Qantas unveils the biggest changes to status in program history

[moa999]

the offer of 4 years of platinum is actually very enticing.....

Would have thought earning an additional 8000SCs for LTP should also have been enticing.

 

[SYD]

So this will indeed make it harder to retain Gold and Plat. On a personal level, this sucks for me since this has been my best earning membership year. I'll earn maybe 600 points more than I need to retain WP by the end of my year in June. But no rollover for me, and next year an increased target to retain. Double-whammy.

As mentioned a few posts up, I’m hoping / expecting SC rollover and new retain thresholds are somehow linked to member year anniversary. ie you might not get any rollover at the start of your next member year but hopefully you are still on the lower retention target for one more year.

Not doing that would just piss off a lot of peeps. But like a lot of things, there could be some winners and loser in the timing of some of these changes.

 

[DejaBrew]

We’re in the same boat but my reading of “Late 2026” might mean we just sneak in for any PC/PC+ and GT (as applicable) thru to 31 July 2027.

But we probably won’t get any SC Rollover until 01 Aug 2027 so hopefully the lower requal threshold next member year?

We’ve already knocked PC retain out of the park and looking at PC+. The 100 SC rollover could be very handy as a one off!

Ignoring the definition of "Late 2026", the problem is also those weasel words "natural expiry".

 

[lazblue]

Interesting changes indeed!

I've written this piece for AFF which explains in detail what's changing, as well as my thoughts on the program changes:

Major Qantas Status Changes Coming in 2026

Qantas is changing the way you earn status in 2026 and beyond, with new options to earn and roll over status credits. But it's not all good news...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Matt's article says "The new status credit retention thresholds and lifetime milestone rewards will be introduced in a year from now, so around February 2027." while Point Hacks is saying "This won’t come into effect until late 2027, so there’s still plenty of time to retain your current status levels at existing rates."

.... so not quite sure when the new thresholds kick in?!

 

[SYD]

Matt's article says "The new status credit retention thresholds and lifetime milestone rewards will be introduced in a year from now, so around February 2027." while Point Hacks is saying "This won’t come into effect until late 2027, so there’s still plenty of time to retain your current status levels at existing rates."

.... so not quite sure when the new thresholds kick in?!

The official QF FAQ at the link posted earlier doesn’t have a specific date.

They use “Late 2026” and “Late 2027” for most of the changes.

 

[serfty]

The two banked WP years I would have already give me until the end of 2029 in any case. I'd be approching 72 years of age.

I credited over 600 SC worth of flights to other programs in the last few months as had already requalifed with 1200 SC and I could not see the value. Hindsight is wonderful.

And this is where I am now thinking? Earn WP for another two year to have the benefit of WP for three?? (Assuming I could keep travelling up to the age of 75 ...)

 

[Aeryn]

And lack of specific dates is what is causing unnecessary angst. I despise half baked announcements, work out all the rules, details and write the FAQs properly before you do a press release.

QF doesnt seem to be aware of what good change management looks like.

 

[im.daniel]

Not the worst changes in the world, clearly its designed for members to be more engaged/tangled up/dependent in the QFF ecosystem for status earning - similar to US based FF programs + AC

Importantly (for me);
1. No changes to a revenue based SC earn (eg VA)
2. No changes to LTG threshold

 

[serfty]

Ignoring the definition of "Late 2026", the problem is also those weasel words "natural expiry".

This can work better for some then others. I qualified for PC in December, giving me those benefits until their "Natural Expiry" end of October 2027.

This was my third such "Qualification", each giving me up to two years of PC bennies.

 

[SYD]

SYD+1 just asked me a curly one.

Someone who is LTG has a requal threshold of 0 SCs each year. Does that mean they rollover 50% of any SCs earned (up to 300)?

Edit:
The QF FAQ at the link above does states that Gold is eligible for rollover for any excess over 700 SCs. Although it doesn’t mention LTG. Curious, what does someone who’s LTG (but not P1/WP) see for “retention”?

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

As mentioned a few posts up, I’m hoping / expecting SC rollover and new retain thresholds are somehow linked to member year anniversary. ie you might not get any rollover at the start of your next member year but hopefully are still on the lower retention target for one more year.

Not doing that would just piss off a lot of peeps. But like a lot of things, there could be some winners and loser in the timing of some of these changes.

Same.

My next membership year commences June 1, 2026 before the rollover and higher retention thresholds "officially" start in late 2026. They will, however, certainly be in place by the time that membership year ends on May 31, 2027.

Using my Gold status as an example:

I can't imagine QF is going to change the game on me mid-year and force me to earn 100 extra SCs without having allowed me the opportunity to roll over an excess 100 SCs that I will have in my account on May 31, 2026. The FAQs likely support this: "Members will receive plenty of notice on the retirement and implementation of these changes so that they can adapt their behaviours accordingly. " (I also doubt they'll let me "double dip" and enjoy a lower retention rate that year and ALSO roll over excess SCs as of May 31, 2027. My assumption is nothing changes for me either way until June 1, 2027.)

So my guess is that they'll apply the changes to your next full membership year post official implementation announcement in late 26 or give you a "free" 100SCs to "protect" you from immediate implementation. (I suspect the former, and this early "initial" notice also gives them months to get their systems ready to do that.)

I prepare to stand to be corrected, but for people whose membership years were to end, e.g., a month after implementation, forcing an a higher number of SCs to retain at the last minute would be absurd, and I don't think they'll do it.

 

[LionKing]

I was mostly joking - can't recall when they've made certain allowances for P1.
Even if that were the case, for many P1s it wouldn't make a difference.
In some P1 groups it's common that people are mentioning earning 4000-5000+ SC in a year.

Yes they can, if they do a lot of domestic travels.

 

[SYD]

2. No changes to LTG threshold

Well, not yet.

Sliding it out to 15k would make the maths more consistent with the comp WP for every extra 10k. Currently, it’s going to be 11k for the first one at 25k LT SCs….

 

[Kangol]

For someone like me on 67000 lifetime status credits who gave up flying Qantas 6 years ago, the offer of 4 years of platinum is actually very enticing.....

What's more enticing is that you have 5, not 4 years of WP!

Five new Lifetime Gold milestones are being introduced at the following Lifetime Status Credit balances:

• 25,000 Status Credits
• 35,000 Status Credits
• 45,000 Status Credits
• 55,000 Status Credits
• 65,000 Status Credits
  
  
  Members who reach these Lifetime Status Credit balances will be awarded a year of Platinum status that they can bank to use in future.

 

[aikman]

So for LTG, earn WP for 7 years (10,000 SC) and you get an 8th year free. Pretty lame incentive in my view.

 

[DejaBrew]

This can work better for some then others. I qualified for PC in December, giving me those benefits until their "Natural Expiry" end of October 2027.

This was my third such "Qualification", each giving me up to two years of PC bennies.

So… what does your digital card indicate as your expiry date? Wouldn’t be surprised if it currently states 31 October 2026 which, if using weasel words, could be construed as a “natural expiry”. Maybe they’ll honour it into 2027 as well, but who knows at this stage?

 

[RooFlyer]

Interesting. They figured me out. My renewal is 1 March and next status year I’m carefully curating my already booked flights (about 40, mostly international) and who they credit to to renew QFF Plat and renew QR PC gold and maybe get to platinum, in which case I’d give QFF away.

I’ll have to earn another 200 QFF SCs, so that’s less for the QRPC pot. Or I guess I take one more domestic Australian flight with DSC - maybe book a flight to Brisbane to visit my sister next November.

My excess / rollover SC’s are those that would’ve gone to QRPC so I’ll have to figure out the strategy there. They’ve figured me out!

I love the banked Plat years based on total SCs. Was finished with Points Club this month and never touched Green Tier, so no worry to me about those.

 

[XavierP]

I believe this is definitely a win for frequent flyers:
500 Rollover for Platinum as opposed to 100 for PCP, which meant if they launch before FY26, I almost guarantee 500SC to start with, together with SC on the ground (140) and DSC, all I need to do is to fly to Singapore via Melbourne return and I am retaining Platinum.
Green tier is definitely redundant, I never used it and I am glad it's gone.
10000 SCs with 5 years Platinum definitely appealing for me to keep flying Cathay Pacific once I reached LTG instead of going for Singapore Airlines PPS Club.
As someone who is spending $25K+ on flights, I am glad Qantas is trying to recognise this effort, or else I would have gone for AIr China Lifetime Diamond, or China Eastern Lifetime Gold.

Well said!!

 

[Kangol]

Yes they can, if they do a lot of domestic travels.

I don't know if you're referring to the same point - which is: for some P1s, they are going to fly so much anyway that their BIS SC will exceed the threshold. Rollover will change nothing for requal - they already do the flying.
In a post about this very topic, someone in a P1 group posted a current tally of 8000+ SCs.
Clearly those people don't post here, so you may not know they exist.

 

[serfty]

So… what does your digital card indicate as your expiry date? Wouldn’t be surprised if it currently states 31 October 2026 which, if using weasel words, could be construed as a “natural expiry”. Maybe they’ll honour it into 2027 as well, but who knows at this stage?

I doubt they'd do that given this ... a screen shot from the Qantas App logged into my account: