QANTAS: Partnership with Hawaiian Airlines allows for earn and redeem of Frequent Flyer points

From this week, Thurs 5 June, Qantas Frequent Flyers can cash in their hard-earned Frequent Flyer points for reward seats on Hawaiian Airlines. This isn’t a limited upgrade to mai tais and leis. It’s a full-on earn and redeem partnership.

As of Thursday, Qantas Points can be used to book reward seats across Hawaiian Airlines’ network – that’s not only the four major Hawaiian Islands (Oahu, Maui, Big Island, and Kauai) but also 15 U.S. cities and 10 international destinations.

Think of it as turning your points into a hula-dancing, island-hopping passport to paradise.

The deal between Qantas and Hawaiian

The new strategic partnership between Qantas and Hawaiian Airlines was first announced in January and is now taking flight. It’s arrived just in time for Qantas’ new Melbourne to Honolulu route, which kicked off in May.

This is a bilateral codeshare agreement between Qantas and Hawaiian Airlines before the carrier reaches OneWorld membership. This means that, Qantas Frequent Flyers will also earn Qantas Points and Status Credits on Hawaiian Airlines operated flights (with a QF flight number) for travel within Hawaii and on to mainland U.S.

If you’ve ever dreamed of combining a Honolulu stopover with a trip to Vegas, Salt Lake City, or San Francisco, Hawaiian’s now your bestie. Travelling on Hawaiian will also help your status with Qantas as you can now earn Qantas points and status credits.

With Hawaiian’s recent merger with Alaska Airlines and Alaska’s OneWorld membership on the horizon, you now have another Qantas partner airline to travel with, besides American Airlines.

More points, more places, more pineapples

According to Qantas Loyalty CEO Andrew Glance, Hawaii is already a top destination for members, although up until recently, flights were only available on JetStar, the low-cost subsidiary.

“The partnership with Hawaiian Airlines will be welcome news for members eyeing up their next overseas trip. You can now use your points to get to one or all of the major Hawaiian Islands, or use Honolulu as a launchpad to the mainland U.S.”

Andrew Glance, Qantas Loyalty CEO

And there’s demand to back it. Qantas Frequent Flyers are apparently booking 17,000 reward seats a day, including over 1,000 premium international Classic Reward seats. There is a ratio to contemplate. There are 17 times as many of the more expensive Rewards Plus seats on Qantas than the cheaper Classic Rewards seats. That just goes to show you how Qantas views its Frequent Flyer members.

On the plus side, Qantas now claims to have 20 million reward seats available to book on Qantas, Jetstar and 45 partner airlines, including Emirates, American Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

Looking ahead, Hawaiian’s 2026 entry into oneworld means even more perks for Frequent Flyers and alliance diehards.

Lie-Flat Aloha

Let’s look at the new partner, Hawaiian Airlines. The international fleet, or at least those that fly to Australia are not short on comfort. Its Airbus A330s flying Sydney–Honolulu have 18 Premium Cabin lie-flat seats, 68 Extra Comfort seats and 192 Main Cabin seats.

So yes, your tropical dreams now come with more legroom.

2PAXfly Takeout

Hawaiian has been flying into Australia for 21 years, but now is the beginning of being able to earn and redeem Qantas points with them.

This new addition joins Qantas’ impressive list of partner airlines—45 of them—which now includes Emirates, American Airlines, and Cathay Pacific—all offering reward seat options.

This is great interim news prior to Hawaiian taking up full OneWorld membership, which will make their partnership status even more attractive.