Qatar Airways Privilege Club offering 7,500 bonus Qmiles (or S$5 Grab voucher) to new members

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has brought back one of its largest offers for new members, with 2,500 Qmiles just for joining, and a further 5,000 Qmiles for taking one paid Qatar Airways flight by September 2022. 

Provided you redeem Qmiles for Qatar Airways flights, Qatar Privilege Club can offer excellent value, with return Business Class fares to Europe starting from 70,000 miles and no fuel surcharges. 

Even if you have no intention of flying with Qatar, it’s a free S$5 Grab voucher, thanks to the conversion partnership with GrabRewards.

Get up to 7,500 bonus Qmiles with Qatar Privilege Club

Join Qatar Privilege Club

From now till 31 March 2022, new Qatar Airways Privilege Club members who join with the promo code FLYQR3 will receive 2,500 Qmiles instantly.

They can earn a further 5,000 Qmiles by taking a paid Qatar Airways flight by 30 September 2022. 

The following T&Cs apply:

How long are my free Qmiles valid for?

Qatar Airways Qmiles expire after three years of inactivity, so you won’t need to worry about them 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.

Conversion Ratio (Bank Points: Qmiles)
	Citi Miles	ThankYou Points
	1:1	5:2
	SC Rewards (Visa Infinite)
	3.5:1

Don’t forget that GrabRewards also partners with Qatar Airways, so you can transfer some points over (albeit at a poor rate) to keep your balance alive. 

By the way, this partnership works in both directions, so if you have no plans for those 2,500 Qmiles you could cash them out for 2,500 GrabRewards points, equivalent to a S$5 voucher. 

Qatar Privilege Club sweet spots

If there’s one frequent flyer programme whose stock improved in 2020, it’s Qatar Airways Privilege Club.

In November 2020, 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, makes the programme worth looking at once again:

Award rates between Singapore and Europe are extremely competitive, with Qatar Privilege Club requiring just 70,000 miles compared to KrisFlyer’s 92,000 miles (not to mention a wider network of destinations).

It’s a bit more marginal for the USA, but keep in mind again that Qatar Airways serves additional destinations that Singapore Airlines does not, such as Boston, Chicago, Miami and Washington DC.

I’ve not yet had a chance to fly on Qatar Airways QSuite, but even if you end up on one of their non-QSuite planes, the long-haul Business Class experience is very solid.

Review: Qatar Airways A350-900 Business Class Kuala Lumpur to Doha

Here’s hoping there’ll be a chance to visit Qatar’s phenomenal Premium Lounge in Changi Terminal 1 again too. 

Review: Qatar Airways Premium Lounge Singapore

The key question is when Qatar gets added to the VTL scheme. This was originally supposed to happen on 6 December 2021, but ended up getting delayed indefinitely due to Omicron. Now that we know Omicron isn’t as scary as it first appeared, it stands to reason that the VTL should move forward (but then again you never know).

Without the VTL, any passenger transiting in Qatar will be subject to at least a 7-day SHN upon arrival in Singapore (unless he/she is fully vaccinated and has recently recovered from COVID-19). 

Conclusion

Qatar Airways is offering 2,500 free Qmiles to new Qatar Privilege Club members, which, if nothing else, is worth a free S$5 Grab voucher. 

If you have Citibank or Standard Chartered credit card points, this could be a nice opportunity to jump start your Qmiles collection, with a further 5,000 Qmiles to be earned for taking a paid Qatar Airways flight by 30 September 2022.

(HT: OMAAT)