Qatar Airways just announced a generous elite status extension for its Privilege Club frequent flyers, and it’s good news for anyone – and realistically everyone – whose travel plans are in limbo.
The airline is automatically extending members elite status by 12 months, which joins the best offers from airlines thus far. Here’s the details on this generous Qatar Airways Privilege Club elite status extension…
Qatar previously announced a six month extension for loyalty members, but it’s now doubled down on the promise to look after customer loyalty, with a 12 month grant. According to the airline, any memberships which were set to expire before January 31st, 2021 will be extended for 12 months.
It’s not entirely clear how it would work in practice, but Qatar Airways notes that it would also reinstate status in some circumstances, per the release. The tier extension also applies to upgrades, lounge access, pay with miles and other features of the Privilege Club program.
Qcredits, a flexible currency for elite Gold and Platinum Privilege Club members which can be spent on upgrades, lounge access and baggage fees will also be extended, and any previously redeemed Qcredits are now refundable.
If the tier is retained next year, it would mean 2 year validity for Qcredits. Flyers were previously unsure whether Qcredits already spent on flights could be recovered, but they absolutely can under the sweeping loyalty offer.
This is a fantastic move from Qatar Airways, in line with the most generous offers from Qantas, TAP Portugal, Hilton and others leading loyalty programs. Though there are great arguments for how free status extensions can be risky under normal flying circumstances, these are absolutely not normal times.
Travelers are looking for peace of mind from their loyalty programs, and needing to worry about whether benefits will be retained is absolutely not something anyone should worry about. Great move from Qatar Airways bringing peace of mind to its members, and giving them a reason to stay loyal when people return to flying, with benefits in tact.
I agree, this is superb. However one element ignored is the expiration of QMiles for those who are not Gold or Platinum (as non-expiration is a status benefit).
As a silver I have a lot (200k+) of my QMiles coming to expire in the next 2 months and had intended to book a trip with them for later in the year 🙁
I will now lose them unless Qatar allow a complimentary extension of those too 🙁