Advice for a newbie on Qantas Point or Status Credits

[Tatou]

I recently flew to Europe and back business- fully paid- on a Qantas ticketed flight from NZ (Mostly Emirates metal but some Qantas).
I now find I have a Gold Status, 42,200 Points and 720 Status Credits. I am now being asked to chose how to apply a loyalty bonus of either 8,000 Qantas points or 50 Status Credits. I have to select either Keep Gold or Reach Platinum on the login page. I assume picking reach platinum will apply Status Credits towards the tier and keep gold will add 8,000 points

I am unlikely to fly Qantas for a year as my work flights in NZ is all Air New Zealand but go across the Tasman twice a year ( usually AirNZ Works Deluxe from Wgtn) and may be doing another Europe trip in a year- 18 months in business (Most likely Qantas or Emirates as very impressed this time). Any suggestions on best choice to make. I am leaning to Status Points to keep the gold

Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

[calmelb]

Hey mate!

The thing on the homepage isn't a selection tool, its more to give you an idea of how much more is required to reach the next status level or retain (More useful when you renew for a second and onwards year). For example, mine says x status credits to retain platinum, and then x status credits to reach P1.
Instead you have to go into your profile and select whether you want the SC or the points.

For the second part is which to choose. Personally if I knew I wasn't going to fly QF/OW enough to reach Platinum (1400 SC) then I would opt for the points, if you feel you will fly enough to get to Platinum by your membership renewal then go for the SCs.
Also note that while points do not expire (with a transaction every 18 months), Status credits get wiped completely every membership renewal. So say your renewal month was September then on September 30th your Status credit total will go to 0 and you have to earn them all again to renew for Gold/whatever status you have.

In your situation where your next Europe flight is a year or more away then go for the points. The status credits will see no use unless you plan on flying more QF.

Hope that answered all your questions!

 

[Tatou]

Thanks mate.... Appreciate the comments. Would probably fly more Qantas if I was in Auckland as I would grab the Emirates J or F to Melbourne two or three times a year.

 

[Deleted member]

There are life time status credits to think of as well.

 

[RichardMEL]

Hi Tatou and welcome to QFF.

As Catmelb noted above if you won't fly before your membership year is up there's no real reason to opt for the Status Credits. Your Gold Status will stay for the remainder if this membership year and the next full year (depending on when your anniversary date is) which is something useful and may cover you for your next european trip (so you will get 75% more points on the QF flights/flight numbers).

Yes, lifetime Status Credit earn can be a consideration, but honestly it seems that I wouldn't worry about that given current travel patterns and I'd put it to points which will take you over 50k points which you could use for say a trans-tasman flight or some other reward flight.

Just my opinion though.

 

[juddles]

....I am unlikely to fly Qantas for a year...... may be doing another Europe trip in a year- 18 months in business ......

Hey there! As always there are many viewpoints, but given you are not a frequent QF traveler, I would go the points - Life Time Gold with Qantas takes a lot of SC and I would not even consider that as a possibility unless I was sure I would be Gold for the next 20 yrs, or Platinum for a decade straight. If you are flying business anyway if you do those long trips on QF, status is totally irrelevant for you anyway. LTG is, in my humble opinion, only useful to a very select set of circumstances.

 

[Tatou]

Thanks for the advice everyone

 

[airbound]

I suppose that the bonus 50 SCs will credit to the same membership year as the year in which the 500 SCs were earned, regardless on when the election is made?

Let's say one hits the 500 SCs in the final month of the membership year. Could one delay making the election until the first month of the following membership year, to get a 50 SC head start?

 

[Jack_OC]

I suppose that the bonus 50 SCs will credit to the same membership year as the year in which the 500 SCs were earned, regardless on when the election is made?

Let's say one hits the 500 SCs in the final month of the membership year. Could one delay making the election until the first month of the following membership year, to get a 50 SC head start?

Very good question. You can actually wait up to 90 days after earning a Loyalty bonus before making your selection, and it's quite possible to earn more than one Loyalty Bonus in the 90 days before your membership year ends. So in the best case scenario, this could potentially give people a head start of up to 200 SCs!