Qatar Airways offering up to 50% bonus on Avios purchases

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has launched a flash sale on Avios purchases, which offers up to a 50% bonus for transactions completed by 26 May 2026. 

This lowers the cost per Avios to 1.53 US cents (1.96 SG cents), which matches the most recent offer we saw in February, though it’s less generous than the 65% offer from December last year.

Moreover, it could be cheaper to buy Avios through the ongoing Citi PayAll promotion, or through BA Balance Boost, so you should explore those options before pulling the trigger on this sale.

Buy Qatar Airways Avios with up to a 50% bonus 

Buy Qatar Airways Avios

From now till 26 May 2026, 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 log in 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 66,000 Avios to enjoy the 50% bonus. As a reminder, each member can buy, gift or transfer up to 250,000 Avios (pre-bonus) in a calendar year, which works out to 375,000 Avios after a 50% 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?

Qatar Privilege Club offers good value redemptions between Singapore and Europe and the USA, at least in terms of miles.

It will cost you 70,000-75,000 miles for a one-way Business Class ticket to Europe, versus 108,500 miles for KrisFlyer, and 95,000 miles for a one-way Business Class ticket to the USA, versus 112,500-117,000 miles for KrisFlyer.

While you will need to transit in Doha, keep in mind that Qatar Airways serves many destinations that Singapore Airlines does not such as Boston, Chicago, Miami and Washington DC, so either way you’d be looking at a one-stop itinerary.

Qatar Privilege Club also offers some excellent partner redemptions, which I’ve summarised in the table below.

To book some of these awards, you’ll need to transfer Avios to another frequent flyer programme. As a reminder, Avios are the “legal tender” of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways. You can instantly transfer Avios among these programmes at a 1:1 ratio, with no conversion fees.

All transfers must be rooted through the “hub” of British Airways Club. For example, if you want to transfer Qatar Avios to Finnair Avios, you would first transfer Qatar to British Airways, then British Airways to Finnair.

I personally redeemed Qatar Avios for a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong, in order to review the new Aria Suites. This cost 22,000 Avios + S$60 in taxes, cheaper than the 28,000 miles + S$88 in taxes I’d have paid if redeeming the same flight through Asia Miles. Cathay Pacific awards redeemed through Qatar Privilege Club do not incur fuel surcharges, which can result in significant savings, given how much these charges have increased in recent times.

Another good value redemption I managed to snag was Singapore to Helsinki on Finnair Business Class for just 62,500 Avios, which allowed me to finally try the famous AirLounge seat.

Qatar Privilege Club caveats

While Qatar Privilege Club does not impose fuel surcharges on Qatar Airways redemptions, it does tack on an award booking fee, payable on top of the standard airport fees and government taxes.

This fee was hiked without notice in September 2024 by up to 80% in some cases. 

Keep in mind that this fee applies per segment, so if you’re flying through Doha on a round-trip Business Class ticket, for instance, you’ll pay US$720 in award redemption fees alone. Ouch. 

Fortunately, this fee does not apply to non-Qatar Airways redemptions, so if you plan to fly with Bangkok Airways or one of its other partners, you won’t have to pay it (you will pay whatever fuel surcharges those carriers impose, however).

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 are the best cards to maximise the miles earned on your purchase:

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Card Apply	4 mpd	Max. S$1K per s. month
DCS Imperium Card Apply	4 mpd	Min. S$4K FCY spend per c. month, otherwise 2.4 mpd
Maybank XL Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Min. S$500 per c. month, max. S$1K per c. month
UOB Visa Signature Apply	4 mpd	Min. S$1K, max. S$1.2K FCY spend per s. month
StanChart Beyond Card Apply	3-4 mpd	3 mpd for regular, 3.5 mpd for PB, 4 mpd for PP. No cap
Maybank World Mastercard Apply	3.2 mpd	Min. S$4K per c. month, no cap. Earn 2.8 mpd with min. S$800 per c. month
Maybank Visa Infinite Apply	3.2 mpd	Min. S$4K per c. month, no cap, otherwise 2 mpd
StanChart Visa Infinite Apply	3 mpd	Min. S$2K per s. month, no cap, otherwise 1 mpd
BOC Elite Miles Card Apply	2.8 mpd	No min. spend, no cap
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Apply	2.8 mpd	Min. S$800 per c. month, no cap, otherwise 1.2 mpd
S. Month= Statement Month | C. Month= Calendar Month

Remember, you can pair the Citi Rewards Card with Amaze to earn 4 mpd on Points.com purchases, while paying lower FCY fees than banks.

Do not use HSBC cards or the DBS Woman’s World Card for Points.com purchases, as MCC 7399 will not earn bonus points. Also avoid using the Chocolate Visa Card, as it classifies MCC 7399 as a bill payment, and caps customers at earning just 100 Max Miles per month. 

Citi PayAll alternative

From 17 April to 31 July 2026, Citi PayAll is offering eligible cardholders: 

• A 0.7% cash rebate for tax payments
• A 0.2% cash rebate for non-tax payments

Cardholders must charge at least S$6,000 to Citi PayAll (in any category, tax or non-tax) on a single eligible card, in one or more transactions .

If they charge at least S$8,000 to Citi PayAll, they will receive an extra S$80 eCapitaVoucher, on top of the cash rebate.

Citi PayAll’s regular admin fee is 2.6%, so here’s the cost per mile on the four eligible Citi cards, for non-tax payments (effective fee = 2.4%) and tax payments (effective fee = 1.9%).

Card	Earn Rate	Admin Fee	Cost Per Mile
Citi ULTIMA	1.6 mpd	2.4% 1.9%	1.50¢ 1.19¢
Citi Prestige	1.3 mpd	2.4% 1.9%	1.85¢ 1.46¢
Citi Premier Miles	1.2 mpd	2.4% 1.9%	2.00¢ 1.58¢
Citi Rewards	0.4 mpd	2.4% 1.9%	6.00¢ 4.75¢

Citi Miles and ThankYou points can be converted to Qatar Privilege Club Avios, and assuming you stick to tax payments (and you should!), the cost per Avios would range from 1.19 to 1.58 cents (ignoring the Citi Rewards, which is really not worth using here).

This is cheaper than the Qatar Avios sale, but remember: cardholders must pay the regular 2.6% fee first. The rebate will be credited within 10 weeks from the end of the promotion period, i.e. 9 October 2026. If you cancel your Citi card during this period, you won’t get your rebate!

The full details of this offer can be found below.

Citi PayAll offering discounted 1.9% fee and S$80 eCapitaVoucher for tax payments

BA Balance Boost alternative

British Airways 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 (you cannot boost Avios earned from Qatar Airways or Finnair transfers, or Avios which were purchased, shared or gifted).

The cost per Avios here is as low as 1.20 US cents (1.52 SG cents), but the catch is that you can’t generate miles out of thin air, as you could with a traditional miles purchase offer.

So 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. 

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 still 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.

Moreover, it is cheaper to buy Avios through Citi PayAll or BA Balance Boost instead, though each has its own limitations. For Citi PayAll, you must have a minimum of S$6,000 worth of bills to charge, and for BA Balance Boost, you can only multiply Avios earned in the past 30 days.

(Cover photo: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media)