How to get Qantas Frequent Flyer Gold status

With premium benefits including global lounge access, additional baggage and 75% more Qantas Points on eligible flights, Gold status is a big step up from the benefits you get as a Silver or Bronze Qantas Frequent Flyer member. But the amount of status credits you need to reach Qantas Frequent Flyer’s Gold tier is also much higher than those required for Silver status. So, here’s a look at some of the different strategies you can use to get to Gold.

What are the requirements for Gold Qantas status?

To get to Gold status, you need to:

• Earn 700 status credits in a membership year. Your membership year is based on the date you joined Qantas Frequent Flyer. You can check how many months you have left to earn these status credits by logging in to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account and going to the “Status activity” section.
• Take at least four eligible flights with Qantas, QantasLink or Jetstar in a membership year. This covers flights that have one of the following codes before the flight number: QF, JQ or GK (eg, QF123). You'll usually end up taking more than four of these flights to get enough status credits, but there are some rare exceptions. For example, a return first class ticket from Sydney to London could earn you enough status credits for Gold, but it would still only count for 2 of your required flights.
• Retain at least 600 status credits by the end of the membership year. If you don't have at least 600 status credits by the end of your membership year you'll lose Qantas Gold status and return to Silver.

How can I earn 700 status credits?

If you’re starting at the beginning of a membership year when your status credit balance is at zero, the fastest way to get to Gold is with international business or first class flights. For example, two return flights from Sydney to Los Angeles in business class would earn you 720 status credits and cover the minimum four flights needed for Qantas Gold membership.

This is assuming you fly with Qantas and book a standard business class fare, which earns 190 status credits when you fly to LA from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. If your goal is to find the most affordable way to get Gold status with Qantas, it’s worth noting that the cost of these two return trips would be over $20,000, as a single business class fare typically costs upwards of $5,000 outside of sales.

Status credits for longer international routes

The further you travel, the more status credits and frequent flyer points you’ll earn. So, as another example, here’s a look at the status credits you’d earn for a one-way flight from Sydney to London – one of the longest, most popular routes available with Qantas.

Status credits for a one-way flight from Sydney to London

Fare class	Status credits earned per flight	Required one-way flights (to nearest whole number)
Discount economy	70	10
Economy	95	8
Premium economy	150	5
Business class	295	3
First class	420	2

Note that the Qantas Frequent Flyer website actually lists 10 fare classes for this route, but these 5 are the most common.

In this case, booking a return trip in First Class is the fastest way to earn all the required status credits. But it would come at a cost, with these fares starting from around $11,395.50 one way. You'd also still need to take another two Qantas or Jetstar flights to make up the four flights you need to be eligible for Gold status.

Qantas Gold status runs

Serious frequent flyers who want Gold (or Platinum) status may also look at taking flights specifically to meet the requirements. Known as status runs, this typically involves looking for cheap business class or first class fares with multiple stopovers. Often, status runs are done in a short amount of time as well (for example 48 hours).

Status runs are also usually taken when a frequent flyer already has a status credit balance (i.e., before the end of a membership year). For instance, if you already had 450 status credits, a return flight from Sydney to Bali in business class would give you the extra 250 status credits needed for Gold status.

Video: How to boost your Qantas Status

What can I do to get Gold Qantas Status faster?

• Check your status credit balance regularly. Make a habit of visiting your Qantas Frequent Flyer account online to see how many status credits you have and how many you need to get Gold status before the end of your membership year. Once you know how close you are to Gold, you can book flights to help you get there. Or, if you’re a long way off, you may decide to focus on getting (and keeping) Silver status.
• Take advantage of bonus status credit offers. Sometimes Qantas Frequent Flyer runs bonus status credit offers for members. Booking flights during this type of promotion can help you reach a higher status level for a lot less money than usual. As well as checking the Qantas Frequent Flyer website, you can find out about status credit offers and other deals by signing up for our Points Finder email.
• Claim your Loyalty Bonus. Once you have Silver status or higher, Qantas gives you bonus status credits for every block of status credits you earn on eligible Qantas or Jetstar flights, up to a yearly cap. These bonus credits can help you reach (or keep) Gold, but they aren't added automatically: you need to claim each one within a set time after you earn it. Check the Silver and Gold tier pages on the Qantas Frequent Flyer website for the current terms.
• Make bookings when there’s a sale. This will help you get the cheapest fares and could have a huge impact on how much you spend to reach Gold status. So keep an eye out for Qantas sale fares that you can jump on.
• Look at business or first class with partner airlines. While Qantas flights offer the highest number of status credits based on fare class, sometimes partner airlines could have more competitive sale fares for business or first class. When that’s the case, you could end up saving on ticket prices as you earn status credits, especially for long-haul international flights.
• Book as far in advance as possible. If you know when you’ll be travelling ahead of time, you’re more likely to get a better price. You could also think about paying with a credit card that earns Qantas Points to get even more frequent flyer benefits.

What are the benefits of Gold status with Qantas?

Unlimited global lounge access and 75% more points on eligible flights are two of the main drawcards for Gold status. You'll also get higher priority for reward bookings and upgrade requests compared to Silver or Bronze members and priority check-in regardless of your fare class. Other notable perks include:

• Priority boarding on eligible domestic or international flights with a QF flight number.
• Access to premium security lanes at Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane domestic airports.
• Extra checked baggage allowances on eligible flights and priority checked baggage.
• Status holds for up to 18 months if you're taking parental leave.

You'll also get Sapphire status through the oneworld alliance. This means you can get perks such as preferred seating and priority check-in with oneworld member airlines including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways.

Images: Shutterstock