Earn Double Qantas Status Credits on Flights until 20 January 2019

A Singaporean based in Australia, Kazimier enjoys travelling as much as he’s keen beans for avo toasties during brekkie later in the arvo (that’s Aussie slang, he says). Kazimier also happens to be a university student so the miles game is his only way to afford the nicer non-student budget things in life.

Okay, this is my second post about Qantas so content warning if you’re strictly and fiercely loyal to Krisflyer and are easily triggered by non-Star Alliance programs. But read till the end, cos it’s actually not as bad as you think!

Attaining Qantas’ Frequent Flyer program status is probably one of the easiest ways to attain Qantas and oneworld status benefits if you know how to plan accordingly. Luckily, Qantas is running a promotion for members to get double status credits on all Qantas bookings made from now till Monday 11:59pm (AEDT) 5 Feb 2018, for travel from 12 February 2018 to 20 January 2019. Just remember to register for it.

This is a rather wide open travel period so if you’re already planning your June holidays with your kids, that year end Christmas vacation, or (and I can’t stress this enough) if you’re studying at an Australian university, I’d suggest you take advantage of this!

Why Qantas Frequent Flyer Status?

All entry level Qantas members are categorised as Bronze members and you get basically no benefits except to collect points and status credits. But if you collect 300 Status Credits in one membership year, you attain Silver status which allows you to earn more points per flight segment, complimentary seat choice for all travel classes, larger baggage allowances, and priority check in. You can check out a full list of these benefits on their website.

However, everyone wants to go for the Gold at 500 Status Credits because Gold members get unlimited access to Qantas and oneworld business class lounges. As most of you know, lounge access can be a godsend in horrible or small airports. Or a fantastic experience if you’re transiting in Hong Kong.

Why Qantas Frequent Flyer Program?

As a Singaporean, the only two oneworld programs I have immediate access to are Malaysia Airlines’ Enrich and Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles. Unfortunately, in my opinion Enrich miles aren’t worth as much as its other oneworld counterparts (feel free to comment if you agree or disagree), so that leaves Asia Miles. But, I’m not a full time travel hacker… yet. Knowing my limitations, I won’t be earning enough miles/status credits every month to actually make a difference. This is why Asia Miles’ three year expiry horizon is a huge turn off for me personally.

This is why Qantas’ FFP appeals to me: points don’t expire until after 18 months of inactivity. As long as I earn/spend at least one Qantas mile every 18 months, all my points don’t expire. And this includes cheap Jetstar Asia flights, the occasional Emirates promotions to Europe, ASOS and iTunes purchases, as well as hotel bookings made via Qantas. That’s not too shabby for someone who doesn’t wanna see his miles expire after three years.

Alright, let’s do some math:

Imagine I’m a student living in Melbourne and I’m returning to university for a semester after Chinese New Year (cos God knows I need my angpaos and bakkwa), so my travel dates are 20 Feb 2018 to 20 June 2018 and I’m flying via Brisbane. (Pro tip: Qantas Status Credits are counted per segment so the more segments you fly, the more Status Credits you get.)

According to the Qantas Miles Calculator, I should get the following points and Status Credits:

So, normally that would be SGD$0.10 per mile and SGD$9.61 per Status Credit. Oof.

But with this promotion, I’d earn 180 Status Credits so that works out to SGD$4.80 per Status Credit. And I’d be more than halfway towards getting Silver status for a single trip. #dayum.

Or, if you’re flying direct to Sydney on business class, normally you’d get 250 Status Credits. But with this promotion, you’d get Gold Status and unlimited access to Qantas and oneworld business class lounges for at least one membership year after just one trip. #dayummm.

(Milelion edit: actually you need 700 points for Qantas gold so this wouldn’t be sufficient)

So… If you’re keen to visit Australia for a vacation to Sydney, to visit your relatives who migrated to Perth or Brisbane, or to study in Melbourne, I highly suggest you take advantage of this… and don’t say bojio!