Qantas is offering frequent flyers an easy way to extend status due to expire between 31 March and 31 December 2021 for a further year. Eligible Qantas Frequent Flyer Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One members can now get another status extension until 2022 by booking just one Qantas flight.
To be eligible for the status extension, Qantas Frequent Flyer members residing in Australia or New Zealand would need to book at least one new Qantas flight on or after 23 November 2020. The flight would need to be booked before the member’s current status end date (which would be between 31 March and 31 December 2021), for travel until 31 December 2021.
Which flights are eligible to activate the status extension?
Booking any Qantas operated and marketed flight (i.e. with a “QF” flight number) will quaify you for the status extension. Jetstar international flights, Jetstar domestic flights within New Zealand, Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Japan flights are also eligible, provided Qantas points would normally be earned with the fare type booked. Jetstar domestic flights within Australia are not eligible.
Classic Flight Reward bookings are also eligible for this offer. So, for example, you could extend your status for another year simply by booking a Qantas reward flight from Sydney to Canberra, or Melbourne to Mildura. Qantas Classic Flight Rewards on routes under 600 miles in length cost just 8,000 Qantas points + taxes & carrier charges.
If booking a commercial ticket, bookings paid by cash/credit card, Qantas TravelPass, Qantas flight credits, gift cards or Qantas points (e.g. Points Plus Pay bookings) are all eligible as well. The main thing is that the booking must be created on or after 23 November 2020. Beware that it’s unlikely new bookings made with gift vouchers purchased before 23 November 2020 would qualify.
If you have an upcoming Classic Flight Reward booking, you could take advantage of Qantas’ free cancellation policy to cancel and then make a new booking at no extra cost. (Check that your original flight still has Classic Flight Reward seat availability before doing this!)
If you cancel your booking, it won’t be eligible to qualify you for the automatic status extension. However, if you had made an eligible booking and Qantas cancels your flight, your status will still be extended.
If you qualify, the requirement to fly at least 4 Qantas or Jetstar flights will be waived and the status extension will occur automatically at the end of your Qantas Frequent Flyer membership year. There’s no need to register for this offer. The Qantas website has the full terms & conditions.
Automatic Qantas status extensions for overseas residents
If the address listed on your Qantas Frequent Flyer profile is outside of Australia or New Zealand, you don’t even need to make a new flight booking. Qantas will automatically extend the status of all overseas residents (i.e. not residing in Australia or New Zealand) whose status is due to expire between 31 March and 31 December 2021.
This is an acknowledgement of the extreme difficulty overseas members have in flying with Qantas while almost all international flights are grounded and Australia’s border remains closed.
This offer is outlined on overseas versions of the Qantas website (e.g. the UK website).
Status Credit rollover
In addition, some Qantas status credits earned during membership years ending between March and December 2021 will be rolled over into the following membership year. You’ll receive the status credits back into your account at the start of your next membership year.
Status credits earned through flying or with partners, for example with credit card offers or the current Red Energy promotion, will count towards this rollover. But bonus or complimentary status credits provided by Qantas won’t be rolled over to next year.
These are the maximum number of status credits that will be rolled over to your 2022 membership year:
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | Platinum One | |
| Status Credits | 100 | 250 | 500 | 1,800 |
| % needed for renewal | 40% | 42% | 42% | 50% |
Essentially, this means status credits earned during your current membership year will not go to waste – even if your status is automatically extended. They will count towards renewing your status beyond 2022.
There are no changes to status credit rollovers for Points Club Plus members as a result of this program.
No further status extensions for one-sixth of Qantas Frequent Flyers
The second round of Qantas status extensions and status credit rollovers is welcome news for Qantas Frequent Flyers whose membership years end between March and December. But if your Qantas membership year ends in January or February, you unfortunately won’t be able to benefit from this.
If your membership year ends on 31 January or 31 February 2021, Qantas has already promised to extend your status until January or February 2022 as part of the one-year status extension offered to everyone in March 2021. But Qantas won’t extend your status automatically for a second year.
The good news is that you’ll still receive 50% of the status credits required to renew your status at the beginning of your next membership year, just like everyone else has.
Almost as generous as Air New Zealand
The Qantas status extensions fall somewhat short of Air New Zealand’s automatic second-year status extensions for all Airpoints members, announced in September 2020. Air New Zealand’s offer does not require members to book any new flights, and does not discriminate by membership year or country of residence. In fact, Air New Zealand will even give members a raincheck if they would have already qualified to renew their status this year without the complimentary extension.
Nonetheless, this is a generous and welcome offer from Qantas Frequent Flyer. Booking one new Qantas flight is not onerous. And as only new bookings count towards the Qantas status extension, it guarantees some extra revenue for Qantas at a time when they need it.
It’s also a smart strategy from Qantas because it reduces the risk of losing loyal customers who might decide to switch to another airline if they lost their status through no fault of their own. When normal travel resumes, Qantas wants to ensure its previously-loyal frequent flyers remain “locked in”.
Most airlines, including Qantas and Virgin Australia, already gave a one-year status extension to their frequent flyers when COVID-19 travel restrictions were brought in around March 2020. But as 2020 draws to a close, and with normal international travel still a long way off, it’s likely more airlines will soon announce similar second-year status extensions for their members.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Book a flight and Extend Current status to 2022
