Qantas is flying a number of points plane between Australia & New Caledonia. This means that every seat in every cabin on every plane between the 2 countries can be booked as Classic Flight Reward, which is Qantas’ lowest cost points booking.

If you are sitting on a pile of Qantas points and have any interest in visiting this French-Pacific paradise, now might be a good time to do that.

Flights bookable with points

Qantas operates a total of 5 flights per week between the two countries, this includes 4x weekly return service between Sydney – Noumea, plus the solitary Brisbane – Noumea service.

Qantas Business Lounge – Sydney T3

As long as there are seats available, you can redeem points for any of these flights during the month of August, September, October and November. That is an unusually long travel period, which will hopefully work for all kinds of travellers including families.

Just make sure you finalise your bookings by 31st July.

Points Needed

Qantas deploy their B-737 on flights to Noumea, featuring a mix of 12 recliner seats in Business Class and 162 standard seats in Coach.

• A one-way Classic Flight Reward between Brisbane & Noumea in Economy costs a very reasonable 12,000 Qantas points + $108 in fees and taxes.
• If you want to fly at the front of the cabin, the price is 27,600 Qantas points, fees and taxes are the same as Economy.

Redeem Qantas points for a Classic Flight Reward between Brisbane and Noumea

Meanwhile, due to the slightly longer distance:

• A one-way Classic Flight Reward between Sydney & Noumea in Economy costs 18,000 Qantas points + $119 in fees and taxes.
• If you want to fly Business, the price is 41,500 Qantas points, fees and taxes are the same as Economy.

Redeem Qantas points for a Classic Flight Reward between Sydney and Noumea

What is Noumea like

You know that saying about beauty living in the eye of beholder, or something along those lines? I went to Noumea in 2019 and found it boring and overpriced. One of my colleagues at work said it was the lamest place he has ever visited. At the same time, I also happen to know many many people who absolutely adore it and keep returning.

I stayed at the Le Meridien and can recommend it as somewhere decent to stay. If you are interested check out the review of the property over here.

Le Meridien Noumea

In case you venture out further to Ise of Pines in Southern New Caledonia, there’s another Le Meridien on the island which by all accounts is much superior to it’s sister Noumea property.

In Conclusion

Qantas is flying dozens of points planes to Noumea between August and November. If you want to escape the Australian winter and feel the warm sand under your feet and have Qantas points to burn, this might be a good opportunity to do that.

One thing to be aware of is that besides Qantas, New Caledonia’s own national airline Aircalin also fly to Australia. They are currently offering promotional fares of approx $560 return from both Brisbane and Sydney to Noumea.

Flight’s to Noumea are fairly short, between 2-3 hrs each way. So if you don’t mind ponying-up and save points for a more luxurious experience, there might be merit in doing it.

Have you been to New Caledonia? Leave a comment below.