How to get Qantas Lifetime Gold status

You'd be surprised to learn how many frequent flyers know very little about the frequent flyer program they're enrolled in – and while some readers on this site are very knowledgeable in that regard and we write some higher-level articles from time to time tailored to those readers, this article (like much of what we write) is positioned at a mainstream audience, comprised of those many people who aren't as clued-in as you are.

So true!

One of the guys at the office made it to P1. He had no idea there was a higher status than Gold. (Let alone that he must've previously been Plat)

Some people are regular commuters to Europe in J and have very little knowledge about their FF program

When your travelling decreases, a soft landing at Lifetime Gold is better than descending to bronze. At the same time QF offers little incentive to earn status points for its members that are at Lifetime Gold, but cannot maintain Platinum status.  There was speculation that with the introduction of P1 status, there was a case for offering Lifetime Platinum.

Not quite sure your question/point?

I made LTG over 20 years. I went from lifetime silver to gold over a 4 year period I lived in London.

My travel patterns now won't get me seeing platinum again, so rather happy to have LTG as the fallback for those 4 intensive years (and the previous 16 not so intensive years)

Oh so true...........and not mentioned is the high cost of QF fares and the often 2nd grade product compared to other carriers, more comfortable, more convenient routes and timetable and very often cheaper.

That's exactly my issue with QF - I considered BA's lifetime Emerald, but do they offer kind of a fast track, looking at my lifetime QF Gold?

No. You will need to start from scratch if you want BA status!

Nope – once you have Lifetime Gold, it's yours for life.

Of course, if you hope to attain or retain Platinum status or higher in individual years, you still need to meet the regular requirements of that higher status (including the minimum sector requirements).

Hi readosunnycoast, just to clarify, what you're referring to above is outright award bookings on Qantas flights rather than upgrade priority after booking Qantas flights with money and using points to upgrade, which is what we've referred to in the article.

I couldn't agree more. I am LTG and Platinum but this year due to personal reasons I have not been able to retain the 1200 points required to continue as Platinum. QF just informed me that all the extra status points I had earned over and above the 1200 last year will neither be taken into account not considered to review extending my platinum status for next year. Other than access to first class lounges, fast track service at airports where it is available and excess luggage with all Oneworld carriers I have not seen any other benefits, not once have I been offered an upgrade on any international flight from economy to biz or from biz to first class, being Platinum is all too common and nothing special, much contrary to what Qantas claims as they (in my opinion) don't really care about their 'customer experience' and will only go out of their way if you are a member of their Chairman's Lounge which, we all know, is only reserved for and offered to politicians, ambassadors and people from business and leaders who do not necessarily support Qantas. I know one such member whose company is on contract with Singapore Airlines yet he was offered Chairman's Lounge status and only uses it for personal long haul flights once a year with his family, so someone do tell me how fair is this loyalty program?!!!!!

Know what u mean Readosunnycoast - theres a resentment to knowing there are thousands ahead of you in the pecking order for upgrades/points bookings, and those same thousands on any day enjoying dom biz class and Intl F lounge that your long-laboured lifetime status won’t provide...

yes if you're willing to "burn" points as the value of points are much less in point plus pay but there is the significant advantage of earning status credits as opposed to reward flights

No there has never been a Lifetime Plat level.

Start crediting to AA if you're happy at Gold or post retaining platinum if you're still travelling regularly.

that's my point I suppose...why dont they have life time Platinium...it would logically kick in at 28k status credits.

Yep – any status credits you've earned in any way are counted.

Except for those 50 loyalty bonus SC you can choose instead of a points boost, every 500 SCs you reach. Those 50 bonuses are great for requalifying, but don’t unfortunately contribute to Lifetime.

It should however it hasn't work me but good luck anyway!

I think your situation is probably the most common (Platinum aquiring Lifetime Gold).  It makes no difference while you continue to earn status points at Plat or Gold level.  It is only if you reduce your flying with QF that you will see some benefit.  It got me into a CX lounge earlier this year ! 

Yes you'll get Gold perks by purchasing business class fares but those last only for as a long as you're flying business class. If you end up flying economy or premium economy, forget about lounge access etc. Jonnie, if you are always flying business or first you definitely want to be in a QFF member so you can start earning those status credits to get lifetime Gold or one day you may look back and wish you'd done so!

status also nets benefits when things go wrong - most elite statuses have their own call centre number but business/first class ticket holders join the regular call queue. At the end of the day - if you're already flying you might as well get something extra, you never know when you might only be able to fly economy class on a flight and need/want your usual business class perks that status would give.

Lifetime Gold is really about retirement travel for those used to the pointy end paid for by someone else. I have been a member since 1992 and will get lifetime gold in the the next 2-3 years when I am heading to retirement. Perfect I can find cheaper tickets on  wider range of airline and still have shorter queues and lounge access not to mention the odd upgrade (for the QF flights).

Negative, I'm LTS and get the passes still in the mail

I'm QP Life and Lifteime Silver, so I don't receive any passes. So you are correct in one particular case.

The prize is Lifetime Oneworld Emerald. 

For me never to pay for Q Club ever has been the prize.

Horses for courses. But as a retention tool I wonder about its effectiveness. I still find the audience that this is pitched at a bit muddled. Seems like a throwback from another time before the great strides in First Class offerings...

Sorry to leap in at this stage. I am Platinum going for LTG in the next 18 months and Platinum again next year. I joined in 2001 but only intensive travel in the last 5 years.  I am looking forward to LTG but Gold is no problem, but at least it takes out the worry.  I have been in the Sydney F lounge many times and appreciate the environment and food so I can work in comfort after a hard few days in Australia. (I live in NZ). Travel next week is to Glasgow Scotland with EK via Dubai on a QF ticket.  The EK F lounge in Dubai is soemthing else. Been there once before, just not enough time between flights.

It’s just bog standard gold in the air. It just never expires.

Actually, there's only one. Platinum One. "Chairmans Lounge" is by invite only and is not based on flying. It's for 'captains of industry', politicians and celebrities. People who control $1m plus p/a travel budgets may also be considered if anecdotal evidence is to be believed. Every member must be signed off by the Chairman of Qantas, and membership numbers are strictly capped. 

Seeing they don't want to give LTP it would be good if they gave some benefits for continued loyalty to flying QF at higher lifetime status tallies or at discounted rates for continued flying on QF marketed and operated flights after reaching LTG. Things like reduced number of SC to get WP (provided QF marketed and QF operated) or a QANTAS first class lounge invitation after so much QF flying, partner gold etc. could all make a difference.

Until/unless the market puts pressure on them to do so I think there's unlikely to be any change. LTG is as good as it gets on QF for lifetime loyalty.

Compring to SQ, TG or even AA, Qantas loyalty people - their FF department - in Auckland was the most ignorant and inactive FF team that I used to experience. I was so wondered where Qantas recruitment got these people from.

Requalification to Plat is 1,200 SCs. It's only 1,400 to attain it the first time, then 1,200 each year to retain it.

How much did you pay for that Mightyreds?

Around $4500 in mid 2000's. Great value I believe.

Only paid around $2k for my Senior QP life. Good value at the time as I was still doing a lot of overseas flying in cattle class.

Yeah as Virgin do now, Qantas also offered senor pricing if you were 55 or 60, for obvious reasons. I was 25 at the time, so it was a no brainer to sign up to life. They also got rid of life memberships not long after this.

I am waiting for that as well. However, it seems to be hopeless.

I'm not aware of any 'special' baggage tags (beyond the regular Gold kit), although the next time you receive a Gold frequent flyer card, the expiry date printed will be "lifetime".

(If you're currently Platinum or higher, you'll keep getting the higher-tier card with that tier's expiry date on it, but when you drop to Gold, you'll get a "lifetime" card.)

If your status goes up as a result of achieving LTG (from Bronze or Silver), you'll get the LTG card immediately, and I believe if you're already Gold, you'll get the LTG card when your current yearly membership period expires (as your current card will still serve you until its expiry date).

You can see a photo of an older Lifetime Gold card in one of our previous articles, albeit in an older design.

Unfortunately, I got my tags when a lowly silver so would love Gold Bag Tags in any event (humiliating to travel as Platinum with silver tags lol)

Odd you didn’t get platinum tags when you attained that level.

Nope. Wish it happened. Platinum for 3/4 years and only have silver tags. Oh well. Hoping for Gold when I get to LTG.

ntn001

I completely agree with every single word you said 1Worldfreqflyer. Very well said indeed. QF doesn’t care at all abtits G or P. Luckily that it offers something to P1. However, compared to those CL, P1 is just a bit better than nothing for QF. One P1 I knew have generated more than 150,000 aud annually for himself and his family on QF, but still, he is of course lower than CL.

Long time reader, first time responder because I see some QF bashing when it comes to topics such as this. I’m currently on my 2nd year QF Plat having previously been P1 for 3 consecutive years and was Plat for 6 years prior to that. While I was P1, without any prospect of lifetime plat, I did question myself as to why I would keep flying QF. Sure, I earned some status bonuses like complimentary gold membership to gift to a family member, then comp platinum membership to a family member but once I maxed those, what then? I made a decision to just start flying VA/SQ and attained Velocity platinum while also holding P1 for those 3 years. Because I could. It gave me plenty of options for additional flights and lounge access etc etc. My first point here is not what I achieved, my point is we all have choices. The market allows us to take our dollar elsewhere if we don’t believe we are getting value. Second point is I feel like I have been recognised by QF. I’ve experienced domestic upgrades to business while a ‘regular’ platinum flyer on several occasions (prior to achieving P1 but funnily not while I was P1) the customer service on the FF hotline I receive is always excellent, while P1 I have had upgrades to first when flying to the US on several occasions, I’ve been able to access reward seats that were not published online and flying my family of 4 to the US in business AND we were upgraded to first on the return flights (yes, all 4 of us and as a result I have ruined them for life)..wait, there’s more, each Christmas while a P1 FF, QF delivered champagne to my home. During my last year as P1 they couriered me a bottle of Krug. Not being a big bubbles drinker I had no idea the value until I googled it-it’s not exactly cheap. I was also offered, and I accepted, tickets to Liverpool FC vs Sydney FC a couple of years back. They did offer tickets to another sporting event but I can’t recall what it was, I couldn’t go. I would argue QF DO recognise loyalty. Having lifetime gold is recognition. No, it won’t get me into the first lounge, but the business lounge is still better than many other lounges and it’s certainly better than hanging around the public areas during extended delays. I foresee the next part of my career where I am not travelling as much to attain platinum or higher. At that stage, I don’t think I would care, I’m not in the air as much. Better still, I’ll be travelling for leisure in which case my head space is totally different. And honestly, there have been plenty of occasions where now, and in the past I don’t even go into the lounge domestic or international.

And you can also request two new ones delivered to your door every year, if you wish.

Damn. I've missed out on that completely.