How to prevent Qantas and Velocity Points from expiring

Every so often a ‘news’ article does the rounds on social media featuring someone who is “furious” about their Qantas or Velocity points expiring.

It’s quite astonishing that people who value their points so much don’t take the time to find out if they’ll expire and what steps they can take to extend them.

Sure, mistakes do happen, and sometimes people have quite moving stories – e.g. they’ve been saving up for years for a rare ‘trip of a lifetime’.

But often it just seems like the ‘victims’ haven’t bothered to learn the rules and then decide to complain loudly about the consequences.

Judging from comments on places like Facebook, most people aren’t very sympathetic in these situations.

The rules are very clear: points will expire after 18 months of inactivity in a Qantas Frequent Flyer account or 24 months in a Velocity Frequent Flyer account.

To prevent points from expiring, all you need to do is keep your account active by earning or redeeming at least one point every 18/24 months.

That’s obviously very easy to do.

You can earn points each month through a credit card linked to Qantas or Velocity, meaning you never have to worry about the status of your account. 

You can also opt for a credit card that earns a flexible points currency (e.g. Amex’s Membership Rewards) which you can periodically transfer yourself to Qantas or Velocity.

You can also earn or use points on flights, hotels or car hire via the airlines’ websites, or purchase products such as wine or any of the thousands of consumer goods available on the Qantas Marketplace and Velocity eStore.

Both programs also have a large number of partners that let you earn points either directly or via points transfer, including supermarkets (Coles/Velocity and Woolworths/Qantas) and fuel retailers (bp/Qantas and 7-Eleven/Velocity).

The only points transfers that are not eligible are those from family members or Qantas Business Rewards.

If you’re part of a Velocity family pool, receiving points via family pool transfers also won’t count as eligible activity.

Given that earning or spending points is ridiculously easy, just make sure to keep an eye on your account and have a qualifying transaction before the deadline is up.

And if your points do end up expiring, it’s worth calling the airline and pleading your case. Both have been known to reinstate points in some circumstances, and the sooner you call, the better.

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