Qatar Airways is bringing back its fifth-freedom Adelaide to Auckland flights as part of a wider relaunch of its Doha to Adelaide to Auckland route. Operating in lieu of a non-stop Doha-Auckland flight, the one-stop route comes as Qatar Airways steadily regrows its international network since the war in the Middle East
Flights will resume for three months, from mid-June to September 2026. Operated by the Boeing 777-300ER, you can experience Qatar Airways’ popular Qsuites on the four-hour hop to Auckland.
How to book this flight with points
There are two main ways for Australian-based readers to book this route with points. The easiest is with Virgin Australia’s Velocity Points. For greater savings, you could also consider Qatar Airways Privilege Club. You’ll find that most days have two reward seats available when you choose to fly Business Class.
That’s up to four hours of relaxation in an enclosed suite with food and drinks on demand – possibly with a loved one in the combined ‘double suite’.
For 17,500 Avios, you can fly Economy from Adelaide to Auckland. Otherwise, for 35,000 Avios points, you can fly in Business class to Auckland through Qatar Airways Qsuites. Fees and taxes are just over A$450, per person and each way.
If you’re a Virgin Velocity member, you can fly this route for 22,000 Velocity Points +A $244 in Economy, though a cash fare is looking like a better deal. Otherwise, if you choose to indulge in Business class, it’ll set you back 44,000 points + A$425 per person.
Book your flights using a Velocity Points earning credit card to earn bonus Velocity Points. Use the My Card Prestige Credit Card or the AMEX Velocity Business Card and earn up to 2 points when booking flights with Virgin Australia.
Summing Up
With Qatar and Virgin Australia scheduling limited flights to and from Doha, the Adelaide-Auckland route is a great way for frequent flyers to sample Qsuites on a route that’s close to home. Flights are scheduled between 16 June and 14 September 2026, with plenty of reward seats available.
Click here to see the full list of Velocity offers with the highest sign-up bonus points for this month.
American Express Velocity Platinum
- Bonus points
- 50,000 bonus Velocity Points¹
- Annual fee
- $440 p.a.
- Earn
- 1.25 Velocity Points earned per $1 on all eligible spend except for government bodies⁵. 2.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent on selected Virgin Australia purchases⁵. 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 on Government spend⁵
American Express Velocity Platinum
- Bonus Points
- 50,000 bonus Velocity Points¹
- Annual Fee
- $440 p.a.
- Earn
- 1.25 Velocity Points earned per $1 on all eligible spend except for government bodies⁵. 2.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent on selected Virgin Australia purchases⁵. 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 on Government spend⁵
Earn 50,000 Velocity Points¹ when you apply online, are approved, and spend $5,000 on eligible purchases on your new American Express Velocity Platinum Card within the first 3 months. New American Express Card Members only.
Apologies- previous to my last comment, I was able to adjust the fare at the final stage and reduce the excess points, and use the bare minimum. My sincere apologies for the confusion! You may delete both these comments if you wish!
Hi – I’m confused by this. I went to book – 44,500 points each way, however an additional approximately 103,000 in taxes at the final tally, which couldn’t be removed or paid in cash, bringing it to over 192,000 points. I think it’s probably worth mentioning this – it’s not quite as good a deal as it seems..