Qantas loyalty bonus: should you choose points or status?

For every 500 status credits earned on Qantas and Jetstar flights in your Qantas Frequent Flyer membership year, you’ll receive a loyalty bonus and be offered a choice between 8,000 Qantas Points or 50 status credits.

Each time you hit that 500 status credits threshold Qantas will send an email prompting you to choose how you’d like to take your loyalty bonus.

You’ll have three months to make your choice known through your QFF account page.

So which should you choose? It all depends on what your travel goals are.

If you'll likely fall well short of earning enough status credits during the rest of your membership year to gain or retain Gold or Platinum membership tier in the Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme, then those 50 status credits won't make much of a difference – you’ll probably be better served boosting your points balance towards an upgrade or a free flight.

On the other hand, if your near-future travel plans will see you come close to reaching Qantas Gold or Platinum, those extra 50 status credits from each loyalty bonus could be all it takes to nudge you up the ladder.

(Note however that the status credits earned via the loyalty bonus don’t contribute to your tally for Platinum One, and there's a limit of 200 bonus status credits per membership year.)

Here’s one tip: if you earn a loyalty bonus close to the end of your membership year and you already have sufficient status credits for Gold or Platinum, you may want to delay choosing your bonus until the new membership year kicks in.

That way, you can channel those 50 status credits towards kick-starting your run for another year of status rather than getting zero benefit by ‘wasting’ 50 status credits when you've already achieved Gold or Platinum.