Qatar Airways has a free loyalty program, Privilege Club, that anyone can join. All you need to do is enroll—the process is simple and should only take a minute or two. Once enrolled, you are eligible to start earning Avios.
Flying Qatar Airways
Every time you take a flight on a Qatar Airways airplane you can earn Avios. The number of Avios you get will depend on the booking class and distance flown. Elite status also plays a role in how many Avios you can earn, but more on that later.
The simplest way to determine how many Avios you will earn when flying with Qatar is to use Qatar’s My Calculator feature. All you need to do is input a few pieces of information like your flight origin and destination, class of travel and your elite membership status. Qatar’s calculator will immediately show you how many Avios your specific itinerary will accumulate.
A flight on Qatar Airways in economy class, originating in Doha (DOH) and ending in New York (JFK) as a Burgundy member will get you anywhere from 1,674 Avios for basic economy seats all the way up to 6,696 Avios in full-fare economy.
Status Miles
Elite status is how airlines reward their most loyal customers. The more you spend and fly with the airline the more bonuses and perks you get.
With Qatar Airways, status is divided into four tiers—one basic membership level and three elite levels. Higher tiers earn bonus Avios depending on status.
These are the elite status tiers and their respective bonus Avios earning rates:
- Silver: 25% tier bonus
- Gold: 75% tier bonus
- Platinum: 100% tier bonus
Earning Status
To earn elite status with Qatar Airways, you’ll need to accumulate Qpoints rather than Avios. Qpoints can be earned through taking eligible Qatar and Oneworld partner flights. The number of Qpoints earned depends on the booking class of the flight.
Each elite status tier requires a different amount of Qpoints to qualify.
- Silver: Earn 150 Qpoints within any 12-month period
- Gold: Earn 300 Qpoints within any 12-month period
- Platinum: Earn 600 Qpoints within any 12-month period
If you already have status and want to maintain it, the requirements are slightly lower:
- Silver: Earn 135 Qpoints in 12 months or 270 Qpoints in 24 months
- Gold: Earn 270 Qpoints in 12 months or 540 Qpoints in 24 months
- Platinum: Earn 540 Qpoints in 12 months or 1,080 Qpoints in 24 months
To find out how many Qpoints you will receive on a qualifying flight you can use Qatar’s My Calculator.
This is the same calculator you can use to see how many Avios you will earn for your flight.
In the middle column you’ll see how many Qpoints you will earn. This specific flight from Doha (DOH) to New York (JFK) can earn up to 40 Qpoints for an economy booking as a Burgundy member.
In addition to the Qpoint requirement, members who want to maintain their tier status must earn at least 20% of their Qpoints on Qatar Airways operated and marketed flights and fly a minimum of four segments on Qatar Airways operated and marketed flights during the prior 12 months or eight segments within the prior 24 months.
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Flights on Partners
Qatar Airways joined the Oneworld airline alliance in 2013. As a Oneworld partner, Privilege Club members can both earn Avios and Qpoints and redeem with all of the Oneworld airline partners.
Additionally, Qatar partners with several non-alliance airlines. Members can earn Avios on any of its non-alliance partners. However, non-alliance partner flights are not eligible for earning Qpoints.
Oneworld Alliance Partners
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Finnair
- Iberia
- Japan Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Royal Air Maroc
- Royal Jordanian
- SriLankan Airlines
Qatar’s Non-Alliance Airline Partners
Additionally, Qatar Airways is teamed up with eight non-alliance partners.
- Bangkok Airways
- JetBlue
- Latam
- MEA Middle East Airlines
- Oman Air
- S7 Airlines
- RwandAir
- Virgin Australia
To figure out how many Avios and/or Qpoints you will earn when flying with one of Qatar’s many partners you can use the, you guessed it, Qatar Airways My Calculator.
This time, however, instead of using Qatar Airways as the default airline, you’ll choose one of its partners from the option menu.
A roundtrip, British Airways operated flight from London (LHR) to New York City and back can earn up to 6,912 Avios and 50 Qpoints for a flight in economy class.
A one way, economy JetBlue flight from Orlando (MCO) to New York City (JFK) earns zero Qpoints regardless of booking class and up to 944 Avios.
Credit Card Spending
Credit Cards
Currently Qatar Airways does not offer co-branded credit cards with any U.S.-based banks. There are several international banks, however, which do. To apply for one of these cards, you’ll need to be a resident of the issuing bank’s eligible countries.
- Doha Bank Qatar Airways Privilege Club Credit Card
- QNB Qatar Airways co-branded credit card
- QIB Qatar Airways co-branded credit card
- Burgan Bank Qatar Airways co-branded credit card
- Housing Bank Qatar Airways co-branded credit card
Transfer Partners
Qatar Airways is a partner of three transferable currency programs: Citi ThankYou, American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
You can convert your Citi ThankYou points, American Express Membership Rewards points or your Marriott Bonvoy points to Avios at the following rates.
- Citi: 1 ThankYou point to 1 Avios
- American Express: 1 Membership Rewards point to 1 Avios
- Marriott Bonvoy: 3 Marriott Bonvoy points to 1 Avios. Receive an additional 5,000 Avios when you transfer in increments of 60,000 Bonvoy points
Best CitiBank Cards for Earning ThankYou Points
- Citi Premier® Card
- Citi Double Cash® Card
Read more: The Best Citi Credit Cards
Best Cards for Earning American Express Membership Rewards
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Gold Card
Read more: The Best American Express Credit Cards
Best Cards for Earning Marriott Bonvoy Points
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card*
Read more: Which Marriott Bonvoy Card Is Right for You?
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- Enroll in Priority Pass™ Select, which offers unlimited airport lounge visits to over 1,200 lounges in over 130 countries, regardless of which carrier or class you are flying. This allows you to relax before or between flights. You can enjoy snacks, drinks, and internet access in a quiet, comfortable location.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on international purchases.
- With Cell Phone Protection, you can be reimbursed, the lesser of, your repair or replacement costs following damage, such as a cracked screen, or theft for a maximum of $800 per claim when your cell phone line is listed on a wireless bill and the prior month’s wireless bill was paid by an Eligible Card Account. A $50 deductible will apply to each approved claim with a limit of 2 approved claims per 12-month period. Additional terms and conditions apply. Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
- $650 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
Earn 185,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
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Hotel Transfer Partners
A handful of hotel programs allow points to be converted to Avios. Rates vary from company to company. What remains constant, however, is the unfavorable conversion rate. As a general rule of thumb, you’ll get better value when using your hotel points for free nights versus transferring to an airline.
If you do happen to find yourself with hotel points you are unable to use towards award stays, transferring to an airline like Qatar could make sense. Each of these hotels allows you to convert points to Avios.
- ALL-Accor Live Limitless: 2,000 ALL Reward Points to 1,000 Avios. Minimum transfer of 2,000 points
- Hilton Honors: 10,000 Hilton points to 1,000 Avios
- Shangri-La Hotels: 1 Shangri-La Circle point to 1 Avios. Minimum transfer of 1,000 Shangri-La Circle points
- World of Hyatt: 2.5 World of Hyatt points to 1 Avios. Minimum transfer of 5,000 Hyatt points
Buying Avios
Buying points is not usually a great way to get outsized value for your points, but there are times it can make sense. For one, if you have an award ticket you need to book but find yourself short on points then topping off your account by purchasing Avios could be a good option.
You can buy Avios online via Qatar’s website. The cost starts at $37 per 1,000 Avios and decreases as you purchase larger quantities. There is a purchase limit of 250,000 Avios per year.
Combining Avios
Now that Qatar Privilege Club uses Avios as its currency, you can connect your account to your British Airways Executive Club account and combine your Avios.
When you sign up for a Privilege Club account, you will be asked if you would like to connect your British Airways account. When you select yes you’ll be taken to the British Airways website where you’ll be required to login and accept various terms and conditions. When the process is completed you can see your combined Avios in your Qatar Privilege Club dashboard.
