Am I wrong here? You might well be able to get a Business Classic Rewards flight departing Australia as from 20/12/21 (The date Qantas are hoping International flights resume), but you’ve got very little chance of ever getting a Business Classic Rewards flight coming back because they would have already been taken by ex-pats who’ve been trying to get home for ages? Looking at Business flights to London from Australia (any airport). I can get to London from Melbourne in Business, but can’t come home in Business (if flights even go ahead).
Just after posting this, I see an announcement by Qantas to add more classic flight rewards as International flying opens up. Don’t know how much it will apply to Business Class but.
Call me pessimistic but I don’t like my chances of quarantine free travel before Mar/Jun 2022. Hotel quarantine drives incoming passenger caps. Hopefully by Dec 2021, home quarantine becomes mainstream (SA trialling at the moment).
Hopefully, I am wrong and borders start opening by Xmas.
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Point Hacks made an announcement of Qantas planning international travel to re-commence on 20/12/21. So I immediately searched for Business Classic Reward seats as from 20/12/21 (on any of the proposed routes) – and you’ll be lucky to find any. It’s frustrating that Point Hacks alert us to travel possibly recommencing, but made absolutely no mention of classic reward availability (which is why we’re all here in the first place!!!) My take (and I am only guessing) is that Qantas haven’t released ANY business classic reward seats on these proposed routes/start dates just as yet. Qantas say in their commitment to increase reward availability that it will increase as borders begin to re-open and I am only guessing that we may see reward seats open up between now and then? Point Hacks should have been a bit clearer in the announcement, as Point Hackers are really only interested in reward flights.
I must admit to being cautiously optimistic. If the (late lamented) NZ travel bubble was anything to go by, when borders do finally open, they’ll open quickly and relatively unexpectedly, with a glut of reward flights available. Also from the experience of the NZ travel bubble, airlines won’t necessarily release reward tickets 11 months in advance; it’s more likely that they’ll release them weeks, rather than months, before the flights.
As borders reopen, the old rules regarding reward seat availability won’t necessarily apply. My prediction, though, is that there’ll be plenty of reward seats available, particularly for those wiling to book at the (relatively) last minute.
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