Qantas Frequent Flyer is allowing Status Credits to be earned on hotel bookings for the first time ever, as the loyalty program introduces a raft of measures to help grounded travellers earn or maintain status easier.
Other measures include a points boost on longer stays, plus an immediate decrease in the number of Qantas Points needed for Points + Pay hotel bookings. These offers are only for a limited time, so read on to learn more.
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How to earn up to 125 Status Credits with luxury hotels
For bookings up until 31 August 2020, some Qantas Hotels luxury offers will be eligible to earn Status Credits (SCs). The number of Status Credits earned varies between hotels and is limited to a maximum of 100 SCs per booking.
A total of 125 Status Credits can be earned this way during this current promotion, for stays up to 31 March 2021. These will be credited at least 8 weeks after check-out.
The number of bonus Status Credits can be earned on any package will be indicated on the offer landing page of that property. But you will need to dig deep into the terms and conditions to get the full picture.
Take The Rees Hotel in Queenstown for example:
Qantas Frequent Flyer members that book a 3 night stay at The Rees via qantas.com/luxuryhotels between 14 July and 27 July 2020, for stays until 31 March 2021 will earn 15 bonus Status Credits on Lake View Hotel room bookings, and 30 bonus Status Credits on Lakeview 2-Bedroom Apartment bookings, accurate as at 14 July 2020. Additional nights added will earn 5 bonus Status Credits per room per night.
How to earn 5,000 bonus Qantas Points on hotel stays
In addition to the usual 3 Qantas Points per dollar spent through Qantas Hotels, you can bag an additional 5,000 Qantas Points simply by booking a stay for 3 nights or more.
Once again, the bookings must be made before 31 August 2020 and the stay completed before 31 March 2021. With our current points valuation, we’d estimate 5,000 Qantas Points to be worth around $95. The terms and conditions state that ‘Points Plus Pay’ must be used for this offer to be valid (below, underlining is ours).
Qantas Frequent Flyer members that book a stay of 3 or more nights by 31 August 2020 using Points Plus Pay, and stay before 31 March 2021 will receive 5,000 Bonus Qantas Points.
How to save 20% off Points Plus Pay hotel bookings
Speaking of the devil, there is also an immediate discount of 20% from the points component of a Points Plus Pay hotel bookings. This means that each chunk of 5,000 Qantas Points will deduct $36 off your booking, rather than $30.
This discount is valid for bookings until 31 December 2020 but does not include Qantas Classic Hotel Rewards, which are discounted rates fully-paid in Qantas Points.
Still, we don’t recommend redeeming Qantas Points for hotel bookings as the value is quite low. This offer only marginally increases the value of your Qantas Points to about 0.72 cents each — we value them at 1.9 cents each.
Learn more about Qantas Hotels and earning points on stays
Read our separate detailed guide to earning Qantas Points when booking accommodation through Qantas Hotels or through Airbnb. Plus we explain how you could directly earn Qantas Points through hotel loyalty programs such as Hilton Honors or IHG Rewards Club.
The regular Qantas Hotels earn rate is 3 points per dollar spent at over 200,000 partner hotels, with Qantas Business Rewards members able to earn extra points including their ABN on the booking.
With all other things like price being equal, you are earning a points kickback worth ~6% when booking through Qantas Hotels if you value your Qantas Points at 1.9c per point.
This number improves when Qantas Frequent Flyer has various promotions that give bonuses or increases the earn rates. A history of Qantas Hotels offers is provided below for your reference.
Qantas Hotels offer history
| Date | Bonus Qantas Points per $ offer | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 2020 | 9 | 5 days | All hotels |
| December 2019 | 6 | 3 days | International hotels only |
| May 2019 | 9 | 3 days | All hotels |
| February 2019 | 9 | 3 days | All hotels |
| January 2019 | 6 | 3 days | Domestic hotels only |
| October 2018 | 9 | 3 days | All hotels |
| May 2018 | 9 | 6 days | All hotels |
| February 2018 | 6 | 5 days | International hotels only |
| January 2018 | 6 | 3 days | Domestic hotels only |
| November 2017 | 6 | 5 days | All hotels |
| September 2017 | 6 | 3 days | All hotels |
| June 2017 | 6 | 3 days | All hotels |
| November 2016 | 9 | 3 days | All hotels |
| May 2016 | 9 | 4 days | All hotels |
| April 2016 | 6 | 6 days | Domestic hotels only |
| February 2016 | 12 | 1 day | All hotels |
| January 2016 | 6 | - | All hotels |
| November 2015 | 9 | - | All hotels |
| July 2015 | 6 | - | International hotels only |
| December 2014 | 9 | - | All hotels |
| August 2014 | - | - | 10,000 bonus points for bookings over $1,000 in Asia |
| January 2014 | 6 | - | International hotels only For Domestic bookings: 2,000 bonus Qantas Points |
| Average | 7.6 |
Price Promise
Qantas Hotels also have a price match policy which is worth knowing about, especially if other booking agents or the hotels themselves offer a lower comparable rate.
If, on the same day after you book a hotel at qantas.com, you find that same identical product available to purchase on any Australian website for a lower publicly available price, we’ll match it. Claims, including a qualifying screenshot, must be submitted by 11:59pm (AEST) on the same day that you made and paid for your booking at qantas.com. To qualify for Price Promise, the products on qantas.com and the competitor travel website must be identical in all regards, and all details must be visible on the screenshot of the competitor’s website.
Note you’ll also receive 1,000 Qantas points for every successful claim. Full terms are here.
Summing up
If you don’t frequently stay at one particular hotel chain, often it can be more lucrative to earn airline frequent flyer points instead.
Qantas Hotels is worth including in your price comparison research versus Hotels.com, Expedia and the like, given that all hotels booked through their platform are points-earning.
Generally, the value of points earned from hotel stays shouldn’t sway where you stay or how you book. It’s a nice bonus; but still opt for the hotel, room and price that suits you.
Given Qantas have a wide range of hotel partners to keep an eye on if you are making a hotel booking, the key is not to miss out on points you could have earned from your stay.
It’s also great to temporarily have the ability to earn up to 125 Status Credits on luxury stays.
Previous content by Matt Moffit.
I was looking at the ‘Hotel Deals’ tab. The hotels I checked on Qantas were priced either the same or marginally more expensive than the best rate offered by the hotel directly; but the difference was small.
I’m booking 10 nights in New York at a cost of $450 per night. I’m earning 4 Qantas points per dollar (ABN + 3 points) = 18000 points all up. This is enough for a business class flight between Sydney-Brisbane, worth around $600-700.
If I make the same booking through hotels.com, I’ll earn a free night worth about $200.