Avios flight prices cut by up to 60% on Bangkok Airways, LATAM, Virgin Australia, MEA, RwandAir

Back in March 2022, Qatar Airways officially adopted Avios as its frequent flyer currency. Qmiles are no more.

If you think ‘so what?’ because you could already book Qatar Airways flights via British Airways Executive Club, you need to think again.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has a number of airline partners which British Airways Executive Club does not.

Even better, Qatar Airways has just cut the cost of non-BA partner redemptions by up to 60%. This is a permanent reduction, not a special offer.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club partner redemptions were historically bad value

Whilst Qatar Airways Privilege Club and British Airways Executive Club have shared pricing for Qatar Airways and British Airways redemptions, Qatar Airways Privilege Club was weirdly expensive for other airline partners.

Until last March, this was very much a ‘take it or leave it’ situation for any Qatar Airways Privilege Club member who wanted to redeem on a oneworld partner airline (Cathay Pacific, Japan Air Lines, Royal Jordanian etc) or one of Qatar’s exclusive partners.

However, once the Avios partnership with BA was introduced, Qatar Airways had a problem.

Any member of Qatar Airways Privilege Club with a brain was now moving their Avios across to British Airways Executive Club and booking via ba.com instead.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has now aligned its pricing with British Airways Executive Club for partner awards. QPC members no longer need to move their Avios to British Airways Executive Club to get the best Avios partner airline pricing.

What’s this got to do with me as a British Airways Executive Club member?

It makes ZERO difference to you if you want to book oneworld partner airlines.

You should still book these via ba.com because:

• they cost the same as using Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• you can book online (Qatar Airways Privilege Club members need to call or use an online enquiry form to book partner awards except for BA and American Airline)
• you can cancel online if necessary

There is a huge benefit to you if you want to book a Qatar Airways non-alliance partner

You can find details of all Qatar Airways Privilege Club partners – cars, airlines, hotels, the lot – on this page of the Qatar Airways website.

These are the airlines which you can book via Qatar Airways Privilege Club using Avios, but which cannot be booked via British Airways Executive Club:

• Bangkok Airways
• LATAM
• Middle East Airlines
• Oman Air (Doha to Muscat only)
• RwandAir
• Virgin Australia

You can also EARN Avios on these airlines via Qatar Airways Privilege Club, as well as earn Avios on jetBlue, as this article explains.

Whilst you could already spend Avios on selected LATAM routes via BA and Iberia Plus, there are restrictions. These restrictions do not apply to redemptions via Qatar Airways Privilege Club.

How many Avios will I need to redeem on these airlines?

Here is the new chart for redemptions on the airlines listed above:

This chart matches the British Airways Executive Club redemption chart for partner redemptions.

Here’s an example of old vs new pricing, courtesy of Singapore website Mainly Miles.

Bangkok Airways, flying from Singapore to Koh Samui

• Economy – was 15,000 Avios and is now 6,000 Avios
• Business – was 30,000 Avios and is now 12,500 Avios

Taxes and charges are obviously payable on top and will vary by airline.

How do you book?

To book, you need to fill in an online form which you can find here (log-in required).

How do you find availability? Not easily. The best option is to join the frequent flyer scheme of the airline you want to redeem with, try to find reward seats and then ask Qatar Airways if it can see the same seats.

Even better, look for seats via another partner airline which allows online booking – if one partner has them, Qatar Airways should have access too. You can use the Qantas website to search for Bangkok Airways availability for example.

Some other small print to note:

• you cannot mix airlines on the same redemption booking
• you must book at least 96 hours before departure

Conclusion

The cost of redeeming Avios for:

• Bangkok Airways
• LATAM
• Middle East Airlines
• Oman Air (Doha to Muscat only)
• RwandAir
• Virgin Australia

is now substantially, and permanently, reduced. It is yet another reason to ensure that your British Airways and Qatar Airways Privilege Club accounts are linked – the instructions are here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 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.

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

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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