Qatar Airways: What Travelers Should Know – NerdWallet

If you want to fly internationally in style, Qatar Airways is a good choice. In 2023, it was awarded best business class in the world and second-best airline overall by Skytrax’s World Airline Awards, meaning you’re likely to have a stellar experience no matter which cabin you’re in.

Here’s a look at Qatar Airways, its Privilege Club elite status program and the best ways to earn and redeem Avios for award flights on Qatar.

Qatar Airways, the national airline of Qatar, is based out of Hamad International airport in Doha. The Middle East carrier is a Oneworld alliance member and flies to more than 170 destinations in more than 80 countries, including a dozen destinations in the U.S.:

• Houston-Intercontinental.

• New York-John F. Kennedy.

Qatar Airways fare classes

Qatar Airways offers three cabins of service: economy, business and first. Additionally, each class is divided into “fare families” to give you flexibility when it comes to your travel needs. The more expensive the fare, the more amenities that will be included in the purchase price.

You can make a booking under the following Qatar fare families:

This is what’s included in each economy fare type.

Here’s what’s included in each business fare type.

The following are included in a first class elite fare ticket.

*Baggage piece allowance is applicable on flights to and from the Americas and flights from Africa.

Privilege Club (Elite status)

The Privilege Club, Qatar’s loyalty program, has four membership tiers: Burgundy, Silver, Gold and Platinum. You automatically become a Burgundy member once you join the program.

After you sign up and start crediting paid flights to the program, you’ll earn Avios, which you can redeem for Qatar Airways flights as well as flights operated by partners. For example, you can transfer these Avios to British Airways and redeem them through the Executive Club program.

To move up the elite status ladder, you need to earn Qpoints, which you can earn by flying Qatar Airways or any Oneworld member airline.

You have a 12-month period to qualify for status — it doesn’t have to be a calendar year. Once you qualify for status, you have another year or two to requalify and keep your status.

Here’s how many Qpoints you need to reach or retain Privilege Club elite status.

The requirements to requalify for status are a bit easier than they are to reach an elite tier initially.

However, you need to earn at least 20% of the required Qpoints by flying on Qatar Airways. Furthermore, at least four flight segments within the last 12 months or at least eight flight segments within the last 24 months must be flown on flights marketed or operated by Qatar. This means you can’t earn Privilege Club status by flying solely with other Oneworld members.

As a Privilege Club program member, you can enjoy the following perks with each status tier.

How to earn Qatar Airways Avios

You can earn Qatar Airways Avios by flying Qatar and its Oneworld partners, such as American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and British Airways, to name a few.

In addition to Oneworld member airlines, you also can earn Avios by flying Qatar’s nonalliance partners, including:

The mileage earning rates vary depending on the class of service booked, the airline flown and your elite level in the Privilege Club program. To determine how many Avios you’ll earn on a specific flight, use Qatar’s mileage calculator.

There aren’t any co-branded Qatar Airways credit cards available to U.S.-based flyers, but Qatar Privilege Club is a transfer partner of two bank programs: American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou Points. You can transfer both currencies at a ratio of 1:1. Terms apply.

If you collect Marriott Bonvoy points, you can transfer them to Privilege Club at a ratio of 3:1, with a bonus of 5,000 Avios for every 60,000 Marriott points transferred. This means that 60,000 Bonvoy points convert to 25,000 Qatar Airways Avios when transferred in one go.

It’s also possible to convert World of Hyatt points to Qatar Airways Avios. The points transfer at a rate of 2.5:1, with a bonus of 5,000 miles for every 50,000 World of Hyatt points converted, meaning you’ll end up with 25,000 Avios after transferring 50,000 Hyatt points.

It’s possible to transfer Avios among all the loyalty programs that use Avios as their currency: Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Vueling Club and Qatar Privilege Club. The first step is to link your Privilege Club account to your British Airways Executive Club account.

Avios transfer at a ratio of 1:1 from either program and don’t have to be transferred in increments of 1,000. You could transfer as few as 1 Avios at a time if you wanted to.

At the moment, Qatar Avios can only be transferred to or from British Airways. If you need to move Iberia Plus Avios to Qatar, for example, you’d need to first transfer them to British Airways, then to Qatar.

How to redeem Qatar Airways Avios for maximum value

To redeem Qatar Airways Avios, you must be logged in to your Privilege Club account. The mileage rates depend on the route you fly and the class of service.

When pricing out award flights, make sure to select a standard redemption rate and not a Flexi rate, which requires double the Avios for the same itinerary.

Business class award flights between Doha and its U.S. destinations start at 70,000 Avios with minimal taxes. Considering these flights last between 12 and nearly 16 hours, it’s a great redemption rate. You might even get lucky and fly one of the aircraft equipped with Qsuites, Qatar’s fancy business class pod.

Economy-class redemption rates on these routes start at 35,000 miles.

If you’re dreaming of flying all the way to the Maldives, an archipelago nation in South Asia, and in business class to boot, then Qatar has a great option for you. A one-way flight from the U.S. to the Maldives in the premium cabin will set you back 85,000 Avios. Double that for a round-trip award.

Another great redemption option is for flights between the U.S. and India.

A one-way flight from the U.S. to Delhi in Qatar’s business class requires 80,000 Avios, which is an excellent redemption rate if you can find it.

Qatar Airways and its Privilege Club loyalty program offers a lot of value to points and miles enthusiasts and die-hard loyalists alike. The redemption rates for premium service are quite reasonable, and, because of its membership in the Oneworld alliance and a few transfer partners, Avios aren’t difficult to obtain.

Qatar flies around the world, meaning you can use Avios to fly to many regions in style.

(Top photo courtesy of Qatar Airways)