Qatar Airways and Avios – earn from Monday, redeem from 1st October

Qatar Airways sent an email to its frequent flyer members this week which appears to confirm the entry date of Qatar into the oneworld alliance.  More interestingly, it confirmed that it is bringing forward its partnership with British Airways.

The first point is that Qatar’s partnership with British Airways is kicking off in advance of their entry into oneworld – next Monday, to be precise.  As they write:

Effective 2nd September 2013, Qatar Airways and British Airways will enter into a frequent flyer partnership. As a Privilege Club member, you will now have the opportunity to earn Qmiles on all qualifying British Airways flights.  Qmiles can be earned on all flights with a British Airways flight number and being operated by British Airways. You will earn up to 150% of Qmiles flown depending on the booking class (type of fare) you purchase.

Now, whilst it is not specifically stated, I would expect the arrangement to work both ways from the same date.  It is therefore likely that you will be able to earn Avios points when flying on Qatar Airways on or after Monday 2nd.  You probably won’t earn tier points until the formal entry into oneworld, however.

Which brings us to the second quote ….

You will also be able to redeem your Qmiles for award tickets on all British Airways flights effective 1st October 2013.

This implies very strongly that 1st October is the day Qatar is joining oneworld.  This means that, from that day, you will be able to redeem your Avios points on Qatar Airways flights.

Here is the business class cabin on Qatar’s new Boeing 787’s:

And here is some background on the route network:

Qatar Airways’ network serves 120 destinations in 70 countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Australasia, including oneworld hubs Amman, Berlin Tegel, Buenos Aires Ezeiza, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Madrid, Melbourne, Moscow Domodedovo, New York JFK, Osaka Kansai, Sydney, Tokyo Narita, and the Kuala Lumpur.

Fifteen of its destinations and three countries – Iran, Rwanda and the Seychelles – will be new to the one world map. More significantly, Qatar Airways will substantially strengthen oneworld’s customer offering by providing superior routing alternatives across many hundreds of city pairs. For example, passengers flying between Asia and Southern Europe or between Asia and Africa will now have convenient one-stop connections not previously available within the oneworld network.

One of the most popular redemptions will probably be to The Maldives, given how tricky it is to get BA reward flights.  Qatar offers a good routing, with a total travel time from London of 12 hours.  There is an option to arrive at 2pm as well, which is a lot better than arriving in the early morning and not being able to access your accommodation.  The BA flight, by comparison, arrives at 10am and takes 10 hours.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.