For North America, Qantas Points and Velocity Points are separated by just 500 points on the headline route, Sydney to New York. The deciding measures are reward availability on your dates and the published price of the partner each program puts you on. Velocity’s published United Airlines pricing starts at 48,000 Points one way to Los Angeles in Economy. As of July 2026, a Qantas Economy reward to New York costs 63,500 Points compared to Velocity’s 63,000 for the same city pair. Here is how the programs compare across the Pacific. Including the partner reshuffle that changed the map in 2025 and 2026.
Qantas and Velocity book four airlines to North America
The Qantas Group flies its own aircraft to the United States. It also prices American Airlines off the same Classic Flight Reward table. Classic Flight Rewards are Qantas’ fixed-price reward seats. So a domestic American connection beyond the gateway costs no partner premium. Virgin Australia no longer operates its own flights to North America, but Velocity’s partner bench covers the crossing. This includes United Airlines on the nonstops and Air Canada for Canada. The latest change involves Hawaiian Airlines. They joined the oneworld alliance on 22 April 2026 and now appear on the Qantas partner reward table.
Qantas has also released periodic batches of reward seats on North American routes. However, availability across the Pacific remains the real constraint in every program. Those random release windows matter more here than almost anywhere else.
Qantas Points across the Pacific
Under the Classic Reward table, effective 5 August 2025, the longest routes anchor the pricing. An Economy Classic Flight Reward from Sydney to New York costs 63,500 Qantas Points one way, the same as Sydney to Paris. This is because both sit in Zone 10, the 9,601 to 15,000 mile band at the top of the table. Shorter crossings are priced by their own zones. A Sydney to Los Angeles Economy Classic Flight Reward costs 48,200 Points one way, as of July 2026. The Qantas Classic Flight Reward tables list the exact figures by cabin. Our guide to booking a Classic Flight Reward seat shows how to price any itinerary by total distance.
Book Sydney to Los Angeles to another point in the USA as one Classic Flight Reward. The whole journey will be charged on the combined distance. This is because, as noted above, American Airlines sits on the Qantas table rather than the dearer partner one. That approach often means the onward domestic flight cost is only the difference between zones, and it is Qantas’ structural advantage in this market. One thing to watch for is if your search only returns Classic Plus results. That is a commercial fare converted to points at mediocre value, not a Classic Reward, keep hunting or change dates.
Booking behaviour matters as much as the table. Classic Rewards carry no online booking fee and stay flexible at 5,000 Points per person to change or 6,000 to cancel. Premium cabins are harder to find. Business and First seats tend to appear in bursts around seat releases and schedule loads. It pays to check often and move quickly rather than browse casually.
Velocity Points across the Pacific
Velocity’s United partnership is priced according to Velocity’s own reward tables. Sydney to Los Angeles one way in Economy is 48,000 Velocity Points, Los Angeles to New York is 23,500. A through booking from Sydney to New York with no break in the journey prices the total distance at 63,000 Points. That through-pricing rule is important to understand because it works in both directions. If you connect within 24 hours, the whole journey prices as one distance. However, take a stopover and each sector prices separately, lifting the Sydney to New York example from 63,000 to 71,500 Points.
Beyond United, Air Canada opens Vancouver and the Canadian network, priced from Velocity’s partner tables with taxes, fees and carrier charges quoted at booking. One of the easiest ways to build your Velocity balance is through bank transfers. ANZ Rewards, NAB Rewards and the Amplify Rewards family convert at 2 points to 1 Velocity Point. Amex Membership Rewards is at the same 2 to 1, and Westpac Altitude Rewards at 3 to 1, all as of July 2026. This is detailed in our guide to moving points into Velocity, with the current card options in our Velocity credit card round-up.
The booking rules that move North America reward prices
Three details separate a good North America redemption from an expensive one. The first is where you break the journey. The under 24-hour through-pricing rule described above applies inside the Qantas table too, when you connect on Qantas or American within the booking window. The second is the cash component. Taxes, fees and carrier charges vary by airline, and the route is only confirmed at booking, so compare the all-in cost rather than the points figure alone.
The third is timing around releases and transfer bonuses. Qantas seat releases to Los Angeles can reduce the points needed to secure a reward seat. One rule remains unchanged. Confirm the reward seat exists before transferring bank points, because transfers are irreversible and trans-Pacific availability can vanish quickly.
A fourth detail is cabin strategy. Because the distance zones are so long on this corridor, the points step from Economy up the cabin classes is proportionally smaller than the cash step. On the Sydney to Los Angeles zone, Economy to Premium Economy moves from 48,200 to 97,600 Qantas Points, as of July 2026. This is roughly double the points for the step up in cabin, and the cash gap between those cabins is usually the wider one. This is why premium redemptions across the Pacific consistently rank among the better uses of both currencies.
How Qantas and Velocity compare for North America
The table below compares one way reward prices under each program. Points prices are per person under each program’s tables, correct as of July 2026, and exclude taxes, fees and carrier charges.
| Program | Los Angeles | New York | Other destinations | Its edge |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 48,200 Points one way in Economy, as of July 2026 | 63,500 Points one way in Economy | Hawaiian and Alaska now on the partner table | American Airlines priced off the same table as Qantas |
| Velocity | United from 48,000 Points one way in Economy | 63,000 Points through-priced with no journey break | Air Canada | Published United pricing and clean through-booking rules |
This comes down to strategy rather than a single winner. If you want the West Coast and onward travel within the United States, Qantas Points are particularly strong because American Airlines flights are priced from the same reward table. If you want a clean, published price and United’s schedule depth, Velocity is at least its equal, and its New York through-pricing is effectively the same as Qantas in points terms. For Honolulu, both programs now reach Hawaiian, so let the reward calendar decide. Our overview of Qantas and Velocity partners maps the full picture if you are choosing where to concentrate a balance. For families, remember that every passenger is priced individually, so a household of four needs four reward seats on the same flight. For the best chance of securing four seats together, book as soon as the booking calendar opens rather than waiting for a promotion.
Frequently asked questions
Fees, rates and figures quoted are correct at the time of publication and should be verified directly with each provider before acting on them.
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