Qantas extends frequent flyer status for a full year

Fantastic move, well done Qantas

Let's hope the Roo can get through this! See you onboard, sometime.

Received an email advising of the extension. It is good news.

What will it mean for SCs at the anniversary date? Will QF still reset those or will one have up to two years to get the required SCs?

My current status year will end in April and I've already reached the requirement for platinum for May 2020 - April 2021, does this mean my platinum will now be extended to April 2022?

I have a similar situation as jianga above. My current status year will end 31 Mar 2020, and I have earned sufficient status credits for the coming year till Mar 2021 already. It is the folliwing uear which I am concerned with as there would be much reduced travelling for the coming months for sure!!!! Will Qantas automatically extend the status for another year till Mar 2022??

Jianga and Tweety2004 am in the same situation as both of you. Regardless Qantas have done the right thing for many that unfortunately can't fly. Good move and well done Qantas.

Olivia has sent out her letter in haste without a proof read by Alan. As far as I read the announcement All FF receive twelve months extension, period. Nowhere does it state if you have already retained your status and are still to enter your actual membership year you are Not entitled to an additional twelve months.

The executive office will certainly be fielding many emails regarding this millenial blunder.

I am in the same boat as many previous comments, End May anniversary for me, already achieved status this year anyway which covers the next 12 months post May 31, so nothing of value in this announcement.

Qantas needs to be transparent in the shock and awe email Olivia has sent, not expect people to then divert to Web for the fine print. Typical over zealous millenial wanting to click that send button without having another reading the letter before sending. Alan will choke on his Bollinger and Comte cheese and lavosh when he reads what she has sent out.

Credit where credit is due (ironically, in regard to STATUS credit). Well done Qantas. This is an incredibly applaudable decision.

Zero value to me. I retained platinum 3 months back until May 2021. 20 years as platinum and i still get nothing! Plus i am Singapore based so even more challenging past and present! They need to consider people that dont fit the standard profile.

Life Gold, for the life of the customer or the life of the airline? Now the later is starting to look decidedly uncertain.

Now that's what you call an 'enhancement' Olivia and Alan ;). Can save my money this year and not have to worry about SC's anymore get to treat myself to a proper airline like SQ or QR in J or F(although will still have work travel domestically with QF). Now just take this opportunity of quiet to get the crap food in F and J right, shambolic priority boarding and priority baggage handling right and you may just have a true world class airline when things rebound.

As expected, and appreciated.

Not sure it is a full year. Mine expires in November and it seems I get four months to April. Won't make much difference to me. I would need a full year assuming flying is dark in 2021

Oops I misread the email they are staggering the processing of extensions but not the extensions themselves so I have until Nov 2021 to get to renew my platinum. Hopefully I can move this year's flights to next year.

That's rubbish! I just reached retain platinum prior to my year ending in Feb 2020 - how do they think I'm now going to "enjoy my retained status" when they're not even flying?? Let alone enough flights to retain it for next year.

I'm gearing up for crazy flying in 2021 to fully support Qantas.

I think that I will be like many others. Anniversary date 31st August. 760 status credits earned before being grounded in February. Unlikely to get the remaining 440 before the end of August and fully accepting that I would be heading back to Gold. Thanks Qantas for this nice gesture.

I feel for the Qantas staff (and airline staff world-wide) as they are the ones that will really be suffering during this difficult time. These are people who do their best to make our travels safe and comfortable. I think we should all think about that rather than if we sit in a First Class lounge or somewhere less grand. I only hope that we can get back to some form of normality soon.

Well done to Qantas for this, they did the same when SARS was active.

Good for me as my end is Oct20. At the moment I have flights booked from June on to the value of 1400SC, and all will have to be cancelled. I needed most of these to retain Platinum, and Qantas has shown that FF are a valuable asset.

I am in Singapore now flying back on Monday (at this stage still showing as going). This flight will get me to Platinum for the first time - currently on 1300 status. I have not received a personal email about an extension, but wondering if they will take into account the fact I will make Platinum before my anniversary (31/05) and extend for additional year. I believe I would get a soft landing back to gold anyway after my year as a P so another year of Gold is a given. Is that right? Anyone know how that may work for me?

Well done Qantas.

I was worried that I had burnt all the goodness I was going to get from crazily booking so many flights on the Double Status Promotion end of Feb 2020. I feel deeply for you and your staff in these unprecedented times. :-(

I work in live events/conferences industry and have lost all our work for at least the next 6 months. Lots of pain out there for everyone, but feeling a bit more loved by this decision, recognition for all the years of having Qantas fly me and my staff & equipment safely around the country and the world. I love being a happy QFF.

To all the whingers, seriously, be happy if you have a job going forward. Maybe you should be giving away some of your hard-won QFF entitlements to the 20000 stood down, Unpaid Qantas staff!

Thank you Qantas. I cant believe the number of people whinging about this; wanting special exceptions. Get over it. They've made a significant decision which helps the majority of people in a time when they are trying to keep the company afloat. There's always people who say they are a 'special case'. I'll be thankful if the company is still operating after this crisis.

Heathcor I am not whinging about this, my point is don't send me an email saying you are extending my status for 12 months when they are clearly not, it's just not factual, you can't give something to someone they already had. Now is not the time to have marketing departments pumping out the spin, they should have waited for a proper review and taken a more measured and tailored response to their customers needs.

GBRGB as I mentioned above I also misread the email and as I now see it they are staggering the processing of extensions but not the extensions themselves so I have until Nov 2021 to get to renew my platinum. Hopefully I can move this year's flights to next year. They are extending my status for 12 months so I will have platinum for more than 18 months now, and that time to build up 1000 status credits (I already have 200).

Does this mean that a number of people will actually go up a status tier? In my own situation, my "status year" ends at the end of March (albeit now march 2021 rather than 2020). I have 650 status points at the moment, so I was already on track to retain gold from March 2020. Now that it is extended until 2021, - if I earn another 750 points between march 2020 and march 2021 will the original 650 points I currently have be retained to i get to platinum? Or does it reset to zero despite the fact that status tier itself continues?

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/status-and-clubs/status/status-extension.html

What happens if I've already retained my status, will it still be extended by 12 months?
No. If you've already retained your status then you will automatically enjoy your current benefits for the rest of your Membership Year for another 12 months. Status extension will not apply.

Can my current Status Credits be carried forward to my next Membership Year?
No. Any Status Credits you have earned so far in this Membership Year will reset at your current Membership Year end date.

It is rubbish for those who have already attained platinum for the membership year

It will be a struggle since two months of the year they aren't even flying and there are company imposed travel bans. It seems that those who have supported and continued to fly with a membership year that is around now just haven't been considered

I just made Platinum today and is showing only to end of my membership year May 21, so no extension that I can see and many months of no ability to use any benefit.

On another note the Qantas staff were excellent on the flight - SIN-MEL in J - even though they are facing time off with/without pay for the foreseeable future and their industry in a devastating situation.

this was QFF response - no mention of an extension since I already have retained status. Of course it will already by extended since I have made status this year.

Thank you for contacting the Qantas Frequent Flyer Service Centre.

With regards to your membership, we know and understand that your travel plans have been affected with the unprecedented impacts of Coronavirus which continue to evolve on a daily basis. We appreciate the need for flexibility during this time and the importance of preserving the travel benefits that you've earned through your loyalty to Qantas.

To give you one less thing to worry about right now, as your membership anniversary falls 30th of April 2020, I can confirm that your Frequent Flyer status of Platinum will automatically be extended for 12 months and it will reflect in your account on April. To find more information and for the terms and conditions of Status Extension, please visit qantas.com/statusextension.

We also understand that given the flight network changes in place that you may have had travel booked. If you do have travel booked, we are offering all customers departing up to and including 31 May 2020, the option to cancel your flight. We will hold the value of your ticket as a credit voucher. You are able to request this online, and you must take action by 31st of March 2020 by visiting Qantas.com, and selecting 'Manage Booking'. You will also be able to find via qantas.com updates on how to cancel and how to convert your booking into a credit voucher.

We have also launched our new Points Club program to reward our members who earn predominantly on the ground and through everyday purchases and activities. Whether you're strolling to work or paying your energy bills, there are lots of ways to unlock more Qantas Points. More information can be found at qantas.com/pointsclub

We're encouraging you during this time to keep your points balance active by continuing to earn and redeem points, this is to ensure your points don't expire during this period.

We value and thank you for your continued loyalty to Qantas and trust that this has brought some peace of mind amidst the changes we are all experiencing at the moment.

For those of us who have already retained our status, it would be nice for QFF just to deduct the SC's needed to retain that level and carry forward the balance into the next year. This sounds fair to me.

Thanks patrickk will give them a call next month when it is past the 27 March sweep. At the end of the day status extension to those who reach a certain status within their anniversary date should get an additional 12 months from anniversary = 12 (qualified) + 12. If I had reached a certain status a few weeks before the announcement I would have an additional 12 months at that status on top of the current years achieved status?

I'm probably not alone with getting perceived negative value from my investment in travel with Qantas in the last 10 months.

Am I missing something?

Nothing at all. It's my exact issue. Some people may of not made status and now have been gifted status, whereas those that have earned it in the membership period get nothing

Thank you QANTAS - even though I have just maintained my Gold status so will not be directly affected, I appreciate the genuine move you have made. It seems to be the most generous of all airlines detailed in this article. Although not directly related to this article, we flew from London on QF1 arriving in Sydney on 17th March, and it was the best flight ever. On both legs, even though the crew were under pressure of not knowing their immediate future, they were absolutely amazing - pleasant, professional, personal and extremely co-operative. Congratulations to all concerned.

I'd say I'm in the 1% category here, but thought worth sharing:

Gold QFF member, with a renewal date of June 2020.

I already retained Gold some 8 months ago, and was on for Platinum.

Booked Business Class trip on Double Credits for late May trip, which was going to nudge me over the line and into Platinum just a few weeks within my renewal anniversary.

Now my flight has been cancelled, the Status extension has no benefit to me (as I already retained this months back), and Qantas's position on this is "tough luck". They also want to give me a credit and not a refund, where the only reason the flight was booked was to get the Platinum.

Look, I get it - the world is in a tricky place right now, but would at least have expected they would:

A) Honor the status upgrade based on flights booked within the renewal period.
B) Extend the membership Anniversary to after they can fulfill flights
C) Al least give me my cash back that was in my pocket.

Thoughts / anyone got any suggestions?

Many companies are extending product warranties that expire in this period..

Yes agreed, Qantas are not extending or rewarding those who have invested in their status to gain prior to anniversary year. This is actually illegal and not fulfilling contract. Stand by Slater and Gordon have been approached for class action for those qff members effected and told to Nick off. Stay tuned I'm sure Alan will fix prior to suit

Like others I had earned enough status credits last year to retain my Platinum status until 30 April 2021. So because I spent the money to fly with Qantas and earned the status credits I am not eligible for the complimentary status extension.

I have so far had two international and two domestic trips cancelled and expect at least one other international trip will be cancelled all of which would have extended my Platinum status until April 2022. When all of this ends it will be too late to extend my status with flights before my membership renewal date next year, which will send me back to Gold.

After reading all the details the 12 month extension will only apply to those who were unable to retain their status between 2019 to 2020 which are people who did not support Qantas by spending the money to fly,

As such who did support Qantas and spend the money on flights to retain their status it seems to me Qantas don't care about them, as l reach 850 status credit points Nov 2019 my membership expired May 2020 due to covid-19 had to cancel flights unable to increase status points so as May 2021 l have to start from square one,

The fair way to do this extension would be to extend 12 months without the loss of status credits, all people who have retained there status keep all all their credits till their membership expiry 2021

Totally agree

Someone who hasn't flew at all this would retain status whilst those like you and I who have , would effectively be penalised