Cashback or Qantas Points: Which Is Actually Worth More in 2026
After the August 2025 Qantas devaluation, the maths changed. Here is the 1 cent rule that tells every Australian which is worth more on every purchase, plus the current cents per point values for Qantas and Velocity.
Use the 1 cent rule. If you can redeem your points for more than 2 cents each, points win. Under 1 cent per point, cashback wins. Between 1 and 2 cents, it depends on how much you value free flights later versus money back today. In April 2026, Qantas points return 2 to 8 cents on Classic Reward flights and upgrades, but under 1 cent on the Qantas Store and gift cards. For everyday online shopping, cashback through ShopBack or TopCashback usually wins. For flights you would have paid cash for anyway, points still come out on top.
If you have been collecting Qantas points for years, you already know the feeling. You rack up a balance, go to redeem, and find the flight you wanted now costs 30% more points than it did last year. That feeling got sharper on 5 August 2025, when Qantas put through its biggest Classic Reward devaluation since 2019. Point prices rose 5 to 20% depending on the route, and carrier charges went up on top of that.
It raised a question Australians had mostly stopped asking. Are points even still worth collecting? Or is cashback, with its simple dollar return and no expiry anxiety, just a better deal in 2026?
The honest answer is: it depends, but there is a clear rule that tells you which one wins on any given purchase. It is called the 1 cent rule, it takes about ten seconds to apply, and by the end of this guide you will never have to guess again.
What changed in August 2025
On 5 August 2025, Qantas updated its Classic Rewards pricing for the first time in several years. The changes were rolled out route by route, but the pattern was consistent. Economy Classic Rewards went up roughly 5 to 10% across most domestic routes. International Business Class rewards went up 15 to 20%. Carrier charges, which you pay in cash on top of the points, also rose.
The effect on point values was straightforward. Australian Frequent Flyer, which publishes an independent valuation of frequent flyer points across sixteen common redemption types, dropped Qantas points slightly and lifted Velocity points for the first time to sit higher on average per point. Velocity is now the more valuable currency on a straight comparison, a result almost no one would have predicted a few years ago.
The 1 cent rule explained
The 1 cent rule is the simplest way to compare points to cashback without doing flight maths. It works like this.
Every cashback platform tells you the dollar return on a purchase. If ShopBack offers 5% cashback on a $200 Myer shop, that is $10 back. Points work the same way, but in a different currency. Earn 400 Qantas points on that same shop and the question becomes: how much are those 400 points worth in dollars?
That answer depends entirely on what you do with them. Cash them out at the Qantas Store for a $2 gift card and you got 0.5 cents per point. Spend them on a Sydney to Melbourne Classic Reward flight and you got closer to 2 cents per point. Put them toward a Business Class upgrade to London and you can get 6 to 8 cents per point. The range on the same currency is enormous.
The 1 cent rule turns that into a fast rule of thumb. If your realistic redemption plan gets you at least 2 cents per point, collecting points almost always beats collecting cashback on the same purchase. If your plan drops you under 1 cent per point, cashback wins nearly every time. Between 1 and 2 cents, it is close enough that you can pick whichever you enjoy more.
The trick is being honest with yourself about your realistic redemption. If you have 200,000 Qantas points sitting in your account and you have never booked a Classic Reward flight, your realistic rate is probably closer to the gift card rate (under 1 cent) than the flight rate (2 cents plus). Most people overestimate their points value by assuming they will always redeem for flights when in practice many cash them out for merchandise.
Current Qantas points values in April 2026
These are the April 2026 cents per point values based on current Qantas flight pricing, pulled from Finder's latest valuation and cross checked against a sample of ten popular routes we priced directly on qantas.com.
| Redemption Type | Typical Value | Verdict vs Cashback |
|---|---|---|
| Business Class upgrades | 5 to 8 cents per point | Points win easily |
| Business Class Classic Rewards | 3 to 7 cents per point | Points win |
| Premium Economy Classic Rewards | 3 to 5 cents per point | Points win |
| Economy Classic Rewards | 1.5 to 2.5 cents per point | Points usually win |
| Classic Plus Rewards (economy) | 1 cent per point (fixed) | Line ball |
| Qantas Hotels | 0.7 cents per point | Cashback wins |
| Gift cards | 0.5 to 0.6 cents per point | Cashback wins |
| Qantas Store / Marketplace | 0.4 to 0.7 cents per point | Cashback wins |
Quick translation: what 10,000 Qantas points gets you
- Sydney to Melbourne one way Economy: around 8,000 points plus $60 in charges, worth roughly $180 in fare, giving you about 1.5 cents per point
- Melbourne to Perth one way Economy: around 18,000 points, worth roughly $350, giving you about 1.9 cents per point
- $100 Woolworths gift card: around 19,650 points, worth 0.51 cents per point
- $100 off in the Qantas Store: varies by product, typically 0.5 to 0.7 cents per point
Current Velocity points values in April 2026
Velocity went from middle of the pack to slightly more valuable than Qantas following the August 2025 shift. Virgin Australia did not devalue its reward pricing in the same way, and its partnerships with Qatar Airways, United, Air Canada and Myer have expanded the redemption options.
| Redemption Type | Typical Value | Verdict vs Cashback |
|---|---|---|
| Business Class reward flights | 2 to 4 cents per point | Points win |
| Economy reward flights | 1 to 2 cents per point | Line ball |
| Virgin Australia upgrades | 1.5 to 3 cents per point | Points win |
| Myer redemptions | 0.5 to 0.7 cents per point | Cashback wins |
| Gift cards | 0.5 cents per point | Cashback wins |
| Any Seat flights | 0.4 to 0.6 cents per point | Cashback wins |
When cashback wins (and it wins more often than most Australians think)
For the vast majority of everyday shopping decisions, cashback is the higher value choice in 2026. Here is when to take the cash.
You do not fly often
If you take fewer than two return flights a year, your realistic point redemption value is probably under 1 cent per point because you will end up redeeming for gift cards or merchandise.
You have a points balance you never use
Points sitting idle are worth zero. If you have 150,000 plus points in an account you rarely touch, adding more is lower value than taking cashback right now.
The points rate is low
If a purchase would earn you fewer than 1 point per dollar through a shopping portal, cashback almost always pays more in real terms.
You are near a cashback withdrawal threshold
Taking $30 in cash back this week means $30 in your bank account this month. The same value in points might take years to redeem at full value.
When points win
Points are not dead. Far from it. If you fit any of these profiles, collecting points and redeeming for Classic Rewards or upgrades still returns two to four times the value of straight cashback.
You fly regularly and plan trips
If you book flights you would have paid cash for anyway, redeeming points for those exact flights at 2c+ per point beats cashback by a wide margin.
You aim for Business Class upgrades
Upgrade redemptions still return 5 to 8 cents per Qantas point. That is five to eight times the dollar value of the same points spent on gift cards.
You have a big redemption planned
Saving for a family trip to Europe on points? Every additional point earned now directly offsets a real dollar cost later at full redemption value.
You hit status tiers
Points and status credits often go hand in hand. If you are chasing Qantas Gold or Virgin Gold, the secondary benefits (lounges, priority boarding) add real value beyond the points alone.
The best move: do both, stacked on a single purchase
Here is the part most Australians miss. You do not actually have to choose. On almost every online purchase, you can earn cashback and points on the same transaction by clicking through a cashback portal and paying with a points earning credit card.
This is the real answer to cashback versus points. The question is rarely either or. The question is how much of each you can claim on the same transaction. For the detailed breakdown of this approach across four separate reward layers, see our Australian four layer stacking method.
See which rewards stack per retailer
OzSavers shows live cashback dollar rates and Qantas and Velocity points rates side by side across 2,000 Australian retailers, so you can always pick the better return.
What to do with an existing Qantas points balance
If you already have a significant Qantas or Velocity balance, the August 2025 devaluation changed your optimal redemption strategy. Here is the order worth thinking about.
- Use points on flight upgrades first. Upgrades still return 5 to 8 cents per point, the best value redemption in the program.
- Then Business Class Classic Rewards. 3 to 7 cents per point is still excellent, particularly on longer international sectors.
- Then Economy Classic Rewards. 1.5 to 2.5 cents per point, still beats cashback on any shop where you would earn less than 2% back.
- Avoid the Qantas Store and gift cards unless your balance is about to expire. At under 1 cent per point you are effectively donating points to the program.
Final verdict
Cashback and points are not enemies. They are different tools for different jobs. Cashback is for everyday shopping, high certainty, immediate value. Points are for travellers with plans, willing to wait, chasing flights they would have bought anyway.
In 2026, with the Qantas devaluation priced in, cashback has reclaimed ground. For the average Australian who flies once a year and shops online weekly, a cashback first approach now returns more real dollars than a points first approach. But collect both on every stackable purchase and you get the best of both worlds. The 1 cent rule tells you which one to prioritise on any individual shop. OzSavers tells you the rate on both in one look.