QANTAS: Summer Points Planes to coastal destinations

Qantas is boasting that it is making almost 3000 flights in January and February into Point Planes to get to coastal destinations ranging from Byron Bay and Broome, to the Gold Coast and Hamilton Island.

The Deal

Bookings open at 11 am today 29 November for 72 hours. That means you have until 11 am Friday, December 2.

These Points Planes are p-o-p-u-l-a-r so get onto the site pronto and book! Most of those seats won’t last for for 72 hours.

Qantas frequent flyers can book reward seats on all flights between 9-22 January and all of February 2023 on the following routes:

• Melbourne to Hamilton Island, Merimbula, Townsville, Devonport, Burnie and the Gold Coast
• Sydney to Byron Bay, Hamilton Island, Merimbula, Townsville and the Gold Coast
• Brisbane to the Whitsunday Coast, Hamilton Island and Townsville
• Adelaide to Townsville, Kangaroo Island, Mount Gambier, Whyalla, Port Lincoln and the Gold Coast
• Perth to Broome

Points Planes routes, points and fees

ROUTE (ONE-WAY)	ECONOMY		BUSINESS
	Qantas Points	Fees	Qantas Points	Fees
Gold Coast – Adelaide	12,000	$79	27,600	$79
Gold Coast – Melbourne	12,000	$37	27,600	$37
Gold Coast – Sydney	8,000	$42	18,400	$42
Devonport – Melbourne	8,000	$49	–	–
Burnie – Melbourne	8,000	$29	–	–
Byron Bay – Sydney	8,000	$38	–	–
Kangaroo Island – Adelaide	8,000	$38	–	–
Whitsunday Coast – Brisbane	8,000	$52	–	–
Hamilton Island – Brisbane	8,000	$57	18,400	$57
Hamilton Island – Melbourne	18,000	$50	41,500	$50
Hamilton Island – Sydney	12,000	$54	27,600	$54
Townsville – Adelaide	12,000	$41	27,600	$41
Townsville – Brisbane	12,000	$43	27,600	$43
Townsville – Melbourne	18,000	$36	41,500	$36
Townsville – Sydney	12,000	$41	27,600	$41
Merimbula – Sydney	8,000	$28	–	–
Merimbula – Melbourne	8,000	$29	–	–
Mount Gambier – Adelaide	8,000	$27	–	–
Whyalla – Adelaide	8,000	$38	–	–
Port Lincoln – Adelaide	8,000	$38	–	–
Broome – Perth	12,000	$56	27,600	$56

Booking ‘How To’ for Points Planes

• Go to the Qantas.com website and log in to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account
• Search for your desired route and travel dates, but make sure they’re within the limited Points Plane period of 9-22 January and all of February 2023, (not the blackout dates of 23 to 31 January).
• Tick the checkbox for ‘Use points’ to select
• Look for Classic Reward seat availability when your flight options appear
• Book the Classic Reward flight you want. Don’t fiddle-faddle around choosing seats or offsets or anything else – get the transaction done, as these seats move fast!
• Once booked and confirmed – go back and select your seat(s), special meal etc. through the ‘Manage Your Booking’ screen 
• Move your ticket to your phone wallet, and feel smug and satisfied.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

If you have a wad of points sitting in your account and haven’t quite planned your summer holidays, then go to it and book, now! Stop reading this and do it now before those flights disappear!

On my more cynical side, notice what routes are not being offered – I bet because they are too lucrative. There is no Sydney to Broome, for example. Most of these routes are serviced by Qantas subsidiaries like QantasLink.

Maintaining my cynical line – I thought this might be a pre-emptive strike on leisure incumbent Bonza Airlines, but there is very little crossover with these points planes routes and the new pairings proposed by Bonza, whenever they do actually get off the ground.

Good luck with getting one of these Points Planes flights!