What is Qantas Green Tier status?

It's a secret Qantas tier that not many people know about, or understand. But you can make it work to your advantage, and earn extra points and status.

Escape’s points expert, Sabine Leroy, answers your questions about frequent flyer programs.

What is Qantas Green tier status? How does it work? 

Qantas’ Green tier sits alongside existing flying tiers – Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One. This means you can hold Gold status and Green status concurrently, for example. The initiative encourages and rewards frequent flyers who make sustainable choices for everything from offsetting their flights to staying in eco-accredited hotels and purchasing sustainable wine. Qantas was the first airline in the world to recognise and reward frequent flyers for taking sustainable actions on the ground as well as in the air. The Green tier initiative ladders up to Qantas Groups’ commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

 

How do you achieve Green tier status?

To achieve Green Tier status, frequent flyer members must complete at least one activity in five out of six Green Tier categories within a Membership Year. The six categories are:

Offset flying

Offset the emissions of flights through Qantas’ Fly Carbon Neutral program.

Offset that flight and you'll reap the benefits. Picture: Qantas

Choose sustainable hotels

Book one of 30 eco-accredited hotels through Qantas Hotels in Australia including Alto on Bourke, Melbourne – Australia’s first hotel to receive the EarthCheck Gold Certification and first city hotel in Australia to offset all calculated carbon output to become carbon neutral. The list also features Daintree Wilderness Lodge and Crystalbrook Byron. Qantas has selected hotels based on their sustainability against seven criteria including water and waste management, design innovation, conservation, ethical food, clean energy and community engagement.

Queensland's Daintree Wilderness Lodge is one of the accredited hotels.

Buy sustainable wine

Purchase wine from an eco winery from Qantas Wine. You can also make deliveries from Qantas Wine and the Qantas Marketplace delivery climate positive. Qantas Wine has partnered with Sustainable Winegrowing Australia to choose wines with strong eco-credentials. The industry program annually measures and reports members’ carbon footprint and sustainability practices in six key areas: land and soil, waste, energy, water, biodiversity, people and business.

Make the move towards sustainable wines. Picture: iStock

Reduce your impact

The first step to reducing your impact is understanding it. Complete the sustainability quiz in the Qantas Wellbeing App and you’ll receive 100 points. Qantas has plans to add more actions to the app in the future.

Make sustainable choices at home

Power your home with GreenPower with Red Energy, install solar panels or offset home and car emissions through Qantas’ partner initiatives.

Donate to charity

Qantas has selected four organisations and projects to earn points to achieve Green tier status. Donate at least $25 to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, OzHarvest, UNICEF and Kimberley Land Council via Qantas Marketplace. The good deed will count for 3200 Qantas Points counts and Green Tier activity.

What are the benefits?

That Qantas business upgrade could be closer than you think. Picture: Qantas

Members who unlock Green tier status can choose to receive either 10,000 Qantas Points, 50 Status Credits or let Qantas offset three tonnes of carbon on your behalf. 

Green tier status holders will also unlock additional bonus points including earning 150 points for every night they stay at an eco-accredited hotel booked via Qantas Hotels, and 250 bonus points for every case of six eco-wines purchased through Qantas Wine.

How do I know if I’ve reached Green tier status?

Your digital membership card and the flying kangaroo will turn green on your Qantas app.

Maintaining Green tier status

Just like status earned from flying, you need to complete five of the above activities in a membership year to earn Green tier status. If you don’t complete all of the Green tier categories in the year, you’ll start from scratch the following year. Have a question about points?

Drop Sabine an email at [e-mail]. Personal replies are unfortunately not possible.

Originally published as What is Qantas Green Tier status?