Qantas Platinum Soft Landing

[kangarooflyer88]

Well folks, it looks like I won't be retaining Qantas Platinum this year having racked up a meagre 186 status credits (of which 50 came from Green Tier and 50 came from loyalty bonus), but did manage to somehow get the four squiggles on my Qantas card. For those curious between finishing off the last of my studies in my PhD thesis and writing up my PhD, there frankly hasn't been much time to do much wandering (aside from that month I spent abroad).

It's my understanding that I will be demoted to Gold tier, which quite frankly I do not mind, as aside from the LATAM Black benefit (via status match), I haven't made too much use of the Qantas Platinum status. Yes the First class lounge is nice and the occasional time where Qantas can open award seats for you is also good, but in reality Gold seems just right with its lounge access, complimentary seat selection across the board, priority check-in and extra baggage.

Am I correct in assuming that I will have Gold status for the next program year? Additionally, with this status that I'm being downgraded to, what are the requirements for retaining the status? Would it be the 600 to retain status or am I back to the drawing board and must earn the 700 status credits to earn Gold for the following calendar year?

-RooFLyer88

 

[SYD]

Well folks, it looks like I won't be retaining Qantas Platinum this year having racked up a meagre 186 status credits (of which 50 came from Green Tier and 50 came from loyalty bonus), but did manage to somehow get the four squiggles on my Qantas card. For those curious between finishing off the last of my studies in my PhD thesis and writing up my PhD, there frankly hasn't been much time to do much wandering (aside from that month I spent abroad).

It's my understanding that I will be demoted to Gold tier, which quite frankly I do not mind, as aside from the LATAM Black benefit (via status match), I haven't made too much use of the Qantas Platinum status. Yes the First class lounge is nice and the occasional time where Qantas can open award seats for you is also good, but in reality Gold seems just right with its lounge access, complimentary seat selection across the board, priority check-in and extra baggage.

Am I correct in assuming that I will have Gold status for the next program year? Additionally, with this status that I'm being downgraded to, what are the requirements for retaining the status? Would it be the 600 to retain status or am I back to the drawing board and must earn the 700 status credits to earn Gold for the following calendar year?

Soft landing to SG is an undocumented QF benefit. So not guaranteed but normal - unless of course you’re been bagging out about QF?

But otherwise, retaining status from a softlanding is the same as normal retention.

 

[AIRwin]

Am I correct in assuming that I will have Gold status for the next program year?

Yes but I've heard that status may still show as Platinum for the first few days

 

[kpro]

I haven't made too much use of the Qantas Platinum status.

Not World Platinum anymore? Won't you miss the priority access to the showers?

 

[kangarooflyer88]

But otherwise, retaining status from a softlanding is the same as normal retention.

Good to hear that it'll be just 600 status credits (provided of course I get soft landed to Gold)

Not World Platinum anymore? Won't you miss the priority access to the showers?

Nah, I'll just settle for the business lounge where I know I can get a shower.

-RooFlyer88

 

[exceladdict]

You could always call and see if they'll offer you an extension (going rate seems to be 120k and I'm on a bit of a mission to find out what the SC cut off is to be eligible for the offer). When's your membership year end?

 

[kangarooflyer88]

You could always call and see if they'll offer you an extension (going rate seems to be 120k and I'm on a bit of a mission to find out what the SC cut off is to be eligible for the offer). When's your membership year end?

Membership year end is November 30, 2024. Again, I don't mind moving down to Gold, as to be quite honest I'm not really using the benefits of Platinum. And certainly I cannot justify forking out 120k points to retain Platinum status. That right there is a business class award to the US or Europe. Was Platinum status nice? Yes. And probably the best benefit (fingers crossed) will be the soft landing to Gold next membership year, which I should be able to retain if it is just 600 status credits. As an aside, I'll likely be leaving Australia next year, so it will be interesting to see how I manage to keep getting those four squiggles (I'm planning on taking some JQ/QF flights to/within Asia).

-RooFlyer88

 

[oz_mark]

You could always call and see if they'll offer you an extension (going rate seems to be 120k and I'm on a bit of a mission to find out what the SC cut off is to be eligible for the offer). When's your membership year end?

From what I have been told, it is about half of the required SC - below that it can be manually reviewed, Of course, they may have tightened up at any time....

 

[oz_boater]

I was downgraded from Platinum to Gold last year and needed 600 SC to retain it, which I have managed to do.

 

[RichardMEL]

Yes, your assumptions are correct. You should get a soft landing to Gold and have that retain level.

Congrats on finishingvyour Ph. D. That's a huge achievement - no matter the topic/area of study.

 

[sudoer]

no matter the topic/area of study

Montreal Convention perhaps.

 

[thebmw]

Montreal Convention perhaps.

Or status priority in queues?

 

[BD1959]

A point of clarification (for me!) …

When looking to retain Gold after a year of soft-landed Gold, do you require the 600SCs or 800SCs as a first year of qualifying? I assume the 600 but suddenly had an “enhanced moment”!! (I luckily have LTG so have never had to consider this).

Regards,

BD

 

[sudoer]

When looking to retain Gold after a year of soft-landed Gold, do you require the 600SCs or 800SCs as a first year of qualifying? I assume the 600 but suddenly had an “enhanced moment”!! (I luckily have LTG so have never had to consider this).

Just the 600 to retain on a soft landing I believe, unless it's changed in the last few years (attain is 700 by the way)

 

[SYD]

Just the 600 to retain on a soft landing I believe, unless it's changed in the last few years (attain is 700 by the way)

Yep, as per my previous post (and for any status level), the “retain” is always* the lower amount.

*apart from any special/promos that might be for a trial period. Does QF even do those?

I luckily have LTG so have never had to consider this).

Me too. But unfortunately, requalifying LTG is less than 40% of the way to LTP

 

[Seat0B]

For those curious between finishing off the last of my studies in my PhD thesis and writing up my PhD, there frankly hasn't been much time to do much wandering (aside from that month I spent abroad).

Congratulations on finishing the PhD. It is most definitely a marathon and a reward for persistence. What will you do with it?

 

[SYD]

What will you do with it?

Not update one’s FF profile lest someone asks “Is there a Doctor onboard?”

 

[DejaBrew]

Not update one’s FF profile lest someone asks “Is there a Doctor onboard?”

...and risk the inevitable follow-up question "umm... sorry, we meant is there a real Doctor onboard?"

I jest, I jest!! Seriously though, congrats on your PhD @kangarooflyer88 - that's quite the achievement

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Congrats on finishingvyour Ph. D. That's a huge achievement - no matter the topic/area of study.

PhD isn't finished yet. All studies have been completed and much of the write up has been done but thesis hasn't been fully written (will get that done in the next month or so). For those wondering, my PhD is in Psychology, I'm looking at a topic in the field of Human-Agent interaction.

I'm planning on doing a PostDoc abroad though (probably Europe) hence why I'm asking these questions. I suppose the related question would be whether it is worth moving over to another frequent flyer program for status. For instance Aegean (for Star Alliance Gold) or British Airways (for OneWorld) seem appealing. Heck even Air France ain't bad given you get lifetime top tier status with them after qualifying for their highest elite level for 10 consecutive years. My thinking is to stick with Qantas, yes I do need to get the 4 squiggles but I figure I can get those fairly easily with a trip to Asia. Whilst BA seems appealing for a frequent flyer program my reservation is the whole lifetime status bit and notably how difficult it would be to earn the 30,000 tear points to earn lifetime status (compared to just 14,000 for lifetime Gold on QF). Yes I understand BA Gold is better since that's OWE, but that's still a hell of a lot of points to earn.

My thinking now, to reach my ultimate travel goal (which is to achieve mid-tier lifetime status on all three global airline alliances) is to get lifetime Premier Gold on United for Star Alliance (requires flying 1 million miles on United), Qantas Gold for OneWorld Sapphire through the 14,000 status credits predominantly on BA and AA, and SkyTeam Elite Plus through Air France through the 10 consecutive years bit. I would argue that is truly the holy grail if there ever was one for frequent flyers since you can fly just about any airline and be treated well.

Not update one’s FF profile lest someone asks “Is there a Doctor onboard?”

I plan on updating my prefix to Doctor once I get the degree. Thank goodness my name isn't Shirley, Victor, Clarance or Oveur:

 

[smckay]

I knew it had to end but still is hard to read.
Good news is I made PC+ so I have started with 100 SC and with plenty of flights booked in 2025 I'll make the 500 to keep SG.


So good news with the bad news.