Australia’s largest carrier Qantas is enhancing the travelling experience for Frequent Flyers, offering baggage tracking as part of an all-new app, inflight WiFi on international flights and putting in place a new boarding system to the benefit of loyal travellers.

Wayfarer can exclusively reveal Qantas will move to a ‘groups’ boarding system from October 2023 like what’s on offer by carriers in the United States, with passengers boarding by group numbers from 1-5 depending on Frequent Flyer status, category of ticket booked and what row they are seated on the aircraft.

A spokesperson for Qantas told Wayfarer the boarding system would move from two to three boarding lanes, with two for economy passengers and one for premium travellers.

The gate areas will be reconfigured to offer a more seamless boarding experience and to provide more room as customers try out the new system for the first time.

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Wayfarer’s Editor-In-Chief James Wilkinson talks Qantas on 7 News Australia’s ‘The Latest’ (30 May)

Travellers who have flown Qantas’ oneworld alliance partner American Airlines and other US carriers will have experienced the groups system, which truly does make for a more departure gate experience of boarding when groups are called.

The Qantas spokesperson told Wayfarer the new boarding system would be trialled in Brisbane first, before being rolled out initially across the domestic network.

Qantas’ changes to boarding come as the carrier readies to launch a new app later in 2023 that will include the introduction of baggage tracking and better integration of Qantas Loyalty.

The move to offer baggage tracking is a massive win for travellers and has been a popular offering by American Airlines and other US carriers for several years.

On the connectivity front, WiFi is available from today (May 30) on selected international 737-800 and A330-200 flights over Australia, providing another boost for travellers to stay connected in the air.