Last month, Qatar Airways Privilege Club was offering 1,000 free Qmiles to all new members, just for signing up. Free miles are always a nice thing, but this was a relatively weak offer compared to some of the others they’ve previously run.
Thankfully, there’s now a much more attractive new member promotion that’s open to all.
Get up to 7,500 bonus Qmiles with Qatar Privilege Club
From now till 30 April 2021 (the landing page says 31 April 2021, but well), new Qatar Airways Privilege Club members who join with the promo code OAT3SMQ121 will receive 2,500 Qmiles instantly.
They can then earn a further 5,000 Qmiles and 50 Qpoints by crediting their first Qatar Airways flight flown by 30 June 2021. Realistically speaking, I don’t see westward travel out of Singapore opening up by then, so it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to unlock this bonus.
While Qatar talks about being upgraded to Silver “in no time”, keep in mind you’ll still need to earn a further 100 Qpoints (i.e 150 Qpoints total) to reach this tier. For perspective, a round-trip Economy Class flight between Singapore and Doha will earn 20-50 Qpoints depending on ticket class, so you’ll have some grinding to do still.
The following T&Cs apply:
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How long are my free miles valid for?
Qatar Airways Qmiles expire after three years of inactivity, so you won’t need to worry about this for a while. You can extend the validity of your entire balance by earning or redeeming at least one mile, and the following banks in Singapore offer points transfers to Qatar Privilege Club.
| Citi Miles | ThankYou Points | |
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1:1 | 5:2 |
| SC Rewards (Visa Infinite) | ||
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3.5:1 (recently devalued) |
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| For a full list of transfer partners by bank, refer to this post | ||
New Qatar Privilege Club sweet spots
If there’s one frequent flyer program whose stock improved in 2020, it’s Qatar Airways Privilege Club. In November, the program reversed its 2018 devaluation, restoring award prices to their original lower levels. This, coupled with the absence of fuel surcharges on Qatar Airways redemptions, made awards between Singapore and Europe competitive once more (provided you don’t mind a stopover in Doha).
| One-Way Prices for travel | Qmiles | KrisFlyer | Asia Miles |
| Doha | 50,000 | N/A | N/A |
| Athens/ Bucharest/Kiev/ Sofia/ Thessaloniki | 70,000 | N/A | N/A |
| Barcelona/ London/ Frankfurt/ Paris/ Zurich | 75,000 | 92,000 | 65-85,000 |
| *Assumes Qmiles redeemed for Qatar Airways, KrisFlyer for Singapore Airlines, Asia Miles for Cathay Pacific. Not all destinations served by each carrier. |
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These rates compare extremely favorably to redemption on KrisFlyer and Asia Miles, especially since the latter has brought back fuel surcharges on Cathay Pacific flights.
I highly doubt that Europe will be on our radars for a while, but assuming these award rates remain unchanged (which isn’t a given for Qatar Privilege Club), it may be worth looking at when things get a bit more sane. Here’s hoping there’ll be a chance to visit Qatar’s phenomenal Premium Lounge in Changi again too.
Conclusion
I believe that 2,500 free Qmiles is the largest offer we see for new Qatar Privilege Club members, and I’d take it if you don’t already have an account.
Let’s hope Qatar doesn’t spring any surprises with its frequent flyer program in 2021.
(HT: OMAAT)
