Nervously awaiting the day your Qantas Status Credits balance gets wiped and your previous status extension finishes up? Fear no more, as Qantas is tempting frequent flyers with a generous deal to boost Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One status for a further 12 months.
On the table is a further 12-month extension of your current elite status and the rollover of up to 40% of your Status Credits balance into your 2022 membership year — giving you a head start for status in 2023 — if you book an eligible Qantas flight.
Read on for all the juicy details, including what flights are eligible and how to take Qantas up on the offer.
2021 Status Extension and Status Credits Rollover details
Australian and New Zealand Qantas Frequent Flyers have the opportunity to earn a 12-month extension before the end of their current membership year, plus rollover some Status Credits into the new year. We’ve summarised the key points here:
- eligible members must already hold Platinum One, Platinum, Gold, or Silver Qantas Frequent Flyer status
- members must also have a status end date between 31 March 2021 and 31 December 2021 (inclusive)
- to qualify, you must make a new booking for at least one eligible flight. Bookings must be made between 23 November 2020 and the member’s current status end date
- members on Status Hold or with complimentary Gold or Platinum status are eligible for this extension
What flights are eligible for the status extension?
To be eligible for the 2021 status extension and Status Credits Rollover, you will need first book an eligible flight. These are:
- any Qantas-operated flight with a QF flight number
- any Qantas Points-earning Jetstar international booking including within New Zealand (JQ), Japan (GK) and Asia (3K). Jetstar domestic flights within Australia are not eligible.
Flights must be booked in the name of the frequent flyer member travelling and have the membership number recorded in the itinerary. Acceptable forms of payment include:
- Cash, Qantas TravelPass, Qantas Flight Credit and Qantas Points (both Points Plus Pay and Classic Reward flights)
Although it’s not explicitly mentioned on the website, Point Hacks has confirmed with a Qantas spokesperson that third-party bookings, such as through American Express Travel and flybuys travel, are still eligible.
This is good news for those with American Express Travel Credits who wish to use it for Qantas flights. Note that additional service fees may apply if you need to change or cancel your flight, though.
How does the 2021 status extension work?
Do you fit all the criteria above? Great news, you just need to book the eligible flight and not cancel it to receive the status extension. However, if Qantas cancels your flight for operational reasons, then you’ll still be eligible for the extension without further action.
Travel needs to be booked after 23 November 2020 and before your status end date. Your flights need to be flown by 31 December 2021. Existing bookings made before 23 November 2020 won’t qualify, unfortunately.
Below is a handy table with key dates that apply:
| Current status end date: | Make a Qantas booking between 23 Nov 2020 and: | The status extension will be activated by: |
| 31 Mar 2021 | 31 Mar 2021 | Late Mar 2021 |
| 30 Apr 2021 | 30 Apr 2021 | Late Apr 2021 |
| 31 May 2021 | 31 May 2021 | Late May 2021 |
| 30 Jun 2021 | 30 Jun 2021 | Late Jun 2021 |
| 31 Jul 2021 | 31 Jul 2021 | Late Jul 2021 |
| 31 Aug 2021 | 31 Aug 2021 | Late Aug 2021 |
| 30 Sep 2021 | 30 Sep 2021 | Late Sep 2021 |
| 31 Oct 2021 | 31 Oct 2021 | Late Oct 2021 |
| 30 Nov 2021 | 30 Nov 2021 | Late Nov 2021 |
| 31 Dec 2021 | 31 Dec 2021 | Late Dec 2021 |
If eligible, your status will be extended between a further 12 months, to now expire between 31 March 2022 and 31 December 2022.
How does that 2021 Status Credit Rollover work?
Once again, you’ll need to first book an eligible Qantas flight to be eligible for the Status Credit Rollover offer. The same flight and date rules as above still apply. But essentially, if you meet the criteria for the 2021 Status Extension, you’ll also automatically get the Status Credit Rollover.
Eligible members can rollover up to 40% of the Status Credits needed to maintain their current tier into their 2022 membership year. The maximum number of Status Credits that can be rolled over in this way are:
| Platinum One | Platinum | Gold | Silver | |
| Status Credits Rollover | 1,800 | 500 | 250 | 100 |
Frequent flyers with a membership end date between 31 March 2021 and 31 December 2021 (inclusive) are eligible, including lifetime status holders.
Only Status Credits earned through flying or ground partners in the previous 12 months of membership will count — this means the Qantas ‘support’ Status Credits handed out in mid-2020 will not rollover.
Points Club Plus members who already receive a 100 Status Credit rollover won’t be impacted by this and can potentially receive both rollovers.
Once rolled over into your 2022 membership year, you’ll have a boost to earning enough Status Credits to continue your tier level through 2023. Of course, Qantas is counting on more flights (even some internationally) being available by that time.
Summing up
With the coronavirus pandemic truly clipping the wings of Qantas previously-Frequent Flyers, not a lot of points or Status Credits are being earned in the air right now.
The 2021 status extension and Status Credits Rollover offers are fairly generous, as you just need to book a single flight within the eligible time period to qualify. It could be a simple trip within the same state or an adventure to somewhere more far-flung.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of terms and conditions attached to these offers, so be sure to also visit the Qantas website and check all the details, particularly around flight eligibility and cancellations.
Frequently Asked Questions: 2021 status extensions and Status Credits Rollover
No, if your status end date is not between 31 March 2021 and 31 December 2021 (inclusive), you are not currently eligible for any further offers at this stage.
If you’ve already retained your status, then you won’t get a further status extension. That offer is support for members who are not able to retain in their own right.
No. Only members with a status end date between 31 March 2021 and 31 December 2021 (inclusive) are eligible for the Status Credit rollover.
No. Only one eligible flight needs to be booked.
The Status Credits rolled over will contribute towards attaining and retaining status for Platinum One, Platinum, Gold and Silver. They will not contribute towards any bonus Rewards, Lifetime Status or Status Accelerators.
The section below is the previous version, in relation to the Status Extension and Status Credit boost offers announced in early and mid-2020.
2020 Status Extension and Status Credits Boost details
From July 2020 to March 2021, all eligible Qantas Frequent Flyers will receive a status boost to help earn or maintain status levels easier.
Any Platinum One, Platinum, Gold and Silver member with a status end date of March 2021 to February 2022 is eligible, including those with lifetime status, Status Hold and members with complimentary status.
Here is how many Status Credits (SCs) every member is set to earn:
- Silver FF: 125 SCs
- Gold FF: 300 SCs
- Platinum FF: 600 SCs
- Platinum One FF: 1,800 SCs
This gift will count towards lifetime status. Members with a status end date between March to June 2021 should receive this boost soon. Those with a status end date between July 2021 to February 2022 will receive the gift in their new membership year.
For reference, here is how many Status Credits and eligible Qantas-group flights are required to earn or maintain each status level.
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | Platinum One | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Status Credits to earn | 300 | 700 | 1,400 | 3,600 SCs (with 2,700 from Qantas-marketed flights) |
| Status Credits to maintain | 250 | 600 | 1,200 | |
| Eligible Qantas-group flight sectors | 4 | 4 | 4 |
‘Status Credit Support’ offer details
Status Credit Support is being offered to members who are impacted the most by travel restrictions; those with a status end date between March 2021 to August 2021.
Eligible members will receive a monthly ‘stipend’ of bonus Status Credits which will count to reaching and keeping all tiers, plus lifetime status. However, it does not count to Loyalty, Platinum or Platinum One bonuses.
Here are the number of Status Credits that eligible members will receive each month, for up to six months:
- Silver: 5 SCs per month
- Gold: 15 SCs per month
- Platinum: 50 SCs per month
- Platinum One: 150 SCs per month
Those with an earlier status end date will get more months of support. The number of months members will be eligible for Status Credit Support depends on their status end date as follows:
| Status end date | Support months | |||||
| Apr 2020 | May 2020 | Jun 2020 | Jul 2020 | Aug 2020 | Sep 2020 | |
| Mar 2021 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apr 2021 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| May 2021 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Jun 2021 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Jul 2021 | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Aug 2021 | ✓ | |||||
The section below is the previous version, in relation to Double Status Credits offers.
Why are Qantas bonus Status Credit offers useful?
Booking a flight with Qantas during a bonus Status Credit promotion means that you can get to elite status more quickly. That unlocks benefits such as priority check-in and boarding, lounge access and upgrades.
What has happened to Qantas bonus Status Credit offers in 2020?
Last year, we saw three bonus Status Credit promotions run (in February, August and October). In contrast, this year, we’ve only seen one public offer (in February).
As per Australian Frequent Flyer, it seems Qantas Frequent Flyer has decided that these offers had become too frequent and has decided to target them to specific members.
Plus, the impacts of COVID-19 mean Qantas is currently focusing on keeping member’s status tiers extended and offering Status Credit support, rather than offering Double Status Credits while flying is quite restricted.
How to increase your chances of getting targeted for Qantas bonus Status Credit offers
- Log in to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account
- Perform a search for a flight you are interested in
- Wait a day
- Check your email inbox to see if you have been targeted for a bonus Status Credit promotion
If successful, you will generally get a 25-50% bonus Status Credit offer for a few days.
Here are some of the best routes to take advantage of bonus Status Credits promotions on.
Qantas Status Credit Offer history
Qantas has offered double Status Credits for 3-5 days during these months:
- February 2020
- April-May 2019 (Qantas Business Rewards members only)
- February 2019
- October 2018
- August 2018
- February 2018
- September 2017 [targeted offer]
You can see that these promos tend to be offered every 2-6 months (based on data collected since September 2017).
Summing up: should you take advantage of these offers?
Bonus Status Credit promotions are a great way to reach a higher status tier cost-effectively. Therefore, it’s worth taking advantage of this offer if you have some travel planning to do.
Just make sure to not fall foul of the terms and conditions. Remember to register first, make your booking during the promotion period for the specific travel dates permitted.
Also, only certain QF-numbered flights operated by Qantas are usually eligible. That means that those operated by Jetstar Group, oneworld and other partner airlines are often excluded.
You may also be interested in promotions to boost your Qantas Points balance.
How have you boosted your status earn using these promotions?
anyone else affected?
This is useless.
This shut down will finally cut me free of Qantas. No status, move to a more generous and less expensive airline.
QF may think they have done well at Virgin’s expense, but their sheer greed will undermine the hold.
What are QF today are than a points factory, promoting marketing offers?
Is there anyone I could reach out to in Qantas to ensure I’m targeted for a future promotion? Also is there a way I can get on their mailing list to receive notification when it starts?
Thanks
Universal double status credit promotions such as the one last week are offered to all members, so there is no targeting in that sense. However, there are times throughout the year where you may receive targeted status offers, but eligibility for these is based on your oast travel and search behaviour, which is generally determined by IT algorithms rather than human intervention.
That’s vague. American Express Travel is essentially an online travel agent, so should be included. To err on the side of caution, though, book through Qantas if you can.
If the status credits arrive after a new membership year, generally they are rolled over into the new year. However, if the delay has cost you an upgrade in status level, I would call Qantas and make sure they get retrospectively applied.
Be helpful if Qantas could cover this in the T&Cs as it seems a bit hit and miss as to which way the bonus SCs could fall…
Does the current DSC QF Promo extend to JQ flights (bundle packs etc) ?
No it doesn’t. It must be a Qantas marketed and operated flight. Therefore, having a QF flight number on your boarding pass, and then getting on a Jetstar plane will not qualify.
Any ideas when the next Velocity double status credits offer is likely to be? I will need to book during this promotion in order to stand any chance of retaining my Gold level with them. I only have one trip coming up in early November.
Any suggestions are most welcome :-).
Thanks
If I book a flight Flex and it’s on a partner airline with a QF flight code and change it prior to the trip to be a QF operated flight, will I get double status credits? Or does it go off original booking?
The change would have to be made during the offer period for a flight that falls within the travel period. Unfortunately if you were to make the change today, it would fall outside of the offer period, so therefore you would not receive the double status credits.
I have a glimmer of hope. 5 days after lodging an online customer service query Qantas emailed me and included in it was this: “ Please be advised that so long as the booking, registration and travel period was within the time frame, you are eligible for the offer. “
So I might get my status credits. It takes 6 weeks to find out.
That does sound promising. Could you please let us know how you go with this, as your experience will be relevant for future Double Status Credit deals? It has been my understanding that if you book prior to registering, the bookings may not be tagged for the offer, however this may not be the case.
It took 4 days to get through to QFF customer service to ask if the booking counted and QFF says the flights won’t count for the promo (and it would be a huge pain to cancel and rebook and explain to my manager).
I pointed out that the terms actually say “register and book” not “register then book”. I also queried that the email was sent in the pm of the 18th yet you could book an eligible flight from 12:01am of the 18th to the 22nd Feb. So clearly it contemplated a booking made any time on the 18th.
I also pointed out the promo booking terms are ambiguous and to be fair to anyone who had made a booking before registering they should make the booking window start the next day.
I’ve made a complaint by asking for it to be escalated. Not hopeful I’ll hear anything back.
Would appreciate thoughts from others.
Sorry to hear the situation you’re in.
While technically register and book doesn’t imply an order, it has always been the case that to qualify for Qantas Double Status Credits, you need to register, make sure you wait until you receive an email acknowledging your registration, then make the bookings. It appears in your case your Travel Manager made the bookings prior to registering and receiving the email, which is why Qantas is advising that those bookings would not be eligible.
Normally around 11+ months. This makes this less attractive for those who have been planning well ahead. Probably why they extended the offer time – didn’t get the uptake they were expecting.
Indicates they will do more frequent double SC promos with shorter flight windows?? NOT as convenient. Qantas need to be careful that they don’t become too clever and alienate their best and most loyal customers.
Yes, the 6 month window is definitely less convenient, especially given that a return leg falling outside of the travel period doesn’t earn you double status.
So by my reading and calculations with my upcoming flights before June 30 (my reset date) I’ll end up with 580 SC which with with the loyalty bonus would take me to over 600 SC and I would retain gold but because the bonus SC don’t count towards a loyalty bonus and when you subtract the bonus SC I would actually only be on 460 status credits and the loyalty bonus won’t activate – I quick weekend trip to Sydney should solve the problem but it might catch people out.
Yes, this is part of the T&Cs and thanks for highlighting.
Make the most of your weekend trip to Sydney and enjoy another year of Qantas Gold!
You status credits would be doubled on your original Economy fare only.