Making the most of Qantas double Status Credits promos

“When is the next Qantas double Status Credits promotion?” is a perennial question of frequent flyers, and with good reason.

For relative newcomers to the Qantas Frequent Flyer landscape, Status Credits are the means through which you unlock Qantas membership tiers such as Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One.

And when Qantas launches a double Status Credits promo, you’ll earn twice as many Status Credits on any given flight.

That’s your fast track to lock in your current Qantas Frequent Flyer status for another year, or to make the leap to a higher tier (with more perks) – while also continuing your march towards Lifetime Silver, Lifetime Gold even Lifetime Platinum membership.

Ready to turbocharge your Qantas status? This Qantas double Status Credits guide will get you set for status success.

Qantas double Status Credits 101

Qantas double Status Credits promotions appear without warning – even the Executive Traveller team receives no advance notice.

And they run only for a very short promotional period, usually no longer than one week – although DSC-eligible bookings made during the promotion can be many months ahead, and sometimes almost a year in advance.

(And no, any bookings you made before the DSC offer don’t qualify for that extra serve of status credits).

From time to time Qantas offers a choice between earning double Qantas Points or double Status Credits on bookings, but almost every frequent flyer favours status credits over points.

To earn those double Status Credits you’ll first have to register for the promotion at the Qantas website or your Qantas app, once the DSC promo gives live.

As a rule, only flights taken on a Qantas aircraft carrying a QF flight number are eligible for double Status Credits; DSC promotions typically don’t apply to flights on Jetstar or QF codeshares on partners such as Emirates.

(However, an exception is made for the Qantas/Finnair A330 flights on Sydney-Singapore and Sydney-Bangkok, which will qualify for double Status Credits or Qantas Points)

Note that these extra status credits do not count towards triggering the Loyalty Bonus, the Platinum or Platinum One Bonus Rewards, or the Qantas Tier Accelerator challenge.

When are the Qantas double Status Credits offers in 2024?

As mentioned earlier, Qantas never tells anyone when these promotions are coming up. No hints are dropped, no whispers shared.

Qantas will simply announce the launch of a Double Status Credits promotion on its website in the early hours of the morning, along with key details such as the booking window and any exceptions to the offer.

Shortly after, a tsunami of emails hits the inboxes of some 15 million Qantas Frequent Flyer members.

And rather than giving advance warning, the promotion is immediately live – so you’ll want to move fast to get the best fares aligned with that double serve of status credits.

All that being said, there are clear historical patterns when Qantas unleashes each Double Status Credits promotion throughout the year, and these help provide a guide to the Qantas Double Status Credits 2024 calendar.

• 2024: February
• 2023: March
• 2022: March, December
• 2021: March, May
• 2020: February (after which Covid hit, so Qantas began rolling out status extension offers)
• 2019: February, April-May
• 2018: February, August, October

What does this mean for Qantas Double Status Credits offers in 2024?

With the February 2024 DSC promo now behind us, we could still see another Qantas double Status Credits land towards the end of this year – ‘could’ being the operative word.

However, these additional DSC periods have sometimes been a ‘targeted’ offering in which only selected Qantas Frequent Flyer members are invited via email to participate, or apply only for specific destinations, with the aim of increasing bookings to that particular market.

Using the Qantas double Status Credit promo to your advantage

The ability to plan flights almost a year in advance is perfect for locking in some business trips and holidays while also locking down another year of your Qantas Gold, Platinum or Platinum One status, as well as steadily making your way towards lifetime status if that’s also one of your goals.

But with little warning and even less time to book, it pays to have a Qantas Double Status Credits strategy in place.

First up, ask yourself these three key questions:

• How many status credits do I currently have?
• What status milestone do I want to reach?
• Is that level of status really going to be useful for me? 

The last question is particularly relevant.

There’s no sense chasing the lofty goal of Qantas Platinum One if your needs will generally be met by Platinum; in addition, for many domestic-only flyers who do just the odd international trip, Qantas Gold will suffice.

Map out the number of status credits required, or the number of flights you need to do, to get from your current status to the tier you want, taking into account your ability to collect Double Status Credits of course.

Note that only flights booked within the DSC promotional period qualify for double status credits.

If you’re sitting on a Qantas booking made before the promotion begins, it will only collect the usual single serve of Status Credits.

In that circumstance, some frequent flyers will cancel that original booking and rebook the trip under the DSC offer – but of course that only makes sense if there’s no cancellation or rebooking fee and the replacement DSC-eligible trip is available for around the same price.

Set your status credits goal

Knowing the status credit requirements of each Qantas Frequent Flyer tier will not only give you a goal to work towards but help you work out exactly how many flights are needed.

Qantas Silver: to earn Silver status for the first time, you need 300 status credits, and 250 status credits to keep it if you already have it. On paper, Silver is not an overly useful tier, because the main benefits are just two Qantas Club lounge invitations and use of 'premium' check-in counters.

However, everybody has to start somewhere - and it’s easier to keep it once you have it.

Qantas Gold: you need 700 status credits to earn Gold status and 600 status credits to keep it. Gold is often thought of as the 'sweet spot' because it gives you lounge access across Qantas and Oneworld airlines along with Emirates, plus the use of premium security lanes and priority boarding.

Qantas Platinum: you need 1,400 status credits to earn Platinum status and 1,200 status credits to keep Platinum status. This gives you access to Qantas' domestic business class lounges and the international first class lounges of Qantas and Oneworld airlines, along with Emirates.

Qantas Platinum One:Platinum One is the highest level of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. You need 3,600 status credits to earn or keep Platinum One, of  which 2,700 need to be earned on 'Qantas marketed flights'.

Platinum One members can also give free Platinum status to their partner, receive two invitations to the Qantas first class lounge to give to a family member or friend, get free 'fly ahead' access to earlier domestic flights, and have any available seat converted into a points-based 'award seat'.

Plus, they tend to get the best attention from Qantas when flights are delayed or cancelled.

Why would you choose double Qantas Points?

If Qantas offers a choice between double Status Credits and Double Points, there are some instances where you might decide to opt for double Qantas Points on your bookings.

Perhaps you’re not close to jumping from one status tier to the next, even with the help of a couple of DSC bookings.

Maybe you’re simply not in the position to book enough flights to get you across the line to that next status tier.

In both cases, you might decide it’s better to pocket that double helping of Qantas Points to use on bookings or upgrades at any time in the future.

After all, there’s no benefit to being ‘Silver and a half’ or ‘Gold and a half’, and it makes more sense to hoover up Qantas Points which you can use rather than Status Credits you can’t use.

Is it worth signing up for the Qantas Double Status Credits promo?

The short answer: yes.

The longer answer: oh yes indeed.

Qantas status puts some fantastic perks at your fingertips, and this goes beyond the norms of lounge access, extra baggage and priority service with not only Qantas but across all international airlines which are members of the Oneworld alliance, as well as partners such as Emirates.

For example, high status lets you earn as many as a 100% bonus on Qantas Points on flights.

Qantas status also unlocks the best seats on the plane, and determines your position in the upgrade hierarchy (Platinums before Golds, Golds before Silvers).

And when things go pear-shaped – think serious delays, cancellations and the like – it’s generally Qantas Platinums and especially Platinum Ones who enjoy the best attention and speediest service recovery due to their being considered very high-value customers.

Finally, since status credits are largely earned only by flying, Qantas double Status Credit promotions let you reduce the number of flights needed to keep your status, as well as locking it away sooner so there’s one less thing to worry about as the months tick by.

With all that in mind, why wouldn’t you take full advantage of a Qantas Double Status Credit offer?

To reach or keep Qantas Gold or Platinum status under a DSC promotion, you might just need to make one international business class return flight – and that trip could already be on your radar.

For example, a return Qantas premium economy trip from Australia to London will normally earn you around 280-300 Status Credits depending on the type of fare you book

Under a DSC promo this catapults to 560-600 Status Credits, which is about enough to keep Qantas Gold status on its own (and around 100 Status Credits shy of earning it for the first time, if you are currently Qantas Silver).

Likewise, a return Qantas business class flight from Australia to London booked as a DSC trip can pocket between 1,120 and 1,240 status credits depending on the type of fare you book (discount, standard or flexible), which puts you in the realm of Qantas Platinum status.

And if you’re travelling domestically, a return business class flight from Sydney to Melbourne or Sydney to Brisbane under a double status credits deal will park at least 160 status credits in your account.

Qantas has a handy calculator to help you work out the number of status credits earned per flight, based on your fare type.