Qantas falls short as best airline rewards programs announced

November 2, 2026 - 2.06am

Qantas Frequent Flyer has been ranked the fifth-best airline loyalty rewards program in the region in a new study, and missed the global top 10 completely.

Point.me, an award travel search platform, has unveiled its 2026 World’s Best Airline Loyalty Program Rankings after analysing more than 250 million award fares across 33 global loyalty programs.

1. Qantas Frequent Flyer — Qantas came fifth for the best airline loyalty programs in the region. iStock

They aimed to work out which deliver the best value, availability, flexibility, and booking experience for travellers the study looked at criteria including ease of earning, redemption rates, partner network, award availability, customer service and more.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles came in at number one for the Asia and Oceania region.

It just beat Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank, which tied at number two.

In fourth place was ANA Mileage Club, with Qantas rounding out the top five.

Qantas and Virgin flight details seen on a departure board at Canberra Airport on Thursday 7 September 2023. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Major airline ‘perk’ Aussie travellers are giving up on

Qantas announced the “biggest change in history” to its award program across 2026 and 2027, including changes to how status credits are earned and rollover from membership year to membership year.

Despite this, the Aussie airline still only ranked 15th overall.

Virgin Australia’s Velocity program came in at number seven on the local list, and 26th overall.

Qantas frequent flyer has over 17 million members. Qantas

Globally, Air France-KLM Flying Blue program came in number one for the third year in a row.

According to the study, it stood out for its earning ability as well as partner options (including Qantas) and availability or seats especially last-minute.

Every major currency can be transferred in and family pooling of points is also free.