How PayRewards Points can get you flights on over 161 airlines

We all have our favourite airlines. For some, it might be a well-known Australian carrier. Or perhaps, a major airline in the Asia, the Middle East, or further afield. But when it comes to spending points, why limit yourself? 

Sure, you could earn points with that one airline, and spend those points with their circle of partners. But what if your points were more flexible? In fact, far more flexible? Imagine earning one type of reward points and being able to spend those points on airlines right across oneworld, Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and even further beyond. Welcome to PayRewards. 

PayRewards is the flexible points program of pay.com.au. And our points can really take you places. In fact, we’ve sat down and mapped things out. With our growing web of global partners, PayRewards members can now book reward flights on 161 airlines globally. This includes more than 80% of the airlines serving Sydney Airport and Melbourne Airport, and two-thirds of the airlines serving Brisbane Airport. 

How? It’s that flexibility. 

You can transfer points from PayRewards to our growing network of partners. Those partners allow you to book reward flights on the ‘home airline’ – like transferring to Qatar Airways Privilege Club to fly with Qatar Airways. But that’s just the beginning. 

Those programs also have their own set of partners, with which you can spend their points. And, for those who really want to spread their wings, some of our PayRewards partners even allow their points to be converted across to other partners. As we said, flexible. 

It might sound complex, but PayRewards can be as simple, or as delightfully detailed, as you’d like it to be. You don’t need to be a points power user to get real value. For instance, feel like converting points to Qantas Business Rewards, to fly on Qantas? That’s child’s play – and we’ve recently improved the conversion rate to 2:1, to provide even more value. For something a little more learned, how about converting points to Air Canada Aeroplan, to book flights on Turkish Airlines? Now we’re heating up! 

Maybe you’re clued in so much that you might even convert rewards to The British Airways Club… before shifting those points onwards to Iberia Club, to book flights on European carriers like LEVEL and Vueling. And, for the true points superstars, partners like Marriott Bonvoy can be the conduit to even more flights. For instance, convert from PayRewards to Marriott Bonvoy, then onwards to ANA Mileage Club, to book reward travel on Philippine Airlines. 

That’s the great thing about PayRewards. There’s always an Option B… plus an Option C, D, E… well, you get the idea. If there’s a reward seat available somewhere in the world, there’s a good chance you can secure it by starting with PayRewards Points. 

So, which airlines can you book with PayRewards Points? 

It’s an amazing thing, flexibility. With PayRewards, you’re not stuck earning points with only one airline – or only one alliance. You can earn points now, and decide how to spend them later. If you’re flexible and tuned in, your PayRewards Points could take you just about anywhere that your imagination wanders. Let’s help you get started. 

Booking Oneworld flights from PayRewards 

We’re proud to count five of the major Oneworld frequent flyer programs as PayRewards transfer partners. You can convert PayRewards Points into airline points or miles, as below. 

• Qantas Business Rewards: 2:1 

• You could then convert from Qantas Business Rewards onwards to your personal Qantas Frequent Flyer account at a 1:1 rate. 

• The British Airways Club: 3:1 

• Cathay (Asia Miles): 3:1 

• Japan Airlines Mileage Bank: 3:1 

• Qatar Airways Privilege Club: 3:1 

Combined, this means you can book travel with 15 Oneworld carriers. This includes Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, and SriLankan Airlines. But we’re just getting started… 

Booking Star Alliance flights from PayRewards 

We’re delighted that customers of Pay.com.au can now convert their PayRewards Points into rewards with four major Star Alliance frequent flyer programs at the rates below. These programs are: 

• Air Canada Aeroplan: 2.5:1 

• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: 2.5:1 

• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus: 3:1 

• United MileagePlus: 3:1 

Through these four programs, you can book reward flights across all 25 Star Alliance member airlines. Serving Australia, there’s Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Asiana Airlines, EVA Air, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines. 

For travels further afield, you can also fly with Aegean Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Shenzhen Airlines, SWISS, and TAP Air Portugal. 

Booking SkyTeam flights from PayRewards 

Flights on SkyTeam airlines can be tricky to book from most major Australian rewards programs. That’s because very few of those schemes offer a SkyTeam airline as a transfer partner. But at PayRewards, you can convert your points straight to Vietnam Airlines, as below. 

• Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles: 3:1 

This option alone brings the ability to travel with all 18 members of the SkyTeam alliance. Yes, one of those is Vietnam Airlines. But you could also use Lotusmiles to book flights from Australia (and elsewhere) on China Airlines, China Eastern, Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, and Xiamen Air. 

Beyond Australia, SkyTeam’s members also include Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Europa, Air France, Kenya Airways, KLM, Middle East Airlines (MEA), SAS, Saudia, TAROM, and Virgin Atlantic. 

Keeping track? Across the three major alliances, that’s already 58 airlines that you can book after converting PayRewards Points. 

Other airline partnerships 

A key option for Aussie travellers is also, clearly, Virgin Australia Business Flyer. Convert points from PayRewards at a new and improved 2:1 rate. And from there, you could shift these into personal Velocity Points at a 1:1 rate. 

Without listing airlines already mentioned above, Velocity is great for booking flights on Virgin Australia. It’s also solid for reward flights on Beijing Capital Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines. If you’re heading to Asia, look to Cathay as well, for reward flights on HK Express. There’s also China Southern Sky Pearl Club, to fly with China Southern, Chengdu Airlines and Mandarin Airlines. That’s another 8 airlines (we’re at 66, now!). 

Convert to KrisFlyer to book Scoot, use Qantas Business Rewards to nab reward seats on Bangkok Airways, El Al, Emirates, Hawaiian Airlines, Jetstar, Jetstar Japan, LATAM, QantasLink, and WestJet. Air Canada Aeroplan is your ticket to Air Mauritius, Air Serbia, Azul Brazilian Airlines, Bamboo Airways, Calm Air, Canadian North, Etihad Airways, Eurowings, Flydubai, GOL, Juneyao Air, Olympic Air, PAL Airlines and SunExpress. Phew, that’s another 24 airlines right there… 

Hot tip: Qatar Airways Privilege Club can get you reward flights on Airlink, Jetblue, RwandAir and S7 Airlines. Aeroflot redemptions remain available through Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles. Through United MileagePlus, there’s also Air Dolomiti, Cape Air, Discover Airlines, Edelweiss Air, JSX and Lufthansa City Airlines. We’ve found another 11! That’s 101 airlines so far… 

How to get flights on even more airlines through PayRewards 

This part isn’t quite for beginners. But, for those who really learn their stuff, there’s an advanced play that unlocks flights with a further 60 airlines. By playing your cards right, you can move points from PayRewards to one partner program. Then, shift those same points to one of that program’s own partners, to get the flight you want. 

Here goes… 

Convert PayRewards Points to The British Airways Club, and then convert… 

• To AerClub for Aer Lingus. 

• To Iberia Club to for Binter Canarias, LEVEL, or Vueling.  

Transfer PayRewards Points to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, and then transfer… 

• To ZIPAIR Point Club for ZIPAIR. 

Swap your PayRewards Points for Accor Live Limitless points, and then move those to… 

• SMILES for Bahamas Air, BoA, Caribbean Airlines, FlySafair, Hahn Air, SKY Airline, Sky Express, TAAG, and Volotea. 

Ship your PayRewards Points across to our newest hotel partner, Hilton Honors, and then transfer those points onwards to… 

• AirAsia MOVE (formerly BIG Loyalty) for AirAsia, AirAsia Cambodia, AirAsia X, Indonesia AirAsia, Philippines AirAsia and Thai AirAsia. 

• China Eastern’s Eastern Miles program for China United Airlines and Shanghai Airlines. 

• Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles for ASKY and Malawian Airlines. 

Now, the really flexible one. Transfer your PayRewards Points to Marriott Bonvoy, and then to… 

• Air China PhoenixMiles for Air China Inner Mongolia, Air Macau, Beijing Airlines, Dalian Airlines, Kunming Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Tibet Airlines, and Uni Air. 

• Air France/KLM Flying Blue for Air Corsica, Air Tahiti, airBaltic, Aircalin, Chalair Aviation, ITA Airways, Transavia, Twin Jet, and Winair. 

• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan for Air Tahiti Nui, Condor, Icelandair, Porter Airlines, and STARLUX. 

• ANA Mileage Club for Philippine Airlines. 

• ConnectMiles for Wingo. 

• Fortune Wings Club for Air Changan, Fuzhou Airlines, Grant China Air, Guangxi Beibu Gulf Airlines, Lucky Air, Suparna Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Urumqi Airlines, and West Air. 

• FrontierMiles for Frontier. 

• Lufthansa Miles & More for Luxair. 

• TAP Miles&Go for SATA Azores Airlines. 

With over 160 airlines to travel with, the only question is where to next? Get your next adventure off on the right track by signing up to pay.com.au today, and start earning seriously flexible points on all your business payments. 

Written by Chris Chamberlin

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About the author

Chris enjoys making the most of frequent flyer points, which have taken him around the world – usually, at the front of the plane. He’s travelled over 1.5 million miles sampling the best in Business Class and First Class. That’s further than three return trips to the moon! Chris is based at Point Hacks' Melbourne office as News Editor, and shares his experiences via @chris_chamberlin on Instagram. When he’s not travelling, he enjoys tennis, keeping fit, and discovering new gins.