Qantas has released a fair amount of Business Class award seats for flights between Singapore and Australian cities in the coming months.
Miles required to fly in Business Class between Singapore and Australia
Let’s have a quick look at the amount of miles + taxes/fees required to fly one-way, in Business Class, directly from Singapore to Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
| Frequent Flyer Program | Airline | Perth | Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore Airlines Krisflyer | Singapore Airlines | 40.5k (+S$79) | 68.5k (+S$89) |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | Qantas | 30k (+S$221) | 61k (+S$229) |
| British Airways Executive Club | Qantas | 38.75k (+S$92) | 62k (+S$106) |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | Qantas | 57k (+S$185) | 68.4k (+S$197) |
As you can see, redeeming Asia Miles for Qantas flights is the cheapest option in miles but the FFP adds an additional HKD 740 (S$128) fuel surcharge on Qantas award bookings even though there are no fuel surcharges on Qantas flights.
How to Earn Asia Miles and Executive Club Avios
As shown in the table below, Asia Miles can be converted from most credit cards in Singapore. However, British Airways Executive Club Avios can only be converted from Citi and AMEX cards.
Additional note: If you have excess Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios, you can transfer them to British Airways Executive Club for free.
Related: Singapore Bank Transfer Partners
Qantas Business Class Award Availability
As of today, I am seeing some Business Class availability between Singapore and Australian cities as soon as tomorrow, 23 Dec 2022 till June 2023.
I could also find availability for up to 4 passengers on some dates.
How to find Qantas Business Class Award availability
The easiest and quickest way to search for Qantas partner award availability is on American Airlines’ website, aa.com.
This is because, you will be able to set filters like “non-stop flights only”, “business class only” and no. of passengers, and have a lovely calendar view of the award availability.
Use aa.com only as a reference and ignore the miles indicated on the website.
When you see availability on aa.com, replicate the search on your preferred frequent flyer program (e.g. Asia Miles, Executive Club) to complete the booking.
Additional note: There are not many direct flights on Qantas between Singapore and Sydney. You may find direct flights on British Airways but that comes with hefty taxes/fees of about S$300 each way.
Qantas Business Class seat
Qantas flies wide-body Airbus A330s between Singapore and the Australian cities with a 1-2-1 Business Class cabin configuration.
Additional note: The airline also flies Airbus A380s between Singapore and Sydney but I’ve not been able to find Business Class award availability on that aircraft.
Bottom line
Travellers looking to fly in Business Class between Singapore and Australian cities have a good, high-value option with Qantas and Asia Miles.
This is particularly useful as Singapore Airlines Krisflyer has near-zero Saver award availability on these routes till April 2023, without waitlisting.