How to book domestic QantasLink flights in Australia with Avios points

This article shows you how to book domestic QantasLink flights in Australia using Avios.

If you are heading down to Australia in the near future, there is an Avios quirk which is good to know about.

Qantas is, of course, a member of the oneworld airline alliance alongside British Airways.  This means that you can book Qantas flights using your Avios points at ba.com.

Qantas has a subsidiary, QantasLink, which flies between regional destinations across Australia. To quote:

The regional airline for the Qantas Group operating over 2,000 flights each week to a vast network of metropolitan and regional destinations across Australia. QantasLink is located at Qantas Terminal 3 in Sydney plus flights also depart from Qantas domestic terminals in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne and Perth to regional destinations across Australia.

It uses a mixed fleet of Airbus A320 and A220, Boeing 717, Fokker F100 and Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, A300 and 200 series turboprops.

You can’t book these flights on ba.com

Reward flights on QantasLink do NOT appear on ba.com when you search for reward seats – only mainline Qantas flights appear.

However, it IS possible to use Avios to book these services.

How can I find QantasLink Avios availability?

There are two options.

The first option is to use the Qantas website, although this is a bit more fiddly.

The first thing to do is to register for a Qantas Frequent Flyer account via their website.  You can then search for availability via the main booking page by ticking the box saying ‘Use points’.

As an example, Brisbane to Wagga Wagga is showing as a ‘Classic Reward’ for 29th August in Economy Class and Business Class.  ONLY ‘Classic Reward’ seats can be booked with Avios – ignore any other reward pricing shown.

The easiest way to find seats is to use the American Airlines website.  This is because you don’t need to create a frequent flyer account – simply select ‘Redeem Miles’.  If a QantasLink flight shows as available with AA miles then it will be available with Avios.

For the same flight:

Unfortunately, if you go to ba.com then the flight does NOT show up because it is QantasLink:

If you call British Airways Executive Club, they CAN find and book QantasLink flights for Avios.  You need to tell the agent the flight details – which you have already confirmed from the Qantas or American Airlines sites – and it should show as available on their system.

Brisbane to Wagga Wagga is 632 miles and so falls into the cheapest Avios partner pricing band of 6,000 Avios each way for Economy and 12,500 Avios each way in Business.  Ignore the number of points shown on the Qantas and American Airlines websites – this only applies if you are booking using their miles.

Regular commentator Alan is well experienced in booking these services and gave the following tips last time we looked at this topic:

• If the British Airways agent initially says there’s no availability for a return flight, ask them to check as one way flights each way rather than return – they will often then appear

• Internal flights in Australia can be pretty cheap on low cost carriers but there are often high baggage fees.  This can still make Avios redemptions look good value.  If you have British Airways status you would be able to access Qantas domestic lounges which are fairly reasonable.

• For flights within New Zealand take a close look at the Air New Zealand Grab A Seat (grabaseat.co.nz) website.  It is separate to their main one and can have vastly lower prices.   Air New Zealand is a Star Alliance member so if you have Gold status with any of their airlines you will get free seat selection and lounge access.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.