Qantas partners with Philippine Airlines for Classic Reward seats

Qantas is adding Philippine Airlines to its roster of partners, and in the process unlocking seats on PAL at low Classic Reward rates.

Frequent flyers are already seeing seats pop up on the recently-launched Qantas Flight Reward Finder tool.

These cover not only Philippine Airlines’ routes between Australia and Manila but across the Philippines – including the beaches of Boracay, the diving capital of Cebu and the World Heritage-listed Palawan province – and onwards to PAL’s international network. 

For many, the prize will be a Classic Reward booking in business class all the way through to New York, with the Manila-New York leg flown on Philippine Airlines’ new A350-1000 jet fitted with 42 private doored Mabuhay Studio business class suites.

PAL's new A350-1000 includes these modern Mabuhay Studio business class suites.

By year’s end, PAL is expecting to have five A350-1000s which will also be flying to Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, while the A350s continue their treks to Vancouver and Toronto.

Qantas Classic Reward seats on Philippine Airlines

PAL sits on the same Qantas Partner Classic Flight Reward table as Air France, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways, among others.

Philippine Airlines' A330 business class uses the same Vantage XL platform as Qantas' A330, A380 and 787 business class.

This lobs Sydney-Manila and Melbourne-Manila into Zone 5, with the following one-way Classic Reward redemption rates for Philippine Airlines’ Airbus A330 flights:

• 90,000 Qantas Points for PAL business class
• 70,800 Qantas Points for PAL premium economy
• 34,700 Qantas Points for PAL economy

Philippine Airlines' premium economy, shown here on the A350, could prove the redemption sweet spot for many.

The premium economy option is a strong advantage here, as Qantas flies only business and economy to Manila.

Philippine Airlines’ Brisbane-Manila and Perth-Manila flights are nestled into Zone 4, which means fewer points are needed for these single-aisle two-class A321neo services:

• 73,400 Qantas Points for PAL business class
• 28,200 Qantas Points for PAL economy

PAL's A321neo business class uses this dated 2-2 design, although at least the seats become lie-flat beds.

Looking to go all the way from Australia to North America – to the likes of via Manila? Expect 182,900 Qantas Points each way in business class, or 143,500 points in premium economy (only available from Sydney and Melbourne).

Taxes and surcharges for a Classic Reward booking using Qantas Points between Australia and Manila on PAL are relatively modest, coming in at under $300.

And the Classic Reward rates aren’t that much higher than if you were booking onto a Qantas flight (for example, Sydney-Manila in business class is 82,100 points), so the opportunity to tap into a new supply of seats on Philippine Airlines is certainly welcome.

“Partnering with Philippine Airlines opens up more of Asia and adds 15 destinations previously missing from our partner network,” says Qantas Loyalty CEO Andrew Glance.

“From the world-class beaches of Boracay to the limestone lagoons of El Nido, these are destinations that feel like a true reward.”

“Members can now build an entire island-hopping itinerary using points, connecting through Manila to some of the most remote and beautiful spots in Southeast Asia.”

Watch for new Classic Reward seats to pop up across the PAL network.

Qantas maintains its own direct flights from Sydney and Brisbane to Manila.

Sydney gets the workhorse Airbus A330 with flatbed business class, but Brisbane will shift from the same A330 to a single-aisle A321XLR with business class recliners in late October.

The Philippine Department of Tourism reports a significant increase in Australians travelling to the region, with Australian visitor arrivals up 19% in the first quarter of 2026, compared to the same period last year.