Qantas: free status to frequent flyers living outside Australia, NZ

Qantas will offer an additional free year of status to its frequent flyers living outside of Australia and New Zealand as part of the airline's latest 2022 status support package.

Under the refreshed Qantas status support scheme all Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One members will be able to remain at their current tier for another 12 months – through to as far as the end of 2023 – by booking an eligible flight prior to their membership year end, for travel until December 2022.

However, for Qantas Frequent Flyers living outside Australia and New Zealand, a Qantas spokesperson tells Executive Traveller that their status will automatically roll over for another year without the need to book a flight.

The airline adopted the same approach in November 2020, alongside its first status support package, which threw a valuable lifeline to frequent flyers whose wings had been clipped by Covid.

"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.

With Qantas continuing its status extension program, it's now questionable if we'll see the Qantas double status credits promotion which typically lands in the first quarter of the calendar year – and can see frequent flyers living in Asia, North America or the USA easily lock away another year of Gold or Platinum with a single trip.

However, Qantas has been known to release double status credits offers for specific destinations, with the aim of increasing bookings to that city or country, and this still can't be ruled out.