Qantas vs Virgin Australia: how points-based reward seat fares compare

You’ve earned a bucketload of Qantas or Velocity frequent flyer points thanks to smart credit card spending and lots of travel – now it’s time to treat yourself with a points-based reward seat.

Here's a breakdown of how flight rewards under Qantas and Virgin Australia compare. Points can also be used to redeem seats on partner airlines, but still follow the same fare rules from Qantas or Virgin Australia depending on which program you’re using.

Flight changes

Qantas permits most changes up to 24 hours prior to the first flight of the whole booking. For bookings with flights wholly within Australia, you are permitted to make changes up to 24 hours before departure of each flight.

Allowed changes include switching class of travel, as well as any segment routings including departure, stopover or destination cities. You can also change operating airline. These are all subject to availability.

Up to the commencement of travel for each flight, you can also change the date and flight number, but not routing, airline or class of travel.

Virgin Australia allows flight time, date changes and routing changes up to 24 hours before each sector. These are always subject to availability. Changes can only be made via the Membership Contact Centre, but no service fees apply.

Name changes

You can make name changes on Qantas up to 24 hours before departure of the first flight in the whole booking, but only on flights operated by Qantas with a QF flight number. The usual change fees apply.

Virgin Australia does not permit name changes on its Velocity reward fares.

Cancellations

If you can’t make your vacay with Qantas you’ll have to request to cancel the ticket prior to the commencement of the first flight in the whole booking to get points credited back, minus any fees. Points that would have expired will not be re-credited.

Similarly, Virgin Australia allows cancellations at least 24 hours prior to the first flight, with the cost being the same as changing a booking.

For both airlines, absolutely no refunds or credits will be allowed once travel has commenced, so be sure not to miss any connecting flights in your reward booking.

Upgrades

From a Classic Flight Reward, Qantas permits points upgrades to premium economy and business class. The points cost involved is significantly higher compared to upgrading from a commercial ticket, but at least the option is available.

Virgin Australia does not permit upgrades from a Velocity reward seat.

Taxes and surcharges

Classic Reward Seat bookings on domestic and short international flights with Qantas carry a surcharge of at least $14 per flight, while longer international flights can have extra charges exceeding $400 for each flight. These are in addition to government-imposed taxes.

Virgin Australia does not apply the same surcharge to its own flights, thus the co-payment for Velocity reward seats is generally lower compared to the Qantas equivalent.

Here's a comparison of the co-payments required with Qantas and Virgin Australia-operated business class redemptions 

When partner airlines get thrown into the mix, things get even more confusing.

Some Qantas partners, such as American Airlines, do not have surcharges so the overall co-payment is low.

Conversely, some Virgin Australia partners including Etihad Airways apply very hefty surcharges for reward seats booked with Velocity points – as high as US$300 per flight, per person.

Combining with commercial fares (Qantas only)

It’s advisable to try to avoid combining a reward flight with a commercial (paid) flight in the same booking. Qantas will apply the most restrictive fare conditions of the commercial fare to your reward fare. This might be fine if the commercial fare is flexible, but if not, you run the risk of incurring some high change and cancellation fees if things go wrong.

Summary

Overall, reward seats on both Qantas and Virgin Australia are fairly flexible. Changes can be made at least a day before departure, and fees are reasonable, maxing out at 6,000 points for Qantas and 7,500 points or $60 for Virgin Australia.

Apart from holiday travel, reward seats can be an option when booking a work trip. If you need some leeway with your plans but don’t want to stump up the cost of a fully-flexible fare, then sinking some points into a flight reward could be the way to go. 

The same is true for last-minute travel – while cash fares might be sky-high, the points cost of a flight reward will always be the same, and availability can often open up just before departure.

Which airline do you rate as the best for points-based reward bookings, and why?

Brandon Loo

Based in Perth, Brandon enjoys tucking into local delicacies, discovering new cocktails, and making aeroplane food look good on camera.