Qantas changes - good and bad news

The latest Qantas Frequent Flyer newsletter has good news for Qantas passengers.

Domestic business passengers can now use the Qantas Clubs even if they have no status. This brings Qantas into line with all major airlines other than US-based ones and removes the irritation of infrequent passengers spending $1000 or more being penny pinched by denying lounge access.

I omitted to report last month's bad news for Qantas elite status members. It seems Qantas intends enforcing the existing rule requiring 4 Qantas or Jetstar flights per year to (re)qualify for status. Speculation on Flyer Talk is that this may be directed at US-based members who credit their American Airlines flights to Qantas to get status and thus access to Admirals Clubs and Flagship Lounges - something not available to AAdvantage elite members.

All the One World frequent flyer programs have this rule but until now only British Airways enforced it. Earlier, American Airlines made a step in this direction by requiring challenges for gold and platinum status to be done only on AA flight numbers. (What is a challenge you may ask? I'll explain more in a blog entry soon - but the short answer is a short cut to elite status.)