NEW: Credit KLM and Air France flights to Qantas, and then redeem the miles on British Airways

Qantas and Air France-KLM have a launched a new partnership which allows you to collect Qantas Points on ALL Air France and KLM flights.  As you can redeem Qantas Points for British Airways flights, this opens up interesting new opportunities.

Before I cover this in detail, let’s look at the background to this deal.

Qantas and Air France-KLM have an established codeshare

Late in 2018 we covered the new codeshare agreement between Qantas and Air France-KLM.  This is an interesting deal because the airlines are part of different alliances – Qantas is a member of oneworld, alongside British Airways, whilst Air France and KLM are core members of SkyTeam.

We have previously covered one strange little quirk from this new arrangement.  If you fly on KLM or Air France from Amsterdam or Paris to Singapore or Hong Kong, booked under the Qantas codeshare so your flight has a QF flight number, you can credit it to British Airways Executive Club and earn Avios and tier points.

You can do the same with Emirates.  As this article shows, book an Emirates flight with a Qantas flight number instead of an ‘EK’ Emirates flight number and it earns Avios and tier points.

It is important to note that Qantas is the only oneworld airline which lets you earn Avios and tier points when your flight has a oneworld flight code BUT is operated by a non-oneworld carrier.  The reasoning behind this is lost in the midst of time but relates to the now-dissolved BA and Qantas joint venture between the UK and Australia.

The Qantas joint venture with Air France-KLM has evolved

Last week, Qantas and Air France-KLM announced a deepening of their relationship.

You can now earn Qantas Points on ALL Air France and KLM flights.  They don’t need to have a Qantas flight number – any flight with an AF or KL flight number which is operated by Air France or KLM (no codeshares) counts.

What does this mean for you?

For UK residents, this opens up an interesting option.

If you fly Air France or KLM on a regular basis, you could start crediting your flights to Qantas Frequent Flyer instead of Flying Blue or any other SkyTeam frequent flyer partner.

This would allow you to redeem your points for British Airways flights, or indeed any other oneworld partner flight, via Qantas.

This isn’t necessary as great as it sounds though.  There are a few reasons why this may not be a great idea:

Firstly, you can’t merge your Qantas Points and Avios together.  You could book a one-way British Airways flight on Avios and book the return flight using Qantas Points.

Secondly, it isn’t easy to top-up your Qantas Points if you are short of what you need for a redemption.  They are not a UK American Express Membership Rewards partner, for example.

Thirdly, the Qantas Frequent Flyer reward chart is not hugely generous. 

Fourthly, you would be paying full taxes on European British Airways redemption flights – which is how most HfP readers would use a small pot of Qantas Points – instead of the reduced Reward Flight Saver fee of £35 return in Euro Traveller.  These flights will also, in general, require more Qantas Points than BA would require Avios.

Don’t forget the Virgin Atlantic / Air France / KLM partnership either

Starting VERY soon, you will be able to credit all Air France and KLM flights to Virgin Flying Club.

This is probably more attractive than crediting them to Qantas Frequent Flyer, because there are far more options for topping up a Virgin Flying Club balance.  It also opens up a new wave of airlines on which you can redeem.

I am expecting an announcement in the next few weeks on when you can start crediting Air France and KLM to Virgin.

Conclusion

If you have occasional Air France and KLM flights but have zero interest in Flying Blue miles, this new Qantas partnership gives you a new option which can see you ending up with a British Airways redemption.

For many HfP readers, however, I think Virgin Flying Club will soon be a more natural place to credit their Air France and KLM activity.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.