Qatar Privilege Club eases restrictions on redeeming Avios for others

Back in June 2026, Qatar Privilege Club introduced major new restrictions on redeeming Avios for others.

While members could previously redeem Avios for anyone they liked, they were now restricted to redeeming for nominated individuals on their My List or Family & Friends group. But to even add someone to either list in the first place, members had to credit at least one commercial flight to Qatar Privilege Club.

These were some of the harshest rules in the industry, so it’s good to see that Qatar has now quietly backed down.

Qatar Privilege Club eases restrictions on Avios redemptions

Here’s a quick recap of how things went down: on 16 June 2026, Qatar Airways began restricting the number of people that a Privilege Club member could redeem miles for through two mechanisms: My List, and Family & Friends.

However, before anyone could be added to My List or Family & Friends, the Qatar Privilege Club account had to satisfy two conditions:

• It had to be at least 30 days old, and
• The member had to have credited at least one commercial flight on Qatar Airways or any partner airline, or made one co-brand credit card transaction

Given the absence of Qatar Airways co-branded cards in this part of the world, the only way to satisfy the second condition was to credit a flight. Otherwise, you would be effectively locked out of the My List and Family & Friends features, regardless of how many miles you had earned/redeemed before. 

Thankfully, Qatar Airways has now eased the restriction, and members can add individuals to My List or Family & Friends by simply having an account which is at least 30 days old. The FAQs have been updated accordingly.

I understand the need to introduce a redemption nominee system to combat miles brokers, but what Qatar did was a bit too heavy-handed. Members with legitimately-earned miles suddenly found themselves unable to use them for friends or family members, or to even search for more than one award ticket.

How do My List and Family & Friends work?

My List and Family & Friends have a maximum capacity of four and six individuals respectively, which means that each Privilege Club member can now redeem miles for a maximum of 10 people.

My List

My List is a newly-launched feature that allows you to nominate up to four individuals to redeem Avios for. 

• Everyone on My List must be a Privilege Club member
• Once added, a member cannot be removed for six months
• You can be on a maximum of one other Privilege Club member’s My List

Once you invite a member to join, they must accept the invitation through their own Privilege Club account.

Do note that you cannot access the Avios of other My List members — this is not a tool to pool Avios. Think of this as conceptually similar to KrisFlyer’s Redemption Nominee list. 

Family & Friends

Family & Friends is the list that Qatar uses for points pooling.

• Everyone on the Family & Friends list must not be a Privilege Club member
• Once added, a person cannot be removed for six months
• Each person can only be on a single Family & Friends list

The person setting up the Family & Friends list becomes the head of the group, and everyone else is a dependent. When dependents earn Avios, those Avios are pooled into the family group. Only the head of the group has the ability to redeem Avios, whether for themselves or anyone else on Family & Friends/My List.

This is the list you should be adding children to, so that the Avios they earn don’t go to waste.

Conclusion

Qatar Airways has removed its tightened rules governing Avios redemptions for third parties. Privilege Club members no longer need to credit a commercial flight to their account before adding nominees, though their account must still be at least 30 days old — which is fair enough.

Once you add nominees, you’ll be able to search for award space for more than one person, so take a moment to set up your lists, and you’ll be able to search as before.