Qantas gives grounded frequent flyers bonus status credits

Nice. With the benefit of hindsight maybe I should have spent the points to retain Platinum. But who could have predicted this situation would happen.

A nice gesture from QANTAS. Still unless I can get a DSC long haul trip on QF in levelling back up to WP may not be possible.

Certainly gives me less incentive to try to fly before the end of my current membership year as 300 SC is above my tally for this membership year so I'll be closer to my goal next membership year before doing any flying.

Good gesture by Qantas. They are unfortunately caught between the devil and the deep sea trying to keep and help their frequent flyers and running a business in very trying times where revenue is close to nil and cash is being burned. Feel for their people as the build up to domestic travel has also taken a back seat.

Great, however given my two recent experiences with QF, I doubt, if I have a choice Ill fly QF again any time soon... Taking 290,000 QF points in error then saying a 14 week refund period is a joke!

A good gesture to try and retain loyalty.

Except I am sure I am not the only person (like chevie82) who has second thoughts about engaging with a dishonest business. I was told that I was not eligible for a flight refund in March, but then it turned out I was by law and as a result won't receive this refund until August at the earliest. Basically given an interest free loan to Qantas at the same time as having to battle my own reduced income. And, unlike Qantas, I cannot go to the share market to raise equity.

Covid has taught me which companies are worth being loyal towards. Qantas, unfortunately, is no longer one of these companies.

Tempted to give my status up and move to VA, perfect opportunity. Hmmm. Anyone else investigated doing this? I'm only silver but would've made platinum this year

Having maintained Plat for the last 6 or so years, i'm actually quite happy to let it lapse even with the status boost.

Since my membership reset in april, i haven't done any flying, and actually not missing it particularly - for the moment all the joy has been removed anyhow. The main perk of Plat is intl First lounges, and since i wont be flying intl any time soon, i dont see any benefit and would be quite happy to land into gold and use the Qantas clubs - even domestic flying wont be back to normal until 2021 at the current rate anyhow

We all know Qantas are in a world of pain.... but this offer is almost worthless. With some borders closed and international flying basically off the table Qantas would have been better sating no status change for the moment.

I am plat one...had requalified for this year but was given it anyway for another year...with my current status expiring in May 2021 I have very little chance of retaining as I have no ability to fly...so these credits are kinda useless...

P1 in Melbourne. Where could I fly? I'm not sure I am even allowed to the airport anymore and certainly don't feel confident booking ahead and being treated well if I need to cancel given comments generally on this site.

This feels like a bit of a bet for expats that their regional borders reopen AND their local OW partners will fly. Clever move for Qantas gently encouraging the most inclined to fly to get back into it... Dreaming of the post-vaccine return to a full international network!!

Would rather they just extended everyone by another year. I'll need 500 after this to maintain platinum - where do I go? Melbourne? I ain't doing that 250 times just to maintain first lounge access on international flights I can't take

Nice offer, but still have to be able to fly which is not part of the companies world view at present...

On the up-side, there is no need to fly...woohoo...!!!

No flights until March 2021! If they dont extend my existing status will fly with other airlines who are open for business. Q has lost my loyalty for the forseeable future.

A nice gesture which works for me but understand it doesn't for many others.

It works for insomuch as the SC I missed by my cancelled northern summer trip are essentially gifted to me and I get the last SC I need to click over to life time gold.

I've already been extended status until 2021 but will not hit platinum again by then on what I can see going forward. After almost twelve years at platinum.

As I said, works for me and is nice.

Wow, Qantas make a gesture of good will to client loyalty at no cost to anyone and the majority of comments are complaints! What a terrible time we are in.

As a purely recreational Victorian traveller, the current border restrictions are the pits, understandable, but still the pits. Efforts by Q to keep my custom and current status are appreciated, but 5 paid for return tickets Melb./ Cairns represent a minor investment one is not likely to walk away from. Just wish all domestic boundaries/ restrictions had been lifted to enjoy ten days of FNQ warmth in early August 2020. Now to wrangle to rebook for similar dates next year.........fingers crossed to see if status might be a help?

This is such a con.

In March when international flights were stopped we received an email telling us that our frequent flyer status was to be extended to March. It was worded to suggest we would retain our status credits till then.

So I got a shock when my status credits reset to zero on June 30 when they would normally do so.

The two European tradeshows I was going to attend in March and May and the Chinese one in June were both cancelled, so, without the pandemic, I would have got my Platinum status back by June 30.

So let's look at that gift of a status extension? I already had my Gold retention points by the time everything shutdown, and consequently what kind of "gift" is it to give me Gold till March next year when I had it to July already?

And now they have given me another "gift" of 300 status credits, but Qantas have cancelled.all the flights I had booked this year, and announced no international flights until.at least March next year. Meaning I have only 3 months to try and get back to Gold by earning another 300 credits, whereas normally one has 12 months to earn 600 status credita.

I will not achieve that, so my status will slip to Silver (I am lifetime Silver anyway) on July 1 next year, in other words the 300 credits are nonsense.

You have to admire their PR department though for the cleverness in how these "gifts" have been derived. They cost Qantas absolutely nothing, they give zero reward to their frequent flyers, and yet can be easily "spun" to suggest otherwise.

As QF kept raising the costs of everything, I have become increasingly annoyed at the feeling of being trapped by my status. The idea that I will lose the extra baggage allowance and lounge access if I change to another airline.

Well I will be Silver on July 1st which is virtually useless, so there is nothing to stop me treating Qantas with the same level of loyalty they have extended to me - zero.

And there must be a lot of you in the same boat. Time for us to leave and join another frequent flyer program when the pandemic is over, and Qantas have used the pandemic as a method to push the status of as many frequent flyers down as they can get away with.

I wonder if there are any good lawyers out there who are in the same boat. Class Action?

So, as a Gold QFF with status expiry July 2021, QF will give me 300 SC in August this year (50% of retention for 2022.

Furthermore, they will give me 15 SC in August, and 15 SC in September for a total of 330/600.

Problem : 1. I'm a Melbournian

2. No QF International flights until March 2021 (Or is it end of march?)

As a conclusion, that gives me 4/5 months to earn 270 SC, which won't be happening unless...

They give 15 per month for more than 2 months, has that been indicated?

Also, how will this affect the Loyalty Bonus at 500,100,1500,2000 SC etc?

Will the gift of 300 count towards this?

Confused and don't think I will be able to maintain my status.

Qantas should give everyone a status hold until their full network is up and running again. This should be done for All currently existing QFF's.

Simultaneously, they should be drafting a new system for new sign-ups to the QFF program.

I'm really not sure what the point of this is? I have 1800 SC credited to my account but how exactly am I supposed to attain the other 1800 to maintain P1 when there are zero international flights? My SC year ends in April (had already attained P1 when they first extended) & QF doesn't start intl flights again till April.

A better idea might have been to extend status from the date the red roo starts flying internationally again. And as we are on a govt prohibition, we can't notch up sc on partner airlines either.

So while the SC become useless, so do my squillions of miles & who knows when it will be possible to use all the credit vouchers from already cancelled flights.

All that aside, I miss flying!

Not everyone received a 12-month status extension from Qantas. My membership year ends 31 March and by 31 March 2020 I had already retained Platinum for that year so by normal program rules Plat status was granted to 31 March 2021. Qantas did not further extend it by 12 months - it remains at 31 March 2021. These bonus SCs might help but it will depend on when the international skies open again as to whether I can make any use of them.

I tend to agree with @janeblogs, why not just extend status again.

I can't wait to get on a plane

Lifetime Gold, and living in Tas ? Nothing there for me..

I'll think you'll find this will be revisited again. I'm 99% sure of it.

They need people like ya frequent flyers to start flying again and they wouldn't risk losing it over not maintaining a status for a little longer.

The shutdown cost me getting back to Platinum. Not Qantas, not "the government"; a virus, public health emergency shut down. Yes I was annoyed, but my status vs peoples lives is a no brainer.

I sincerely appreciate Qantas efforts at keeping my loyalty.

I understand that their efforts dont work for everyone, but I would have thought everyone could appreciate the efforts being taken.

May we all get back to our beloved 1A asap!

I appreciate I'm an oddball, but I was sitting on 1095 SC and had flights booked in March and April for 620 SC so would have requlified for Platinum.

So simple extend everybody by 12 months from date Q starts to fly 50% of its previous international capacity. And get rid of the Q staff coming up with this nonsense. 3 strikes and you are out.

Agree with many above

I had earned enough credits to re-qualify for P1 without needing the free extension

The 1800 credits are useless as my March 2021 membership year will zero these and there are no significant QF flights

Qantas has failed to distinguish between its loyal customers who actually earned enough credits to re-qualify for P1 WITHOUT needing the extension - this population should receive another 6 months at a minimum

Thank you Qantas. I was on schedule to qualify for lifetime gold this year and this gift of status points will just about get me there.

Disappointed to see so many complaints. Unless you've already qualified for lifetime gold these bonus status points will count towards that goal and that's worth achieving if you plan to fly after retirement.

It's very difficult times. Qantas, like so many others, are struggling. I'm sure Qantas will revisit it all down the track.

My status runs from March to March so this SC giveaway is useless as there is no way I am going to get another 300 SC as no international flights until then Qantas should put everything on hold until they start to fly again

I'm Platinum and a cancelled trip in April which would have retained it for my membership year, so with the bonus and the extension, I'm happy. It's not their fault they can't fly and they haven't said this is the end of the 'gifts' They will have to reassess the situation as time rolls on.