QANTAS: Status match offer extended

Way back in April – it seems soooo long ago – Qantas offered a status match to newly targeted New Zealand customers. It was really an extension of the Qantas Status Fast Track deal which the airline originally offered in December 2020.

If you took this offer to instantly be granted Qantas Gold Status after completing the ‘challenge’ of collecting 100 status credits before the end of July 2021, then this announcement is good news.

Lockdowns – extension yeah!

Because the current lockdowns that have affected flights between every state, Qantas wisely has decided to extend the deadline for the offer. Normally, 100 status credits would not be a huge number to achieve in 3 months, but with international travel, and for some states even interstate travel frozen, the task is a bit of a challange. Well now, you have another 8 weeks until 30 September 2021.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

Qantas has bee quite good at looking after the interests of its status driven frequent flyer tiers, offering gratis points, or effectively lower limits to qualify. This promotion originally designed to woo flyers loyal to other airlines – mainly Star Alliance members – has now had its qualification period extended by 8 weeks.

Unfortunately this won’t help me, who having cancelled a NZ trip due to lockdown, is now going to be a couple of hundred status credits short of re-qualifying for Platinum. Damn it!