The Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) share price hit an all-time high on Wednesday.
The stock opened trading at $9.20 apiece before reaching the new record high of $9.44 per share early in the session.
Shares in the airline retreated from that level slightly and closed the day at $9.36 apiece. But this brings gains for the past 12 months to more than 74%. Let's see what brought us here.
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What's driving the Qantas share price?
The Qantas share price has rallied in recent months, fueled by several catalysts. So, while the company's performance today is not price-sensitive, the gains are likely an extension of the broader uptrend in prices.
But brokers are bullish on the airline stock, and there are plenty of reasons why.
As I've pointed out previously, Goldman Sachs is bullish and calls Qantas the "flagship carrier of Australia". It expects Qantas' passenger capacity to be ahead of pre-COVID levels by FY25.
Morgan Stanley also rates the Qantas share price a buy, with a price target of $10.50. As my colleague James reported, the broker cites a recovery in demand as well, but adds lower fuel costs as a key driver of Qantas' profitability.
In addition, Morgan Stanley predicts Qantas could announce more share buybacks this year, which may explain some of the bullish sentiment.
Meanwhile, the consensus of analysts estimates rates it a buy as well, according to CommSec.
And it seems like Qantas is positioned to benefit from the ongoing recovery in travel demand.
And with an 11.6% year over year increase in total departures from Australia in November, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), this could be the trend.
Arrivals were also up nearly 7% year over year to 1.66 million. It's impossible to say how many of those flying into/out of Australia flew with Qantas, but it does show positive trends.
Frequent flyer changes
Qantas also runs one of the most extensive loyalty programs, which features its 'frequent flyer' program. This uses Qantas Flight Rewards and Qantas Points as a points accumulation system.
These points are accrued based on miles flown, with a varying scale based on what kind of ticket you pay.
But the airline is set to make sweeping changes to the program this year. As reported by The Australian, the company will increase the number of points earned when flying with Qantas.
That said, the number of points needed to redeem seat options when flying is also set to increase.
The reporting provides the example of a Classic Reward business class seat from Sydney to Melbourne. This would have previously required 18,400 points plus charges of $55.
It would now be 19,300 points plus $76. First-class from Sydney to London would jump to 166,300 points (from 144,600) plus charges of $648 (from $473).
Qantas noted that 13,000 Classic Reward seats were booked daily, indicating that "travel remains the number one priority" for its loyalty members.
It will offer more selections on its low-fare carrier option, Jetstar, to offset the hike in points needed to redeem seats.
This information isn't price-sensitive in any way, so it will unlikely impact the Qantas share price.
Foolish takeout
The Qantas share price has hit a milestone high and extended gains in January. Plus, experts reckon the company is well-positioned to continue this growth in 2025.
If travel trends maintain their current level of growth, this could be prove true.
In the past month, Qantas stock is up nearly 8%.
