Sandy white beaches shielded by lush green rainforests. Resorts with infinity pools, day spas, and a well-stocked bar. Are you thinking of the Maldives? Perhaps Fiji, or Bali? Qantas Points can get you there, but not quite yet.
With travel overseas still curtailed for the foreseeable future, the focus turns to travel within Australia. It’s helped with Qantas releasing more reward seats on domestic routes for future journeys.
If you’re planning a honeymoon soon or itching for a relaxing romantic holiday for two, then this guide will highlight some of the key local destinations you could reach with your growing stash of Qantas Points.
Classic Reward Seats are quite flexible with no cash cancellation fees. If you can’t travel due to continued restrictions, chances are you may be able to delay or cancel your trip without a points penalty either — Qantas currently has a waiver in place until 31 October 2020.
Here are the best ways to use your Qantas Points to book a romantic jaunt at Lord Howe Island, Broome, and Hamilton Island.
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Using Qantas Points to fly to Lord Howe Island
| Status: reopened to visitors on 31 August 2020, though flights are currently limited. |
Reward seats to Lord Howe Island are as elusive as the mythical unicorns, to be frank. But they do exist, particularly with Qantas running a promotion in 2019 that made every seat available for booking as a Classic Flight Reward, for only 8,000 points each-way.
Flights are normally quite expensive in cash, so redeeming 8,000 Qantas Points to Lord Howe Island is consistently one of its top uses, even beating international Business and First Class redemptions!
The idyllic Lord Howe Island only allows 400 tourists to slumber within its shores each night. Once there, you’ve got activities such as kite surfing, hiking and cycling. Or stay at an all-inclusive resort and be pampered for a few days.
Its airport has a short runway and QantasLink only flies there with a small Dash 8 turboprop with less than 50 seats in Economy. Luggage is strictly 14kg check-in and 7kg hand carry per person, due to weight restrictions.
Here are the routes that QantasLink fly — flights from Sydney are more frequent than those from Brisbane in normal times. September to May is the island’s peak season, though winter can be good for certain activities.
| QantasLink Economy | |
| Brisbane, Sydney to Lord Howe Island | 8,000 points |
Using Qantas Points to fly to Broome
| Status: open to intrastate visitors. Western Australia has strict interstate border controls. |
Broome is where the outback meets the ocean. At the time of writing, Western Australia has been relatively lucky to have most restrictions scrapped, enabling easy intrastate travel. It’s no surprise that many locals have booked out flights to Broome during the upcoming school holidays,
For those looking for a romantic escape, you can perch yourselves on the deckchairs of a resort in Broome and while the hours away.
But there’s far more to this increasingly popular Australian destination than just the camels and amazing sunsets. From the Horizontal Waterfalls to the Bungle Bungles, whale watching to the Dampier Peninsula and the Kimberley Coast, there is plenty to see and do in and around Broome.
Qantas fly to Broome from Perth year-round, and from other cities on a seasonal basis. Below are the routes and points required, while we also have a dedicated guide on travelling to Broome.
| Qantas Economy | Qantas Business | |
| Perth, Darwin to Broome | 12,000 points | 27,600 points |
| Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane to Broome | 18,000 points | 41,500 points |
Using Qantas Points to fly to Hamilton Island
| Status: open to visitors, though Queensland has strict border controls. Flights are currently only from Brisbane. |
On the other side of Australia’s coast lies Hamilton Island, a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and Whitehaven Beach. Located in the Whitsundays, the pristine island is quite pricey (like all the other locations in this guide), but offers a stunning backdrop to your next romantic getaway.
At the time of writing, flights are only being run from Brisbane. However, Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar do usually operate flights out of Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns to the island as well.
Unfortunately, the distance between Melbourne and Hamilton Island just nudges it into a higher ‘zone’ on the Qantas Classic Flight Rewards table, so the points needed shoots up for both classes.
| Jetstar Economy | Qantas Economy | Qantas Business | |
| Brisbane, Cairns to Hamilton Island | N/A | 8,000 points | 18,400 points |
| Sydney to Hamilton Island | 9,600 points | 12,000 points | 27,600 points |
| Melbourne to Hamilton Island | N/A | 18,000 points | 41,500 points |
Summing up
Your Qantas Points could take you to one of these Elysian destinations if you get the timing right. Even better, there is usually decent value to be found in Economy Class, as cash tickets tend to be high. The inherent flexibility of reward seat bookings also makes it an ideal way to secure flights.
While you could also use your Qantas Points for luxury hotel stays and car hire at your destination, that value isn’t usually as good. Instead, consider looking for an all-inclusive holiday package on Qantas Hotels.
Those special ‘Luxury Offers’ earn 6 points per dollar spent, and some properties have fantastic inclusions like food & beverage credits, bottles of wine on arrival, breakfast included and late check-out.
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