Qantas frequent flyers can now use their Qantas Points to travel to more than 75 destinations around the world with China Airlines (CAL), as Qantas expands its partnership with the Taipei-based carrier.
The tie-up is somewhat unusual given that Qantas is a member of the Oneworld alliance while CAL belongs to the Skyteam stable of airlines.
The expansion means that Qantas frequent flyers can use points to book ‘Classic Flight Reward’ seats on all CAL flights, adding more destinations to the 1,200 they can already fly to using points and providing another option to many other destinations particularly across Asia and Europe.
Business Traveller Asia-Pacific earlier this week reported that CAL was launching its sixth destination in Europe from May – an Airbus A350-900 service linking its Taipei hub with Prague in the Czech Republic.
Qantas frequent flyers were previously able to use points to travel on CAL between Australia and Taipei only.
Following the extension of their partnership, Qantas members can now travel from Sydney to Da Nang in CAL economy using 37,800 Qantas points, from Melbourne to Amsterdam in CAL business using 159,000 points or Sydney to Taipei in business using 75,000 points (plus taxes, fees and carrier charges).
CAL offers full-service (business, premium economy and economy cabins), and operates thousands of flights each week across its extensive international network spanning 23 countries.
Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth said the Qantas Frequent Flyer programme was always looking to give members more opportunities to use their points.
“Our network of more than 45 partner airlines means frequent flyers can use their Qantas Points to travel to more than 1,200 destinations around the world, and this expanded partnership means they have more options than ever,” said Wirth.
“We receive great feedback from our members who have travelled to Taipei with China Airlines, and we know that having access to their full and expansive network will be welcome news.
“There are more than 5 million reward seats available for booking over the next year on Qantas, Jetstar and our partner airlines.”
Qantas Frequent Flyers can also use their points on hotel stays in Taipei and other destinations through Qantas Hotels.
Qantas recently extended its commitment to 50 per cent more reward seat availability on international flights for an additional six months, releasing tens of thousands of new reward seats.
Qantas frequent flyer airline partners now include Air Calin; Air France; Air New Zealand; Air Tahiti Nui; Air Vanuatu; Alaska Airlines; American Airlines; Bangkok Airways; British Airways; Cathay Pacific; CAL; China Eastern; El Al; Emirates; Fiji Airways; Finnair; Iberia; Indigo Airlines; Japan Airlines; Jetstar; Jetstar Asia; Jetstar Japan; KLM; LATAM; Malaysia Airlines; Qatar Airways; Royal Air Maroc; Royal Jordanian; Solomon Airlines; SriLankan Airlines; and Canada’s Westjet.
