Hudson said there were no changes in the pipeline for Classic Rewards and ruled out a rise in the number of points required to redeem a seat.

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Qantas has been battling to regain the trust of customers since traveller discontent reached an all-time high last year after it revealed record profits amid furore over slipping standards and poor service. Part of customers’ frustration has been centred on the frequent flyer program, for which travellers have had difficulty redeeming points since flying resumed after COVID-19.

The revamp is the first test for newly minted Qantas loyalty boss Andrew Glance, who took over from Olivia Wirth last month. Wirth left Qantas after narrowly missing out on being appointed group chief executive and has recently been appointed executive chair of Myer.

Qantas’ share price jumped almost 6 per cent on the news and closed at $5.69. The stock remains 14 per cent lower than where it was a year ago as the airline works to balance the needs of its investors, workers and customers.

The market had been anticipating a more sweeping reform to the frequent flyer program, which would have resulted in a bigger hit to Qantas’ bottom line.

The airline is targeting $1 billion in earnings from the program in FY30, up from $500 million in 2023. The Classic Plus program represents a $120 million investment in FY25, excluding the benefits from the program. Qantas said the cost would be managed within the $230 million customer investment for FY25 it flagged earlier this year.

Multiple analysts, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said they had expected the revamp to come with much larger implementation costs than the $120 million announced on Monday. They were also surprised the revamp had been contained within the existing customer provisions and did not come with other balance sheet implications.

Qantas told analysts in an investor call the released seats would not compete against the typical fare structures. This means it is likely Qantas will use Classic Plus redemptions instead of fare discounts on certain flights.

The loyalty division was targeting earnings of up to $550 million in February, but the target was downgraded by $25 million on Monday. The airline said it would return to about 10 per cent growth in underlying earnings before interest and taxes from 2025 and remained committed to meeting its 2030 EBIT target.