Qantas is plotting its response to this week's offer by Virgin Australia of free business class upgrades for its most frequent flyers.

However, while admitting the flag-carrier has "a few things in the pipeline at the moment", a Qantas spokeswoman ruled out matching Virgin's current upgrade promotion and offering similar one-time upgrades to Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum and Gold members.

"We are focussed on continuing with our own strategies of making it easier for upgrades on an everyday basis rather than a one-off" the spokeswoman told Australian Business Traveller.

"We've already actioned ways to make it easier for upgrades for our Frequent Flyers on a regular basis rather than a one-off" she said, referring to the launch in July of last-minute ‘at the gate’ upgrades which aim to fill premium seats left empty due to passenger no-shows and missed connections.

"Since those changes have been in place, we have seen a significant increase in the number of points upgrades."

Many Australian Business Traveller readers have reported a noticeably higher success rate in points-based upgrades on Qantas domestic and international flights since this programme was introduced, as it extends the cut-off point for processing upgrade requests almost until the flight is closed.

More Qantas Frequent Flyer news from Australian Business Traveller

• Expert tips: how to maximise your Qantas frequent flyer points
• Qantas promises to fix Internet woes at its Singapore airport lounges
• The best Qantas and oneworld airport lounges at Singapore
• Expert guide: best oneworld first class lounges at Heathrow T3
• Clever ways to stop your Qantas Frequent Flyer points expiring
• Qantas Frequent Flyers score extra legroom on American Airlines
• Qantas mulls turning frequent flyer card into travel money card

Get the latest updates for business traveller and frequent flyers: follow @AusBT on Twitter.