Qatar Airways selling Avios with 50% bonus

Qatar Airways has launched a new Avios sale, which offers a 50% bonus on purchases till 12 May 2023.

This works out to a price of 1.87 US cents per mile (yes, I know they’re technically called Avios), and is as good an offer as you’ll see from Qatar Airways. But whatever you do- don’t buy these speculatively!

Buy Qatar Airways Avios with up to a 50% bonus 

Buy Qatar Airways Avios

Qatar Airway’s Avios sale runs from now till 12 May 2023, 5 a.m SGT. 

During this period, Qatar Privilege Club members who buy at least 1,000 Avios will receive a 50% bonus. This is a notably better offer than previous sales, some of which required you to buy 40,000 Avios or more before unlocking the 50% bonus tier.

With a 50% bonus, the cost per Avios becomes 1.87 US cents each. 

A maximum of 250,000 Avios (pre-bonus) can be purchased per calendar year, which means you can buy up to 375,000 Avios in total during this sale. 

Do note that members must have earned at least 1,000 Avios since enrolment in order to purchase additional Avios. I assume this is a hedge they’ve built into the system to prevent people from opening multiple accounts and acting as mileage brokers. However, those Avios need not be earned by flying; you also meet the 1,000 Avios threshold via credit card transfers or any other partner activity. 

When do Qatar Avios expire?

Qatar Privilege Club Avios do not expire, so long as you earn or redeem at least 1 Avios every 36 months. Should you fail to do this (please don’t), you can revalidate your Avios within one year of the end of the 36-month period by paying a fee. 

Platinum member Avios do not expire, period.

What can you redeem with Qatar Privilege Club Qmiles?

I’ve made no secret of my distrust of Qatar Privilege Club. This is a programme that thinks nothing of unannounced devaluations (and to be fair, revaluations too), or quietly adding back junky award segment fees.

That said, I have to concede that the programme does have some sweet spots, and the absence of fuel surcharges when redeeming Qatar Airways flights via Qatar Privilege Club is also an attractive feature.

As a reminder, here’s how much it’d cost to fly from Singapore to the following destinations via Qatar Airways (Qatar Airways has no award chart; consult the Calculator for quotes).

Award rates between Singapore and Europe are extremely competitive, with Qatar Privilege Club requiring just 70,000-75,000 Avios compared to KrisFlyer’s 103,500 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.

Do note that all redemptions are subject to non-refundable award segment fees as follows:

This means a round-trip award redemption from Singapore to Europe would have US$280 of these junk fees tacked on, which can’t be refunded should you cancel the booking!

All this to say: there’s value in buying Avios, but you should confirm that there’s award space available on the dates and routes you want (Qatar’s website normally doesn’t let you search with a zero balance, but there is a workaround).

What’s more, you should ensure that it’s regular award space, and not the more expensive Flexi awards, which cost 2x the price. These are labelled with “Q2” tags; for example, DOH-SIN prices out at 50,000 Avios normally, but 100,000 Avios for a Flexi award.

Finally, you should book awards as soon as Avios come into your account. Qatar Airways is one place I don’t feel confident holding miles!

But even if you have no interest in Qatar Privilege Club, you can spend these Avios via British Airways Executive Club instead. British Airways has some excellent short-haul sweet spots (even if they’re not as sweet as before).

Your Qatar Privilege Club and British Airways Executive Club Avios will be automatically pooled, and can be spent via either programme without the need to transfer. 

What credit card should I use to buy Qatar Privilege Club miles?

Qatar Privilege Club does not process miles purchases directly. Instead, they’re processed through Points.com in USD, which means they code as MCC 7399 (Business Services Not Elsewhere Classified) and not airline spend.

Here’s the best cards to maximize the miles earned on your purchase:

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Cap of S$1K per s. month
UOB Visa Signature Apply	4 mpd	Min S$1K, max S$2K FCY spend per s. month
SCB Visa Infinite Apply	3 mpd	Min spend S$2K per s. month
UOB PRVI Miles Apply	2.4 mpd	No cap
S. Month= Statement Month | C. Month= Calendar Month

Remember, you can always pair the Citi Rewards Card with the Instarem Amaze Card to earn 4 mpd on Points.com purchases, with lower foreign currency transaction fees compared to banks.

I generally don’t advise using the DBS Woman’s World Card for Points.com purchases, as past data points have indicated issues with getting the bonus points credited. 

Conclusion

A 50% bonus is the largest public offer we see for Qatar Airways Avios, and while I have misgivings about Qatar’s history of unannounced devaluations, if you’re planning to buy and redeem immediately then I don’t see the harm.

However, do remember that Citi PayAll is currently offering a 2.2 mpd earn rate with a 2.2% admin fee, allowing you to buy miles with more than 10 different frequent flyer programmes (including Qatar Airways Avios) for just 1 cent each. This is subject to a minimum spend of S$8,000, however, so if you just need a small top-up then this won’t be an option.

I personally used Qatar Privilege Club to redeem an award ticket from London to Singapore, which I’ll be flying in a weeks’ time. It’s my latest attempt to review the elusive QSuites…so naturally I’ve jinxed it now by mentioning it.