Qantas Won’t Ditch Status Credits on Classic Rewards

Last month, Qantas announced that it will gradually phase out Points Club from “late 2026” as part of a broader suite of changes aimed at simplifying its frequent flyer program.

Introduced in 2020, Qantas designed its Points Club to reward members for engaging with Qantas Frequent Flyer on the ground. Members who achieve Points Club, by earning at least 150,000 Qantas Points in a year, receive a range of benefits like airport lounge passes and hotel & wine vouchers. They also unlock the ability to earn status credits on Qantas-marketed Classic Reward flights booked using points.

For the uninitiated, status credits count towards Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One status.

Some of the existing Points Club benefits, like the Qantas Hotels and Qantas Wine vouchers, will become tier benefits for members who earn Silver or higher status. (Silver will also become easier to earn, if you earn lots of points on the ground, as Qantas will permanently offer up to 140 status credits per year through non-flying activities. To earn Silver status, you’d need 300 status credits.)

Other less-used Points Club benefits, like Avis car rental upgrades and bonus points on Qantas Travel Insurance, may well disappear. While nice to have, I don’t think anyone was really aiming for Points Club just for these benefits anyway.

But there have been a lot of questions about the future of status credits on Classic Reward flights. This is one of the most popular Points Club benefits among frequent flyers.

Qantas has found a new home for this benefit

When Qantas first announced its 2026 loyalty program changes, I reported that the airline was actively considering ways to continue offering a pathway to earning status credits on Classic Reward flights. But at that time, it hadn’t yet decided on a new home for this much-loved Points Club perk.

Well, there’s some good news on this front. Qantas has confirmed that this popular benefit will definitely be sticking around, and it’s now decided internally how that will work going forward.

The airline won’t yet publicly reveal what frequent flyers will need to do in the future to unlock status credits when booking flights with points. But my understanding is that it would most likely continue to be linked to earning points through non-flying activities.

I also understand that Qantas will launch this new way to unlock status credit earning on reward flights either before it retires Points Club, or at the same time. So, at least one pathway to unlocking this benefit will remain open at all times throughout the transition period.

It’s not yet clear to me whether you would still be able to earn double status credits on Classic Rewards, under the new system, when redeeming points during a double status credit promotion. Hopefully, for frequent flyers, that will continue to be the case.

Why Qantas should keep this benefit

It makes sense for Qantas to keep this benefit as it’s extremely popular with a sub-section of its frequent flyer program members. Each year, since Points Club has launched, many frequent flyers have gone out of their way to earn more points through program partners – specifically so they could unlock status credits on reward seats.

Qantas makes a healthy margin on points issued through program partners, helping its loyalty program to remain one of the most profitable parts of the airline’s business.

This also encourages people with lots of Qantas Points to use their points on Qantas flights, rather than redeeming on partner airlines. When someone uses their Qantas Points to book a flight on a partner airline, Qantas would generally need to pay that airline for the seat.

Which other airlines offer status credits on reward bookings?

Most airlines typically don’t award status credits (or points) for reward flights that were themselves booked with points. But there are exceptions, and Qantas isn’t the only one.

Other frequent flyer programs that award the equivalent of status credits on reward flights include:

• Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian Airlines Atmos Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Delta SkyMiles

Most of these other programs open up this feature to all their members, rather than making it something you have to unlock. In fact, Alaska’s Atmos Rewards goes a step further by letting you earn status points for any flight you book with Atmos Rewards points, even if it’s operated by a partner airline.

Since 2022, American Airlines AAdvantage awards status based on Loyalty Points. Most AAdvantage miles that you earn – either from flying or on the ground – also count as Loyalty Points. This means many Americans now earn AAdvantage status primarily through their credit card spend.

Other airlines including Virgin Australia have offered status credits on reward flights during limited-time promotions – but not as a permanent program feature.

Points Club will be phased out from late 2026

Even after Qantas formally retires Points Club, any benefits you’ve already earned will be grandfathered until their natural expiry date. So, if you earn Points Club this year, you’ll still get to keep your benefits – including the ability to earn status credits on Classic Rewards – until the end of your next membership year.

Qantas hasn’t yet announced the exact dates when its upcoming program changes will come into effect. We do know that they intend to roll out the positive changes before the negative ones, and that the first phase will be late in 2026. Hopefully we’ll get some more clarity soon around the exact timings.