
Cheap Qantas Business Class Deal- Save upto 90% off Qantas Business Class, 83% off Flex Economy
Update: 23rd August 2017 – it’s now been confirmed by customer service that if based outside the EU i.e. Australia you can ask customer service to refund the VAT amount by replying to your payment receipt email and asking for it to be refunded as you live outside the EU.
This brings the cost of the points down even further than the table in this article to 1.0717 cents per avios. I’ll update the VAT section below to account for this new update.
OK, Here’s a deal that gives you incredibly cheap Qantas Business Class flights with upto 90% off the cost of Qantas Business Class Flights in Australia. It also can give savings of upto 83% on Qantas Economy Flex Fares and upto 66% off Qantas Saver Class fares on certain routes compared to paying the cash fare.
It also gives savings of intra Asia flights and some other short haul flights on Cathay Pacific.
As with buying any point currency, the tradeoff is you won’t earn status credits or miles when flying, but you will earn miles or frequent flyer points when buying the deal with a Rewards Credit Card that earns frequent flyer points.
It works again by acquiring avios (British Airway’ points currency) as we covered in our previous article on Buying BA Avios to Save 85% off Qantas Business Class. But this deal is EASIER and the price of the points is even SWEETER!
We’re not buying miles directly in this case, we’re taking advantage of an arbitrage opportunity where the miles or points earned for buying a product or service are worth (to us) more than the cost of the product or service purchased.
We sometimes see this with certain deals, and you can earn points on many goods and services these days on anything from signing up to dating sites such as eharmony through British Airway’s eStore Shopping Portal to buying a fridge at David Jones or shopping at TheIconic through Qantas’ Online Mall Shopping Portal or Virgin Australia’s eStore Shopping Portal.
In this case it’s a digital newspaper deal that awards us Avios on the purchase. As we saw in the article on Buying BA Avios to Save 85% off Qantas Business Class,we can use British Airways Avios for flying on Qantas, Cathay Pacific and other OneWorld airlines.
That was a pretty complex deal involving several steps. Sometimes with travel hacking, it’s complex and sometimes it’s a bit easier.
This time we have a quick and easy points deal.
It involves subscribing to a digital newspaper in Ireland and in return you get 18,000 avios for the cost of EUR 160 which is $237.27 using a forex free card such as Bankwest World or Coles Rewards Mastercard. American Express is not accepted so you can’t pay with the forex free Commbank Diamond American Express on this occasion which would’ve earned more points than the other two.
This gives us a cost of approx. 1.32 cents per Avios point.
The newspapers available are The Irish Independent and Sunday Independent Digital Editions. ( there are paper versions but obviously you need an address in Ireland for that). If you’re from Ireland and will get use out of the newspaper subscriptions that’s fine, but just view it as a bonus, because we don’t really care about anything other than the Avios in this case.
If you want to get right into it, the link to buy the digital delivery is here, or keep reading for the full steps further in this article on how the deal works (but it is pretty straightforward).
Why is this Avios Deal So great for Australian Travel Hackers?
18,000 avios just happens to be precisely the amount of points required to redeem for a return short haul business class ticket for upto 650 miles (1046 km) or less booked on ba.com using avios to fly on Qantas or any other OneWorld airline using avios. The taxes will differ depending on the destination.
For example Sydney to Melbourne costs GBP 10.50 ($17.06). This means that you can fly Sydney to Melbourne in Business Class for $135.70 one way using avios bought via this deal.
We can also combine this with family pooling household accounts on Ba.com to allow several family members to avail themselves of this deal to stack in multiples of 18,000 points. Household Accounts allow up to seven individuals who live at the same address to ‘pool’ their Avios together into one cumulative Household Account Avios balance which can then be redeemed by all Household Account members. So this means via this deal you can ‘purchase’ and combine upto 126,000 Avios viaa signing up for seven digital subscriptions. Enough for seven return short haul business class flights or 18 short haul economy flights.
Here’s a list of a number of destinations we put together including one on Cathay Pacific to illustrate an example of domestic flight possibilities on Qantas and intra Asia pricing opportunities flying from Singapore to Bangkok:
Origin | Destination | Carrier | Fare Class | Avios Required | Tax (GBP) | Cost of Avios | Tax (AUD) | Total Cost | Retail Fare | Saving (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sydney | Melbourne | Qantas | Business | 9,000 | 10.5 | 118.64 | 17.06 | 135.7 | 1,320 | 90 |
Sydney | Melbourne | Qantas | Economy Flex | 4,500 | 10.5 | 59.32 | 17.06 | 76.38 | 449 | 83 |
Sydney | Melbourne | Qantas | Economy non flex | 4,500 | 10.5 | 59.32 | 17.06 | 76.38 | 222 | 66 |
Sydney | Perth | Qantas | Business | 37,500 | 13.8 | 494.31 | 22.42 | 516.73 | 2,351 | 78 |
Sydney | Perth | Qantas | Economy Flex | 12,500 | 13.8 | 164.77 | 22.42 | 187.19 | 701 | 73 |
Sydney | Perth | Qantas | Economy non flex | 12,500 | 13.8 | 164.77 | 22.42 | 187.19 | 223 | 16 |
Sydney | Darwin | Qantas | Business | 20,000 | 19 | 263.63 | 30.87 | 294.5 | 1,223 | 76 |
Sydney | Darwin | Qantas | Economy Flex | 10,000 | 19 | 131.82 | 30.87 | 162.69 | 622 | 74 |
Sydney | Darwin | Qantas | Economy non flex | 10,000 | 19 | 131.82 | 30.87 | 162.69 | 219 | 26 |
Melbourne | Perth | Qantas | Business | 20,000 | 11.8 | 263.63 | 19.17 | 282.81 | 2,151 | 87 |
Melbourne | Perth | Qantas | Economy Flex | 10,000 | 11.8 | 131.82 | 19.17 | 150.99 | 648 | 77 |
Melbourne | Perth | Qantas | Economy non flex | 10,000 | 11.8 | 131.82 | 19.17 | 150.99 | 225 | 33 |
Melbourne | Brisbane | Qantas | Business | 15,000 | 11 | 197.73 | 17.87 | 215.6 | 1061 | 80 |
Melbourne | Brisbane | Qantas | Economy Flex | 7,500 | 11 | 98.86 | 17.87 | 116.73 | 504 | 77 |
Melbourne | Brisbane | Qantas | Economy non flex | 7,500 | 11 | 98.86 | 17.87 | 116.73 | 212 | 45 |
Perth | Sydney | Qantas | Business | 37,500 | 13.8 | 494.31 | 22.42 | 516.73 | 2,351 | 78 |
Perth | Sydney | Qantas | Economy Flex | 12,500 | 13.8 | 164.77 | 22.42 | 187.19 | 701 | 73 |
Perth | Sydney | Qantas | Economy non flex | 12,500 | 13.8 | 164.77 | 22.42 | 187.19 | 223 | 16 |
Cairns | Sydney | Qantas | Business | 20,000 | 16.5 | 263.63 | 26.81 | 290.44 | 668 | 57 |
Cairns | Sydney | Qantas | Economy Flex | 10,000 | 16.5 | 131.82 | 26.81 | 158.63 | 308 | 48 |
Cairns | Sydney | Qantas | Economy non flex | 10,000 | 16.5 | 131.82 | 26.81 | 158.63 | 273 | 42 |
Cairns | Brisbane | Qantas | Business | 15,000 | 16.7 | 197.73 | 27.13 | 224.86 | 999 | 77 |
Cairns | Brisbane | Qantas | Economy Flex | 7,500 | 16.7 | 98.86 | 27.13 | 126 | 347 | 64 |
Cairns | Brisbane | Qantas | Economy non flex | 7,500 | 16.7 | 98.86 | 27.13 | 126 | 268 | 53 |
Gold Coast | Melbourne | Qantas | Business | 15,000 | 10.7 | 197.73 | 17.38 | 215.11 | 717 | 70 |
Gold Coast | Melbourne | Qantas | Economy Flex | 7,500 | 10.7 | 98.86 | 17.38 | 116.25 | 292 | 60 |
Gold Coast | Melbourne | Qantas | Economy non flex | 7,500 | 10.7 | 98.86 | 17.38 | 116.25 | 171 | 32 |
Gold Coast | Sydney | Qantas | Business | 9,000 | 12.7 | 118.64 | 20.63 | 139.27 | 607 | 77 |
Gold Coast | Sydney | Qantas | Economy Flex | 9,000 | 12.7 | 118.64 | 20.63 | 139.27 | 252 | 45 |
Gold Coast | Sydney | Qantas | Economy non flex | 9,000 | 12.7 | 118.64 | 20.63 | 139.27 | 111 | -25 |
Canberra | Melbourne | Qantas | Business | 9,000 | 19.9 | 118.64 | 32.33 | 150.97 | 813 | 81 |
Canberra | Melbourne | Qantas | Economy Flex | 4,500 | 19.9 | 59.32 | 32.33 | 91.65 | 392 | 77 |
Canberra | Melbourne | Qantas | Economy non flex | 4,500 | 19.9 | 59.32 | 32.33 | 91.65 | 268 | 66 |
Sydney | Auckland | Qantas | Business | 20,000 | 76.2 | 263.63 | 123.81 | 387.44 | 1,134 | 66 |
Sydney | Auckland | Qantas | Economy Flex | 10,000 | 76.2 | 131.82 | 123.81 | 255.62 | 634 | 60 |
Sydney | Auckland | Qantas | Economy non flex | 10,000 | 76.2 | 131.82 | 123.81 | 255.62 | 279 | 8 |
Singapore | Bangkok | Cathay Pacific | Business | 15,000 | 25.5 | 197.73 | 41.43 | 239.16 | 548 | 56 |
Singapore | Bangkok | Cathay Pacific | Premium Economy | 11,250 | 25.5 | 148.29 | 41.43 | 189.73 | 523 | 64 |
Singapore | Bangkok | Cathay Pacific | Economy | 7,500 | 25.5 | 98.86 | 41.43 | 140.29 | 270 | 48 |
We see an example of how avios used in this way can help in flight hacking in how we travel hacked a trip from Perth to Bangkok, which uses Avios as part of the hack, or search on the British Airways website for your desired redemption. Often splitting a journey into smaller legs can work out advantageous when redeeming awards using Avios due to their cheaper pricing for shorter hops.
At the prices in this deal, there are other destinations like East Coast to West Coast Sydney to Perth for example that give savings of 16% off economy fares ($187.19 versus $223), 73% off flexible economy fares ($187.19 versus $701), and 83.6% off business class fares ($516.73 versus $2,351) for the flat bed trans-continental experience on Qantas A330 which boasts the Vantage XL seat that allows flat bed from take-off to landing for more sleep on these routes. It also flies on some short haul domestic legs.
How to Buy the Avios
You’ll need to signup for a British Airways or avios.com account first at ba.com or avios.com (or certain other IAG partners in the avios scheme as they can be transferred across between airways who operate the avios scheme). The terms and conditions of the offer state “You must be a member of AerClub, Avios Travel Rewards Club or the British Airways Executive Club.” If you credit the avios to ba.com there’s no 90 day wait as there was with the previous Iberia Avios deal.
The link to buy the digital delivery is here

Digital Delivery Deal
Make sure you select the Avios offer.

Buy Avios Offer

Checkout Options

Confirmation Message
Claiming Back the VAT
Update: 23rd August 2017 – it’s now been confirmed by customer service that if based outside the EU e.g. Australia, you can ask customer service to refund the VAT amount by replying to your payment receipt email and asking for it to be refunded as you live outside the EU.
I replied to the Customer Service email that sent me the payment receipt stating I was based in Australia and could they refund the VAT amount as I was based outside the EU.
I got a reply from Kate within 12 hours (basically during Irish working hours) saying “Yes I will arrange of Refund for the VAT Price.”
VAT is charged at 23% in Ireland on this transaction so you’ll get EUR 29.92 back on the transaction if you are eligible for a VAT refund.
This brings down the cost of avios to 1.0717 cent per avios so I’ll now need to re-visit the table in this article. As an example, the Perth to Melbourne flight drops to $233.51 including taxes using this deal – a saving of 89% off the Business Class Fare Price!
If you have a business in the EU you may also be able to claim back the EUR 29.92 that’s included in the purchase price. Usually you need to specify a VAT number to do this and I couldn’t find a way to do this. Getting the VAT back (if that is even possible) is beyond the scope of this article.
You may be able to email customer service and let them have your EU VAT number and they should be able to modify the transaction and refund the VAT – you will of course have to then account for this VAT in the normal way for intra-EU purchases.
Thanks to one of our readers Jamie from Melbourne who sent in the information on non EU VAT Refunds!
Getting the Avios
We noticed there’s nowhere in the signup process to put your avios details.
Instead, the process is explained here:

Redeem Avios
- Keep a look out for 2 emails. The first will be a confirmation of your purchase, the second will be your unique voucher code.
- Once you’ve received your unique voucher code, head to www.aviosvouchers.com
- Avios will be credited to your account within 5 days after completion of voucher.
Update 30th August – My voucher code took 9 days to arrive, well ahead of the time they state in the terms and conditions.
Once redeemed it says you need to just wait a further five days for the avios to be credited to your account.
Book your flights on Qantas or other OneWorld airlines using your British Airways Avios by going to ba.com and selecting to book using avios:
Here’s some examples of flights on the Qantas site and similar flights on Ba.com pricing booked using Avios.

Book Sydney to Melbourne Business Class flight with Avios

Sydney to Perth on Qantas Site

Sydney to Perth Pricing using Avios

Sydney to Perth Pricing Economy using Avios
Tip of the Hat to Rob at Head For Points
Leave a Reply
40 Comments on "Cheap Qantas Business Class Deal- Save upto 90% off Qantas Business Class, 83% off Flex Economy"
Hi Dave.
Thanks 4 the article.
Its a great article.
Just wanted to ask re: the flite from Perth to Melb. business class Qantas., is it the same 20k avios points for this flite as well, as it is 20k from Melb. to Perth.
Also is it the classic rewrads flight ?
Hope to c ur reply soon.
Cheers.
Hassan.
Hi Hassan,
Thanks for your comment and I’m glad you got some use out of reading it.
To answer your question, the number of avios required is the same in each direction. 20,000 Avios Perth to Melbourne and 20,000 Melbourne to Perth in business class on Qantas and the taxes are the same (taxes can sometimes differ reversing origin and destination where departure taxes are different)
Yes it shows up in the Qantas search engine as Business Classic Award if you’re using that to check availability and we book for this deal using the ba.com website using our avios as per some of the screenshots in the article. Whilst Qantas and British Airways are both part of OneWorld and their points can be used to book on each others flights we can’t send points between the programs but we can use both sites to search for award availability.
Also some good news from one of our readers on claiming the VAT back for non EU residents which makes the deal even sweeter 🙂
I’ll update once I’ve heard back from them as I’ve sent my own email off to customer service requesting a refund.
Cheers,
Dave
Thanks Dave for ur reply.
I have got few questions to ask if thats ok:
I am planning to fly Perth to Melb. business class early next year. For that i would need 40k avios points. I have added my wife and daughter to my BA family account. So 2 get this deal to fly Perth- Melb., should i buy this deal 3x times, once from each family member account.
My daughter’s email is the same as mine. Would it cause any issue with buying the deal for 18k avios?
Hope 2 c ur reply soon.
Cheers.
Hassan.
In continuation of my last message, in terms of paying for this deal, how do u rate using Qantas cash card to pay 4 this. I don’t have forex free credit card and i don’t want to pay the conversion fees extra.
Also how much is the VAT for this return trip and how do we get that back ?
Hope to c ur reply soon.
Cheers.
Hassan.
HI Dave.
Thanks 4 ur very prompt reply.
So i can buy this deal 3x times under my name ?
or it has to be thru other family members ?
VAT is charged at 23% in Ireland on this transaction so you’ll get EUR 29.92 back on the transaction.
This brings down the cost of avios to 1.0717 cent per avios so your Perth to Melbourne flight drops to $233.51 including taxes using this deal – a saving of 89% off the Business Class Fare Price!
I replied to the Customer Service email that sent me the payment receipt stating I was based in Australia and could they refund the VAT amount as I was based outside the EU.
I got a reply within 12 hours (basically during Irish working hours) saying “Yes I will arrange of Refund for the VAT Price.”
Thanks Dave.
U hv been really helpful and prompt.
Just the last Q:
I should buy 3x of these deals thru all different family member’s accounts to get 54k avios ?
Cheers.
The terms and conditions don’t say anything about crediting them to a different family member’s account actually, so you technically could buy three subscriptions and credit all the avios to a single account
Thanks Dave.
I have purchased 3x thru this link.
Hope they get in time for my Jan. Perth- Melb. trip.
Once i get the points and i need to ask anything i’ll give u a shout.
Thanks 4 ur help.
Cheers.
Hassan.
Hi guys
I’ve just purchased this deal and got 2 emails (1 invoice and 1 confirmation) but no voucher code. Anyone else have this issue?
Yong
Hi Yong.
You will receive the email with the voucher code in about 4 weeks.
Cheers.
Hassan.
Hi Yong,
I understand it can take 21 days to receive the avios voucher.
Let us know when you receive it.
Regards,
Dave
Thanks Hassan and Dave. Reach Home Delivery customer service advised the voucher will arrive in 28 days. Good times. I’m going to get a few more of these. Awesome article and website Dave.
Hi Yong- You are always welcome.
Dave- I have got the voucher.
Now when I go to https://www.aviosvouchers.com/, there is space for membership no. for BA executive member no., but there is no space for avios voucher code ?
How does it work. Where do I put the avios voucher code ?
Hope 2 c ur reply soon.
Cheers.
Hassan.
Hi again Yong,
Just an update – my voucher came through by email today. It took 9 days from when I ordered. I’m not sure if this is typical or if they process in batches but it’s good news as a lot quicker than expected.
Cheers,
Dave
Hi Hassan,
I just got mine to so maybe they process in batches.
The space to enter the code appears on the page after pressing submit.
Regards,
Dave
Thanks Dave.
Hey guys
got mine last night too.
Hassan, did you end up buying three lots? If so, did you buy them using the same email and also credit them to the same Avios account?
Yong
Hi Yong.
I bought 3 of these. I bought thru 3 different email addresses and will credit them to different avios accounts.
As far as i know, you can create a household account on BA exec. club and then can add members onto that…
Hassan,
You may want to check your BA accounts. My avios posted today. Way quicker than the five days expected!
Let us know how you go with booking your business class flights!
All the best,
Dave
Hi Dave.
I have got the avios points today as well… way quicker as u said.
Now, the Q is when i am booking the BA rewards seat, i used my address back home from Pakistan, as i am from Pakistan. The payment page isn’t accepting Australian credit card. I have called BA hotline and they told me that some one need to do the payment at London Heathrow Airport at the BA counter ???
Is that rite ?
Do u know any other way round ?
Thanks Dave 4 all ur help.
Its all sorted. I changed my address on BA profile to UK address and then it was all good. I paid w/ my aussie credit card.
I had to pay over the fone, as the site wasn’t accepting it. They waived off the fone charges.
This is the 1st time i hv bought points w/ a specific redemption in mind n 1st time booking business class using points as well… n that 2 on Qantas A330- lie flat… i am so excited… really looking forward 2 the trip.
(to be continued in next comment)
(continuation from last comment)..
Its all cz of u Dave n this great article… u r the best… Thank u so much.
Now last thing i want to ask u do u think it would be wise to get some more points, when i will know only 2 weeks b4 the travel date, where i am travelling domestically.
I don’t think its a good idea as the seats will most likely be not available then, but just wanted ur opinion on this as well.
Cheers.
Hassan.
Hi Dave.
THanks.
I’ll let u know how the flite went…
Re: the VAT refund, did you get it back ?
Hi Hassan,
Yes mine came through on 28th August – worked out at $45.09 on my forex free card.
Ok.
Thanks Dave 4 letting me know.
I’ll wait till 2morrow and then shoot them an email.
It arrived quickly after I sent an email chasing them up. It could also be a delay in your credit card provider showing the transaction. Some are quicker than others.
Thanks Dave.
I’ll send them an email today, will c wt they say.
I’ll let you know wn i get it.
Thanks.
Hi Dave.
Just a f/u email. My VAT refund only came thru today, and that 2 after multiple reminder emails. I have still gt 2 left…
They hv only sent refund for the 1st lot which i bought.
Hi Hassan,
I would just reply to them and notify the transactions you made and the ones that are still outstanding and they should chase them up and refund the VAT for you so long as it was to a non EU address. I only made one transaction and had to chase it up then the refund came through.
Hi Dave.
Just an update: I have received the last refund today– after sending them emails almost every 2nd day…. it was really annoying n frustrating.
Probably won’t go again with them…
Cheers.
Hassan.
Hey guys
Yeah I had to remind them once too but that was it. To be fair, even without the VAT refund this is an incredibly good deal. The VAT refund was just the cherry on top I reckon. 18,000 points for under $250 which can be used for a return Business Class flight Syd to Melbs is awesome. Love your work Dave
Hassan,
Glad to hear they came through – As Yong said the VAT refund really was the cherry on top and the promotion wasn’t originally intended for non EU residents – they have since changed the offer possibly as a result! But yes awesome value with or without the refund. Also in this game, we need to remember if it was easy then everyone would do it. Complexity is our friend. 🙂
Yong,
Agreed – it’s still great value without the VAT refund. Thanks for the kind words and glad you took advantage of the offer. Cheers, Dave
Thanks Dave and Yong.
Yes i do agree that its a fantastic deal even without the VAT refund…
Its just that when u get to know it will be refunded, u get slightly impatient.
It could be that i had 3x orders, that it took them a while to get refunded.
Thanks anyway for the deal Dave.
I’ll comment when i travel.. how did i t go..
Hi, i notice on the link to the magazine subscription it now says
** 9,000 Avios Points (International subscribers)
** 18,000 Avios Points (ROI subscribers)
anyone redeemed of late? is there a way they know you are international?
Thanjs