These ‘fifth freedom’ flights from Australia bring smart ways to use points

When planning a trip to Singapore, you probably know that Qantas and Singapore Airlines can take you there. But did you also know that you could fly direct to Singapore with three airlines that are neither based in Australia nor in Singapore? Welcome to the world of ‘fifth freedom’ flights.

In a nutshell, a ‘fifth freedom’ flight is one operated by an airline that isn’t based at the origin or the destination of that sector. And, where the airline has government authorisation to sell flights solely between those two points. For instance, Qantas flies from Sydney to London via Singapore. That Singapore-London hop is a ‘fifth freedom’ flight, because Qantas can sell tickets solely between the UK and Singapore.

Why is this such a big deal, you might ask? It’s simple. When airlines fly outside of their usual homelands over an extra stop, it can be harder for them to fill their planes with paying passengers. With less commercial demand can come greater opportunity for spending frequent flyer points.

Let’s use that Qantas example to illustrate. The one plane travels from Sydney to Singapore, and then continues from Singapore to London. Passengers could travel on this aircraft in one of three ways:

1. Book all the way from Sydney to London, via Singapore.
2. Travel solely from Sydney to Singapore.
3. Book solely from Singapore to London.

If Qantas sells too many seats purely between Sydney and Singapore, it’ll be harder to fill the onward leg to London because fewer new passengers can book option 1. In turn, this makes seats on that second leg in lower demand, which can increase the chance of finding a reward seat. The same principle applies to foreign airlines operating fifth freedom tags into and out of Australia – and herein lies the opportunity.

Fifth freedom flights from Australia to Asia

Whether you’re jetting to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bali, here are the fifth freedom flights that can take you there. Where possible, we’ve also included several ways you can book these jaunts using points.

Route	Airline	Economy	Premium Economy	Business Class	First Class
Sydney-Singapore	British Airways	30,200 Qantas Points 25,000 BA Avios 27,000 Asia Miles	59,000 Qantas Points 42,500 BA Avios 43,000 Asia Miles	75,000 Qantas Points 80,000 BA Avios^ 63,000 Asia Miles	107,700 Qantas Points 68,000 BA Avios^ 100,000 Asia Miles
Sydney-Kuala Lumpur	Turkish Airlines	25,000 Aeroplan points 35,000 KrisFlyer miles 37,500 Thai ROP miles	–	45,000 Aeroplan points 81,500 KrisFlyer miles 75,000 Thai ROP miles	–
Melbourne-Singapore	Turkish Airlines	25,000 Aeroplan points 35,000 KrisFlyer miles 37,500 Thai ROP miles	–	45,000 Aeroplan points 81,500 KrisFlyer miles 75,000 Thai ROP miles	–
Melbourne-Singapore	Emirates (ends 30 March 2025)	30,200 Qantas Points 17,500 Skywards Miles 38,200 Aeroplan points	–	75,000 Qantas Points 87,000 Skywards Miles 128,700 Aeroplan points	107,700 Qantas Points 102,000 Skywards Miles 236,900 Aeroplan points
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Denpasar (Bali)	Batik Air Malaysia	Dynamic*	–	Dynamic*	–

Where things get really interesting is when you combine a foreign frequent flyer program with a different foreign airline’s fifth freedom flights. For instance, if you can get points into Air Canada Aeroplan (such as via PayRewards), you could fly Business Class to Singapore or Malaysia for just 45,000 points aboard Turkish Airlines. Or, jet to Singapore in BA First Class for just 68,000 BA Avios. It really pays to know your options!

Fifth freedom flights to New Zealand

Air traffic agreements are quite liberal between Australia and New Zealand. This paves the way for many overseas-based airlines to run fifth freedom flights between the two countries. Here’s how you can cross the Tasman aboard airlines that aren’t based in Australia or New Zealand.

Route	Airline	Economy	Premium Economy	Business Class	First Class
Sydney-Auckland	China Eastern*	20,000 Qantas Points 14,000 Flying Blue Miles	–	43,800 Qantas Points 28,500 Flying Blue Miles	–
Sydney-Auckland	LATAM	20,000 Qantas Points 25,000 Virgin Points (Flying Club) ^	–	43,800 Qantas Points 50,000 Virgin Points (Flying Club) ^	–
Brisbane and Melbourne to Auckland	China Airlines	20,000 Qantas Points 13,500 Flying Blue Miles 10,000 (Brisbane) / 11,500 (Melbourne) Virgin Points (Flying Club) ^	34,500 Qantas Points N/A with Flying Blue 16,000 (Brisbane) / 22,000 (Melbourne) Virgin Points (Flying Club) ^	43,800 Qantas Points 27,500 Flying Blue Miles 21,500 (Brisbane) / 35,000 (Melbourne) Virgin Points (Flying Club) ^	–
Brisbane-Auckland	Solomon Airlines~	N/A	–	N/A	–
Sydney-Christchurch	Emirates	20,000 Qantas Points 15,000 Skywards Miles 18,400 Aeroplan points	Blocked from points bookings	43,800 Qantas Points 70,500 Skywards Miles 59,800 Aeroplan points	64,500 Qantas Points 82,200 Skywards Miles 98,300 Aeroplan points

While most flights above can be booked via Qantas, having access to points in overseas-based programs can make these bookings even more attractive.

Even more flights to the Pacific Islands

Have your sights on the Pacific Islands? There are several fifth freedom flights to know about. However, these are best for passengers buying cash airfares – not for spending frequent flyer points. That’s because reward bookings simply aren’t available. And, because those paid tickets can be attractively priced.

Hop on a fifth freedom flight on the following routes:

• Brisbane-Koror (Palau) with Nauru Airlines.
• Brisbane-Port Vila (Vanuatu) with Solomon Airlines.
• Brisbane to Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu) with Solomon Airlines.

Finally, note that the redemption rates quoted in this article are current rates. The number of Qantas Points required for the bookings above – and many others – will change for new bookings made from August. You can refer to this guide for more information.

Also read: Your complete guide to fifth freedom flights

Featured image courtesy of Turkish Airlines.

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