Qantas Platinum Frequent Flyer Guide: all you need to know

So much upbeat Qantas content lately .. 👀

Nominate for gold membership??? 

I thought P1 could gift a fellow FF member  platinum status, but haven’t heard of platinum being able to gift gold???

Cathay Pacific are dreadful at awarding status credits and points when not flying on their own metal. I have to chase them up on nearly every trip made on Cathay and even then only 50% ever get credited towards QF FF

Qantas needs to revisit its partnership with WestJet in Canada. It's a shambles; esp when using points and what's allowed(if anything!) Why Qantas can form partnerships with airlines outside ow in some regions and not others is disappointing. Air Canada would have been an equivalent airline. You can't even get a premium seat on WestJet with points! Just a poverty pack seat with no luggage in some instances, pay for seat and any extras-with no regard to gold or platinum status. Pathetic effort which causes more stress than its worth.

I’d like to see a bit more consistency with the “can I get you anything” greetings for platinums. Sometimes the greeting happens. Other times it doesn’t. Often the statement is “If you need anything please let me know” followed by a brisk walking away…which makes me feel like I’m being a real Karen if I need to later clarify “don’t you know who I am” as I request something from a junior staff member who isn’t aware of the P status (and meanwhile the customer service manager who greeted me is nowhere to be found).

The point is, I’ve had some flights that were absolutely made because of the incredible premium service given by the customer service manager. It would just be nice to see this implemented a bit more consistently. And across the whole OW alliance too.

As a former Platinum and now LT Gold customer l find Gold gives me everything I need except the Business/First lounge access.  I actually choose to fly domestic with VA nowadays as I fly out of MEL and the VA lounge is better than the Qantas Club (I'm VA Gold too).  The one benefit I miss with VA is the ability to chose exit row seating free of charge, something Qantas permits me to do (at check in).

100% agree. Glad I'm not the only one that has noticed this.

"You can also brisk through Qantas’ domestic priority security screening lanes in selected airports". Not sure when the last time that the author boarded a domsetic flight on QF, but there's almost as many using the "premium" lane as those not using it...

Yes, but only for these reasons:

Domestic on arrival lounge access.

International first lounges and enhanced onboard experience even when in economy (greeted by name, empty seat next door if available, offered noise cancelling headphones and business booze).

Means you are closer to LTG!

Other benefits such as security lane and higher point earning rates not a big deal.

So what this tells me is that there's no real value as a regular, almost weekly flyer (but on the work account so lowest fares) as I'll never make Platinum. The "rewards" appear to be equal to or even worse than Virgin (eg Virgin Platinum lounge guests don't need to be flying on Virgin that day). 

In conclusion, no, it's not worth it. It's also probably not worth being a loyal customer. Shop around, get the best deals.

Interesting to read this article as a P member for over 20-years and a very loyal Qantas customer who has supported them through thick and thin.  My real-world experience is that the paper benefits are just that; theoretical paper benefits, probably because due to its merchant programs, the company has so many Frequent Flyers and very little benefit beyond Gold unless you are CL or Platinum One.

While most of my flights are Qantas, I don’t really experience consistent recognition of loyalty of having been Platinum status, but maybe this is because I only book business and the staff feel there is no need.  The focus seems to be on FF Gold and Platinum sitting in PE or Economy (who spend less on their ticket).

The number-1 reason I maintain my P status is for the access to first class lounges.  In 35-years as Gold or above, with most flights booked in Business, I’ve never had a domestic or an international upgrade and never been successful buying a points upgrade.

I’ve never had a Qantas operational upgrade even when I’ve had a faulty seat, never been in a position to get an ‘on departure upgrade’ and while I’m a long-time P, fall behind CL and Platinum One members for any upgrades, so just never get them.  So much for the benefit.  Because P1 and CL can request Classic Reward upgrades, they take priority over my upgrade requests, so I never ever get an upgrade from business to first.

As LTG I have domestic Qantas Frequent Flyer Lounge access, but I had a lifetime Qantas Club membership before I became LTG and would get access because I fly business.

I appreciate the extra checked baggage allowance, but seldom exceed 18kg, unless I’m going somewhere very cold, and then I’m still under 30kg. 

Most years I earn about 2400 status credits, but some are non-Qantas or for one reason or another don’t count.  I have always requalified through flying, so never ever got the bonus SC that have been handed out to help QFF requalify.  

I guess I don’t qualify as a seriously loyal flyer, as I don’t seem to experience the fantastic benefits of my Platinum status.  Yes, I get a few benefits through my Platinum/Emerald status, but generally, nothing that doesn’t come with my business ticket.  Maybe I need to fly more with other Oneworld partner airlines or Qantas codeshare partners.

I meet my minimum of four flights with a Qantas QF code every year and avoid flying Jetstar.  In the past I did some serious flying, but alas, will never make LTP and don’t hit P1, even though I fly business.  One thing that irks me is seeing P1 and CL travellers upgrade from cheap economy fares to First, over-riding J upgrades consistently.  Seems if I bought economy and tried for upgrades to business class, I’d me more successful, but Qantas would earn less revenue.

Because I travel with my wife who is also Platinum, we both have Lounge access, so really don’t benefit from the extra guest allowance.  When we travel with friends, most of them also have access.  It seems most of the Lounges are so busy these days, being Platinum doesn’t really provide a benefit.  I’ve always got into the superb Qantas First Lounges at Sydney and Melbourne, but have been turned away in Singapore and London, due to too many people in the Lounge.

I’ve found the access to BA business and first-class lounges to be consistent, but been turned away from American Airlines and Emirates lounges due to them being busy.  Other Lounges may be a benefit, but I don’t use many other locations.  Most times check-in staff advise of the lounges we have access to, but this is also sometimes a bit hit and miss.

Being Platinum and flying business, I’ve never had a problem with my checked baggage allowance, although it can be frustrating that some flights have different carry-on rules, but I don’t exceed these either.  Generally I find the combination of business and P always gets a generous baggage allowance, where ever we fly.

Our Q Bag Tags are a nice benefit, but sadly only work on Australian domestic flights.  Looking forward to the day when Qantas makes the tags do more.  

The supposed perks of being able to side-step the queues by using the business and first class check-in lines is a joke and due to the number of people for whom this feature is a benefit, there are usually more people in the priority boarding queues than in the other queues.  

I clearly travel through the wrong airports, as I have not ever briskly gone through Qantas’ domestic priority security screening lanes and since Covid, the Express Path cards only feed into the same security ques when you go through the doors.  The attendants push people to any and every queue, which makes this not really a benefit.  A bit like tagging bags as priority or first.  The scanners the bags pass through send them to who knows where, but they seldom come off first, either at outgoing destinations or on our return to Australia. 

I book business and get the seats I can, but there are always many blocked, which my research has shown get occupied by people upgrading from Economy when the people sitting in those seats get upgraded to first.  A wacky system, but c’est la vie.  

I guess the hearty points boost is a benefit, but when you fly a lot, it sort of gets lost.  Often you have more points than you know what to do with, but getting Business and First CR seats seems to be elusive.  It can be frustrating on some legs of flights, even though we have a J ticket, that the partner Status Bonus is applied to the Flexible Economy earn rate.

Maybe I need to book economy and upgrade to business, but don’t see the sense in that.  I book the minimum level of comfort I want to travel is and in all my years, have never experienced the so-called benefit of an upgrade.  Calls to the Platinum Qantas Frequent Flyer have never managed to change the fact that P1 and CL are the favoured members along with guests travelling with them who often have had no loyalty and done very few flights.

So while on paper Platinum-grade frequent flyers have a better shot at scoring an upgrade or using their points, this is only if they buy economy and upgrade to business class, so it is not a benefit to P members who consistently buy business class. 

A bit like crew members taking time to speak to people sitting in economy or taking selected goodies back to them, I have never had anything brought back from first-class when I’m sitting in business.  I’ve never had a crew person ask if they can “get me anything” when handing over your Express arrivals card.  And when there was no white wine I felt was acceptable in J, have never been offered anything from the other cabin.

To get LTP, you’d need to qualify for P1 every years for 21 years.  So while Qantas offers Lifetime Platinum status, few will ever achieve it, especially FF with low 5-digit membership numbers.  Many of these would have already been flying when Qantas introduce the FF program and will cease flying before they hit 75,000 Status Credits.  This is probably why this bar has been set so high 

Giving away Qantas Gold memberships is fine, but while those I give them to enjoy them, I struggle to see the benefit to me other than a good feeling for doing something nice.  None of the Platinum Bonus rewards helps get P1.  People who requalified by flying and earning Status Credits were completely overlooked when Qantas gave a leg up to people who might miss, but also to people who would not have qualified.  This cheapened the value of P. 

As a LTG or equivalent with three alliance groups, I have realized that Qantas even when it fixes its problems, does not really value Platinum flyers.  Olivia Wirth may head up the QFF program but I doubt she has really looked at it.  Qantas offers more to people who earn points though its merchant programs than it does to its loyal flyers who pay real money for seats.  The sweet spot with Qantas is LTG.  Anything after that is wasted loyalty that is not returned.   

Not sure if it’s a change to Qantas Policy or article is incorrect but the Qantas website shows lounge access for platinum frequent flyers is QFF + 1 adult guest + 2 children and not 2 adult guests