Qantas Upgrades: Every Option And How Many Points You Need

Qantas now offers six different ways to upgrade your flight. You can use Qantas Points through Classic Upgrade Rewards, pay cash, or combine the two with a Bid Now Upgrade. Each Qantas upgrade option comes with different rules, costs and chances of success.

They also run in a strict pecking order, so choosing the wrong one can mean missing out on your Champagne at the pointy end of the plane. This guide covers every Qantas upgrade option, how many points you need to upgrade, how the cash options work, and which option gives you the best shot.

Every Way To Upgrade A Qantas Flight

Qantas has six upgrade products: three paid with points, three paid with cash. Here's how they compare.

All six apply to Qantas-operated flights with a QF flight number on the ticket, apart from Partner Airline Upgrades. Classic Upgrade Rewards can also occasionally be requested on codeshare flights with a QF flight number.

The Qantas Upgrade Pecking Order

Confirmed Upgrades come first, but are more expensive. Qantas lets Confirmed Upgrade buyers pick their seat before waitlisted upgrades are processed, so those seats leave the pool early.

Classic Upgrade Rewards come next, prioritised by status tier and the cabin you booked. After this, Bid Now offers are considered and ranked by the value of the bid.

Finally, if any seats are left in a higher cabin class, On Departure and At-Airport Upgrades are made available.

Qantas Upgrade Calculator: How Many Points To Upgrade?

A Classic Upgrade to Business costs just 6,200 Qantas Points on a short domestic Flex fare, to 130,800 points for the cheapest cash fare on Qantas' longest international flights. Qantas's upgrade calculator gives the exact figure for your route, but the cost comes down to three things: how far you're flying, the fare you booked and the cabin you want.

Qantas publishes the full cost for every route in its Classic Upgrade Reward tables, grouped into distance zones by miles flown. Note that International Economy Sale fares can't be upgraded with points.

Classic Upgrade Rewards cost for popular routes:

• Melbourne to Sydney: 12,500 points from Red e-Deal, 6,200 from Flex
• Sydney to Perth: 32,600 points from Red e-Deal, 13,100 from Flex
• Melbourne to Singapore: 65,400 points from Saver, 35,900 from Flex
• Sydney to Los Angeles: 117,700 points from Saver, 64,800 from Flex
• Perth to London: 130,800 points from Saver, 72,000 from Flex

Qantas Cash Upgrade Policy: Can You Pay To Upgrade?

Yes. Qantas has three ways to upgrade with cash: Bid Now Upgrades, Confirmed Upgrades and At-Airport Upgrades. None of them has a published price list.

Bid Now shows you a minimum and maximum bid for your flight, and allows you to enter a selected bid on that scale. Confirmed Upgrades quote a fixed price in the offer, and At-Airport pricing varies from flight to flight depending on the route.

Qantas's terms for Bid Now and Confirmed Upgrades share the same key rules:

• You earn on your original fare. Qantas Points and Status Credits are calculated on the fare you bought, not the cabin you end up in.
• Your original fare conditions still apply, including change and cancellation rules.
• Business upgrades include lounge access, where a Qantas lounge is available at your departure airport.
• Meal and seat requests don't carry over. You'll need to resubmit them for the new cabin.

Classic Upgrade Rewards

Classic Upgrade Rewards are Qantas's main points upgrade and the best value way to use your points for a better seat. You pay a set number of points from the tables above, and the request sits on a waitlist until Qantas processes it.

How to request a Classic Upgrade Reward:

1. Log to your Qantas account and go to Bookings, or open your trip in the Qantas App.
2. Select Upgrade on the flight you want to upgrade.
3. Choose Classic Upgrade Reward and confirm the request.
4. On eligible international flights, opt in to be considered for an upgrade up to the gate.
5. Keep enough points in your account until departure. Points are only deducted if the upgrade is confirmed.

Requests close 10 hours before international flights and 5 hours before domestic flights.

When you’ll find out:

Qantas processes requests by status tier and sends an SMS if your upgrade is confirmed.

• Platinum One: from 7 days before international flights, 3 days before domestic
• Platinum: from 3 days before international and domestic flights
• Gold, Silver and Bronze: from 24 hours before departure

Domestic On Departure Upgrade Rewards

On Departure Upgrades are the last-minute version of a Classic Upgrade, at the same points cost. They're only available to Platinum One, Platinum, Gold, Qantas Club and Points Club Plus members on domestic flights.

How to request a Domestic On Departure Upgrade Reward:

1. Add your flight to your Qantas App.
2. Check in for your flight.
3. If available, an upgrade option will pop up in your trip from 3 hours before departure until boarding starts.
4. If a seat is available, your upgrade is confirmed on the spot and you can use domestic Qantas lounges.

Bid Now Upgrades

Bid Now lets you name your price for an upgrade, using cash or, for Qantas Frequent Flyers, cash plus points. Qantas sets a minimum and maximum bid for each flight, and your offer has to sit within that range.

How to request a Bid Now Upgrade:

1. Check your booking on the Bid Now Upgrades page, in Manage Booking or in the Qantas App.
2. Set your bid within the range shown, using cash or cash plus points.
3. Add your payment card (you're only charged if the bid succeeds).
4. You'll hear back between 24 and 2.5 hours before departure.

Confirmed Upgrades

Confirmed Upgrades are Qantas's newest option: a fixed cash price, with confirmation within 12 hours of payment. They cover Premium Economy, Business and First, and buyers can choose their seat before waitlisted upgrades are processed.

The catch is that you can't ask for one. Offers go to selected customers on selected flights, by email, in the Qantas App or in Manage Booking, but you can check your booking with Qantas's eligibility checker.

When we tested this at launch, Confirmed Upgrade offers were essentially impossible to find.

At-Airport Upgrades

At-Airport Upgrades let you buy a last-minute upgrade at the Qantas Service Desk after you've checked in. They're available on international flights and on all domestic flights from Melbourne.

If a premium seat is free, the airport team confirms it on the spot. Qantas doesn't publish a price table, because the price varies from flight to flight depending on the route.

Partner Airline Upgrades

Partner Airline Upgrades let you use Qantas Points to upgrade flights operated by another airline. Currently, American Airlines is the only partner airline eligible for upgrades of this type.

How to request a Partner Airline Upgrade:

1. Check your booking with the Partner Airline Upgrades eligibility checker.
2. Log in to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account and submit the request.
3. Watch for a confirmation email from American Airlines, which arrives within 12 hours of the flight if the upgrade clears.
4. Points are only deducted once the upgrade is confirmed.

Qantas Upgrade FAQs