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Hamad International Airport-Doha
Qatar Airways operates its main hub near other heavyweight airlines Emirates and Etihad, who also have hubs nearby.
The main airport for Qatar Airways is in Doha and offers a number of nonstop flights to the U.S.
Joining the likes of American Airlines, Japan Airlines, and British Airways, Qatar is a member of the Oneworld Alliance. This means that Avios can be redeemed to fly on any of the other airline partners in the alliance.
Practically speaking, redeeming Avios isn’t difficult, but the amount of Avios required is high. Instead, consider an option like redeeming American Airlines miles to fly in Qatar business class.
Qatar Airways Privilege Club is the name of the frequent flyer program that proves valuable add-ons if you fly the airline or on Oneworld flights with regularity.
Elite status in the Privilege Club program is awarded when you earn a certain number of Qpoints. These points are credited based on the flight distance, the airline you’re flying, and the fare class.
Privilege Club frequent flyers earn Avios on each flight in addition to the Qpoints earned based on their elite status.
Avios can be redeemed for award flights and also for upgrades, online shopping, excess baggage, and hotel stays.
Bottom Line: In short, elite members in the Privilege Club have the opportunity to receive value for both Qatar and Oneworld Alliance partner flights, especially at the upper elite tier level.
As with most frequent flyer programs, Privilege Club membership is free. Those interest to join simply need to complete this application.
After acceptance into the program, members receive the ability to earn and redeem Avios through the Privilege Club.
Hot Tip: Students aged 18 to 30 may be eligible for Student Club where benefits include special fares, excess baggage allowance, date change flexibility, complimentary Super Wi-Fi, and more!
The email address and password that you used to create an account is all that you’ll need to log-in to your Privilege Club account.
Hot Tip: Qatar shows the number of Avios required for its own award flights, but you’ll need Avios in your account to search for award space. For partner flights, we recommend searching for award space elsewhere.
Reviewing your mileage activity is easy. Simply follow these steps:
Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios do not expire as long as you have at least some qualifying activity once every 36 months.
Any activity in which you earn or spend Avios will reset the expiration, giving you an additional 36 months. This includes transferring points from partners like Citi ThankYou points or Capital One Miles.
Members with Platinum status have the benefit of their Avios not expiring as long as their Platinum membership is retained.
The Privilege Club program has four elite tiers that require loyalty members to earn a certain number of Qpoints to reach each tier.
As a member moves up to higher tiers, additional benefits, like lounge access and increased baggage allowance, are awarded.
Keep in mind that higher elite tiers include all of the benefits of the below tiers.
Privilege Club
Burgundy: Privilege Club’s lowest elite level provides members with these benefits:
Silver: One of 2 middle elite tiers where members have these perks:
Gold: The second middle elite tier that comes with the following benefits:
Platinum: The highest elite tier in the program offers members these perks:
Head to the Privilege Club website for the full list of elite benefits.
Bottom Line: Qatar rewards members who earn top tier status. This can be valuable if you regularly fly Qatar or Oneworld Airline partners.
The list of benefits at the Platinum tier is interesting, particularly because Avios don’t expire and members receive a number of lounge benefits for themselves and guests.
Gold and Platinum elite status can make sense for some flyers, but it’s best to ask yourself if the benefits offered are of value for your situation.
For those who conclude that Qatar elite status is valuable, focus your efforts on the Gold and Platinum elite tiers for the lounge and bonus mileage benefits.
Bottom Line: Privilege Club focuses on mileage bonuses, lounge access, and no mileage expiration (Platinum) as the benefits for its most frequent flyer members.
Privilege Club makes it straightforward in terms of how to qualify or re-qualify for elite status in the program.
The chart above notes the points required to earn status in an elite tier. Note that you’ll need fewer Qpoints to re-qualify than you did to earn that status originally.
For example, if you earned Platinum status via 600 Qpoints in year 1, you’d need to earn 540 Qpoints in year 2 to retain that status.
It’s also important to note that members also need to earn at least 20% of the required Qpoints or fly 4 sectors (within 12 months before retaining status) or 8 sectors (within 24 months prior to retaining status) on flights either marketed or operated by Qatar Airways.
Citibank, Capital One, and Marriott are Qatar’s credit card partners. However, none of these partners, or Qatar’s co-branded credit card partners, allow you to earn elite status via credit card spend.
Bottom Line: Elite status in the Privilege Club program has to be earned the hard way — by flying with Qatar and/or its partner airlines.
The Privilege Club program partners with three transferable point programs making it extremely easy to earn Avios.
For frequent flyers transferring points to Qatar, Capital One should be your first choice as it has the quickest transfer time, relative to Citibank and Marriott.
Qatar uses an easy formula on the Avios Earn Chart page in order to calculate the number of Avios that you earn when flying.
To calculate the Avios for a flight, multiply the flight distance (use Great Circle Mapper) by the Avios Accrual shown in the chart.
For those with elite status, add in the Tier Bonus by multiplying the flight distance by the tier bonus percentage.
Partner flights must be marketed as a Qatar flight for you to earn Avios. If the flight is a Qatar marketed flight, use the Accrual Rates shown on the Avios Earn Chart page.
Privilege Club members have access not only to Oneworld partner flights, but also to Qatar’s 4 additional airline partners: Bangkok Airways, GOL, LATAM, and MEA.
Check out Qatar’s Partner Airline page for more info on all of its airline partners.
Hot Tip: Qatar Airways and JetBlue Airways entered into a strategic partnership in early 2021 that expanded codeshare offerings. The programs are expected to offer reciprocal loyalty program benefits by the end of 2021.
By focusing your credit card spend on the right credit card, earning Qatar Avios is easy. Earning points this way can open up a ton of award opportunities.
With Capital One’s revamped program, consider its personal and business credit cards in addition to those offered by Citibank and Marriott.
For Marriott credit cards, the points you transfer to Qatar Airways receive a 5,000-point bonus for every 60,000 points that you transfer.
Privilege Club members should be set via credit cards, however, there are always opportunities to earn more Avios.
Qatar’s Facebook, Twitter, and offers page can be great places to keep in mind for discount or Avios-earning promotions.
Outside of social media and its offers page, Qatar has partners like hotels and rental car companies that allow you to earn Avios with your stays and rentals.
Hot Tip: If you add your airline loyalty program to other services, you typically won’t also earn status points with these franchises. For example, this partnership acts as a sort of alliance between the airline and car rental agency.
Qatar offers several co-branded credit cards, but the best way to earn Avios is by spending on a transferable point credit card.
Qatar Airways partners with 3 of the 5 transferable point partners, making nearly any redemption within reach. More on this below.
It’s true that Qatar offers a few credit cards through different financial partners, however, it makes more sense to focus on its U.S. point-earning partners.
The reason why is because you can land larger welcome bonuses and earn more on your spend with these partners relative to spending on the Qatar credit cards.
Earning Citi ThankYou points can prove to be challenging for a few reasons.
It’s primarily because Citibank simply doesn’t have that many ThankYou point earning credit cards.
With programs like Amex and Chase offering business and personal credit card products, the only Citibank cards that you want to focus on are personal credit cards.
It’s not all doom and gloom with Citibank though and here’s why. Citibank offers transfer bonuses to some of its airline partners, many of whom are unique, further increasing the value of the points that you earn.
The bank’s current lineup includes four ThankYou point earning credit cards, one that’s only for students, and a fifth card that requires a product change from an existing Citibank card. More information about the cards can be found here:
The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is a great all-around travel rewards card that allows you to earn big rewards on a variety of purchases like air travel, at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, and more, along with flexible redemption options, all for a modest annual fee.
This no annual fee card rewards cardholders for everyday purchases. Earn bonus points at supermarkets and gas stations, plus your points are rounded up on every purchase.
The Citi Rewards+ card is an excellent way to earn Citi ThankYou points with a $0 annual fee while receiving perks like point round-ups, a 10% point redemption rebate, and more.
Great card for the average spender with no specific focus category; worry-free cash-back earning on everything!
The Citi Double Cash® Card has long been one of the top cash-back credit cards on the market, and the card now has the ability to earn Citi ThankYou Points!
This means that cardholders of the Double Cash card will now earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. Cash back is earned in the form of ThankYou Points. This means each billing cycle, you will earn 1 ThankYou point per $1 spent on purchases and an additional ThankYou point for every $1 paid on your purchase balance as long as there is a corresponding balance in your Purchase Tracker.
Citi has turned the Double Cash card into a top choice for those who are looking for an everyday, no-fuss credit card.
Earn big on purchases in your top eligible spend category, up to the first $500 each billing cycle, without an annual fee!
The Citi Custom Cash® Card is inventive when it comes to cash-back credit cards. Instead of earning a set amount of cash-back on predetermined bonus categories, the Citi Custom Cash card earns 5% cash-back on your highest eligible spend category each billing cycle, with a $0 annual fee.
Thanks to that unique perk, you’ll never need to worry about whether you’re using the right card for the right purchase, as your Citi Custom Cash card will always pay you 5% back on whichever category you end up spending the most on each month.
Capital One ended 2018 strong by revamping its award program to compete against the heavyweights Amex and Chase.
This is great news for consumers because it opened up a fifth transferable point program, a fourth by a U.S. bank.
What’s interesting with Capital One is that its business credit cards count against the Chase 5/24 number. If you’re not familiar with the 5/24 rule, we have a post covering it in detail here.
With a combination of business and personal credit cards from Capital One, you have the opportunity to earn more Capital One miles.
If you’re interested in these products, more information about the cards can be found on the tables below.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Capital One Venture X card is an excellent option for travelers looking for an all-in-one premium credit card.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is the premium Capital One travel rewards card on the block.
Points and miles fans will be surprised to see that the Capital One Venture X card packs quite the punch when it comes to bookings made through Capital One, all while offering the lowest annual fee among premium credit cards.
Depending on your travel goals and preferences, the Capital One Venture X card could very well end up being your go-to card in your wallet.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesGet 2x miles plus some of the most flexible redemptions offered by a travel credit card!
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of the most popular rewards cards on the market. It’s perfect for anyone in search of a great welcome offer, high rewards rates, and flexible redemption options.
Frequent travelers with excellent credit may benefit from this credit card that offers a lot of bells and whistles. And it offers easy-to-understand rewards earning and redemption.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe card offers unlimited miles at 1.25x per $1 and no annual fee. When you consider the flexible rewards, frequent travelers come out on top.
Interested in a travel rewards credit card without one of those pesky annual fees? Then say hello to the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card.
In addition to no annual fee, the Capital One VentureOne card offers no foreign transaction fees.
But is this card worth its salt, or is it merely a shell of the more popular Capital One Venture card?
Closing out our list of transferable point programs, we have an old faithful in Marriott.
For those not familiar with Marriott’s point structure, read closely because it’s unique. For every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer to most airline partners, you’ll receive a 5,000-point bonus in the form of airline miles.
The transfer ratio of Marriott points to most airlines is 3:1, so 60,000 Marriott points become 25,000 Qatar Airways Avios with the 5,000-point bonus (60,000 / 3 = 20,000 + 5,000 = 25,000).
Recommended Marriott Cards
A great option for Marriott hotel fans who want a no annual fee card and automatic Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Casual travelers who like to frequent properties that are part of the Marriott Bonvoy collection of brands may want to consider the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.
The Marriott Bold card rewards cardholders for Marriott stays and gives them a boost towards Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Marriott loyalists will love this card's annual Free Night Award, automatic elite status, and up to 17x points per $1 on Marriott hotel stays.
If you’re a frequent traveler and a Marriott loyalist, there’s a lot to love about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. The card comes packed with several great benefits like a free hotel night once a year, automatic Silver Elite status (with a fast-track to Gold Elite status), and multiple options for redeeming points.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card gives you automatic Marriott elite status and helps you earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on your everyday purchases.
If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card, the latest mid-tier offering in the Marriott Bonvoy lineup of cards, offers cardholders automatic elite status and ways to earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on each of their stays and daily purchases.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesA premium card for Marriott fans who want perks like an annual statement credit and Free Night Award, plus a fast track to Marriott elite status.
If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is a premium card designed with road warriors and Marriott Bonvoy loyalists in mind.
So is the card a worthwhile addition to your wallet?
You might be wondering if there are other hotel partners like Marriott which provide you with the opportunity to transfer points for Avios.
Unfortunately, brands like Hilton and Hyatt typically have horrendous transfer ratios to airlines and thus yield bad value. We don’t recommend these types of transfers for that reason.
If you’re either in a bind or are looking to top off an airline account, that’d be the only reason to transfer points from a hotel program to Qatar Airways.
Privilege Club offers a handful of ways to redeem Qatar Airways Avios. Using Avios for award flights will yield the best value.
Qatar keeps it simple with its redemptions by only having 2 award charts — one when flying on a Qatar flight and one when flying on a partner airline flight.
The Qatar Qcalculator is the first chart we’ll check out.
After running the calculator, you’ll notice the pricing functions like a zone chart. This means that a Qatar flight in business class from Los Angeles or Atlanta to Doha requires the same number of Avios.
The next chart to review is the partner airline award chart. Qatar is a Oneworld Alliance member and also has airline partnerships outside of Oneworld. What you should know is that all partner pricing is the same and is shown in the chart below.
Unlike the Qcalulator, the partner award chart is distance based. So use Great Circle Mapper to calculate the distance of your flight(s), and then refer to the chart below to see the number of Avios required.
Qatar isn’t a program that gets a ton of love for sweet spots. However, that doesn’t mean you should completely give up on the program — especially if you can easily earn Avios or fly the airline regularly.
With that said, 2 decent values in the partner award chart to consider are as follows:
Hot Tip: Qatar doesn’t have a plethora of sweet spots, but if you’re interested in seeing your options, we have an entire post on the best ways to redeem Qatar Avios.
Qatar keeps it simple, compared to some award programs, by having an award chart for Qatar flights and a separate award chart for all of its airline partner flights.
For an easy reference guide, check out the partner award chart to see what Qatar requires for your specific route.
British Airways and Qantas will be your go-to sites to search for Oneworld award availability. Each has its pros and cons, but you’ll be on the right track with either one.
Attempting to book award flights through the Qatar website can be a frustrating process. The reason is because you need to have Avios in your account to search for award space.
When searching for both Qatar and partner airline award space, the website will re-direct members to a new login page every time, forcing the member to the start the process over again.
If the Avios are in your account, you’ll be able to search for and book award space. If not, call Qatar at 800-988-6128 and ask them to search for award space.
As a general rule, when searching for award flights keep these things mind:
Hot Tip: Consider using Expert Flyer if the airline you’re looking for doesn’t appear when conducting award searches using the methods above.
