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Qantas has unveiled the most sweeping overhaul of its frequent flyer status program in its history, giving members unprecedented power to earn and even roll over status credits without stepping on a plane, in a move that reshapes the battle for Australia’s most loyal travelers.
Status Without Flying: Everyday Spending Joins the Game
From late 2026, Qantas Frequent Flyer members will be able to earn status credits through everyday spending, turning supermarket runs, utility bills and hotel stays into a direct path to higher status. After a record-breaking 2025 trial that allowed status earning on the ground, Qantas is making the concept a permanent pillar of its loyalty strategy.
Under the new model, members who earn at least 1,000 Qantas Points in each of up to ten everyday categories will unlock bonus status credits. The categories span areas such as shopping, fuel and cars, cards and banking, insurance, health and leisure, utilities and services, food and wine, and hotels and travel. Each category will award between 10 and 20 status credits, with a total cap of 140 status credits per membership year.
Crucially for long-term loyalists, these ground-earned status credits will count not only towards annual tier qualification, but also towards Lifetime Status balances. For frequent flyers who already channel large volumes of spend through Qantas-linked credit cards and retail partners, it creates an additional on-ramp to coveted Lifetime Silver, Gold and Platinum recognition.
Qantas executives say the change reflects how members actually live today, with many increasingly focused on harnessing their everyday finances to unlock premium travel benefits, rather than relying solely on long-haul flying.
Roll Over Status Credits for a Lifetime Edge
In a second breakthrough, Qantas will allow members to roll over unused status credits into the following membership year, ending the long-standing frustration of watching excess credits reset to zero on the anniversary date. The airline says around half of all status credits currently go unused, particularly among travelers who have already secured their desired tier well before year-end.
Once the new rules take effect in late 2026, Silver members will be able to roll over up to 100 status credits, Gold up to 350, and Platinum and Platinum One up to 500. The rollover will apply automatically to eligible members who have attained or retained a tier and then earned status credits beyond that tier’s annual target.
While the mechanics are complex behind the scenes, the impact for travelers is simple: extra flying or partner activity in one year will give them a concrete head start on requalifying the next. For business travelers whose schedules ebb and flow, or for leisure travelers planning a big “once in a decade” trip, the new safety net reduces the risk that surplus flying is effectively wasted.
The trade-off is the retirement of Qantas’s existing Loyalty Bonus system, which awarded bonus status credits every time members hit certain flying thresholds on Qantas and Jetstar services. That benefit is set to be phased out in 2027 as the airline pivots recognition towards rollover and ground-based earning.
Higher Retention Targets, Simpler Tiers
Alongside the new perks, Qantas is tightening and simplifying the structure of its status tiers. From 2027, the airline will move to a single, aligned status credit target for both earning and retaining Silver, Gold and Platinum levels. Today, members generally need fewer credits to hold on to a tier than to reach it in the first place.
Under the single-target model, Silver will require 300 status credits a year, Gold 700 and Platinum 1,400, all with four eligible flights on Qantas or Jetstar-branded services. That means some existing members, particularly at the lower end of each tier, will face higher retention hurdles than they do now.
Qantas argues the sting is softened by the dual innovations of rollover and on-the-ground earning, which together could deliver hundreds of credits outside of traditional flying activity. The airline also stresses that thresholds to initially attain each tier, as well as for Lifetime Silver, Gold and Platinum, will not be increased.
Nonetheless, the recalibration underlines a clear strategic message: elite status is meant to be hard to get, but Qantas is willing to reward those who concentrate more of their travel and spending ecosystem inside its network of partners.
Banked Platinum Years and the Lifetime Status Race
For the most committed frequent flyers, Qantas is introducing a fresh suite of Lifetime Gold milestones that come with a particularly valuable new perk: banked years of Platinum status. Members who reach higher Lifetime Status Credit balances will unlock up to five separate one-year Platinum periods that they can store and activate in the future.
These banked Platinum years have no expiry date, allowing members to deploy them strategically in periods when they expect to travel more intensively, or when family or work circumstances make premium cabin and lounge access especially valuable. If a member ultimately reaches Lifetime Platinum, any unused banked years will lapse, reflecting that their benefits have effectively become permanent.
The new milestones are designed to inject fresh momentum into the long-haul journey towards Lifetime recognition, particularly for those who have already pushed far beyond the traditional thresholds. Coupled with the ability to earn status credits on the ground, the changes bring Lifetime tiers within closer reach for members who split their time between air travel and high levels of partner engagement.
Industry analysts note that this approach keeps Qantas aligned with a broader global trend in airline loyalty, where long-term, high-value customers are being courted not just with immediate rewards, but with the promise of guaranteed future comfort and convenience.
A High-Stakes Play in the Loyalty Arms Race
The overhaul comes as Qantas reports robust profits and surging loyalty revenues, highlighting how central frequent flyer economics have become to modern airline strategy. The carrier’s loyalty division now draws significant income from credit card issuers, supermarkets, insurance companies and other partners that buy points to reward their own customers.
By letting members earn status without flying and by preserving more of their hard-won progress year to year, Qantas is betting that travelers will respond with deeper allegiance across both travel and household spending. It is also a pointed response to intensifying competition from rival programs in Australia and abroad, many of which have launched aggressive status fast-track and bonus credit campaigns.
For travelers, the message is mixed but unmistakably consequential. Casual flyers may find it easier to nudge into Silver or maintain an aspirational tier by optimizing their everyday spending and capitalizing on rollover. At the same time, those who sit just on the edge of requalification will need to pay closer attention to the rising thresholds and changing bonus structures.
What is clear is that Qantas has redrawn the rules of engagement for status, turning the frequent flyer program into an even more intricate intersection of flights, finances and lifestyle choices, and ensuring that the next generation of elite travelers will earn their perks in more ways than one.