Verdict up front: Yes, Qantas Points expire after 18 consecutive months with no earning or redemption activity on your account. The good news: any activity at all resets the clock – even a single point earned or spent. A free $2-a-week supermarket habit (scanning your Everyday Rewards card at Woolworths and auto-converting to Qantas) keeps your balance alive forever. I’ll show you exactly how to set that up below.
Last updated: June 2026 | [Affiliate disclosure: I earn a commission if you apply via the credit card links on this page – it never affects my analysis.]
I’ve seen it happen to a mate of mine. He’d banked about 90,000 Qantas Points from work trips, changed jobs, stopped flying, and forgot the account existed. Eighteen months later the lot vanished – the better part of $1,000 in flights, gone because nobody told him the rules. Let’s make sure that never happens to you.
How long do Qantas Points last? The 18-month rule explained
The rule itself is simple. Qantas Points expire after 18 consecutive months with no earning or redemption activity on the account. Not 18 months after you earned them – 18 months after your account last did anything.
That distinction matters. Points don’t have an individual shelf life like milk. Your whole balance lives or dies together based on account activity, and if you earn or redeem even one point, the entire 18-month countdown resets for every point you hold.
So if you’re asking “do Qantas Frequent Flyer points expire?” the honest answer is: yes, but only if you let the account go completely silent for a year and a half. Keeping it noisy is almost embarrassingly easy.
My take: the 18-month rule is a trap for exactly the people who can least afford it – occasional flyers who bank points slowly and don’t touch the account between holidays. If that’s you, the routine below is non-negotiable.
What counts as activity?
Anything that earns or redeems Qantas Points resets the clock. That includes:
- Earning points on a flight – yes, booking a Qantas or partner flight with cash and crediting the points to your account counts as earning activity
- Earning via a Qantas-earning credit card – every statement’s points sweep resets the clock automatically
- Converting Everyday Rewards points to Qantas Points – the conversion itself counts as earning activity
- A purchase through Qantas Shopping or another online mall partner (check current partners before relying on this one)
- Redeeming points – even a tiny redemption from the Qantas store counts
What doesn’t count: logging in, updating your details, or points simply sitting there. Qantas wants transactions, not visits.
The free keep-alive routine
Here’s the centrepiece, and the bit most articles skip. You don’t need to fly or spend money you weren’t already spending. You need one habit:
Scan your Everyday Rewards card every time you shop at Woolworths.
That’s it. Here’s how the machinery works:
- You scan your Everyday Rewards card at the checkout (or link it in the app) and collect Everyday Rewards points on your normal grocery shop. Costs you nothing.
- In the Everyday Rewards app, set your redemption preference to “Bank for Qantas Points”. From there, 2,000 Everyday Rewards points convert to 1,000 Qantas Points.
- With that setting on, your points auto-convert on a roughly quarterly cycle (check the app for the exact cadence) – and every conversion lands as earning activity on your Qantas account, resetting the 18-month clock.
Even a modest grocery spend gets you a conversion a few times a year, and each one buys you a fresh 18 months. Your points literally cannot expire while this habit exists. A $2 top-up shop where you scan your card does the same job as a $2,000 flight.
If you want to compare the supermarket programs properly before committing, I’ve broken them down in my Everyday Rewards vs Flybuys guide.
My take: this is the single best free insurance policy in Australian points collecting. It takes five minutes to set up “Bank for Qantas Points” in the app and zero effort after that. There is no excuse for losing Qantas Points to expiry if you ever buy groceries.
The set-and-forget option: a Qantas-earning credit card
If you put everyday spend on a credit card anyway, a Qantas-earning card makes expiry a complete non-issue. Points sweep into your Frequent Flyer account every month, so the clock resets twelve times a year without you lifting a finger.
I wouldn’t take out a card just to stop expiry – the Everyday Rewards trick does that for free – but if you’re already weighing up a rewards card, it’s a genuine side benefit. My rundown of the best Qantas points credit cards covers which ones justify their annual fees, and I’ve done a deep dive on whether the Qantas Premier Platinum is worth it. Before chasing points at all, sanity-check what they’re worth with my guide to how much Qantas Points are worth.
Other ways to reset the clock
A few more legitimate clock-resets worth knowing:
- A small Qantas Shopping purchase. Click through the Qantas online mall to a retailer you were buying from anyway (check the current partner list first).
- Redeem something tiny from the Qantas store. A few hundred points on a small item counts as redemption activity. Usually poor value per point, but a valid emergency reset.
- Family transfers. Qantas allows points transfers between eligible family members – check the current rules and limits.
What if your points have already expired?
Bad news first: expired means expired, as a default. Reinstatement is at Qantas’s discretion, and while Qantas has run paid reinstatement options at various times, don’t rely on one existing, being cheap, or applying to you. Call them, ask nicely, treat anything you get back as a bonus – then set up the keep-alive routine so it never happens again.
What about Velocity points?
Same trap, different airline. Velocity points expire under their own inactivity rules – 24 months at last check, but confirm against Velocity’s current terms. My Velocity vs Qantas points comparison covers which program deserves your everyday spend.
The one question that decides it
Will your Qantas account naturally see activity at least once every 18 months?
If you’ve got a Qantas-earning credit card or fly a couple of times a year, yes – stop worrying. If you’re an occasional flyer with a balance built from old trips, no – and you’re exactly who the 18-month rule eats. Spend five minutes today: open the Everyday Rewards app, switch on “Bank for Qantas Points”, and keep scanning at Woolies. Problem permanently solved, at a cost of nothing.
FAQ
How long do Qantas Points last?
Qantas Points expire after 18 consecutive months with no earning or redemption activity on your account. Any earn or redemption at all, even a single point, resets the full 18-month clock for your entire balance.
Does scanning my Everyday Rewards card keep my Qantas Points alive?
Scanning alone doesn’t – the clock only resets when Everyday Rewards points actually convert to Qantas Points, since the conversion counts as earning activity. Set “Bank for Qantas Points” in the Everyday Rewards app and conversions happen automatically on a roughly quarterly cycle (check the app), keeping your account permanently active.
Do my points expire if I have a Qantas credit card?
No, not in practice. A Qantas-earning credit card sweeps points into your Frequent Flyer account every month, and each monthly earn resets the 18-month inactivity clock. As long as you’re using the card, expiry is a non-issue.
Can I get expired Qantas Points back?
Maybe, but don’t count on it. Reinstatement is at Qantas’s discretion, and while Qantas has run paid reinstatement options in the past, there’s no guarantee one will be available or affordable when you need it. Treat expiry as permanent and prevent it instead.
Do Velocity points expire too?
Yes. Velocity has its own inactivity rule – 24 months at last check, though you should confirm against Velocity’s current terms. The same keep-alive logic applies: any earning or redemption activity resets the clock.
Does booking a flight with cash reset the expiry clock?
Yes. When you book a Qantas or partner flight with cash and credit the points to your Frequent Flyer account, that points earn counts as activity and resets the 18-month clock.
Can I transfer points to a family member to save them?
Qantas allows points transfers between eligible family members – check the current rules and limits before relying on it. Transfers can be useful for consolidating balances, but the simpler fix for expiry is keeping each account active with the Everyday Rewards auto-convert habit.
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This article is general information only. Credit cards are financial products – consider whether each product suits your personal circumstances and read the product disclosure statement before applying. Program rules are accurate at time of publishing and subject to change. I earn a commission if you apply via the affiliate links on this page.
