Qantas has rolled out further support for frequent flyers – offering a chance to extend their status a further year. Eligible Frequent Flyers will be able to extend their status for a second year simply by booking an eligible flight.
In addition to the one-year extension, there is also an opportunity to have some of your status credits roll over into your next year.
So all up, members will be able to keep their Qantas Frequent Flyer status through to 2022. and members may be able to get a bit of a head start on their subsequent membership year.
It’s a generous offer, but there is a little to unpack in the actual offer. Not everyone is eligible, and for those that are, there is a flight to be booked.
Details
First up, this offer is available to members in Australia and New Zealand. Not that is a bad thing for people outside Australia and New Zealand. If you’re in any other country, you can skip the requirement to even make a booking.
That out of the way, the current offer is being made available to members who will have a status expiry date between 31 March 2021 and 31 December 2021. Members with an expiry date in January or February 2021 will have their status extended as previously advised.
So, if your membership falls in those eligible dates, you will need to make one eligible Qantas (or Jetstar) booking. There are a few requirements that you have to meet with this.
First up, it must be a new booking, with a booking creation date from 23 November 2020 up until your status expiry date in 2021. Secondly, your booking will need to be on a flight that departs prior to 31 December 2021.
Finally, you have to make sure you book one of the following flights
- a Qantas operated flight with a QF flight number (this includes a Reward Flight), or
- any Qantas Points earning Jetstar international booking with a JQ flight number including Jetstar flights within New Zealand (JQ), Jetstar Japan (GK) and Jetstar Asia (3K) flights. Note that this excludes domestic flights within Australia
You don’t need to register for this. If you meet the requirements, Qantas will automatically apply the extension.
Status Credit Rollover
To help kick start your subsequent year (so, the one that starts in 2021), Qantas will be offering a limited status credit rollover.
For your membership year that ends between 31 March 2021 and 31 December 2021, Qantas will rollover up to at least 40% of the status credits required to retain your tier. This will help you on your quest to retain status through to 2023
The maximum number of status credits that will be rolled over are:
- Silver: 100
- Gold: 250
- Platinum: 500
- Platinum One: 1,800
So, if you have a membership year that ends on March 31, 2021, your status credits from the 2020-2021 year will rollover. The maximum rollover is set out above.
But it’s not all status credits that are rolling over. It is just the ones that you have earned. Not any bonus Status Credits. Basically, that means status credits earned through flying or with partners on the ground will count towards the rollover. But any status credits provided by Qantas as a bonus, support, or gift will not count.
Again, to be eligible for the rollover you will need to book that flight. All the conditions of the flight are the same.
Final Thoughts
Qantas has been pretty good at protecting members’ status levels this year. Firstly, there was a one-year extension for most members. Secondly, there was a status boost and status support offers. In addition, Qantas provided members the chance to earn Status Credits on the ground.
Of course, this was against a backdrop of a constantly changing environment. Perhaps if they had known how long it would go, they may have made different decisions along the way.
But Qantas is a business, and so, they do want people to make bookings. Giving a one-year extension on the back of a single booking is a generous offer. In the back of my mind, I had an idea they may ask members to get their 4 eligible flights done and dusted. But one flight is even better.
For more information, visit the Qantas website here.
