Qantas will implement its largest increase of reward seat availability beginning in July.
With the introduction of the Classic Plus category of reward seats, 20 million additional seats will be made available for Qantas Points redemption over a rolling 12 months.
Those seats will augment the 5 million Classic reward seats that Qantas currently makes available each year.
The new Classic Plus seats will only be available to Qantas Frequent Flyer members, though Classic seats will continue to be bookable with points from other Oneworld alliance airlines, including American and Alaska.
With an increase of 20 million reward seats, the majority of Qantas’ international and domestic seat offerings will be available for booking with points, the airline said.
Though more widely available, the new Classic Plus seats will typically have higher redemption costs than Classic seats, with prices varying according to demand. Conversely, Classic seats are sold at fixed reward prices, similar to the system U.S. airlines once used with reward charts.
Classic Plus seats will be made available on July 1 on Qantas international flights departing from Australia. Availability will be rolled out across the carrier’s international and domestic networks by the end of the year.
Bookings must be made direct with Qantas.
Correction: A previous version of this report had an incorrect number in the headline.