Qantas, British Airways expand European codeshare partnership
By Chris C., February 6 2018
Qantas Frequent Flyer members can now earn extra frequent flyer points aboard British Airways flights in Europe, as the two Oneworld airlines expand their mutual codeshare partnership.
As of this month, Qantas now codeshares on BA’s flights between London and both Belfast and Marseille, enabling travellers to earn points at a higher rate when booking their journey on a Qantas QF flight number, as opposed to a British Airways BA flight code.
Qantas will also expand its codeshares to cover more British Airways flights between London and Aberdeen, Basel, Berlin and Edinburgh, unlocking the same opportunities.
For example, on any of those flights when travelling on a Qantas QF flight number, Bronze-level frequent flyers can earn 1,400 Qantas Points plus 40 status credits in business class (Club Europe); 1,200 Qantas Points plus 20 status credits on flexible economy tickets, and 800 Qantas Points plus 10 status credits on lower-cost economy tickets.
AusBT review: British Airways Airbus A320 'Club Europe' business class
Qantas Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One frequent flyers earn points at a higher rate when taking QF-coded flights – for Platinum members, that pushes the haul to a respectable 1,625 Qantas Points in business class and 1,300 Qantas Points in flexible economy, although discount economy remains at 800 Qantas Points under the airline’s minimum points guarantee.
Compare that to journeys taken on a BA flight number – which, in most cases, gives 825 Qantas Points in business class, 650 Qantas Points in flexible economy and 170 Qantas Points in discount economy on the same routes for all members – and some travellers could be earning almost five times as many points from the same flight, just by booking onto the Qantas flight number.
However, on these particular routes, the number of status credits earned remains the same whether travelling on a Qantas (QF) or a British Airways (BA) flight number: it’s only the points that differ.
Perks like airport lounge access, priority check-in and priority boarding also remain the same for Gold and Platinum frequent flyers, whether travelling on a Qantas or British Airways flight number, as both airlines are members of the global Oneworld alliance.
Qantas and British Airways previously codeshared on each other’s flights between Australia and London, but this arrangement ended in 2013 when Qantas forged a new partnership with Emirates.
Qantas continues to codeshare on British Airways flights between London and Budapest, Edinburgh, Leeds, Toulouse and Zagreb, while BA also codeshares on Qantas’ flights from Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Singapore, and on other selected domestic and international routes.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
16 Nov 2011
Total posts 595
Pity in europe BA is now no better than other Euro LLC’s.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Oct 2016
Total posts 66
May have missed this in the article (or I'm being dense) but is it possible to book these flights be booked as codeshare departing from London? or do they have to form part of a long haul itinerary to get the QF flight number?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Apr 2017
Total posts 134
Why on earth would you fly to places like Zagreb or Budapest on BA via LHR with their Euro service when you have the choice of a one stop via Dubai with a proper long haul product...
01 Jan 1970
Total posts 0
Unless things have changed recently, QF has not and does not codeshare with EK on flights from DXB to BUD, ZAG, and some select European ports, and so the BA codeshares remained. I do not know, but there may be commercial, contractual, or regulatory reasons as to why QF has not put its code on those flights.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Qantas, British Airways expand European codeshare partnership