Using Qantas frequent flyer points to book Fiji Airways flights

Using your Qantas Frequent Flyer points to book journeys with Fiji Airways presents some fantastic options for travellers not just venturing to the likes of Nadi and Suva, but also jetting onwards to Honolulu, Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Play your cards right – or rather, your points – and you could even wind up enjoying a day in Fiji on your way to the United States, for no extra points than you'd need for a non-stop US-bound flight with Qantas.

Here's what you need to know to turn your Qantas Points into a business class ticket with Fiji Airways.

Booking Fiji Airways flights with Qantas Points: key routes

Out of Australia, Fiji Airways offers non-stop flights to Nadi from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, and from Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington in New Zealand. Additionally, Fiji Airways runs direct flights to Suva, the Fiji national capital, from Sydney and Auckland.

But there's more to Fiji Airways' network than only flying to Fiji – the airline also flies from Nadi to Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco, which you can book in connection with a flight from Australia or New Zealand, or book as an onward journey after enjoying some Fiji Time.

Fiji Airways also offers flights between Fiji and many other Pacific Island nations, plus Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo (Narita), although the latter are less practical for Australians travelling using points given the number of direct flights available from the same cities Fiji Airways serves.

Booking Fiji Airways flights with Qantas Points: how many points you'll need

The great thing about Fiji Airways' partnership with Qantas is that the number of points needed to book a Fiji Airways flight is the same as to book a Qantas flight of the same length – so even though Qantas doesn't fly to Fiji, the overall rates are more favourable than with many of Qantas' other partners.

Here's what you'd need for a one-way ticket in both business class and economy: for a return trip, double these figures:

Want to fly onwards from Australia/NZ to Los Angeles or San Francisco via Nadi as part of a connecting journey? Here's how many points you'll need in total for your booking, provided you spend less than 24 hours on the ground in Fiji in between:

Here's how that looks for Australia/NZ to Honolulu via Nadi:

You may notice that the rates above for travel between Australia and the USA are exactly the same as flying on a non-stop Qantas flight between the two countries – 96,000 Qantas Points for Sydney-Nadi-LAX in business class, for example, which is the same as to book Sydney-LA non-stop with Qantas.

This booking strategy gives you the opportunity to spend a little time in Fiji without burning any extra points, but if you do break your journey in Fiji and spend several days there, you'll be up for the points for two separate itineraries – Australia to Fiji, and then Fiji to USA.

For reference, here's how many points are needed to fly between Nadi and the United States, one-way.

So, if you flew from Sydney to Nadi in business class, took a break in Fiji and then flew onward to Los Angeles at a later date, you'd be up for 36,000 Qantas Points (Sydney-Nadi), plus 72,000 Qantas Points (Nadi-LAX), for a total of 108,000 Qantas Points.

If you kept your time in Nadi to under 24 hours instead, you'd only need 96,000 Qantas Points: a saving of 12,000 points.

As with all frequent flyer reward bookings, taxes, fees and surcharges are levied in addition to the points needed and vary from route to route, but they'll be made known during the booking process.

Booking Fiji Airways flights with Qantas Points: making that booking

Fiji Airways reward flights can be booked via the Qantas website, so there's no need to call.

Booking non-stop flights is straightforward – as you would for any other frequent flyer booking, key in the route you'd like to take, being sure to select the "Use points - Classic Flight Rewards only" option at the top:

You'll see your options on the next screen, and on the date we searched, we found availability on both the morning flight and the evening departure:

If you're flexible on timing, also take note that Fiji Airways uses both Boeing 737s and Airbus A330s on Australian flights, namely to Sydney – the former being fitted with standard reclining business class seats...

... but the latter offering angled-flat beds, which can be more comfortable on evening flights:

AusBT review: Fiji Airways' Airbus A330 business class

You can see which aircraft type is operating each flight by tapping or hovering your mouse over the flight number:

Once you've chosen your flight, just follow the steps to complete your booking.

However, you'll often need to follow a different process for booking multi-city flights, such as Sydney to San Francisco via Nadi, because Fiji Airways flights rarely appear when searching for journeys between Australia and other destinations.

Here's the trick: at the beginning of the booking process, instead of plugging in 'Sydney to San Francisco', look for the "Multi-City" button instead, and click that to get started:

On the next screen, you can key in each leg separately for a manual search, even if you're seeking to transit Fiji rather than stop over. Just be sure to choose "Use points - Classic Flight Rewards only". For example:

At first, you'll see the flight options available between Sydney and Nadi – select your preferred option for this leg...

... and proceed to the next page, where you'll see your Nadi-SFO flight options:

At the bottom of the same screen, you'll see the total number of points needed for your itinerary – in this case, it's 96,000 for business class, because we're spending less than 24 hours on the ground in between...

... and on the next screen, you'll have a chance to double-check your flights before finalising your booking.

Even though a swifter connection was possible than the one we selected – FJ910 from Sydney to Nadi, arriving early evening ahead of the San Francisco flight – choosing that earlier departure on the same day doesn't require any extra points, but does give you 11 hours on the ground and plenty of sunlight, so you could head into town and relax by the pool or at the beach, before your onward flight later that night.

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.