Free Qantas Gold (ie BA Silver) if you have any other Gold card …. with a catch
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Australian airline Qantas is offering to match Gold cards issued by any other airline into the Gold level of its Qantas Frequent Flyer programme.
Because Qantas is a member of the oneworld alliance, your Qantas Frequent Flyer Gold card will have the same benefits as a British Airways Silver card – including giving you British Airways lounge access. It will also get you status benefits, including lounge access, when flying Emirates.
(Qantas Gold does NOT give you the same benefits as British Airways Gold because Qantas uses a different scale. Their cards go Silver / Gold / Platinum – plus Platinum One – instead of BA’s Bronze / Silver / Gold.)
There is a catch. You must be a New Zealand resident to take part. That is not insurmountable ….
If you have any friends or family in New Zealand, you may be able to temporarily move in with them. Perhaps your employer has an office in Auckland which could forward your new membership card for you.
Head for Points readers with more cunning minds will be able to come up with some other options as well. I once managed to get a status match aimed at Italians …..
You can find full details of the status match, and the application form to complete, here. The only card they will not match is Emirates Skywards because of the joint venture deal they have with Qantas.
In an odd twist, though, residents of New Zealand and Australia are not allowed to join British Airways Executive Club. This is due to a deal which Qantas and BA signed a long time ago. It is not clear what Qantas will think of New Zealand residents trying to get a match from BA cards!
You have until March 16th to apply.
You can learn more about Qantas Frequent Flyer here.
PS. Etihad is also offering a status match at the moment. I will cover this tomorrow.
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