You might not know or care much earning miles with Qatar Airways – heck, until recently, we didn't pay much attention to its frequent flyer program, either. But it's time to change that.
This week, Qatar Airways finalized a closer partnership with British Airways and transitioned its frequent flyer program to Qatar Airways Avios. It's a name change, sure … but it's a sea change for those who want to use miles to fly the world's #1 airline – especially in Qsuites business class.
- You can now transfer Avios between British Airways and Qatar. That opens an easy workaround to transfer points from Chase, American Express, and even Capital One to Qatar Airways
- Qatar charges just 70,000 miles and about $97 in fees for a one-way from the U.S. to Doha in business class, easily making this one of the best ways to book Qsuites.
- British Airways has even drastically reduced award rates (and fees!) to book Qsuites, making it a stellar deal – though on many itineraries you may be better off booking using Qatar miles instead
- As a part of this overhauled mileage program, Qatar is promising some solid award availability to members looking to book flights using miles … in both economy and business class!
So yeah, it's time to sign up for a Qatar Privilege Club Account. Not only is it free to do, but just for signing up you can currently earn 2,500 Avios right off the bat. Just head to the enrollment page and ensure promo code “FLYQR3” is entered. Sign up by March 31 to get that bonus. Sadly, existing Qatar members aren't eligible for this bonus.
Plus you can earn another 5,000 bonus Avios by signing up with that code and booking a Qatar Airways flight … in economy or business class. You must include your travel by Sept. 30, 2022 to get that bonus. And you can't use miles to earn more miles: Award travel booked using Qatar Avios won't qualify for this additional 5,000-mile bonus.
Still, 2,500 to 7,500 free Avios is nothing to sneeze at. That's a decent head start on the 70,000 Avios you need to book a trip to Doha (DOH) in Qsuites.
Read our full review of Qsuites and you'll see why we love it so much!
Earn Up to 10,000 Bonus Avios
The bonus Avios don't have to stop there.
As it completes its transition to the Avios program, Qatar is pushing hard on a somewhat novel option: Cash + Avios, allowing travelers to use a mix of
Book any award flight using Cash and Avios by March 31 – for travel through Oct. 31, 2022 – and you'll earn:
- 5,000 Avios for an economy award ticket on Qatar Airways
- 10,000 Avios for a business class award ticket on Qatar Airways
Just enter the promo code “QRAVIOS” on the dedicated Cash + Avios page or start your search at Qatar's promo page. Only Qatar-operated flights qualify for the promo, so you can't book a partner award ticket on British Airways or another partner airline and get these miles. Award flights booked before this bonus aren't eligible.
But other than that, this promo is incredibly generous. There's no requirement to book a roundtrip award, so a one-way flight should trigger it. And if you book for two or more travelers, each person should get their own 10,000 Avios bonus – assuming their Qatar Privilege Club number is attached to the reservation.
One word of warning: Qatar's award booking tools have been a bit wonky since the overhauled Avios program went live, so we've had some trouble testing this out.
Bottom Line
It's time to put Qatar Airways Avios on your list.
Thanks to some recent changes, Qatar's mileage program has transformed nearly overnight from forgettable to incredible. With transfers through British Airways, you can easily earn Qatar Airways Avios by transferring points from cards like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, or the Platinum Card® from American Express.
So get signed up for Qatar Airways Privilege Club and earn 2,500 Avios (or more!) right away.