Qantas' massive change to loyalty program

The airline is offering 20 million more reward seats to its loyalty members with the launch of Classic Plus.

The change is touted to make it easier for Frequent Flyers to travel overseas to places such as London, Tokyo, New York and Singapore using Qantas points, even during peak periods.

Classic Plus will usually require more points but will offer wider availability and will be eligible for upgrades.

"The widespread availability of Classic Plus means that frequent flyers have more options to fly where they want, when they want and more often, using their points," Qantas Loyalty CEO Andrew Glance said.

The announcement adds to the five million Classic reward seats available to Frequent Flyers across Qantas, Jetstar and 45 partner airlines.

The Classic Plus reward seats are available from April 8 and can be booked for international Qantas-operated flights departing from July 1, 2024.

By the end of the year the seats will be available to book and travel across the full Qantas international and domestic network.

The announcement comes after a tumultuous period for the airline.

In March it was fined $250,000 for standing down a worker who raised concerns about COVID-19.

And in 2023 the consumer watchdog launched court action alleging Qantas sold tickets to more than 8000 flights it had already cancelled.