Qantas Frequent Flyer points don’t expire as long as you earn or redeem at least one point every 18 months. But if they do happen to expire, you might be able to get some or all of your expired Qantas points back by completing a Qantas points “challenge”.
How to get expired Qantas points back
Qantas Frequent Flyer offers members the opportunity to earn back either 50% or 100% of their expired points if certain criteria are met.
It’s not clear why some people may be offered the chance to earn back 50% of their points, while others receive an offer of 100%. This is at Qantas’ sole discretion and will be advised at the time when you apply to get your points reinstated.
To be eligible for a Qantas points reinstatement challenge, you must contact the airline within 12 months of your points expiring. If you lost your points more than a year ago, the airline will only offer to help in “exceptional circumstances”, for example, due to a medical condition or other companionate grounds. This is assessed on a case-by-case basis and you may be required to show proof of your hardship. If approved, the airline will then offer you a challenge to get your points back.
If you believe you qualify for a Qantas points challenge, you’ll need to contact the Qantas Frequent Flyer Service Centre. You can do this by calling 13 11 31, emailing [email protected] or by filling out a web form on the Qantas website.
How the Qantas points reinstatement challenge works
If you ask nicely and meet the criteria, Qantas Frequent Flyer may offer to give you back either 50% or 100% of your previous points balance. Reports from recent months and from 2019 are that Qantas offered to reinstate all of the expired points if the challenge conditions were met, but reports from 2021 and 2020 are that Qantas only offered to give back half of what was lost. So, your mileage may vary here and Qantas can change its policy at any time.
To get your Qantas points back, the challenge requires you to earn at least 2,500 new Qantas points from at least two different sources. You’ll have six months to complete this challenge from the date that you contacted Qantas to request it.
The points can be earned from any source including from a credit card, shopping at Woolworths, taking a Qantas flight, Qantas Wine purchase, Qantas Hotels booking, the Qantas Wellbeing app or even Qantas car insurance. Importantly, it is not necessary to take a flight – the points can be earned with any of the frequent flyer program’s partners.
Once the challenge is completed, Qantas will reinstate your previous points balance as advised.
Keep your Qantas account active to prevent points expiring
Although this challenge may give you the chance to earn back half or all of your points, there is still a chance you may only get back 50% of them. So it’s a good idea to ensure your frequent flyer points never expire in the first place!
To keep your Qantas points alive, all you need to do is earn or redeem at least one point every 18 months. There are many ways to earn and redeem points in Australia, including by shopping at Woolworths and converting points from Woolworths Everyday Rewards, so this is not a difficult ask.
You can even earn Qantas points for free by completing Red Planet surveys, using the Qantas Wellbeing App, joining HOYTS Rewards or downloading the Quandoo App.
Read more: 7 Free Ways to Earn Qantas Frequent Flyer Points
However, beware that family transfers do not count as activity on your Qantas Frequent Flyer account. If you transfer points to a member’s account that has had no activity for more than 18 months, the points will expire immediately.
Point transfers from Qantas Business Rewards also do not count as activity in your Qantas Frequent Flyer account for the purpose of extending the validity of your points. However, this would count as activity in your Qantas Business Rewards account.
It’s worth noting that Qantas also allows new parents to place their tier status on hold if they take at least six months off work to spend time with their family. The Qantas Status Hold benefit is available for up to 18 months.
