Qantas frequent flyers have scored yet another status extension to retain their current membership standing as the airline continues support for members who face a possible downgrade before June 2022. It’s the fourth extension Qantas has offered elite frequent flyers since the pandemic crippled travel in March 2020.
Qantas Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One members can maintain their rank for a further year, up until mid-2023.
“We know how important tier status is to our members and many of them have built it up over many years of flying with us,” says Qantas Loyalty Chief Executive Officer Olivia Wirth.
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Who is eligible for the Qantas status extension?
Qantas Frequent Flyer members who live in Australia or New Zealand and are unable to achieve the required status credits to retain their membership tier.
How do I claim a Qantas status extension?
Today’s announcement is simply an addition to Qantas’ September 2020 status extension promotion. To claim a retention lifeline from Qantas Frequent Flyer members will need to book and pay for an eligible flight prior to their membership year end, for travel until June 2022.
Following a successful flight, Qantas Frequent Flyer will extend your status for a further 12 months.
This offer only applies to Australian and New Zealand-based Qantas Frequent Flyers with a membership year ending in or before June 2022.
What about existing status credits?
As an additional perk, your current eligible status credits will be rolled over to your next membership year.
Will Virgin Australia extend member status?
Often hot off the heals of Qantas, we can expect Virgin Australia to announce their third Velocity Frequent Flyer status extension in coming weeks.
In the past, we have seen Virgin offer a comprehensive extension to all Velocity status holders, with the first offer locking in their membership tier until September 2021. The second offer applied only to Gold and Platinum members, extending their status as far as September 2022 after booking and travelling on a Virgin Australia before 22 February 2022.
Whether Virgin will match Qantas’s extension until mid-2023, or go one step further and stretch into 2024 is anyone’s guess, but we do know airlines love to one-up each other.
Summing Up
Status extensions are always good news. It’s great to see Qantas come forward once again to ensure their top tier frequent flyers are well looked after at a time when travel is becoming more and more challenging.
