Compare credit cards with Status Credit offers
Climb the status tiers faster by choosing a credit card with bonus offers.
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Key takeaways
- Most high-end credit cards are all about points. But hardcore frequent flyers also chase higher status tiers.
- Your Qantas or Velocity status gets you more access to upgrades, extra legroom, lounge access and more.
- And with the right credit card, you can earn bonus credits to fast-track your status.
What are status credits?
Status credits decide your frequent flyer tier. Points pay for flights and upgrades, while status credits unlock perks like lounge access, priority boarding and extra baggage.
With the Qantas Frequent Flyer program you need 300 status credits in a membership year for silver, 700 for gold and 1,400 for platinum. For Velocity Frequent Flyer it is 250 for silver, 500 for gold and 1,000 for platinum.
You mostly earn status credit by flying. The longer the flight and the pricier the fare class, the more status credits you get. And several credit cards can help you earn even more status credits.
How can a credit card help me earn more status credits?
Several frequent flyer credit cards let you boost your status credits with:
- Sign-up bonuses. Some cards add status credits to the welcome offer, usually after you hit a set monthly spend criteria.
- Bonus status credits on flights. A few cards top up the status credits you earn on flights you book with the card.
Which credit cards offer bonus status credits?
Only a handful of credit cards offer bonus status credits in the Qantas and Velocity frequent flyer programs.
Qantas Money Titanium
The Qantas Money Titanium is one of the best options for boosting your Qantas status if you regularly book Qantas flights with the card. It gives you 20% bonus status credits for flights booked with the card.
The downside is the high annual fee, which makes this card suited to people who fly regularly and have high incomes.
American Express Velocity Platinum
The American Express Velocity Platinum gives you up to 100 bonus Velocity status credits. But to get them you have to spend $50,000 on eligible purchases in the first year with the card (spending $25,000 gets you 50 status credits).
Virgin Money Velocity High Flyer
Virgin Money's Velocity High Flyer offers 100 bonus status credits as part of its sign-up bonus. To qualify, you'll need to spend $3,500 per month in the first two months with the card in order to earn 80,000 bonus Velocity Points.
With this card you can also get an extra 20% bonus status credits when you book eligible Virgin Australia flights with the card. This is capped at 100 status credits each year.
Are credit cards with bonus status credits worth it?
If you're really focused on moving into a higher status tier with your Qantas or Velocity membership, then a credit card that boosts your status with extra credits could be a game changer.
But you want to make sure the credit card is offering value for money and actually helping you achieve your goals.
Getting into a higher tier
Let's say you're sitting on the silver Qantas status tier and you want to get to the gold tier. You earn 600 status credits from flying with Qantas in a year. In this scenario, a credit card that gave you a 20% boost in status credits would get you a further 120 status credits.
The gold status tier starts from 700 credits, so this would get you over the line.
Now if you're ordinarily earning 500 status credits, then that 20% boost would only get you to 600 status credits. Then you'd be stuck in the silver tier despite the (expensive) credit card giving you a boost.
Value for money
It's also important to look at everything the credit card offers. There's no point paying a large annual fee for a credit card if it's not working for you.
Weigh up the benefits of the card against the annual fee:
- Sign-up bonus offers. If you meet the spend criteria, the bonus points alone can make a card worthwhile.
- Earn rate. Earning points on your everyday spending boosts the value of the credit card.
- Lounge pass access. If you take advantage of airport lounges then lounge pass access is a nice perk (but probably not enough to justify the cost of the credit card by itself).
- Complimentary insurance. Frequent flyer credit cards with bonus status credit offers often include complimentary travel insurance policies that add further value.
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