Using Qantas Points on Partner Airlines: Redeem On Them, Don't Try to Transfer
By Craig McNamara · Published on 26 July 2026
A question I see constantly: "How do I transfer my Qantas Points to Emirates?" or "Can I move Qantas Points into Cathay's Asia Miles?"
You can't. Qantas Points don't transfer to any other airline program. But that doesn't mean your points are stuck on Qantas metal — you can redeem them directly on Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways and a long list of other partners, without the points ever leaving your Qantas account.
The mental model matters, so let's get it right.
Redeem-on, not transfer-to
Points programs connect to airlines in two different ways:
- Transfer-to: bank and Amex points move into airline programs. Amex Membership Rewards can become Velocity points; Velocity points can become KrisFlyer miles. The points change programs.
- Redeem-on: airline points stay put, and you book partner airlines through your own program. Qantas works this way. Your points stay Qantas Points, and you book an Emirates or Cathay seat as a Qantas Classic Flight Reward.
Qantas Points are strictly the second kind. They're the end of the line — points flow into Qantas Frequent Flyer from cards and bank programs, and the only way out is spending them through Qantas. (Which points go where is a whole topic on its own — see which bank points transfer where.)
The practical upshot: you never need an Emirates Skywards or Asia Miles account to fly those airlines on Qantas Points. You need a Classic Flight Reward seat.
Which airlines you can actually book
Per Qantas' Classic Flight Rewards page, Classic Flight Rewards are available on eligible flights with Qantas, Jetstar, Emirates, oneworld member airlines and selected other partners. The current oneworld members include American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, SriLankan Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
On top of the alliance, Qantas has bilateral partners bookable with points: Air France, KLM, Air New Zealand, China Airlines, China Eastern, EL AL, LATAM, Bangkok Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, Philippine Airlines and WestJet.
But "bookable with points" doesn't mean "same price." This is the part most people miss.
The four tables (partners cost more)
Qantas prices Classic Flight Rewards from separate tables depending on whose plane you're on. From the official Classic Flight Reward tables, effective for bookings from 5 August 2025:
| Table | Applies to | Zone 1 Economy (≤600 mi) | Zone 7 Business (5,801–7,000 mi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qantas | Qantas, Jetstar*, Fiji Airways, American Airlines | 9,200 | 113,900 |
| Jetstar | Jetstar-only itineraries | 5,700 | — |
| Partner | Air France, Air NZ, BA, Cathay, JAL, Qatar + 17 others | 11,500 | 125,400 |
| oneworld | Multi-airline oneworld itineraries (return, distance-based) | 23,000 (return, ≤1,200 mi) | — |
*The Jetstar table only applies to Jetstar-only itineraries; mixed trips are charged the lower of the Qantas table or the trip split by carrier.
The partner table runs roughly 10–25% above the Qantas table for the same distance band — for example, Sydney–Hong Kong-length flights (zone 5) are 82,100 points in Business on the Qantas table but 90,000 on the partner table. Fiji Airways and American Airlines are the notable exceptions: they price off the cheaper Qantas table despite being partners.
Emirates is in transition. Bookings made from 5 August 2025 to 30 March 2026 use the Qantas table; from 31 March 2026 Emirates gets its own table — Economy sits between the Qantas and partner tables, but Business matches partner pricing: 21,000 points for a zone 1 Business seat versus 19,300 on the Qantas table.
The oneworld table is the special one. It's priced on the return total distance, must include at least two oneworld airlines other than Qantas, can't include any non-oneworld airline, and caps at 35,000 miles. The top zone — the famous round-the-world redemption — is 152,200 points in Economy or 365,800 in Business for up to 35,000 miles of flying. I keep that table live on the site's Qantas tools, and the Qantas cards page shows the current card bonuses if you're working out how to earn a balance that size.
How booking actually works
- Log in at qantas.com and search flights with the "Rewards" view selected
- Classic Flight Rewards show with a red ribbon — partner flights appear in the same search results as Qantas' own
- Book online (no booking fee); phone bookings through the contact centre attract a Reward Assistance fee
- Pay the taxes, fees and carrier charges on top of the points
A few mechanics worth knowing from the official page: seats are bookable up to 353 days in advance, and for rewards departing Australia on Qantas, Jetstar and selected partners you can cover the taxes and carrier charges with points too. Carrier charges vary a lot by airline — they're quoted at booking time, and a "cheap" partner redemption can carry a not-cheap cash component, so always look at the full quote before celebrating.
Partner availability is a different beast
On Qantas' own flights, you have a fallback: if there's no Classic Flight Reward, Qantas now offers Classic Plus Flight Rewards — points pricing that floats with the cash fare. Qantas' own comparison table is explicit that Classic Plus is Qantas-only; partners are Classic or nothing.
That changes how you search:
- Partner reward seats are an allocation, not the whole cabin. Partners release a limited number of seats to Qantas, separate from what they sell for cash. A flight can be half-empty and show zero reward seats.
- Availability is lumpy. Some partners release seats far out, others only close to departure — and release patterns shift. Flexibility on dates matters more than anything.
- No Classic seat means no points booking at a fixed price — your only remaining option on a partner is Points Plus Pay-style spending, which is generally poor value. I've written up Classic Rewards vs Points Plus Pay separately.
Where the value cases are
Without inventing valuations, the pattern is simple: fixed points price, variable cash price. The redemptions that win are where the cash fare is highest relative to the fixed table price.
- Long-haul premium cabins on partner metal. A zone 9–10 Business seat is 167,000–182,900 points on the partner table regardless of whether the cash fare that day is moderate or absurd. Cathay, JAL and Qatar Business to Asia, the Middle East and Europe are the classic plays.
- The oneworld multi-stop itinerary. 365,800 points in Business for up to 35,000 miles of flying, as long as you stay within oneworld and include at least two non-Qantas member airlines. Priced per the table above, it's the densest redemption in the program.
- Short partner hops with low carrier charges. Zone 1–2 economy seats on partners are cheap in points and often cheap in taxes — handy for positioning flights overseas.
Economy long-haul on partners is usually the weakest case: the points price is high relative to discount cash fares, and carrier charges eat the margin.
One last thing: partner redemptions count as activity, but don't let a balance sit around waiting for the perfect Cathay First seat — Qantas Points expire after 18 months without eligible activity, and I cover the cheap ways to keep the clock reset in how to keep Qantas Points alive.
The short version
- Qantas Points never transfer to another airline's program. You redeem them on partners via Classic Flight Rewards, inside your Qantas account.
- Partners price off their own tables — mostly ~10–25% dearer than Qantas' own flights. Fiji Airways and American Airlines share the cheaper Qantas table; Emirates gets its own table from 31 March 2026.
- Partner flights have no Classic Plus fallback — limited reward allocation or nothing, so flexibility is everything.
- Best value: partner premium cabins long-haul, and the oneworld multi-airline itinerary (up to 35,000 miles return).
