Qatar Airways offering up to 50% bonus on Avios purchases

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has launched a new flash sale on Avios purchases, which offers up to a 50% bonus till 9 September 2024. 

This reduces the cost per mile to 1.53 US cents (~2 SG cents), and can be potentially lucrative if you already have a redemption in mind and need the miles immediately. That’s all the more so because the cost of alternatives such as Citi PayAll has risen, following the admin fee hike earlier this year.

Buy Qatar Airways Avios with up to a 50% bonus 

Buy Qatar Airways Avios

From now till 9 September 2024, 4.59 a.m SGT, Qatar Privilege Club members will enjoy up to a 50% bonus on Avios purchases.

Offers are targeted, and you’ll need to login to your account to see how yours is structured. Here’s what I see on mine:

In my case, I’ll need to purchase at least 36,000 Avios to enjoy the 50% bonus. As a reminder, each member can buy, gift or transfer up to 250,000 Avios (before bonuses) in a calendar year, which works out to 375,000 Avios after the bonus. 

Members must have earned at least 1 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 minimum Avios threshold via credit card transfers or any other partner activity. 

What can you redeem with Qatar Privilege Club?

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 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 QCalculator 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).

There’s also value to be found for flights to the USA, and keep in mind again that Qatar Airways serves additional destinations that Singapore Airlines does not, such as Boston, Chicago, Miami and Washington DC.

Even if you don’t plan to fly with Qatar Airways, there are some excellent partner redemptions to consider. Qatar Privilege Club partners with Bangkok Airways, which allows you to redeem tickets on the Singapore to Koh Samui route for just 6,000 miles. Commercial tickets on this route are often expensive, so there’s potential for great value here.

Here’s some other examples of sweet spots worth considering (with the operating carrier in brackets):

Do note that you may need to transfer your Avios to British Airways in order for some of the options above to appear, as the Qatar Airways website does not display all partner awards.

Here’s a guide to the process, which is really quite straightforward once you know where to click.

Qatar Privilege Club caveats

While Qatar Privilege Club does not impose fuel surcharges on Qatar Airways flights, you will have to pay a non-refundable award segment fee as follows:

Since all flights will invariably involve a layover in Doha, 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 Qatar Privilege Club, 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. Flexi awards 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!

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, you can revalidate your Avios within one year of the end of the 36-month period by paying a fee. 

Qatar Privilege Club Platinum members enjoy non-expiring Avios.

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

Qatar Privilege Club does not process miles purchases directly, so they won’t code as airline spend. Instead, miles purchases are processed through Points.com in USD under MCC 7399 (Business Services Not Elsewhere Classified).

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

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Card 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 S$2K per s. month
Maybank Horizon Apply	2.8 mpd	Min. S$800 per c. 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 Amaze Card to earn 4 mpd on Points.com purchases, with lower foreign currency transaction fees compared to banks.

Do not use HSBC cards or the DBS Woman’s World Card for Points.com purchases, as MCC 7399 will not earn points. 

What about Citi PayAll?

Another way of buying Qatar Airways Avios would be through the Citi PayAll service, which is available to Citi cardholders with a 2.6% fee. 

Unfortunately, unless you have the invite-only Citi ULTIMA Card, the cost per mile would be as high, if not higher than the current miles purchase promotion, making it not worth considering.

Card	Earn Rate	Cost Per Mile  (@ 2.6% fee)
Citi ULTIMA	1.6 mpd	1.63 cents
Citi Prestige	1.3 mpd	2.00 cents
Citi PremierMiles	1.2 mpd	2.17 cents
Citi Rewards	0.4 mpd	6.50 cents

Citi PayAll does run occasional promotions that can lower the cost per mile, but there’s nothing happening at the moment.

What about BA Balance Boost?

British Airways, which also uses the same Avios currency as Qatar Airways, now offers a feature called Balance Boost which allows you to purchase additional Avios.

The basic idea is that you can buy a lump sum of Avios equivalent to 100%, 200% or 300% of the Avios you have earned in the last 30 days, including flight activity, hotel points transfers or credit card points transfers. 

So basically, you can’t generate miles out of thin air, as you could with a traditional miles purchase offer. Therefore, even though the prices here are lower, it won’t be an option unless you have credit card points handy to transfer to British Airways. 

Do note that you cannot boost Avios earned from Qatar Airways or Finnair transfers, or Avios which were purchased, shared or gifted. 

Conclusion

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has launched a new flash sale that offers up to a 50% bonus on Avios purchases, reducing the price to 1.53 US cents per mile.

There are some very good redemption opportunities to be had via the programme, such as Koh Samui for just 6,000 miles or Helsinki in Business Class for 62,500 miles. However, given Qatar’s history of unannounced devaluations, you should not be buying miles speculatively. Only buy if you have a definite use in mind, and have confirmed that award space is available.