Qantas boosts points, status on American Airlines flights

With status credit earning rates quadrupled on some flights, travelling with American Airlines just got more rewarding.

By Chris C., October 1 2019
Qantas boosts points, status on American Airlines flights

Qantas Frequent Flyer members will now earn more status credits – and in many cases, more Qantas Points too – on many American Airlines flights, as well as on Qantas flights booked under an AA codeshare flight number.

On some journeys, passengers will now pocket more than four times as many status credits than before when booked onto the same fares, joining substantial boosts to the number of Qantas Points awarded on flights between Australia and the United States.

These changes, effective for flights taken from October 1 2019, follow the recent approval of the Qantas/American Airlines Joint Venture by US authorities, and largely reverse the cuts Qantas made to AA earning rates back in 2017, when that approval had not yet been gained.

Read: Qantas cuts points, status credits on American Airlines

Flights booked directly with Qantas on QF flight numbers – including those operated by American Airlines – are unchanged: but if your travels have you booked with American Airlines on an AA flight number, or a Qantas flight booked under an AA code, here are the improvements you’ll now enjoy.

Some American Airlines fares boosted to a higher Qantas Frequent Flyer ‘category’

When it comes to partner airlines, Qantas matches each type of airfare with one of six specific Qantas Frequent Flyer earning categories: Discount Economy, Economy, Flexible Economy, Premium Economy, Business and First.

Stepping up from one category to the next means a flight will earn more Qantas Points and more status credits: Flexible Economy earns more than Economy, and Economy earns more than Discount Economy, for example.

As part of these changes, several American Airlines fare types have been bumped into a higher earning category, as follows:

Cabin

Fare class

Previous category

New category

Premium economy

P

Flexible Economy

Premium Economy

Economy

H

Economy

Flexible Economy

Economy

G, S

Discount Economy

Economy

It’s these travellers that will notice the most significant increases on the flights covered below, as not only are these tickets being nudged into the next-highest earning category: on many flights, that higher category is getting its own boost to the number of Qantas Points and status credits provided, which sends those earning rates soaring even higher.

Earn more Qantas Points, status credits on Australia-USA flights

Flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to US west coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco are now more rewarding, again covering American Airlines’ own Sydney-Los Angeles route, along with Qantas flights booked through on an AA flight number.

Here’s how those changes roll out, based on departure date:

Earning category

Until September 30 2019

From October 1 2019

First

11,250 Qantas Points
+ 135 status credits

18,000 Qantas Points
+ 270 status credits

Business

9,375 Qantas Points
+ 90 status credits

13,500 Qantas Points
+ 180 status credits

Premium Economy

8,250 Qantas Points
+ 45 status credits

9,000 Qantas Points
+ 90 status credits

Flexible Economy

7,500 Qantas Points
+ 45 status credits

9,000 Qantas Points
+ 90 status credits

Economy

3,750 Qantas Points
+ 20 status credits

6,750 Qantas Points
+ 60 status credits

Discount Economy

1,875 Qantas Points
+ 20 status credits

4,500 Qantas Points
+ 45 status credits

As such, all passengers – regardless of fare type and seat number – can now expect to earn at least twice as many status credits on these flights, with even bigger wins for those booking a fare type that has also been realigned with a higher earning category.

For example, with H class being amended from Economy to Flexible Economy (detailed further above), these passengers have gone from earning 3,750 Qantas Points and 20 status credits on a typical Australia-LAX flight (at the former Economy earn rate) to a haul of 9,000 Qantas Points plus a whopping 90 status credits on the same, being the new Flexible Economy earn rate.

That’s almost three times as many Qantas Points and more than four times as many status credits from the same fare on the same flight.

Similar gains can be found across the board when booking Qantas flights from Sydney to New York (on one flight number) and from Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth as an American Airlines (AA) codeshare.

Again, there’s no change to the number of Qantas Points or status credits earned when travelling on Qantas (QF) flight numbers, either on flights operated by Qantas or a partner airline such as American.

Qantas status credits doubled on short US domestic flights

On short US flights of 400 miles or less – including popular routes like Los Angeles to San Francisco and New York to Washington, D.C. – there’s no change to the number of Qantas Points earned in each fare category, although status credits have been doubled across the board, as below:

Earning category

Until September 30 2019

From October 1 2019

Business

400 Qantas Points
+ 20 status credits

400 Qantas Points
+ 40 status credits

Flexible Economy

250 Qantas Points
+ 10 status credits

250 Qantas Points
+ 20 status credits

Economy

125 Qantas Points
+ 5 status credits

125 Qantas Points
+ 10 status credits

Discount Economy

100 Qantas Points
+ 5 status credits

100 Qantas Points
+ 10 status credits

It’s worth keeping in mind that although American Airlines brands its better-than-economy cabin as “first class” rather than “business class” on these domestic routes, these flights earn Qantas Points and status credits at Business rates.

Flights measuring slightly longer – between 401 and 750 miles, such as Dallas/Fort Worth to Atlanta – are instead largely unchanged, except that passengers booked on those Business fares will earn 40 status credits per flight versus 30 previously.

Earn more Qantas status credits on longer US domestic routes

Flagship east-west flights such as Los Angeles to New York are also in for a status credit increase, as follows:

Earning category

Until September 30 2019

From October 1 2019

First

3,750 Qantas Points
+ 75 status credits

3,750 Qantas Points
+ 150 status credits

Business

3,125 Qantas Points
+ 50 status credits

3,125 Qantas Points
+ 100 status credits

Flexible Economy

2,500 Qantas Points
+ 25 status credits

2,500 Qantas Points
+ 50 status credits

Economy

1,250 Qantas Points
+ 15 status credits

1,250 Qantas Points
+ 35 status credits

Discount Economy

625 Qantas Points
+ 15 status credits

625 Qantas Points
+ 25 status credits

Beyond the most popular east-west runs, this also includes flights between other cities categorised by Qantas as “West Coast USA/Canada” and “East Coast USA/Canada”.

“West Coast USA/Canada” includes Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver, while “East Coast USA/Canada” covers Boston, Charlotte, Miami, New York, Orlando, Toronto and Washington, D.C. – so a flight from San Francisco to Miami, for example, falls under the table above.

There’s no change to most other US domestic routes, which will continue earning Qantas Points and status credits at the same rates, except for flights between Dallas and both New York and Boston, which Qantas is improving as follows:

Earning category

Until September 30 2019

From October 1 2019

Business

1,875 Qantas Points
+ 40 status credits

1,875 Qantas Points
+ 80 status credits

Flexible Economy

1,500 Qantas Points
+ 20 status credits

1,500 Qantas Points
+ 40 status credits

Economy

750 Qantas Points
+ 10 status credits

750 Qantas Points
+ 25 status credits

Discount Economy

500 Qantas Points
+ 10 status credits

500 Qantas Points
+ 20 status credits

Following the trend, the number of status credits offered on these flights doubles in most cases, with passengers booked on Economy fares noticing a higher increase in reflection of the higher price paid for these tickets versus Discount Economy.

Also in the news: Woolworths boosts supermarket Qantas Points

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

29 Nov 2013

Total posts 478

It would be nice if Qantas allowed FF's to book US domestic legs via the Qantas website but tied back to an international booking PNR.

I flew BNE-ORD last month but couldn't book my domestic legs as I was still locking down cities/meetings - so my entry and exit flights were booked but I had to book the US domestic legs separately.

Make it easier for us to use your booking engines and remain loyal...

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

22 Jul 2014

Total posts 11

Legally they are no allowed to as per Cabotage rules.

See https://www.aopa.org/travel/international-travel/cabotage

Also, Qantas recently got fined by the DOT for selling codeshare tickets that started and ended in the USA. https://skift.com/2018/03/29/dot-slaps-qantas-for-violating-obscure-u-s-law/

01 Oct 2019

Total posts 1

Great news! That'll be handy for the US internals next year. Though I am still a little intrigued by the point and status earn on the upcoming BNE-ORD QF service. Earns less than a BNE-LAX sector

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

01 Mar 2013

Total posts 169

That's brilliant. Thanks for the heads up, Chris. Cheers!

21 Dec 2017

Total posts 4

Chris, thanks as always for such excellent updates and info. Do you know if the SC increase includes transatlantic AA sectors to LHR?

24 Apr 2012

Total posts 2449

No change to those.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

08 Dec 2012

Total posts 6

So can you earn QF points and status credits on seperate internal US flights booked on the AA website, or are those flights where you can earn points/status credits the connections you book while on the QF website? Thanks

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

22 Jul 2014

Total posts 11

You can earn points and status credits on flights you book directly with AA provided they fall within one of the eligible booking classes (see link below). It has always been the case you can earn Qantas points and status credits on AA marketed flights, however Qantas recently increased the status credits and points earnt on a number of AA flights/fare classes. You also get the status points bonus for being QFF silver, gold, platinum, platinum one.

You can see which the earning rate class the AA fare bucket falls under by visiting https://www.qantas.com/fflyer/dyn/flying/airline-earning#aa

As far as I know, B class (basic economy) on American Airlines doesn't earn anything with Qantas Frequent Flyer.


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