As a general idea of DSCs;
1. Qantas Double Status Credits (QF DSC) is a promotion the QF does at few times in a calendar year that gives double status credits for eligible bookings.
2. What is an eligible booking - QF determines and details this in the T&C released each year for each promo.
3. A promo will have 2 time periods to keep in mind
3a. Booking Period - the time period within which an eligible booking has to be made. Historically, Booking Period is 7 days from date of promo commencement
3b. Travel Period - the time period within which the travel has to be completed. Travel Period (usually?) 11-ish months from the end of the Booking Period
4. The PNR is where the promo is stored/saved - what this means is, as long as the PNR stays the same (remains unchanged), you will get DSCs for the eligible flights stored under that PNR.
1) If I need to change the dates, what's the correct process to follow to ensure that you still get DSC in the new dates?
Get the booking changed to a date that is within the promo Travel Period, ensuring that the PNR remains unchanged. To do this, talk to the entity you did the booking with ((i.e. via a Travel Agent or Qantas)) and explain that you'd like to do a date change.
2) Can you change the dates multiple times?
Yes a booking can be changed multiple times depending on the traveller's needs. However, to get DSC, ensure that the *new* travel date is within the Travel Period of the promo. Also note that depending on the flexibility of the ticket - you might incur a change fee, fare & tax difference (if applicable).
3) If I need to ask for a refund, would I receive that back onto my card or as a credit?
You can choose how you like to take the refund. You have the flexibility to cancel the flights and take a credit or you can cancel the flights and take a refund to your card.
If you choose to cancel and take a credit - QF has a process to take the $ value of the ticket, convert to a credit and stored in the QF system for use at a later date. When doing this, the credit will have the same PNR as the original booking. This means, if you book a flight using that credit, you will get DSC, provided the *new* flights booked using that credit complies with the eligible flights & Travel Period of the promo.
If you choose to cancel and take a refund ($) - then this is simple as taking a refund, money goes into your card.
4) Would I only have a year from purchase date to use up the funds (I've learnt that that's how VA works and am unsure if QF is the same)?
I don't think so. Happy to be corrected on this front. Credits can be used whenever you wish to use them? Not an expert on this - happy to be guided.
Edit: Just read comment from
@muppet re this.
5) Can the deal be stacked with cashback websites (although I don't usually see QF offers there)?
I'd say yes (with caution). Reason is, so far the booking channels have been pretty open - meaning, the booking can be done from QF website, QF call centres, OTAs, TAs, etc... so I don't see why cashback websites won't count as a valid booking channel. Happy to corrected in this regard.
If you have any more questions, please feel free to write back. Cheers.