How to book IndiGo flights using Qantas Points

Qantas has a new partner in IndiGo: India’s largest domestic airline. As Qantas prepares to expand its own Indian network with direct Sydney-Bengaluru flights, this tie-up unlocks fresh ways to earn and spend Qantas Points.

Available for booking now for travel from 14 September 2022 and beyond, here’s how you can be rewarded with Qantas when flying aboard IndiGo.

Which IndiGo routes can you book using Qantas Points?

Initially, the partnership between Qantas and IndiGo covers 11 Indian cities beyond Bengaluru and Delhi. These are routes on which Qantas will codeshare. By extension, they’re also the routes you’ll be able to book using Qantas Points.

From Delhi, you could fly directly to Amritsar or Kochi – or to Bengaluru itself. That’s handy if your Qantas trip to India will take you to both major cities. You could fly Qantas into Delhi, jet down to Bengaluru on IndiGo, and then travel directly to Australia with Qantas straight from Bengaluru.

That saves flying home via Delhi – or the same in reverse.

Out of Bengaluru, you’ll instead have a few more options for booking an IndiGo domestic flight. This includes direct flights to Ahmedabad, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna and Pune.

Expect Qantas’ codeshare network across India to grow over time. Here’s a look at where Qantas plans to codeshare from Bengaluru alone, once its IndiGo partnership is completely rolled out:

While many notable destinations are among that broader network, a key point for tourists will be Agra. If flying into Bengaluru, that’s where you’d travel to visit the Taj Mahal.

In the meantime, you can certainly buy a separate cash fare with IndiGo on that route – or any other. But that means booking your journey on IndiGo’s own 6E flight number, rather than a QF codeshare. You can’t earn or spend Qantas Points on IndiGo’s 6E flight numbers, though.

In the codeshare sense, it’s a bit different to how most of Qantas’ other airline partnerships work. Normally, when booking a Classic Reward, your flight would be on the partner’s own flight number – such as an EK-coded flight when redeeming Qantas Points on Emirates. With IndiGo, the partnership extends only to the QF codeshare.

Booking IndiGo flights using Qantas Points

You can use Qantas Points to book those eligible IndiGo flights via the Qantas website. The process to follow is the same as when booking any other Classic Reward flight.

For instance, searching ‘Sydney to Delhi’ on a random date in October finds an itinerary combining Qantas and IndiGo. You could fly from Sydney direct to Bengaluru, and then connect onwards with IndiGo to Delhi as part of the same reservation.

When booking connecting flights like this, there’s some terrific value to be had. Because the IndiGo flight also carries a QF flight number, the system combines the distance of that leg with your Qantas-operated international flight in calculating how many Qantas Points a journey will cost.

For example, Sydney to Bengaluru non-stop is 5,810 miles in distance. Bengaluru to Delhi is then a further 1,058 miles. That’s 6,868 miles in total. But for all ‘Qantas’ journeys of 5,800 to 7,000 miles in length, Qantas charges a flat 37,600 Qantas Points in Economy, regardless of how many flights are involved.

Essentially, you can fly into Bengaluru and connect across India for no extra points than the Sydney-Bengaluru flight itself. You’ll just pay about $45 extra in taxes, fees and carrier charges on the side. Still, that’s great value.

You can also include IndiGo as part of a multi-city booking. For example, flying into India with Qantas, spending time in that first city, and travelling elsewhere with IndiGo on a different day.

This does price the IndiGo flight separately, but the rates are still reasonable. For example, Bengaluru-Delhi costs 12,000 Qantas Points plus 3,166 INR (about AU$57.30) as a standalone sector:

That’s the same number of Qantas Points as popular Qantas-operated flights such as Brisbane to Melbourne.

What’s the availability like for booking IndiGo flights?

The biggest challenge when booking Classic Reward flights is finding availability in Business Class. That said, IndiGo is an all-Economy airline – so you don’t have that challenge, but also, don’t have that opportunity.

As IndiGo also doesn’t offer Premium Economy or First Class, any booking on IndiGo means flying Economy Class. On that front, there’s plenty of availability.

Looking at that same Bengaluru-Delhi route from mid-October to mid-November, we found Classic Reward seats available with IndiGo on 28 out of the 31 days we checked.

On days with availability, Classic Reward seats are typically available on most Qantas codeshare flights operated by IndiGo. Using ExpertFlyer to dig further, we can even see that most flights have at least nine Economy Classic Reward seats open for booking – so you can take the whole family on points.

Again, you won’t be able to spend your Qantas Points with IndiGo on any route that doesn’t carry a QF flight number. But as more codeshare routes get added to the partnership, the ability to use Qantas Points throughout India will improve even more.

Earning Qantas Points and Status Credits on IndiGo flights

When travelling with IndiGo, you may be able to earn Qantas Points and Status Credits. Of course, this will depend on how you book your flight.

If you book the Qantas codeshare on a paid ticket, you’ll be set for the greatest rewards. Using Qantas Points to book IndiGo can deliver Status Credits – although not Qantas Points – for Qantas Points Club members. Booking anything with IndiGo directly on a 6E flight number will earn zilch.

Here’s a look at what you could earn when flying with IndiGo.

Route / booking type	Economy Sale	Economy	Flexible Economy	Economy Classic Reward	IndiGo direct (6E flight)
Flights up to 750 miles E.g. Bengaluru-Hyderabad	800 Qantas Points* + 10 Status Credits	800 Qantas Points* + 10 Status Credits	1,200 Qantas Points* + 15 Status Credits	0 Qantas Points + 7 Status Credits^	No Qantas Points or Status Credits
Flights of 751+ miles E.g. Bengaluru-Delhi	800 Qantas Points* + 15 Status Credits	850 Qantas Points + 15 Status Credits	1,200 Qantas Points* + 30 Status Credits	0 Qantas Points + 11 Status Credits^	No Qantas Points or Status Credits

Whether travelling on a Qantas paid ticket or a Qantas Classic Reward booking, checked baggage, food and drinks are all complimentary. When booking direct with IndiGo, these inclusions depend on the specific fare that you purchase.

Again, if you book flights direct with IndiGo, it’s not possible to earn Qantas Points or Status Credits.

Summing up

Qantas’ new partnership with IndiGo will certainly make it easy to travel across India after arriving on a Qantas flight. While it’s a shame that Qantas wasn’t able to partner with an airline that also offers a Business Class cabin, that’s understandable given the current state of play.

For example, India’s national carrier, Air India, belongs to the rival Star Alliance. As a result, it’s already entwined with Singapore Airlines and KrisFlyer. This allows KrisFlyer members from Australia and abroad to book Air India flights using miles.

There’s also Vistara, which doesn’t belong to a global alliance. But again, Vistara is already a KrisFlyer partner, which means KrisFlyer members can book Vistara flights using miles, including in Business Class.

But in terms of network and size, IndiGo is India’s largest domestic airline. And in 2021, IndiGo flew almost three times as many passengers as Air India and Vistara combined. With its comprehensive networks from Bengaluru and Delhi – the destinations Qantas flies to – that network will certainly come in handy as the partnership evolves.

All images courtesy of Qantas.

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