#9 Among Airlines
Point Value
1.20 ¢
Hobby Score
6.3
Qatar now uses Avios, which makes it flexible — but not always cheap.
Qatar Airways' Privilege Club associated alliance is oneworld Alliance
Visit oneworld Alliance
Qatar is one of seven airlines that uses Avios as its currency, making it a flexible program since you can transfer Avios freely between all seven. Qatar is also part of the oneworld Alliance, so you can earn Avios when flying on Qatar Airways or any oneworld partner. They also partner with several non-oneworld airlines. Qatar only has two co-branded credit cards, but they do have strong transfer partners.
The amount of Avios you earn when flying Qatar Airways depends on your booking class and whether you hold elite status. You can view Qatar’s earning chart or use their online calculator to check specific routes.
Qatar offers two co-branded credit cards that earn Avios. Since Avios transfer freely between all seven participating airlines, any co-branded Avios card from another airline can also fuel your Qatar balance.
Qatar is part of the oneworld Alliance, and you can earn Avios by flying on any oneworld airline. They also partner with several non-oneworld carriers, and you can earn Avios on those flights as well. Qatar publishes an earning chart for every partner airline. To see how many Avios you’ll earn, visit their partner page and click on each airline’s chart.
The best way to redeem Qatar Avios is to book an award flight on Qatar Airways or one of its many partners. Qatar offers an Award Flight Finder that lets you search availability and pricing by month. You must have an account and be logged in to use it.
You can also search directly from the home page. Click on “Book Flights,” check the box that says “Book using Avios,” then enter your route and dates to see available award flights.
Qatar does not publish an award chart for its own flights. Awards are priced by geographic zone and follow peak and off-peak pricing. For partner redemptions, Qatar uses the British Airways partner chart, though it’s not publicly published and does not apply to every partner. American Airlines and Alaska Airlines follow a different chart (also unpublished).
Discover your points' highest-value redemption options. Use the filters to find the optimal sweet spot for your next trip.
You can often find better pricing through a partner like American or British for QSuites. However, these are difficult to find because Qatar opens its own award calendar 11 days before British and 34 days before American
Qatar only operates direct flights out of a handful of airports in the United States, so you may first have to fly to Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, or Washington D.C.
The best use of Qatar Avios is for premium cabin redemptions on Qatar-operated flights. While partner programs can sometimes book the same flights on Qatar metal for fewer miles, premium cabin availability is limited. Booking through Qatar Privilege Club gives you access to QSuite award space before partners, which can justify the higher cost for such a premium product.
One of the biggest advantages of Qatar’s program is that it uses Avios, the same currency used by six other airlines. You can freely transfer Avios between all seven programs, which offers tremendous flexibility. Even though Qatar only partners directly with American Express, Bilt, Capital One, and Citi, you can still use Chase Ultimate Rewards by transferring to British Airways first, then to Qatar. You can also use Capital One by transferring to Finnair and then to Qatar. Avios flexibility is a major strength of this program.
Qatar has four elite status tiers, beginning with Burgundy, which you receive simply by signing up. You can qualify for the higher tiers by earning Qpoints. These are earned by flying on Qatar, flying with its partners, or by using one of Qatar’s co-branded credit cards. Use the online calculator to see how many Qpoints you’ll earn from a specific flight.
Parameters for earning Qpoints and status rules:
Here are the three other levels, requirements you’ll need to get to each level, and the benefits of each
Your Qatar Avios will not expire as long as you hold one of the co-branded cards, so keep that in mind if you plan to cancel. Keeping your Avios active should be easy, since they only expire after 36 months of no activity. Any earning or redeeming of Avios counts as activity. Transferring Avios between any of the airlines that use the currency also resets the clock, as does transferring points from a credit card partner.
