QANTAS'S five million frequent flyers could be able to use their points to get on any flight – not just the handful chosen by the airline – under planned changes to the popular loyalty program.

Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon yesterday confirmed the airline was considering changes to its frequent flyer program, including a partial sale that could ultimately see it listed separately on the stock market.

He said the airline would introduce a frequent flyer program for passengers on its discount offshoot Jetstar and offer Qantas frequent flyers access to "any seat".

The overhaul of the program comes amid increasing frustration among members who book three million tickets a year using points, but find it a battle to get on convenient flights.

Qantas last night did not have any specific details of the new scheme, which it expects to roll out over the next 12 months. But other airlines that use frequent flyer schemes, such as Air New Zealand, allow passengers to use their points to book flights as late as the day of travel.

While this could mean spending more points per flight, it allowed passengers to use their points when they wanted to fly. Qantas currently sets aside a small number of seats to be available for frequent flyers – often on routes and at times that are least favoured by passengers.

Analysts said Qantas may be under pressure to make the program more customer-friendly because of increased competition from Virgin Blue and the Singapore-backed Tiger Airways.

But the company, which has been criticised by investors over the failure of the $11.1 billion takeover bid its directors backed, is also looking at ways to return cash to shareholders and realise gains from subsidiary businesses.

This could include selling parts of the freight, catering and frequent flyer programs to share market investors.

Clifford Reichlin, a director of frequentflyer.com.au, said yesterday the Qantas program, which signs up 28,000 new members a month, had been steadily devalued over the past 10 years.

He said passengers were having to pay more points per flight and having increasing difficulty in being able to use their points. "You can trace it from the collapse of Ansett (in 2001)," he said. "Since then, the program has been continually devalued."

In a massive day of trading in Qantas shares, the airline's price finally pushed through the $5.45-a-share price – offered by the Macquarie Bank-led Airline Partners Australia under its takeover bid – to close at $5.46