward flights during Qantas’ regular double status credits promotions can bring those goals even closer. Points Club is being retired in late 2026, though Qantas has indicated it will continue to offer a way to earn status credits on Classic Rewards in some form. We’ll be watching closely to see how this status-savvy perk gets folded into the program.