Qantas launches its most exclusive club yet: Lifetime Platinum

Flying Kangaroo unveils new club for frequent flyers who have spent 6000 hours in the air.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth launch the Platinum Club as part of the overhaul of the airline’s frequent flyer program. Picture: AAP

Qantas is giving its most frequent of flyers an exclusive new status to which to aspire – lifetime platinum.

As part of the overhaul of the frequent flyer program that Qantas has called its biggest in 32-years, members with Platinum and Platinum One status will be enticed to stick with the airline in order to gain “lifetime platinum”.

The benefits of such a status include access to First Lounges, a special customer service number to call, priority treatment in the event of disruption, and extra points earned on flights.

Qantas Loyalty chief executive Olivia Wirth said a lifetime reward was the “number one issue raised by top tier flyers”.

“This will give them a lifetime of platinum rewards such as First Lounge access, extra points on some flights and a range of other benefits,” Ms Wirth said.

“It will be a very exclusive club, in some ways more exclusive than the (invitation only) Chairman’s Lounge.”

She conceded the bar was set “very high” with members required to amass 75,000 status credits in order to qualify.

“They’ll need the equivalent of two decades of flying at platinum level, which is normally about two flights a week, 52 weeks a year,” said Ms Wirth.

More than 4000 of Qantas’s 12.7 million frequent flyers are believed to be at Platinum One level, and group CEO Alan Joyce said lifetime status would be extra incentive to remain with the airline.

“Some of those flyers do switch around and get platinum with other people and once they’ve gotten to lifetime gold they say ‘what’s the incentive in continuing?’,” Mr Joyce said.

“Lifetime platinum is what they’ve been asking for and so we’re delivering on that.”

He said the new level would also help Qantas maintain its 80 per cent chunk of the corporate market.

“I think you have to do so many things these days to be really competitive and we’re doing them all because that’s the way Qantas will stay ahead of our competitors,” said Mr Joyce.

“And we’re so far ahead of our competitors at the moment and we don’t want to drop the ball, and we don’t want to be complacent, and this is all about not being complacent.”

The lifetime platinum status will take effect later this year.

Australian Business Traveller editor David Flynn said he expected the new status would be well received by top tier frequent flyers, delivering a “lifetime of perks such as access to some of the world’s best first class lounges”.

“But this won’t come easy,” said Mr Flynn. “It’ll be equivalent to 130 Sydney-London business class return trips, or over 6000 hours of flying.”