Qantas Will Launch Dynamic Pricing, Changes Points Plus Pay

Qantas Frequent Flyer will launch a new flight reward product within weeks, to reduce the number of times its members are unable to redeem their points on the flights they want. After the national carrier released its half-year results, with profits down 13 per cent to $1.25 billion, Qantas Loyalty Chief Executive Olivia Wirth told investors that the frequent flyer side of the business was stronger than ever.

In the six months to December 2023, two million Classic Flight Reward seats were booked using Qantas Points, but despite this, many customers still struggled to find availability. That is, unless they were prepared to hunt for hours or drop one million points on Euro summer flights.

Ms Wirth, who will leave Qantas by the end of the month to “pursue other opportunities”, admitted that one of the most frustrating parts of Qantas’ loyalty scheme is the lack of international Classic Flight Reward availability in premium cabins.

“That’s a problem we’ve really been looking at over the past 12 months of how do we solve this, [and] how do we ensure we keep our member engagement high?”

“Today we can indicate there will be an announcement a few weeks down the track which will help solve this pain point and introduce a new flight rewards product.”

For its investors, Ms Wirth explains that the increase in reward bookings would pave the way for Qantas Loyalty to achieve its target of $800m to $1bn in profit by the 2030 financial year. For the half year, the frequent flyer scheme brought in $270m in underlying earnings.

“That is why we’re going to make this investment because it will underpin the growth in this business; it will ensure we can continue to attract more members, and importantly it will ensure those members continue to be engaged, so we think it’s a win-win-win” she adds.

Qantas To Launch ‘Classic Plus’ Dynamic Pricing

A Qantas Loyalty source exclusively told Flight Hacks that Qantas Frequent Flyer will launch a dynamic flight reward product within weeks, likely towards the end of March or early April. The new redemption offering is yet to be named, but we are hearing ‘Classic Plus’ is top of the list.

Designed to cosy up between Qantas’ existing Classic Flight Reward and Points Plus Pay, ClassicPlus aims to improve availability while also offering attractive value. But Classic Plus isn’t available on every single flight, that’s where Points Plus Pay comes into the equation for ultimate flexibility.

The new flight reward product will go live across the entire Qanats network in all classes of travel, with Classic Plus seats popping up once a particular option no longer has Classic Flight Rewards available.

Here’s what such a case might look like if you wanted to fly from Sydney to Uluru. Below, Classic Flight Rewards (red ribbon) are available for economy class, but not in business, where the more expensive Classic Plus (blue ribbon) has come into play.

As far as the compromise between value and availability, it appears Qantas has favoured the latter, with Classic Plus offering 1-cent of value per point for economy and 1.5 cents for business class, tied to the cash fare of a flight. For example, if an economy flight costs $500, a Classic Plus seat would be 50,000 Qantas Points, plus a cash payment to cover taxes. That’s only marginally better than Points Plus Pay.

The same Classic Flight Reward fare rules will apply to Classic Plus, in addition to identical taxes and fees charged on most redemptions. The only difference between a Classic Flight Award and Classic Plus is the availability and price. So while Classic Plus is easier to book, but you’ll need more points.

Stay tuned for the official Classic Plus announcement shortly…

Points Plus Pay Now A Form Of Payment

From today, Qantas has moved ‘Points Plus Pay’ to its rightful home on the payment page. Making the customer experience better is finally a priority for Qantas, who’ve really pulled their finger out to make meaningful changes of late.

Before its relocation, finding a Classic Flight Reward on the Qantas website was like nailing jelly to a wall. After selecting ‘Use Points’ you would then have to do the same thing once over, followed by toggling off ‘Points Plus Pay’. Forget this step and you’d then see million-point trips just to cross the Pacific.

But now, selecting ‘Rewards’ (Use Points has been renamed for clarity) actually does something.

There’s also a revised calendar layout, which shows true reward flights and not those overinflated Points Plus Pay options. The familiar red ribbon plus added text ensures you will know which dates have Classic Flight Reward availability in the travel class you have selected.

On the booking page, there is no longer a need to refine results even further. You’ll simply see a list of flights, and which ones are available as a Classic Flight Reward. Making a booking is exactly the same as it was before.

For those who are wondering where to find the option to use Points Plus Pay, it is now on the same page as traditional card payments. If you still need it, the slider can be adjusted to choose how many points you wish to trade for cash.