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My family member has some Qantas Frequent Flyer miles that are about to expire (18 months since last earn). My own account is not expiring, and I'm planning to use its miles for future family travel.

Qantas offers a free Family Transfer program that they could use to transfer the points to me, but unfortunately they're just under the minimum threshold of 5,000 points required.

Is there any way to rescue the miles?

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    As a general note, you may consider contacting the airline to see if they have any virus specific adjustments in place. Since travel is so limited right now, the airlines may extend expiration deadlines.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 17:13
  • @FreeMan Qantas has in fact extended all validity until June 30, 2021, but that doesn't really help with orphaned points. Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 23:55

3 Answers 3

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Yes, there is: since transfers are free, unlimited and can be any number over 5,000 miles, you can transfer some miles to them, and transfer the combined sum back! Here's how it works:

  • Family member has (say) 4,000 orphaned miles
  • You transfer 5,000 miles (the minimum) to your family member
  • Family member now has over 5,000 miles, so they can transfer the combined 9,000 miles to you

That's it! And if you have multiple people in the same situation (say, kids/spouse who flew together on the same flight), you can reduce the overhead a bit by chaining the transfers: A->B->C->A.

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    Genius solution.
    – Tashus
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 20:03
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One more way to keep your points active is by regularly adding more qantas points to your account.

Qantas offers a free travel card which can be used in Australia as well (I'm assuming you are in Aus) https://www.qantasmoney.com/travel-money-card You just need to load up money in it and use it as a debit card and you get points for spending.

I use this often and it helps get some points, but ya the points per spend is very low. But helps keep your points active.

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  • That works fine for your own account, but it's rather more difficult for underaged kids who don't qualify for any kind of payment card. Commented Nov 20, 2020 at 1:23
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    @lambshaanxy yes ... or you could attach your Woolworths Rewards card to qantas and have your woolies rewards convert to qantas points
    – Nigel Fds
    Commented Nov 20, 2020 at 3:24
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Yes! All you need to do is earn a single point in an 18 month period to have them not expire.

I track ways on my site to earn points without flying, and easy ways to earn Qantas Points should help.

At the very simplest, the Qantas Wellbeing app tracks your steps, which gets you a few free points every day, even without an insurance policy.

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