Virgin Australia recently resumed flights to Queenstown after more than 2.5 years. At the time of writing, there are daily return flights between Sydney, Brisbane & Queenstown and 4x weekly service from Melbourne, which increases to 1x daily between 11th December – 31st, January before returning to 4x weekly from February 2023.
With Qantas, Air New Zealand & Jetstar also plying this route, the competition amongst rival carriers to put bums on seats is expected to get fierce, particularly as we approach the summer School Holidays and the busy year-end travel season.
In this post, I want to take a detailed look at various options accessible to Australian’s when it comes to redeeming points flying Business Class between Australia & Queenstown. While a lot of people will naturally dip into their Qantas or Velocity points balance to book these flights, that may not really be the best value option as you will see below.
Flying Virgin Australia to Queenstown
There are 3 main points currency that most Australian’s would have access to, which they can redeem to travel to Queenstown on Virgin Australia flights. Lets take a look at each one of them and the value they offer.
- Velocity Points: The beauty of Velocity points is that they are very easy to come by. From credit card spends, grocery shopping to refuelling the family car, there is no shortage of options to pile up a healthy points balance.
You can redeem 35,500 Velocity points to fly one-way in Business Class from any of the 3 major East Coast cities in Australia to Queenstown.
Virgin Australia B-737 Business Class Seats - KrisFlyer Miles is the Frequent Flyer Currency of Singapore Airlines. Just the way you can redeem Velocity points on Singapore Airlines flights, the converse is also true. While relatively poor value, if you live in Singapore or some place else where it’s easier to earn KrisFlyer Miles than Velocity points, it might be ok to use them.
You can redeem 38,500 KrisFlyer Miles to fly one-way in Business Class from any of the 3 major East Coast cities in Australia to Queenstown.
You can redeem KrisFlyer Miles to fly Virgin AustraliaThese flights should be bookable on Singapore Airlines’ own website and availability should match with what you see with Velocity.
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Etihad Guest Miles: The partnership between Etihad & Virgin Australia dates back a very long time. In fact, the Abu Dhabi based carrier once owned part ownership stake in Virgin.
While not very well publicised outside the blogging community, redeeming Etihad Miles to fly to Queenstown is one of the hidden gems of Etihad Guest Program.
You can fly Virgin Australia Business Class one-way between Sydney and Queenstown for a paltry 13,800 Etihad Guest Miles. Note that redemptions from Brisbane & Melbourne are slightly higher at 21,800 Miles
Etihad & Virgin Australia are close partnersEtihad Guest is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards Program, and at 2:1 transfer ratio, you need just 27,600 Membership Rewards Points to cover the flight originating in Sydney and 43,600 Points if you are flying from Melbourne or Brisbane.
A small irritant with this strategy is that the flight cannot be booked online, you need to contact Etihad Guest Contact Centre and make the booking over the phone. All Velocity partners have access to the same Reward Seats, so as long as seats are available you should be book it with Etihad Miles.
Flying Air New Zealand to Queenstown
Air New Zealand offers daily non-stop flights between Sydney, Melbourne and Queenstown. Although not very generous, the Kiwi carrier does release reward seats on trans-tasman routes from time to time which are snapped-up real fast.
Air New Zealand’s own Airpoints program is quite poor, so I will be focusing on a couple of other points currency that are easy to access in Australia.
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points: Although Virgin Atlantic does not fly into Australia or even Indo-Pacific anymore, Flying Club points are surprisingly easy to earn. If you have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards Points, you can transfer them to Flying Club in the ratio of 2:1 (2 Amex Points = 1 Flying Club Point).
You can redeem 15,000 Flying Club points to fly one-way in Business Class from any of the 2 major East Coast cities in Australia to Queenstown.
Air New Zealand B-787 Business Class SeatsNote that Air New Zealand mainly deploys A-320 and A-321 on aircrafts on flights to Queenstown which feature recliner seats in Business Class, so while not as comfortable as the Dreamliner, they are perfectly fine for the 3-hr trek across the ditch.
- KrisFlyer Miles: You can redeem KrisFlyer Miles on Air New Zealand flights too, thanks to both carriers being members of Star Alliance. Again, this isn’t my first choice option but might make sense for those without access to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points, or in markets where KrisFlyer Miles are readily earnable.
A one-way Business Class flight between Sydney, Melbourne and Queenstown will set you back 21,800 KrisFlyer Miles.
You can redeem KrisFlyer Miles to fly Air New ZealandNote that the pricing shown above is for Economy Class, but it is certainly possible to redeem KrisFlyer Miles for Business Class flights too.
Flying Qantas to Queenstown
Qantas offers daily non-stop flights between Sydney and Queenstown, 4x weekly from Melbourne and 3x weekly service from Brisbane to Queenstown.
Just like Velocity points, there are numerous ways to earn Qantas points in Australia. While most Australian’s will naturally gravitate to Qantas points, there are a couple of other points currencies, which, while not as common as Qantas, are definitely worth the consideration. Let’s take a look at each one of them.
- Qantas Points: Qantas Frequent Flyer is Australia’s most well known Frequent Flyer Program boasting in excess of 13 Million members.
A one-way Classic Reward Seat in Business Class from Sydney and Melbourne to Queenstown is priced at 41,500 Qantas points.
Qantas B-737 Business Class Seats - British Airways Avios: Avios is the name of the common Frequent Flyer currency of British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, thanks to these airlines having a common owner in International Airlines Group or IAG. Just the way Qantas and Velocity Frequent Flyers earn and redeem Qantas and Velocity points, Frequent Flyers of these 3 airlines earn and redeem Avios.
Since Qantas & British Airways both are members of oneworld alliance, it is possible to redeem Avios on Qantas flights.
You can redeem 22,000 Avios to fly one-way in Business Class from any of the 3 major East Coast cities in Australia to Queenstown.
Redeem Avios to fly Qantas Business ClassThere are a couple of ways to access Avios in Australia. If you have a Commonwealth Bank card, you can transfer Commbank Award Points to Qatar Airways at 3:1 (3 Commbank points = 1 Qatar Airways Avios) and onwards to British Airways Executive Club. This however is not ideal as both earning and transfer rates are below par.
A much better way to get your hands over Avios is by buying the Avios subscription service. If you buy a 12-month plan, it is possible to collect Avios at a price of just 1.6c per Avios, which translates into a cost of $352 (plus taxes) for the Business Class flight to Queenstown. Cash fares on this route are over $1,200 so you can get excellent value for your Avios.
Relevant Reading : Guide to Avios Subscription Service
- Asia Miles: Asia Miles is the Frequent Flyer currency of Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific. Like Qantas & British Airways, Cathay Pacific is also a member of oneworld alliance which makes it possible to redeem Asia Miles on Qantas flights.
You can fly Qantas Business Class one-way from any of the 3 major East Coast cities in Australia to Queenstown for 30,000 Asia Miles.
Redeem Asia Miles to fly Qantas Business ClassAsia Miles is a transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards Program as well as the 4 major banks in Australia, meaning you should have no trouble getting your hands over them. There’s even a transfer bonus offer of up to 15% bonus Asia Miles available until 12th November 2022 which further brings down the cost of this redemption.
In Conclusion
There are few places in the world quite like Queenstown. While many people think of Queenstown as a snowboarding and skiing winter wonderland, I would argue it’s an all-year round destination with April & May being my favourite months to visit when autumnal hue on trees are a sight to behold.
The cost of food, accommodation and adventure sports can be quite expensive in Queenstown, so it makes sense to at least save money on flights by redeeming points. With the money left over, don’t forget to shout yourself a burger at the famed fergburger.
What is your favourite points currency to redeem for travel to Queenstown? Leave a comment below.
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points: Although Virgin Atlantic does not fly into Australia or even Indo-Pacific anymore, Flying Club points are surprisingly easy to earn. If you have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards Points, you can transfer them to Flying Club in the ratio of 2:1 (2 Amex Points = 1 Flying Club Point).
