Qantas Makes Status Harder To Keep: Raises Renewal Hurdles, Ends Up To 200 Bonus Credits And Kills Points Club

Qantas Frequent Flyer will let members rollover some Status Credits into a new membership year beginning December 8. But they’re also raising the number of credits required to renew status, eliminating up to 200 annual Loyalty Bonus credits and killing Points Club.

The airline calls this a “landmark status overhaul.” Members who substantially overachieve their status and Lifetime Gold members with very high lifetime totals win. Frequent flyers who earn about enough credits to renew and members who have built a strategy around Points Club Plus lose.

Qantas says two-thirds of its points are now earned on the ground. These changes give members a reason to direct even more of their credit card, banking, insurance, utility, hotel and retail activity toward Qantas partners, often just to replace Status Credits the airline is taking away elsewhere.

Qantas Raises The Bar To Keep Status

Qantas currently has one threshold for earning status and a lower threshold for renewing it. Later in 2027, the lower renewal thresholds disappear.

• Silver increases from 250 to 300 Status Credits, a 20% increase.
  
• Gold increases from 600 to 700 Status Credits, a 16.7% increase.
  
• Platinum increases from 1,200 to 1,400 Status Credits, also a 16.7% increase.
  
• Platinum One remains at 3,600 Status Credits, including at least 2,700 earned on Qantas-marketed flights.
  

Initial qualification requirements aren’t changing. Members will still need four eligible Qantas or Jetstar flight segments to earn or renew Silver, Gold or Platinum, so it won’t be possible to earn status solely by buying insurance, wine and groceries.

The promise to “roll over up to 50%” isn’t as generous than the actual calculation. Only credits earned above the full qualification threshold are eligible:

• Silver members roll 25% of credits earned above 300, capped at 100.
  
• Gold members roll 50% of credits earned above 700, capped at 350.
  
• Platinum members roll 50% of credits earned above 1,400, capped at 500.
  
• Platinum One members roll 50% of credits earned above 3,600, capped at 500.
  

Members whose program years end from August through November 2026 don’t get retroactive credit for their current year. Rollover and ground earning begin with their next membership year. Members whose years end in December 2026 or later can have eligible activity from their current year counted retroactively.

Up To 140 Status Credits From Spending

Beginning December 8, members can earn as many as 140 Status Credits annually without flying. These come from earning Qantas points across ten categories:

• Credit cards
  
• Banking and home loans
  
• Insurance
  
• Cars
  
• Home utilities
  
• Hotels and accommodations
  
• Holidays and experiences
  
• Everyday shopping
  
• Retail and lifestyle
  
• Sustainability
  

Members must meet a points-earning target within each category to receive a block of Status Credits. Qantas says a points-earning credit card will unlock 20 credits and everyday shopping will unlock 10, but it hasn’t published all of the thresholds and awards yet.

These credits will count toward lifetime status. And the maximum 140 credits allows members to offset the 50-credit Silver increase or 100-credit Gold increase (but not Platinum’s 200-credit increase).

The Loyalty Bonus Disappears

Members currently choose 50 Status Credits or 8,000 Qantas points for each 500 Status Credits earned on eligible Qantas and Jetstar flights. They can earn the Loyalty Bonus four times annually, for as many as 200 Status Credits or 32,000 points. Qantas will eliminate it in 2027, describing rollover as its replacement.

The Loyalty Bonus is a predictable reward for flying Qantas and Jetstar. It counts toward lifetime status. Rollover requires first exceeding the full qualification threshold, provides only a percentage of the excess and doesn’t count toward lifetime status.

A Platinum member currently renewing with 1,200 credits may have received two 50-credit Loyalty Bonuses along the way. Soon they will need 1,400 credits, lose the bonuses and receive no rollover unless they exceed 1,400. Even the full 140 credits available through partner activity doesn’t necessarily make that member whole.

Points Club Is Being Killed

Points Club and Points Club Plus close December 8. Qantas says it is “removing complexity.”

Points Club currently rewards members who earn 150,000 points in a year. Points Club Plus requires 350,000. Depending on the level, benefits include:

• Status Credits on Qantas-marketed Classic and Classic Plus reward flights
  
• Two lounge invitations
  
• Complimentary Qantas Club membership for Points Club Plus
  
• A fixed rollover of up to 100 Status Credits for Points Club Plus
  
• Qantas Hotels and Qantas Wine vouchers
  
• Bonus points on Qantas hotel reservations
  
• Accor status fast tracks and other offers
  

The most valuable benefit for many members has been earning Status Credits on award travel. Someone generating hundreds of thousands of points through business spending could redeem those points for premium-cabin awards and still progress toward Qantas status.

Qantas says a selected premium Qantas credit card will offer Status Credits on Classic Reward bookings later this year. A useful benefit available to all Points Club members is being converted into a perk of a credit card.

Members can qualify or requalify for Points Club through December 7. Benefits earned before the cutoff will be honored through their assigned expiration date—potentially into 2028, so anyone approaching 150,000 or 350,000 eligible points should look closely at completing the requirement before the program closes.

Green Tier is also ending December 8. Members who complete its sustainability requirements currently choose 10,000 points or 50 Status Credits. Those who have already earned the benefit will have 90 days from qualification to make their final selection.

Lifetime Gold Members Win

Qantas will introduce five milestones beyond Lifetime Gold, which requires 14,000 lifetime Status Credits.

At 25,000, 35,000, 45,000, 55,000 and 65,000 lifetime credits, a member receives one year of Platinum status. These years may be banked indefinitely and activated when useful, although they disappear if the member eventually earns Lifetime Platinum at 75,000 credits.

The milestones apply retroactively, and Qantas estimates that about 30% of Lifetime Gold members will immediately qualify for at least one Platinum year. That’s a meaningful benefit for someone who has already given Qantas decades of business but no longer flies enough to earn Platinum annually. Silver members also gain a second annual lounge invitation.