UPDATED: Japan FF deals drop after Qantas rejects claims about availability

Adelaide, Australia - 1 Feb 2021:
A few people in Adelaide airport walking to the check-in counter. South Australia is currently in the 'very low-risk' category and so South Australian can travel interstate freely.
Edited by Travel Weekly


Qantas has released a load of First Class seats for travel Sydney-Tokyo-Sydney in January, February and March this year, on their partner Japan Airlines.

“I call out the bad and the good,” points travel expert Steve Hui posted just days after being quoted extensively, criticising the lack of QFF flights available.

“First Class on Japan Airlines is an absolute real luxury, the food, drinks and service onboard is excellent as you would expect from amazing Japanese hospitality, and it is First Class,”  The Points Whisperer said.

“There are one seat, two seats and even three seats available on certain dates.

“Run, don’t walk, actually fly.”

He also reminded that that Qantas points can be used to book for any extended family member.

Persistence pays when attempting to claim Frequent Flyer Classic Reward seats on popular routes, Qantas said in our earlier Travel Weekly report.

This week, there were media reports claiming that there was no availability on popular routes such as Sydney-London and Paris in 2025 following last year’s introduction of Classic Plus.

Hui said in a media report that frequent flyers are unable to book a single Classic Rewards seat in business class on Sydney-London or Melbourne-London for the whole of 2025.

The same was true of Sydney-Paris and Perth-London which Mr Hui said was a “major let-down” for frequent flyers. But there were limited seats in economy on those routes for later in the year.

He said a business class Classic Rewards seat on Melbourne-London, should “cost” 144,600 Qantas points plus taxes. Instead, FFs face a “cost” of between 450,000 and 650,000 points for a business-class seat.

But Qantas said Classic reward seats offer incredible value which is why they are so popular and sell out quickly once they are released.

“Our members booked record numbers of international Classic seats in FY 2024,” he said. Searching on different days would also reveal more availability.

More than five million Classic Rewards seats continued to be offered across Qantas’ international and domestic network, and with 45 partner airlines.

“In October we launched a partnership with Oman Air, which has an expansive network flying to places like London, Paris and Milan,” the spokesman said.

“Since bookings went live in October, 80 per cent of bookings are for travel in their business cabin.”

It is also strengthening its network of international partner airlines launching a new partnership with Oman Air in October 2023, which has an expansive network flying to places like London, Paris and Milan.

Feature image: Istock

 

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