Qantas now lets you take parental leave and hold the benefits of your membership status of its frequent flyer programme. Isn’t this thoughtful of the airline. In fact the airline has implemented a couple family-friendly programmes such as ‘The Joey Club’ a kids under 10 years frequent flyer programme, family zones in lounges, inflight entertainment with over 10 family movies each month, a kids TV channel with a range of programmes and a dedicated Kids Zone with parental lock. Kids also get kids packs and meals inflight.
Silver, Gold and Platinum Frequent Flyers have to maintain their status points every year in order to renew their premium status on the Qantas Frequent Flyer programme. This means they have to fly a minimum number of flights to upkeep their statuses.
The new Status Hold initiative for frequent flyers here in Singapore now lets both eligible male and female members to keep their Silver, Gold and Platinum Frequent Flyers status for up to 12 months even if they are not earning the number of Status Credits usually required to retain their tier.
These members also continue to enjoy their existing tier benefits including lounge access, bonus points offers and preferred seating options.
Qantas has some beautiful lounges around the world including the one in Singapore and Sydney.
“Status Hold is designed to ensure our Singaporean members who are taking a break from their careers to start a family are looked after during this important stage of their lives” shared Qantas Loyalty CEO Lesley Grant, “A new addition to a family is an exciting time, so this initiative means new parents don’t have to worry about losing their hard earned membership benefits for up to 12 months”
So How Do You Qualify for Status Hold
- Be an eligible Silver, Gold and Platinum Frequent Flyer member who are taking at least four consecutive months off paid employment
- Both parents can apply
- Have to be a parent of a baby or babies that are due to be born within the next three months or were born in the last six months
- A foster parent who will be caring for a child within the next three months of has started caring for a child within the last six months.
Members expanding their family can apply for status hold twice during a five year period.
Increased Family Transfers
Qantas has also increased its Family Transfer points limit and removed the restriction on the number of transfers. Members can make unlimited number of transfers to eligible family members up to 600,000 Qantas Points each year, compared to 400,000 previously.
