Well folks, yesterday I took the final flight of this program year with Qantas (December 1, 2021 - November 30, 2022): a 5:05 PM departure from SYD to CBR. In doing so, I earned the final 10 status credits needed to clock in 600 status credits from flying to re-qualify from Gold (I understand my status got auto-extended but please bear with me). I thought I'd take this opportunity to share the flights I took to earn those 600 status credits, along with how much I spent to get there. I'd also like to highlight the benefits I took advantage of as a valued QF Gold member to try and put some value on whether the status was worth pursuing in the end.
In doing so, I hope this provides guidance for those thinking of hoping QF treadmill to earn QF Gold status:
| Date | Flight | Route | Fare | Cost | Status Credits |
|---|
| 18 Dec, 2021 | JQ 611 | SYD>AVV | MAX | 76.50 | 20 |
| 22 Dec, 2021 | JQ 612 | AVV>SYD | MAX | 76.50 | 20 |
| 12 Jan, 2022 | JQ 775 | ADL > MEL | MAX | 127.29 | 20 |
| 11 Feb, 2022 | JQ 418 | SYD > OOL | MAX | 86.50 | 20 |
| 14 Feb, 2022 | JQ 427 | OOL > SYD | MAX | 86.50 | 20 |
| 25 Feb, 2022 | JQ 749 | SYD > LST | MAX | 91.50 | 20 |
| 28 Feb, 2022 | JQ 748 | LST > SYD | MAX | 91.50 | 20 |
| 11 Mar, 2022 | QF 748 | SYD > BNE | Red e-Deal | 109.75 | 10 |
| 14 Mar, 2022 | QF 557 | BNE > SYD | Red e-Deal | 109.75 | 10 |
| 30 Mar, 2022 | JQ 672 | SYD > DRW | MAX | 171.18 | 40 |
| 6 Apr, 2022 | JQ 689/769 | DRW>ADL>SYD | MAX | 171.18 | 60 |
| 21 May, 2022 | JQ 3 | SYD>HNL | Plus | 257 | 45 |
| 28 May, 2022 | JQ 4 | HNL>SYD | Plus | 257 | 45 |
| 11 Aug, 2022 | JQ 950 | SYD > CNS | MAX | 168 | 30 |
| 15 Aug, 2022 | JQ 959 | CNS > SYD | MAX | 168 | 30 |
| 1 Sep, 2022 | JQ 986 | SYD > PER | MAX | 185.88 | 40 |
| 5 Sep, 2022 | JQ 977, JQ 532 | PER>MEL>SYD | MAX | 185.88 | 60 |
| 29 Oct, 2022 | JQ 912 | SYD > TSV | MAX | 107.74 | 30 |
| 31 Oct, 2022 | JQ 913 | TSV > SYD | MAX | 107.74 | 30 |
| 18 Nov, 2022 | QF 483 | SYD > MEL | Red eDeal | 140.25 | 10 |
| 20 Nov, 2022 | QF 494 | MEL > SYD | Red eDeal | 140.25 | 10 |
| 25 Nov, 2022 | QF 1443 | SYD > CBR | Red eDeal | 126.15 | 10 |
| Totals | | | | $3,042.04 | 600 |
As you can see I earned status credits the card way, flying many predominantly cheap JQ MAX fares within Australia to rack up the status credits for status with an average acquisition cost of $5 per status credit. This is by no means either the fastest way to earn Qantas status nor the cheapest (more on that later). You will notice some trips on JQ include connecting flights. These trips were originally booked as non-stop but JQ cancelled the nonstop flight and I was pushed onto a connecting flight, hence the additional status credit accrual. N.B. This doesn't include flights I took with KLM or Air Canada nor does it include QF/JQ award flights I took within Australia (including to LDH, HBA and LRE).
Now getting back to probably the most important question, was it worth it in terms of the perks I got as being a loyal QF Gold member?
- Lounge access since that was something I made heavy use of, conservatively visiting a QF lounge 18 times which would justify the $600 annual fee for lounge membership (works out to ~$33 per visit)
- Priority Customer Service - Let's assume it's worth $5/call. From my recollection, I made 3 calls to QF during that time so $15 value there
- Complimentary seat selection on QF flights. Let's assume that's worth just $5/flight (all QF flights were domestic, most were regional hoppers). I took 12 QF flights this program year (including award flights) so that's worth $60
- Preferential Access to Award Seats - $0 (didn't make any far out QF award bookings)
- Classic Upgrade Award Priority - $25 for successful domestic waitlisting and $100 for successful international waitlisting. I had 1 waitlisted QF domestic upgrade that cleared - $25
- Priority Check-In - $5 per visit - I used that feature 6 times - $30
- Priority Security - $10 per visit - used that 8 times - $80
- Priority Boarding - Oh Please!
- Waitlist and Standby Priority - Didn't use that benefit
- Priority Baggage - Place $0 value since baggage priority seems like a game of roulette on QF
- Extra baggage allowance - $0 not used
- Complimentary Q Tag - not received - $0
- Partner Benefits - $0 - haven't flown with partners
Hence, overall I would argue I got approximately $810 in value this year which isn't as great as the benefits I received from United. However, in Qantas' defence, I would almost exclusively fly United long-haul international and frankly didn't have much of an opportunity to fly them or OneWorld partners international long haul this year.
So to sum up was it worth it in the end? Well, considering I spent almost all of 2020 and 2021 locked at home due to COVID border restrictions, I'd say yes. I got to explore a wide swath of Australia at arguably bargain basement prices considering the number of trips booked. In addition, despite QF extending everyone's status for another year, there is benefit for earning these status credits for three reasons. First, all these status credits will count towards lifetime status and nearly accounts for 10% of the status credits required to earn lifetime Qantas Silver. Second, Qantas will rollover 40% of the status credits earned this year (unto 240 status credits) to next year meaning I'll have a head start to re-qualifying for QF Gold (or even making a run for QF Platinum). Third and perhaps less understood, I'll get a further 50 status credits to start next program year. The reason being is that I earned 500 status credits flying with QF/JQ towards the end of my program year qualifying me for a loyalty bonus of 50 status credits or 8,000 bonus points. Since I must choose the bonus within 90 days of receiving the offer, I'll simply select the 50 bonus status credits in early December thereby giving me that 50 status credit boost for 2022/2023 program year.
Unsure if this post was informative to anyone, just thought I'd share my experience and thought process here.
-RooFlyer88
www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au
