How do Qatar Airways ‘double Avios’ Flexi Awards work?
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Back in March, Qatar Airways announced that it was adopting Avios as its loyalty currency. You can now link your British Airways and Qatar Privilege Club accounts via the method we explain here and book Avios flights via the Qatar Airways website.
In most cases, however, you don’t need to book Qatar Airways redemptions via qatarairways.com. The same seats, with the same taxes and charges, are available via ba.com.
One exception is ‘double Avios’ redemptions.
Qatar Airways has its own equivalent of the British Airways ‘double Avios for extra availability’ scheme, although there are significant differences.
Using double Avios on British Airways
The BA ‘double Avios’ scheme is called the Gold Priority Reward, explained in this HfP article.
In simple terms:
- only Gold members of British Airways Executive Club can use it
- you can book any seat, on any flight, for double the normal amount of Avios
- you can book for anyone, not just yourself
- you must book 30 days in advance
- only British Airways flights are available
- you can only book by telephone
Using double Avios on Qatar Airways
The Qatar Airways version works totally differently:
- any member of Qatar Privilege Club can use it, regardless of status
- you can book seats on SELECTED flights for double the normal amount of Avios
- you can book for anyone, not just yourself
- only Qatar Airways flights are available
- you can book online
Here is an example from the Qatar Airways website:
This is a flight from Heathrow to Melbourne for next May.
As you can see, no seats are available in Business Class for the first option. However, you can still book the second option.
Note the little green ‘Q2’ logo in the corner of the Business Class box for the second option. This means that you can book these seats, but it will cost you double the usual number of Avios.
In this case, for a one-way Business Class flight from London to Melbourne, the cost doubles from 90,000 Avios to 180,000 Avios, plus £402 of taxes and charges.
Here is ba.com for the same dates:
No Avios seats are available on Qatar Airways via ba.com because these ‘Q2’ seats come from additional availability that Qatar Airways reserves for its own members and offers for double Avios.
Is this good value? It’s up to you. In general, the ‘double Avios’ seats are not cheap but if you are Avios-rich and cash-poor you may get good value.
You also, of course, retain the flexibility to cancel your ticket and rebook should an Avios seat at the standard price level appear later.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2023)
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
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
25,000 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 £12,000 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 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points (TO 9th JANUARY), FREE for a year & four airport ….. Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
Crazy 100,000 points (TO 9th JANUARY) and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.
Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review
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.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
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
40,000 points bonus 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.
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