Qatar Airways offering 20% transfer bonus for credit card points

Expired

From now till 2 November 2021, transfer credit card points to Qatar Airways Qmiles with a 20% bonus.

Qatar Airways has launched a 20% transfer bonus on rewards points conversions, which runs from now till 2 November 2021. 

Qatar Airways Transfer Bonus

This might actually be an interesting opportunity given Qatar Privilege Club’s reversal of its 2018 award chart devaluation, and the lack of fuel surcharges on Qatar Airways awards redeemed with Qmiles. 

Qmiles 20% transfer bonus

From 3 October to 2 November 2021, Qmiles transfers from any partner bank will receive a 20% bonus, with no cap on the maximum bonus that can be earned.

Here’s the steps to follow:

  • Log in to the rewards account that you have with your bank.
  • Choose to convert your reward points into Qmiles with Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
  • Enjoy 20% bonus Qmiles credited to your Privilege Club account.

While there’s technically two transfer partners available in Singapore (Citibank & Standard Chartered), only Citibank is worth your time. Standard Chartered’s transfer ratio is so abysmal, even a 20% bonus won’t save it.

 
10,000 Citi Miles โ‡’
10,000 Qmiles
12,000 Qmiles
25,000 TY Points 10,000 Qmiles
12,000 Qmiles
 
3,500 SC Rewards โ‡’
1,000 Qmiles
1,200 Qmiles

The regular number of Qmiles will be credited first, with the 20% bonus awarded within 30-60 days. 

Remember: the bonus will only be triggered if your conversion is finished by 2 November 2021. While Citibank transfers should be completed within a few working days, I’m less certain about the timeline for Standard Chartered points (not that you should be transferring them, mind). If in doubt, give yourself at least a week of lead time, preferably two.  

The T&C of this transfer bonus can be found below:

  • This offer is valid from 3rd October, up until and including 2nd November.
  • Your bonus Qmiles will be equivalent to 20% of the number of Qmiles, which your reward points were converted into.
  • You will be eligible to benefit from this offer if you earn reward points with a bank that allows you to convert your reward points into Qmiles, and have followed the steps to convert those reward points into Qmiles. 
  • To view a complete list of banks with which you can convert your reward points into Qmiles, please click here
  • Bonus Qmiles earned will reflect in your Privilege Club account within 30 to 60 days, from the date that the Qmiles which your reward points were converted into, are credited to your Privilege Club account.
  • The awarding of 20% bonus Qmiles, with every successful conversion of reward points into Qmiles, is governed by the conversion ratios.
  • Your bonus Qmiles will not be calculated as a percentage of any number of Qmiles, which reward points were not converted into. Bonus Qmiles will only be calculated as a percentage of a number of Qmiles, which reward points were converted into.
  • Your bonus Qmiles will not be calculated as a percentage of any number of Qmiles, earned with a Qatar Airways credit card.
  • Bonus Qmiles will not be calculated retroactively under any circumstances. This means that if the Qmiles which your reward points were converted into, are credited to your Privilege Club account, after the period during which this offer is valid has passed, you will not earn 20% bonus Qmiles.
  • Privilege Club reserves the right to change, amend, withdraw and/or alter any of the terms and conditions of this offer at any time, without prior notice or indicating a reason.
  • Your usage of this offer is entirely voluntary.
  • Once Qmiles are credited to your Privilege Club account, after the transaction of converting your reward points into Qmiles, the transaction will not be reversed.
  • Qmiles earned as a result of benefitting from this offer, will be governed by the Privilege Club rules and regulations.

What can you redeem with Qatar Qmiles?

Qatar Airways QSuites

Qatar Airways does not have an award chart, so you’ll need to use their Qcalculator to find the cost of a given route. Use it like you would a regular flight search- pick the cabin, airline, origin and destination. 

After Qatar’s reversal of its 2018 devaluation, here’s an idea of how much Business Class redemptions cost for one-way travel on Qatar Airways out of Singapore. 

Business Class, One Way Redemption^
Destination Qmiles
(20% bonus)
KrisFlyer Asia Miles
Doha 50,000
41,667
N/A N/A
Athens/ Bucharest/Kiev/ Sofia/ Thessaloniki 70,000
58,333
N/A N/A
Barcelona/ London/ Frankfurt/ Paris/ Zurich  75,000
62,500
92,000* 65,000 – 85,000*
Boston/ Dallas/ New York/ Los Angeles/ Sao Paulo 95,000
79,167
95,000 – 99,000* 85,000*
^Assumes redemption on the FFP’s native metal (i.e. SQ for KrisFlyer, CX for Asia Miles)
*Not all destinations served

As you can see, a 20% transfer bonus makes Qatar Privilege Club rather attractive, especially given Qatar’s wide route network and the fact that there’s no fuel surcharges when redeeming Qmiles for Qatar Airways operated flights (Asia Miles levies them on Cathay Pacific flights).

62,500 miles to Europe or 79,167 miles to the USA sounds good to me. 

Example routing from SIN-DOH-JFK. Note the absence of fuel surcharges.

Qatar Qmiles do not expire so long as you earn or redeem at least one mile within a three year period.

How does a transit in Qatar affect my travel plans?

Singapore now considers an individual’s 14-day travel history (versus 21 days prior to 7 October 2021) when determining SHN restrictions. This means that so long as you only fly Qatar Airways on the outbound leg and stay overseas for >14 days, the transit in Doha has no bearing on your return to Singapore.

However, flying Qatar Airways on the inbound leg will automatically land you in Category IV, the most restrictive category there is. You’re looking at a 10-day SHN in a hotel, with no opt-out provision even for the fully vaccinated. 

๐Ÿ›‚Singapore Border Restrictions by Category
  Cat. I Cat. II Cat. III Cat. IV VTL
Short-term visitors โœ” โœ– โœ– โœ– โœ”
Application required ATP Details on ICA website VTP
Pre-departure PCR test โœ– โœ”
48h
โœ”
48h
โœ”
48h
โœ”
48h
On-arrival PCR test โœ” โœ” โœ” โœ” โœ”
SHN โœ– โœ”
7D
(home or hotel)
โœ”
10D
(home or hotel)*
โœ”
10D
(hotel)
โœ–
ART during SHN N/A โœ– โœ”
D3, 7
โœ”
D3, 7
N/A
Post-SHN PCR test N/A โœ”
D7
โœ”
D10
โœ”
D10
PCR on D3, 7
*Must be fully vaccinated to do SHN at home
Category Countries/Territories
I
Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China, Taiwan
II Australia, Brunei, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland,  Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden
III Austria, Bahrain, Bhutan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus , Egypt, Fiji, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Maldives, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, USA
IV All other countries/territories

So if you’re looking to redeem a Qatar Airways award, you might want to do it on the outbound leg only. 

Conclusion

Qatar Airway’s 20% Qmiles transfer bonus is certainly worth considering, though you probably don’t want to hold those miles for too long- Qatar has conducted unannounced devaluations in the past. If you plan to transfer, make sure you have a specific redemption in mind and book it ASAP. 

Here’s hoping there’ll be a chance to visit Qatar’s phenomenal Premium Lounge in Changi Airport soon…

Review: Qatar Airways Premium Lounge Singapore

(HT: Freedom)

Aaron Wong
Aaron Wong
Aaron founded The Milelion to help people travel better for less and impress chiobu. He was 50% successful.

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Joe

Is this the first time Qatar is offering transfer bonus?

Brian

Is this the best qatar has offered?

Seems very tempting.

As air travel is slowing opening, I assume we won’t be getting such a deal in the future?