It’s no secret that people have been unhappy with Qantas lately. While the airline’s issues with punctuality, baggage handling and customer service aren’t exclusive to the Flying Kangaroo. As the country’s most prominent domestic and international carrier the smudges have been a bit more noticeable, and the complaints are piling up as a result. Now Qantas appears to be extending an olive branch of sorts, with airline CEO Alan Joyce announcing an ‘apology package’ where, amongst other features, Qantas Frequent Flyers will once again be able to retain their Silver, Gold, Platinum or Platinum One status for another year.
“Over the past few months, too many of you have had flights delayed, flights cancelled and bags misplaced,” Joyce said via a video message that has been sent to all Qantas Frequent Flyer members today.
“There are good reasons why, but when it comes to what you expect from Qantas, it’s not good enough. On behalf of the national carrier, I want to apologise and assure you that we’re working hard to get back to our best.”
Qantas, like just about every airline in the world, has been hit hard by staff shortages and schedules have been thrown into disarray amongst the resurgence of post-covid travel. This Qantas ‘apology package’ is at least a progressive step from Australia’s flagship carrier that should at least make some headway into fixing the ill-will that has been built up over the past few months.
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While the ‘apology package’ includes a number of offers from Qantas to Qantas Frequent Flyer members, the most notable of them is the 12 months status extension across all tiers – so that’s Silver and above. This means anyone who is currently at least Silver will be able to enjoy the benefits associated with their respective tier for another year, mirroring previous extensions that were offered during the lockdowns.
With another year added to the Qantas status extension program, frequent flyers should be able to keep their status through till December 2024. This is based on the more recent status extension, which was announced earlier this year in February, allowing frequent flyers to hold onto their current status through to December 2023 just by taking one flight with either Qantas or Jetstar.
Notably, these Qantas status extensions are automatic, meaning members won’t be required to squeeze in a Qantas or Jetstar flight in order to qualify. As long as your tiered membership is due to expire between January 31, 2023 and June 30, 2023 (inclusive), your status will be automatically extended until January 31, 2024 through to June 30, 2024.
If you already took a flight in order to extend your status, just know that it doesn’t mean you’ll get an additional boost. If you’ve already done enough flying to retain your status through to 2024 anyway, then it’s not like you’ll be getting another extension on top of that.
For those that were hoping for the popular Qantas Double Status Credits promotion, sorry to say the ‘apology package’ doesn’t include any mention of the initiative. Although that usually arrives in the first quarter of each year anyway, so there may still be a chance we’ll see the Qantas Double Status Credits promo in addition to some of the extra offerings listed below.
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As mentioned above, the Qantas status extension initiative is just one of the features of the new ‘apology package’. Another generous offer will see each Australia and New Zealand-based Qantas Frequent Flyer member receive a $50 promo code that can be used to redeem towards any return Qantas flight.
Qantas will also extend its current commitment of having up to 50% more reward seats available on Qantas International, trans-Tasman and select domestic routes, with the initiative now wrapping up on June 30, 2023.
Qantas Frequent Flyer members with access to a Qantas Lounge will receive one additional lounge invitation attached to their membership, which they can either use or offer to a friend, colleague or family member. Gold members will receive the additional invitation to visit a Qantas Domestic Business Lounge, while Silver members will receive the additional invitation to visit the Qantas Club or an international business lounge.
Finally, Qantas has gifted 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points to its Platinum and Platinum One members, status holders received an email on Monday morning confirming the bonus.
