Back in July, Qatar Privilege Club quietly introduced Peak and Off-Peak pricing for its regular (i.e. non-Flexi) awards, which increased the cost of redemptions during certain periods.
Unfortunately, this was all stick, no carrot. There was no cut in the minimum number of miles required, because the existing award rates simply became Off-Peak prices. On the other hand, Peak dates saw an increase of up to 35% in some cases. The silver lining was that Peak and Off-Peak pricing was limited to flights that began or ended in Doha, so if you were merely transiting, you were unaffected.
But Qatar Airways has now rolled out Peak and Off-Peak pricing throughout its network, and the upshot is that members can expect to pay 20% more for awards, depending on when they fly.ย
Qatar Privilege Club Peak pricing
With the introduction of Peak and Off-Peak pricing, Qatar Privilege Club effectively has three possible costs for a given award:
- Regular (Off-Peak)
- Regular (Peak)
- Flexi
Peak and Off-Peak pricing only applies to Regular awards; the more expensive Flexi (also known as ‘Q2’) awards are fixed at 2X the cost of Off-Peak.
Here’s an idea of how much Business Class awards from Singapore will cost under the three tiers:
| โ๏ธ One-way Business Class Awards (For travel on Qatar Airways) |
|||
| From SIN to… | Regular (Off-Peak) |
Regular (Peak) |
Flexiย (aka Q2) |
| Europe 1 (e.g. Athens, Bucharest, Sofia) |
70,000 | 84,000 (+20%) |
140,000 |
| Europe 2 (e.g. Barcelona, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich) |
75,000 | 90,000 (+20%) |
150,000 |
| North & South America | 95,000 | 114,000 (+20%) |
190,000 |
As you can see, Peak awards cost 20% more than Off-Peak awards.
Peak awards are not explicitly labelled in the booking engine. Instead, Qatar labels certain dates as “Off-Peak”. Put it another way: if you don’t see an “Off-Peak” label, you’re paying Peak pricing!
Qatar Airways has not published a calendar of which dates it considers Peak and Off-Peak, and it’s not known whether these dates will change dynamically (e.g. a particular date may be Off-Peak as of today, but it could become Peak when you search for it next week).
However, Award Wallet has published what they believe to be the Peak and Off-Peak periods:
| From | To | Pricing |
| 5 December 2023 | 21 January 2024 | Peak |
| 22 January 2024 | 27 March 2024 | Off-Peak |
| 28 March 2024 | 26 April 2024 | Peak |
| 27 April 2024 | 11 June 2024 | Off-Peak |
| 12 June 2024 | 1 September 2024 | Peak |
| 2 September 2024 | 29 November 2024 | Off-Peak |
Keep in mind, we don’t know whether these periods differ depending on route, and without a published calendar we’ll be kept guessing.
| โ ๏ธ Not the same as BA |
| In case you use the British Airways Executive Club award calendar to search for Qatar Airways award seats, do note that the Off-Peak and Peak dates used by British Airways are not the same as Qatar’s. |
Europe sweet spot
So how does Peak pricing affect Qatar Privilege Club’s sweet spot to Europe?
Well, in terms of miles, it’s still competitive compared to KrisFlyer. A one-way Business Class award from Singapore to London now ranges from 75,000 to 90,000 miles with Qatar Privilege Club, versus 103,500 miles with KrisFlyer.
| ย | Qatar Privilege Club | KrisFlyer |
| Singapore to London | 75,000 to 90,000 miles | 103,500 miles |
However, the difference becomes more marginal when you factor in:
- A stopover in Doha, versus a non-stop flight with Singapore Airlines
- US$140 (S$188) of “award segment fees”, versus no surcharges with Singapore Airlines (you’ll need to pay S$62 of airport taxes regardless of which programme you choose)
Assuming you’re able to find award space on Off-Peak dates, then it’s still worth considering. Otherwise, you should ask yourself whetherย it’s better just booking a non-stop flight with Singapore Airlines instead.
| โ Booking with partner programmes |
|
Peak and Off-Peak pricing applies to bookings made through Qatar Privilege Club only. If you book through partner programmes like Asia Miles, prices remain the same. Do note that most partner programmes will pass on Qatar’s significant fuel surcharges. This may negate any benefit from lower mileage costs. |
Conclusion
Qatar Airways has rolled out Peak and Off-Peak prices for award tickets throughout its network, which means an increase of 20% during selected dates.
To the extent you’re able to find Off-Peak awards, Qatar Privilege Club can still offer good value. However, the gap between alternatives like KrisFlyer has certainly been narrowed.ย
How convenient it happens just after a transfer bonus!
I guess the peak/off peak difference does not really matter, as they are both just theoretical for the so-call the Europe โsweet spotโ. All you can find are only Flex award spaces, and Qatar points should be valued based on that rate.
For SG user, doesnt affect much cos June holiday is our peak, different from international school system.
Itโs impossible to find any award space for SIN LHR so these numbers are theoretical at best. Perhaps QR might want to take a page out of its avios partner BA and have some guaranteed seats released per flight.
Qatar revenue pricing has gone wild . Flew BC round trip with family this June for around S$14K to Blackpool . That very same flight is now $30k in Sep 2024!
Sucks lol
Does anyone know if Qatar passes on fuel surchanges (YQ) when booking a partner award with JL?