Qantas Status Credits Part 1: Status and its benefits

The Qantas Frequent Flyer program offers its members rewards and recognition. The reward side of the program is based on Qantas Points, which many people are familiar with.

Qantas recognises its Frequent Flyers through the use of Status Levels. As you work your way through the status levels, you are entitled to greater perks when using Qantas and its partner airlines. The way in which your status level is determined is through the earning of Status Credits.

Broadly, Status Credits have two roles in the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. Their primary role is that they are used to determine your elite status within the program. A secondary role is that they are used to determine when you are eligible to receive some of the various bonus offers in the program.

In this post, I will be looking at the first of these roles. That is, their use in achieving status, and the benefits that come from status.

What are Status Credits?

Status Credits are the measure Qantas use to determine your Frequent Flyer membership level. They are basically a measure of your flying activity, and each time you fly on Qantas or a selected partner, you will be awarded status credits.

While they are issued separately to Qantas Points, like Qantas Points, the number you earn varies depending on the airline, how far you fly and the fare you choose.

Status credits are earned per flight segment. The easiest way to thing about this is that each different flight number you travel on, is a single flight segment. For most trips where you simply fly between two cities, this is straightforward. For example, if you fly Sydney – Perth, this is one flight segment.

If, however, you fly via Melbourne, that is Sydney – Melbourne – Perth, because there will be a change of flight number in Melbourne, this will count as two flight segments.

If the flight number does not change, then it will just be the one flight segment. For example, Melbourne – Perth – London on QF9 will be counted as a single flight.

The Status Levels

You rise through the ranks of the program by achieving a certain number of Status Credits in your membership year. At the beginning of each membership year, your annual count is reset to zero, and you start again for the year.

As a result, in the following sections, the number of Status Credits specified for achieving or maintaining a status need to be gained in a membership year.

Bronze

Bronze is the entry level of the program. It offers no real benefits other than allowing you to start using the program. This is where pretty much everyone starts and it allows you to earn Status Credits and Points in the program.

Silver

Once you reach silver, you get a limited set of benefits on Qantas. However, some such as complimentary seat selection and the additional baggage allowance can come in handy. Benefits include

• The use of Business Class check-in counters, regardless of class
• One extra checked bag on international flights
• Complimentary seat selection (except QantasLink flights)
• Priority telephone line
• Priority waitlisting
• One complimentary lounge (Qantas Club or Qantas International Business Lounge) invitation per year
• 50% bonus points on Qantas and Jetstar
• 25% on American Airlines flights

Gold

• Complimentary Qantas Club membership, allowing access to Qantas Club lounges domestically and International Business Lounges
• Access to oneworld and selected partner lounges (Emirates, China Eastern, Alaska Airlines, El Al), regardless of class (subject to eligible flight)
• Extra checked baggage
• Access to Premium Security Lanes at selected airports (at the time of writing included Sydney (Domestic), Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth Airports)
• Priority boarding
• Priority baggage handling
• 75% bonus points on Qantas, Jetstar and American Airlines flights

Platinum

Platinum builds on the gold offering and includes the following

• Access to Qantas, oneworld partner and Emirates First Class lounges, regardless of class
• Use of First Class check-in counters, regardless of class
• Priority immigration (where available)
• Priority Economy seat purchase when holding or purchasing a Full Economy ticket for up to two people, including the Platinum member
• 100% bonus points on Qantas, Jetstar and American Airlines flights

Platinum One

Platinum One is the highest level available in the program. It is also the level where we first get a sense that not all Status Credits are created equally. While the initial bar is set fairly high at 3,600 Status Credits, there is a further requirement that at least 2,700 of those Status Credits come from Qantas marketed flights (that is, where your flight booking has a QF flight number).

When travelling on Qantas, the following additional benefits are available.

• Complimentary Platinum membership for partner
• Considered first for Upgrades
• Highest award availability priority
• Free transfer to earlier flight if seats available
• Complimentary extra legroom seating on selected international flights
• Waived fees for phone-assisted bookings and family points transfers
• Access to a dedicated 24/7 Platinum One Team
• Complimentary Premium Qantas Golf Club membership
• Complimentary Premium Qantas epiQure membership
• Access to the Museum of Contemporary Art Lounge in Sydney
• Double Qantas Points at participating Qantas restaurants

From a OneWorld perspective, Platinum and Platinum One both come under the Emerald banner. As a result, there are no additional benefits over Platinum when travelling on other OneWorld airlines.

Lifetime Memberships

While your Status Credits reset every year, Qantas maintain a lifetime tally. Once you have earned enough lifetime status credits, you will be awarded a Lifetime Status. At present, Qantas have two lifetime status levels – Lifetime Silver, and Lifetime Gold. These are awarded at 7,000 and 14,000 lifetime Status Credits respectively.

Once you have attained a given lifetime status, you will never fall below that level, even if you stop flying for a period of time. The benefits of a Lifetime status are the same as you would get for holding that level through the annual qualification process.

Final Thoughts

This article provided an introduction to the recognition side of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. Your status in the program is determined through the earning of Status Credits.

In the next article, I will look at the various bonus awards that are available as you collect Status Credits each year.