Qantas eyes more status credit opportunities at BP, Woolworths

Qantas Frequent Flyer members may soon have more opportunities to earn status credits on the ground, with the airline’s loyalty arm now evaluating a permanent path for members to climb the status ladder by making everyday purchases in lieu of extra flying.

Ascending the elite ranks from entry-level Bronze to Silver – then further to Gold, Platinum or even Platinum One – requires a certain number of status credits each year: and under recent BP Rewards and Woolworths Rewards promotions, that’s exactly what would-be flyers were offered.

Between March and June 2020, Qantas Frequent Flyer members could earn an easy 10 status credits just by joining BP Rewards, followed by a further 10 status credits per 1,000 Qantas Points earned at BP, capped at 50 status credits in total.

Through Woolworths Rewards, for every 2,000 Woolworths Points converted into 1,000 Qantas Points during May and June 2020, Qantas Frequent Flyer members were also given 10 status credits, also up to 50 status credits in total.

As Woolworths Points can be earned beyond Woolworths supermarkets alone – including at Big W, BWS bottle shops, and participating Caltex and Woolworths Caltex petrol stations – this provided a broad opportunity for shoppers to top-up their tally of status credits from a variety of purchases.

When asked whether the airline plans to bring back these status credit earning options on a permanent basis, a Qantas spokesperson affirmed to Executive Traveller “it’s definitely something we are exploring.”

Qantas, Woolworths follow Virgin Australia, Coles

For many years, the arch rivals of Qantas and Woolworths – Virgin Australia and Coles, respectively – have allowed shoppers to earn Velocity status credits on supermarket spend and liquor purchases.

Status credits are awarded via the Flybuys program at the rate of one Velocity status credit per $100 spent at Coles and Coles Online, First Choice Liquor and Liquorland per month, up to 10 status credits monthly.

In June 2020, Qantas also offered status credits to eligible members who chose to manually convert their credit card points into Qantas Points: possible from cards such as the AMEX Platinum Charge Card and the AMEX Centurion Card, which don’t automatically credit points to Qantas each month.

These conversions came with an incentive of one status credit per 5,000 Qantas Points transferred, up to a maximum of 150 status credits in total – earned by converting across 750,000 Qantas Points.

As of July 2020, Qantas is also now offering a one-of bonus of 75 status credits for eligible new credit card customers, on products such as the Qantas Premier Platinum Mastercard, plus up to 125 status credits in return for booking eligible luxury hotel stays via Qantas Hotels.

Also read: Qantas gives grounded frequent flyers bonus status credits

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.