Qantas is launching a flight that can only be flown on Qantas points! The flight, which will fly an A380 from Melbourne to Tokyo later in 2019, will be the first time passengers can fly on Qantas without paying a single cent, as reported by News.com.au.

Qantas A380
Qantas is using an entire A380 for this flight. Photo: Qantas

What are the details?

The flight will take place on 21 October 2019 from Melbourne to Tokyo (Narita) onboard a Qantas Airbus A380.

Qantas
The route flies almost directly north of Melbourne. Photo: Google Maps.

Now you might have noticed that the flight is actually only one way... so how do you get home? Qantas' is not offering a round trip, but you can book another flight on a Qantas A330 on 26th October 2019 just on points. It is a bit funny that the flight there is an exclusive points A380 but five days later the return is only an A330. We suppose that Qantas expects most passengers to stay for different lengths of time.

“This is the first time we have dedicated an entire aircraft — let alone an A380 — to our frequent flyers, and we are expecting to see significant demand for these flights,” Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth said in a press release.

How much will it cost in points?

As it's a 'points only' flight, every seat onboard the plane can be purchased for Qantas or Oneworld frequent flyer points.

The cost per seat is as follows:

  • 35,000 points for economy
  • 54,000 for Premium Economy
  • 72,000 for business
  • 108,000 for first class.

These are the normal redemption rates for this flight.

Why is Qantas doing this?

This flight sounds jolly good and all... but why is Qantas doing this?

Essentially, reward seats on a normal flight are hard to come by. There are never really that many available for all the people trying to book, and even when they are released, they are sometimes only available days before the flight.

By offering an entire A380, Qantas has made it clear that anyone from Bronze to Platinum status has a chance to redeem the seat of their dreams.

Qantas
Qantas offers several exclusive online options when you pre-book your meal. Photo: Qantas

“Four flight redemptions are made every minute and 60 upgrades are confirmed every hour. We know our members love to redeem their points on travel, so we’re excited to be able to give them new ways to access these rewards" continued Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth, "Member-exclusive flights mean more redemption opportunities for our members and less time searching for reward seats.”

This is believed to be the first in a series of loyalty flights, as a new way to reward Qantas members for their loyalty and to offload (redeem) their points portfolio.

“If this concept is a success, which we think it will be, Qantas hopes to operate more regular Frequent Flyer-only flights to other international and domestic destinations in the near future,” Ms Wirth said to News.com.au

What do you think? Will you be flying to Tokyo on the points only flight? Let us know in the comments.