Among the raft of announcements today was one that has been on many people wishlist – Lifetime Platinum.
For a lot of people that had achieved Lifetime Gold, there was a common question – now what?
Now there is an answer – from September you will be able to gain Lifetime Platinum status. That’s right – you will have Platinum for life, and they won’t take it away. But you’ll need to fly a lot.
Achieving Lifetime Platinum
As with the other Lifetime levels, it is the number of Status Credits you have earned over your membership that counts. To achieve the lofty heights of Lifetime Platinum, you are going to need 75,000 Status Credits. That’s right – 75,000 Status Credits.
However you look at it, that’s a big number. That’s a lot of status credits, that will take a lot of flying, even if you are up the front of the plane in First.
Compare that to Gold. Lifetime Gold comes in at 14,000 Status Credits. So, getting to Lifetime Platinum will require more than 5 time the number of Status Credits.
Let’s do some calculations on what it will take.
If you just achieve Platinum every year, you are up for 62 years of Platinum membership to get there.
Or, if you set out just to do the flying to get there. You could do 90 return trips between Sydney and London in First. In Business, you will be looking at 120 return trips.
Benefits
It’s a lot of flying – but Platinum has its perks. You will have these for life:
- Access to Qantas International First Lounges and Domestic Business Lounges
- 100 per cent more Qantas Points on flights
- Priority Classic Upgrade Rewards
- Priority check-in on both Domestic and International routes
- Generous extra checked baggage allowances
- oneworld Emerald status
So, that’s what we know for now. The first batch of Lifetime Platinum members will come along in September.
Whatever else it may bring, it’s not going to be a very big club.