QANTAS: Double Status Credits are back — ‘Twice as Rewarding’ returns for 2026

Well, that didn’t take long. Just over a week ago, when Qantas launched its biggest domestic sale of 2026, I asked whether the airline might follow it with another Double Status Credits promotion.

The answer is yes.

Qantas has launched another of its popular ‘Twice as Rewarding’ promotions, giving Frequent Flyer members the choice between Double Status Credits or Double Qantas Points on eligible flights booked over the next eight days.

As usual, you need to register first, make a new booking during the promotion period and travel later. And, as usual, Qantas has thoughtfully scheduled the Double Status Credits promotion after many of those lovely cheap sale fares have disappeared. Funny how that happens.

The important dates

Registration and bookings are open from 12.01am AEST on Wednesday 26 August until 11.59pm AEST on Wednesday 2 September 2026.

Eligible travel must take place between 3 September 2026 and 14 August 2027.

You can make as many eligible bookings as you like during the promotion, but they must be new bookings created during those dates. Adding flights to a booking made before 26 August does not count.

Double Status Credits or Double Points?

First, register through the latest version of the Qantas App or through the Qantas promotional webpage.

Then comes the important bit: choose either Double Status Credits or Double Qantas Points.

You cannot have both, nor can you select Status Credits for one booking and Points for another.

You can, however, change your mind as often as you like until 11.59pm AEST on 2 September. Whatever option you have selected when the promotion closes will apply to every eligible flight you booked during the offer period.

For me, Double Status Credits remains the obvious choice. Qantas Points can be earned through credit cards, supermarkets, hotels, wine, insurance and even at Woolworths.

Status Credits are much harder to earn without getting onto an aircraft.

If you rarely fly or have no realistic prospect of reaching or retaining a higher tier, then Double Points may be more useful. There is little point paying more for flights merely to acquire status benefits you won’t use.

Which flights qualify?

The basic rule is that you need a QF flight number on an eligible Australian domestic or international ticket and, generally, the flight must also be operated by Qantas.

QF-coded flights operated on Qantas’ behalf by Alliance Airlines, National Jet, Airlink, Eastern Australia Airlines and Sunstate Airlines qualify. The Finnair aircraft currently operating selected Qantas services also qualify.

But not all QF codeshare numbers count. Jetstar and Jetstar Japan flights do not qualify, nor do partner-operated QF codeshares including Emirates and American Airlines. Other partner airlines are similarly excluded.

So check the words ‘operated by’ before booking. That little line underneath the flight number could be worth hundreds of Status Credits.

The fine print worth knowing

There are a few traps hiding among the terms and conditions.

• Your Qantas Frequent Flyer number must be attached to the booking, and if several people are travelling on the same booking, each passenger must register separately. Interestingly, passengers on the same booking can choose different rewards.
• It is the date the booking is created that matters, not when the ticket is actually issued or paid for. ‘Book Now, Pay Later’ bookings can therefore qualify, provided the booking was created during the offer period and you subsequently pay by the required deadline.
• Existing Flight Credits can be used, but only if they were issued before 26 August 2026. Flight Credits created on or after the promotion began are excluded. Gift vouchers can be used for eligible new bookings. Cancel an eligible booking and rebook it after 2 September; however, the new booking loses the bonus.
• Bonus Status Credits count towards attaining or retaining Qantas status and, importantly, Lifetime Status. They do not count towards Loyalty Bonus, Platinum Bonus Reward, Platinum One Bonus Reward or Status Accelerator/Challenge requirements.
• Double Points are calculated on the normal base earning rate or Minimum Points Guarantee. Your tier Status Bonus is not doubled.
• And don’t expect to stack this promotion neatly with another Qantas bonus offer. If more than one bonus offer applies to the same flight, Qantas says the highest-value applicable bonus will be awarded rather than piling them all on top of each other.

The bonus Points or Status Credits can also take up to eight weeks after travel to appear.

Hotels get doubled too

Book through Qantas Hotels or Qantas Holidays by 2 September and members earn 6 Qantas Points per AU$1 spent, effectively double the usual rate, provided checkout is before 2 September 2027. Airbnb bookings are excluded.

The lead traveller’s name must match the Qantas Frequent Flyer account used to earn the points.

If you book an eligible Qantas Holidays Fly & Stay package and choose Double Status Credits, the eligible flight component can earn the doubled Status Credits while the accommodation earns the promotional 6 Points per dollar.

Don’t forget the price of chasing status

This is the same warning I gave when Qantas launched its big domestic sale last week.

Double Status Credits are only genuinely rewarding if the fare still makes sense.

Qantas had more than two million discounted seats in that sale, including Economy fares from $99 and Business Class from $269. Waiting for Double Status Credits can mean exchanging a cheap airfare for a more expensive one.

So do the sums. But for future reference, you might want to book yourself into a Business Class seat instead of Economy during these domestic sales. Do the sums, and if your cost per Status Credit is under AU$10, and preferably under AU$5, then you are doing well

Remember that paying an extra AU$500 simply to earn another 40 Status Credits is not necessarily clever unless those Status Credits get you across an important status threshold.

2PAXfly Takeout

I speculated on 18 August that Qantas’ enormous domestic sale might be the precursor to another Double Status Credits promotion.

For once, my crystal ball appears to have returned to full operation after maintenance.

For regular Qantas flyers, Double Status Credits will probably again be the more valuable choice, particularly with a travel window stretching almost a full year to 14 August 2027.

But register before doing anything else, make sure you are booking a new eligible QF operated flight, check who actually operates the aircraft and compare the fare against what you could have paid during the preceding sale.

Because Double Status Credits that get you over a line, especially to Gold, Platinum, or Platinum One are lovely.