Earn on Qatar Airways, redeem on …. British Airways AND Virgin Atlantic

Yesterday I published details of Qatar Airways entry into the oneworld alliance, which now seems set for 1st October (but possibly still 31st October, depending on what you read).  From that date, you will be able to redeem Avios for Qatar Airways flights.

There is an interesting side effect to this, though.

As well as being a oneworld member, Qatar Airways has partnerships with a number of other airlines.  These include ANA, Asiana, GOL, MEA, US Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

You are able to redeem your Qmiles (Qatar’s award currency) for flights on any of their partners – including Virgin Atlantic.

This is the partner award chart they use.  It is distance based, like the Avios chart.  At first glance, it seems more expensive than usual, and more expensive than the BA or Virgin charts.

With Virgin, there is also a nasty catch.  If you want Upper Class, you need to pay Qatar’s First Class redemption rate.  If you want Premium Economy, you need to pay the Business Class rate!  This is a joke, frankly.

However, ignoring the above, Qatar now offers a unique package.  You could choose to credit all your BA flights and almost all your Virgin Atlantic flights to Qmiles.  You would then have the choice of whether you redeemed on British Airways or Virgin Atlantic, using the same pot of miles!

(I say ‘almost all’ because Virgin Atlantic flights to/from Dubai are not available for credit to Qmiles.  All other routes are OK.)

Note that I am NOT recommending you do this.  The option is there, however, for someone who wanted to be VERY strategic in how they spent their miles!  One of the downsides is that Virgin flights credited to Qatar do NOT count for status with Qatar, although BA flights will.

There is no word yet, by the way, on whether Qatar will charge fuel surcharges on BA redemptions.  BA will almost certainly charge fuel surcharges on Qatar flights.

One other thing ….

It was pointed out in the comments yesterday that a number of Qatar routes to Doha – including some which use the new Boeing 787 fleet pictured above – fall into the Zone 4 banding (2001 – 3000 miles).  This means that a business class return flight from, say, Frankfurt to Doha (2,847 miles) will only cost you 50,000 Avios return, compared to 80,000 Avios return from London.  This routing would also save you over £100 in Air Passenger Duty as well.

I will do some more work on the Qatar Airways network in Europe and what planes are used, and write a longer post as soon as Qatar flights are available to book.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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:

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

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.

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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

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.

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