What’s the point of Status Credits

[scruffydoo]

I’ve often wondered this, am I missing something? It’s hardly a loyalty program when you are zero’d every year and have to start over. My schedule means I hit Gold each year then lose it 2 months later and shoved back to the bottom again. Seems pointless.

 

[oz_mark]

I’ve often wondered this, am I missing something? It’s hardly a loyalty program when you are zero’d every year and have to start over. My schedule means I hit Gold each year then lose it 2 months later and shoved back to the bottom again. Seems pointless.

The way it works:

In year one, you start off with no status. Then you hit gold, which you will have for the rest of year one, and for all of year two,
At the start of year two, it will reset to zero, but your gold will continue to the end of year two,
During year two, you build up status credits to determine what your status in year 3 will be. If you achieve the gold retention level, you will then have status for year three, if not they drop you down to silver.
And on it goes.

 

[defurax]

Not sure I understand. If you earn 700 status credits in a given year you become Gold and keep that status for the remaining of your membership year and the following year. If you want to keep Gold status for an additional year then you need to earn 600 SC. Not sure why you say you are losing Gold 2 months after gaining it.

 

[scruffydoo]

Oh OK got it, i must have a glitch on my account because I lost all points and had to start over, I’ll contact CS.

 

[defurax]

You will lose all status credits at the end of year one (qualifying year), but the status gained is active for all of year two.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

My schedule means I hit Gold each year then lose it 2 months later and shoved back to the bottom again. Seems pointless.

A higher status with QF is always maintained for at least 12 months, i.e. your next membership year.

 

[mviy]

Once you get to 7,000 LifeTime Status Credits you’ll have LifeTime Silver. 14,000 for LifeTime Gold and 75,000 for LifeTime Platinum. So whilst the Status Credits are reset every year they still count to your Lifetime tally.

 

[mrsterryn]

I’ve often wondered this, am I missing something? It’s hardly a loyalty program when you are zero’d every year and have to start over. My schedule means I hit Gold each year then lose it 2 months later and shoved back to the bottom again. Seems pointless.

You should be getting it for those two months and the your next membership years
(Just checking this is Qantas ?)
Which should mean , if you requalify for gold each year, you never "lose" it so speak .
Also less status credits required to keep Gold (plat ) etc

 

[Himeno]

Oh OK got it, i must have a glitch on my account because I lost all points and had to start over, I’ll contact CS.

Points are different to Status Credits.

Points are gained many ways, both by flying and on the ground (eg shopping, credit card spend, etc). Points are only lost if they are used or the account is inactive for 18 months.
Status Credits are only earnt from flying. They determine your status for the following membership year and are reset at the end of each membership year. The total tally is kept to determine life time status.

If you reach Gold, you'll have that status for the following year. Your status credits are reset, but your status is not. You will need to gain the required amount of status credits in the next year to keep that status. If you had to "start over", you would be earning Gold, then going back to Bronze status. That is not the case unless something is wrong with your account.

If you have gotten Gold 2 months before the end of your membership year, your account should read 0 Status Credits, Gold Status, on day 1 of the next membership year.

 

[DC3]

In order to maximise status duration, if you have the flexibility of taking flights early in your membership year, and reach a higher level at that time, you will maintain that status for up to two years.

For example, I took advantage of a DSC offer and regained WP last month (the beginning of my membership year) so WP will last until 30/4/21.

 

[Nick C.]

While we are talking about the basics of status, has anyone tried delaying crediting their points/SC's until the start of the next status year? In other words, 'consolidating' your SC's into the next year to maximise the amount when you don't want/need any more in the current year?

I'm sure this has been raised before so please point me to an existing thread if there is one.

 

[defurax]

While we are talking about the basics of status, has anyone tried delaying crediting their points/SC's until the start of the next status year? In other words, 'consolidating' your SC's into the next year to maximise the amount when you don't want/need any more in the current year?

I'm sure this has been raised before so please point me to an existing thread if there is one.

The only SC you can "delay" are the 50SC bonus you get for every 500SC earned on QF/JQ. You have 3 months to make a choice on the bonus, so it can sometimes be done in the next status year. All other SC are linked to the date flight segments are flown, even if you make a retroactive claim 5 months after the flight it will still be credited in the membership year the flight was taken.

 

[DC3]

... has anyone tried delaying crediting their points/SC's until the start of the next status year ...

I think that plenty may have a use for that, if it were possible. However, SC will always credit based on the day of the flight departure.

 

[oz_mark]

While we are talking about the basics of status, has anyone tried delaying crediting their points/SC's until the start of the next status year? In other words, 'consolidating' your SC's into the next year to maximise the amount when you don't want/need any more in the current year?

I'm sure this has been raised before so please point me to an existing thread if there is one.

The only way you can do this (loyalty bonus aside) is to delay your travel into the new year.

 

[RichardMEL]

I think Scruffy's confusion may come from the reset of SC to zero at the end of the membership year - which is normal for everyone. If he checks his Life Time Status Credits, he'll notice the total he's earned over the lifetime of his membership.

ie Loyalty in the short term is recognised by status progression during a year's activity, nd over time with the total.

When you refer to "points" be aware that Status Credits (SC) are different to QFF points. QFF points can expire after 18 months with no account actibvity (almost certainly not the case here) while current earned SC's reset to zero at the start of each membership year, but the status, if applicable, will roll over - unless insufficient are earned. Thus the point(no pun intended) of Status Credits.

 

[Ade]

In order to maximise status duration, if you have the flexibility of taking flights early in your membership year, and reach a higher level at that time, you will maintain that status for up to two years.

For example, I took advantage of a DSC offer and regained WP last month (the beginning of my membership year) so WP will last until 30/4/21.

I've got a question here ;

My QFF anniversary is 31/Dec and I became QF Gold in October 2018 and I'm a Gold until Dec 2019. In 2019, I've done enough trips to retain Gold (600 SC) and I have no more trips planned, so far.

Now that I've got 600 SC and retained Gold,

1. My understanding is that now I'll be a QF Gold until 31 Dec 2020 and on 01 Jan 2021 I will fall back to Silver, if I don't take any more flights with QF in 2019 and 2020. Is this understanding correct?

 

[Himeno]

I've got a question here ;

My QFF anniversary is 31/Dec and I became QF Gold in October 2018 and I'm a Gold until Dec 2019. In 2019, I've done enough trips to retain Gold (600 SC) and I have no more trips planned, so far.

Now that I've got 600 SC and retained Gold,

1. My understanding is that now I'll be a QF Gold until 31 Dec 2020 and on 01 Jan 2021 I will fall back to Silver, if I don't take any more flights with QF in 2019 and 2020. Is this understanding correct?

You earn status for this year based on last years flying. Earning gold last year makes you gold this year (and the remainder of last year).
If you earn enough SC to retain gold this year, you'll have gold through next year (provided you have the min 4 QF/JQ flights).
If you don't earn enough SC in 2020 to retain gold, you'll drop back in 2021.

 

[VPS]

I've got a question here ;

My QFF anniversary is 31/Dec and I became QF Gold in October 2018 and I'm a Gold until Dec 2019. In 2019, I've done enough trips to retain Gold (600 SC) and I have no more trips planned, so far.

Now that I've got 600 SC and retained Gold,

1. My understanding is that now I'll be a QF Gold until 31 Dec 2020 and on 01 Jan 2021 I will fall back to Silver, if I don't take any more flights with QF in 2019 and 2020. Is this understanding correct?

Correct. You will maintain gold until December 2020

 

[Ade]

You earn status for this year based on last years flying. Earning gold last year makes you gold this year (and the remainder of last year).
If you earn enough SC to retain gold this year, you'll have gold through next year (provided you have the min 4 QF/JQ flights).
If you don't earn enough SC in 2020 to retain gold, you'll drop back in 2021.

Thank you @Himeno

 

[Ade]

Correct. You will maintain gold until December 2020

Thank you @VPS