After holding Qantas Gold status for almost a decade, I recently upgraded to Qantas Platinum for the first time.
I’ve always thought that Qantas Platinum status would be nice to have. But rather than chasing Qantas Platinum, my strategy to date has been to spread the love across multiple alliances and maintain Gold status with Qantas, Virgin Australia and United Airlines (for Star Alliance Gold). This way, although I would forfeit the extra benefits of Qantas Platinum, I would be able to enjoy the main benefits of status across a much wider range of airlines.
That has ultimately meant that I could choose the airline with the best price, schedule or product for each particular trip, rather than being locked into flying Qantas and Oneworld.
One of the things I most value about airline status is airport lounge access. I’ve been very happy so far with Qantas Gold status and the associated Oneworld Sapphire benefits – it has made a huge difference to the way I fly. But I do have to say that, now I’ve got a taste for Platinum, it has been quite nice to have!
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The benefits of Platinum over Gold are marginal… but noticeable
Compared to earning Gold status, it takes around twice the amount of flying to earn Platinum status. (You need to earn 1,400 status credits instead of 700.) But Platinum status arguably does not come with double the amount of benefits over Gold.
For this reason, many frequent flyers consider Gold status to be the “sweet spot”. I would agree with this assessment as Gold is much easier to earn than Platinum, but still comes with a suite of benefits that are very worthwhile including lounge access, priority check-in and priority boarding.
The extra benefits available to Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum members are a bit more subtle. But there are five benefits that I’ve particularly come to enjoy over the past few months…
1. First Class Lounges
As a Qantas Gold member, you can already access all domestic Qantas Club and international Business Lounges when flying with Qantas and Oneworld airlines.
In addition, Platinum members get access to the domestic Qantas Business and international First Lounges. This includes the flagship First Lounge in Sydney with its great service, quality dining options and a great view of the airfield with the Sydney CBD in the background.
The Qantas international Business Lounges are very nice. But the Qantas First Lounges are in a league of their own. They are some of the best in the world.
Thanks to Qantas’ partnership with Emirates, Qantas Platinum members can also use the Emirates First Class Lounges in Dubai. I really enjoyed my time in there when I recently flew with Emirates.
2. Oneworld Emerald status
The Star Alliance and SkyTeam alliances only have two alliance-wide status tiers, which are equivalent to Silver and Gold status. (Star Alliance Gold and SkyTeam Elite Plus are the top levels with those alliances.)
In addition to Oneworld Ruby (equivalent to Qantas Silver) and Oneworld Sapphire (Qantas Gold), Oneworld Emerald offers a higher level of alliance-wide recognition for frequent flyers who have the equivalent of Platinum status with a Oneworld airline.
As a Oneworld Emerald frequent flyer, you can access First Class priority check-in counters, fast-track lanes at selected airports, and most importantly, First Class lounges when flying any airline across the alliance. This unlocks even more great lounges like Cathay Pacific’s excellent “The Wing” lounge in Hong Kong.
3. Call centre priority
The ongoing problems with the Qantas call centre are well documented. This can be hugely frustrating for Qantas Frequent Flyer members, especially when dealing with the call centre is the only way to do certain things like changing a Classic Reward ticket or booking reward flights that originate in most other countries.
Since reaching Platinum, I have noticed that my calls are answered a lot more quickly. But that’s not actually the main benefit. The real value, for me, is that I’ve had a much higher success rate of being connected to an experienced, competent operator in Hobart or Auckland.
I value my time. Not just the time spent on hold, but also not having to call multiple times because the first operator didn’t know what to do. Improved access to the Hobart and Auckland call centres has meant that far more of my requests are now properly addressed on the first call, and I’m grateful for this.
Admittedly, I don’t really think it’s fair that paying thousands of dollars to attain Platinum status is one of the only ways to (almost) guarantee good service from the Qantas call centre. But that’s a matter for another time…
4. The ability to request extra Classic Reward seats
It’s often difficult to find Classic Flight Reward seats that are available to book using Qantas points. But Platinum members have a backup option – the ability to call up and request the release of extra reward seats.
I’ve so far only used this for a domestic flight in Economy. But I was able to get a seat on the flight I needed and it saved me around $300. This would simply not have been an option without Platinum status.
Of course, this is not guaranteed to work 100% of the time – Qantas can always decline your request. But it can be a hugely valuable benefit if you’re able to get premium cabin reward seats released that were not otherwise obtainable!
5. Lounge access on arrival
The final Platinum benefit that I’ve particularly enjoyed is the option to use the domestic Business Lounges on arrival at the destination. I don’t often use this benefit, but it’s nice to at least have the option to grab a cup of coffee, a snack or even a quick shower before leaving the airport when I have a busy day ahead.
Other Qantas Platinum benefits that are “nice to have”
Of course, these aren’t the only benefits of Qantas Platinum status. A few other extra perks that I’ve been enjoying include:
- The option to bring two guests into domestic airport lounges (instead of one)
- Access to better seat selection on Qantas flights (prior to “T-80”)
- Higher priority in the international upgrade lottery
- Occasional personal greetings from the cabin manager when flying Economy on Qantas, Oneworld and Emirates international flights
- Earning Accor ALL points for Qantas flights
Will I go out of my way to retain Platinum status with Qantas again next year? I’m not sure…
The benefits are nice, but it takes quite a lot of flying (and money) to get Platinum status with Qantas.
If this would be at the expense of retaining my Velocity Gold or Star Alliance Gold status, I’d have to really think about it as I also value those highly. But I must admit that some of the extra advantages of Qantas Platinum have been very nice to have!
At least if I don’t retain my Platinum status next year, the worst that can happen is that I’ll be downgraded back to Gold status. That’s because Qantas Frequent Flyer has a “soft landing” policy – another nice little perk of the program.
Do you see value in Platinum status?
So, over to you AFF…
Do you see the value in Qantas Platinum status? If so, which are your most prized benefits?
And if you don’t think Platinum status is worth earning 1,400 status credits in a year – or 1,200 to maintain – why not?
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