Qantas Loyalty is giving Expedia Group a much bigger role in its non-flight travel business. The partnership will reshape Qantas Hotels & Holidays and Jetstar Holidays from the back end forward.

The upgraded platform is due in the first half of 2027. It will use Expedia Group B2B’s Composable Agentic Template. Customers will be able to search hotels, book packages, earn or redeem Qantas Points, and manage trips in one place.

That may sound like a booking-platform upgrade. It is more significant than that. Qantas is treating hotels and holidays as a core digital retail and loyalty product, not just an airline add-on.

More than a hotel refresh

Qantas Hotels already lets Frequent Flyer members earn and use points on accommodation. The next platform will connect more of the shopping, servicing and loyalty journey.

New capabilities will include:

• Deeper integration into the Qantas App and stronger digital self-service
• Machine learning-powered hotel and holiday recommendations
• Holiday packages that can include premium cabin seating and partner codeshare flights
• Faster access to new Expedia Group B2B technology releases
• New connectivity options between Qantas and hotel suppliers

READ MORE: Inside Expedia Partner Solutions: The Tech Backbone Powering Smarter Travel Businesses

The architecture is the interesting part. Expedia is not simply supplying hotel inventory. Its B2B layer will connect supply, pricing, payments, loyalty and servicing. Qantas, meanwhile, keeps the customer-facing experience under its own brand.

That matters because airlines increasingly want a larger share of travel spending. Few want to build every commerce capability themselves.

Loyalty becomes the storefront

Qantas Loyalty Executive Manager, Business to Consumer, Jayne Davey said: “Qantas Hotels and Holidays continues to play a key role within the Qantas Group ecosystem, allowing millions of customers to connect their flights, stays and travel experiences into one seamless journey.

“Partnering with Expedia Group gives us access to world-class travel technology that will transform how our customers search, book, and manage their trips. This solution not only allows for deeper customisation and smarter search tools, but it also provides the foundation we need to continuously innovate, deploy new features, and support our long-term growth strategy.”

The loyalty angle may matter more than the hotel angle. A member could search, bundle, pay and manage a booking without leaving the Qantas environment. The same journey could also earn or burn points.

READ MORE: Agoda Powers China Airlines’ StayMiles Shift

Expedia Group already supports airline hotel propositions elsewhere. SAS has worked with Expedia Group B2B around hotel booking and EuroBonus. Japan Airlines connects hotel reservations with Mileage Bank earning. Expedia has also powered Fly + Stay for HK Express.

Qantas is taking the model further. App integration, packaging and personalisation can make an airline account feel more like a travel account.

Expedia becomes the infrastructure layer

Carolina Cabero, SVP Sales, Expedia Group B2B, said: “Trust is the foundation of every successful partnership, and our ongoing relationship with Qantas reflects the power of building together for the long term.

“We’re proud to create a B2B platform that can be fully customized and brings together Expedia Group B2B’s world-class travel technology with Qantas’ deep understanding of its members and partners. By connecting supply, pricing, payments, loyalty and smarter digital experiences through one integrated platform, we’re giving Qantas the flexibility to innovate faster, deliver more personalised journeys and continue evolving Hotels & Holidays for the future.”

This deal also says something important about Expedia Group. Its B2B business increasingly operates behind other travel brands instead of competing only for direct consumer traffic.

READ MORE: Machine Learning for Personalized Travel Recommendations

Expedia does not need every traveler to visit Expedia.com. It can supply inventory, technology and servicing while another company owns the storefront.

For Qantas, that can reduce the need to maintain every commerce function internally. It also creates dependency. Qantas must therefore differentiate through loyalty, merchandising, service and customer experience.

The real test comes in 2027

There is plenty to like in the roadmap. Yet machine-learning recommendations matter only when they improve relevance. Self-service also needs to handle changes, disruptions and refunds well.

Price will remain another test. Travelers who only want the cheapest room may still compare Booking.com, Hotels.com, direct hotel rates and other OTAs. Qantas becomes more compelling when points or package value outweigh a small price gap.

READ MORE: Direct Booking Potential: How Hotels Are Leveraging Mobile, Loyalty, and AI to Boost Revenue

Hotel suppliers also have questions. They will want access to demand without losing too much control over pricing, visibility or customer relationships.

Qantas and Expedia have not yet shown how those trade-offs will work in practice. That leaves an important part of the proposition unproven.

Conclusion

The Qantas–Expedia deal reflects a wider shift in airline retail. Loyalty programs are becoming travel storefronts rather than rewards schemes attached to flights.

SAS, Japan Airlines and HK Express already show how airlines can use Expedia infrastructure beyond the seat. Qantas is taking the idea deeper into its app, points currency, packages and partner-flight ecosystem.

The competitive question is no longer whether an airline can sell hotels. Most large carriers already can.

The harder question is whether booking the rest of the trip through an airline can feel better than opening another OTA tab.

Qantas has useful assets here. It knows its frequent flyers, controls a valuable points currency and already owns part of the journey. Expedia supplies technology and global accommodation reach.

Booking.com and other major OTAs still have scale and strong accommodation propositions. Direct hotel booking can also offer perks, flexibility or loyalty benefits an intermediary may not match.

So the opportunity is not simply to copy an OTA inside the Qantas App. Qantas needs flights, hotels, points and servicing to work better together than they do separately.

If it succeeds, Hotels & Holidays can become a meaningful loyalty retention engine. It can also capture a larger share of each trip.

If it does not, the project may produce a smoother cross-sell journey without fundamentally changing traveler behaviour.

Build and integration work is underway. The upgraded platform is scheduled for H1 2027. The real verdict will come when travelers start using it.