Redeem Now: Qantas Points Lose Value From 5 August 2025
Now is the best time to book with Qantas Points.
Nearly every Classic Reward seat and upgrade paid with Qantas Points will become more expensive as of next week, as part of a widespread Qantas Frequent Flyer devaluation. The price hike takes place from August 5th, after which almost every Classic Reward booking will instantly become more expensive.
Redemption rates will increase by roughly 15-20% across most zones, though a handful of itineraries climb a more modest 5%. Qantas will also ratchet up carrier charges on Business and First redemptions, with the cash co-payment nearly doubling in some instances.
Qantas Loyalty CEO Andrew Glance explains that the price hike allows Qantas to invest in enhancing its loyalty scheme and “continue to grow the levels of Classic and Classic Plus Reward seat availability,”.
Glance also stresses that the increased carrier charges will simply align Classic Rewards with the taxes currently applied to Classic Plus bookings. But that of course doesn’t make it a good thing - paying more for the same flight is still bad news.
But it’s not game over just yet! Travellers have until 11:59 pm AEST on 4 August 2025 to lock in trips at today’s redemption and upgrade rates. Now is the time to burn, before the Qantas devaluation burns you.
Qantas Devaluation At A Glance
Need the short version? Below are the headline changes Qantas Frequent Flyer will impose on 5 August;
- Classic Reward pricing for Qantas and all partner airlines increases by up to 20%.
- Qantas Classic Upgrade Rewards increase by up to 20%.
- Business and First Class carrier charges increase to match Classic Plus levels.
- Zone 1 Jetstar Economy Rewards require 11% fewer points, while all other Jetstar rewards climb by around 15 %.
Increased Classic Reward Pricing
From 5 August 2025, almost every Classic Reward seat across Qantas, Jetstar, oneworld and partner airlines will require up to 20 % more Qantas Points. Qantas is also shifting Emirates flights onto its own reward chart, which is good news for Economy, but Business and First Class will now require more points.
The full Classic Reward and Upgrade charts can be found on the Qantas website, but we’ve listed a few examples below.
Increased Carrier Charges For Qantas Flights
From 5 August 2025, Qantas will bring carrier charges for Business and First Class Classic Rewards in line with current Classic Plus rates. In many cases, you will notice a huge increase in the cash component when booking a reward seat. Qantas is seemingly learning from its Middle Eastern counterparts, with the cash-grab awful on some routes.
Melbourne-Dallas is increasing by 91%, from $681 to $1,301. Qantas' direct Auckland to New York service is even worse, with fees nearly doubling for no apparent reason, from NZ$380 to NZ$749. Shorter routes such as Sydney-Melbourne see a smaller increase of $21, taking the taxes from $55 to $76. That’s a small dollar value, but still a large 38% jump.
These changes are only applied to Qantas-operated flights, and thankfully, there will be no increase to Economy and Premium Economy carrier charges.
How To Beat The Qantas Devaluation
Unfortunately, frequent flyer programs are not immune to the effects of inflation. When thought of over the six-year gap since the last devaluation in 2019, the headline 20% increase looks less dramatic at about 3.1% compounded each year. Although the near-doubling of some premium-cabin surcharges, specifically the 97% hike, compounds to around 12% per year.
The average annual inflation rate in Australia since 2019 is approximately 3.21%. In other words, most of the reward seat increases sit slightly above inflation once smoothed over time, but the hefty carrier-charge hike is in a league of its own.
Qantas’ latest points hike is substantial and unavoidable once the clock ticks past the cut‑off. But Frequent Flyers who act now can still extract full value from their hard‑earned points, and also avoid the jump in carrier charges. In short: burn now, or brace for paying more later.
