Get a 30% bonus on hotel points transfers to Avios – but is it a good deal?

Until 2022, The British Airways Club would run regular (every 18 months or so) transfer bonuses from hotel loyalty schemes into Avios.

We haven’t seen one for the last three years. However, Qatar Airways Privilege Club has stepped into the breach.

You will receive a 30% bonus when you transfer points from three hotel schemes into Avios by 31st May.

The Qatar Airways page for the offer can be found here.

There are a few simple rules you must follow:

Rule 1: You must convert your hotel points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios by 31st May.  This is the date by which the points must leave your hotel account, not arrive at qatarairways.com (“Bonus Avios will be credited as per the transaction date notified by the relevant Participating Partner to Qatar Airways Privilege Club”)

Rule 2: Only transfers from the following hotel programmes count:

• Accor Live Limitless
• Shangri-La Circle
• World of Hyatt

Rule 3: There are no minimum transfer requirements beyond whatever the usual minimum is for moving out of these schemes

Rule 4: Bonus points will arrive by 30th June 2025 – it implies that they are not added immediately

Is this a good deal or not?

In general, hotel points are best redeemed for hotel stays.

Let’s look at the points needed for a high category room redemption worth £250 a night.  The Avios conversion does not include the 30 per cent bonus.

• Accor Live Limitless – 15,000 ALL points = 7,500 Avios (2 : 1) or a €300 (£250) room based on €1 = 50 ALL points

• Shangri-La Circle – 4,950 Circle points = 4,950 Avios (1 : 1) or a $330 (£250) room based on $1 = 15 Circle points

• World of Hyatt – 25,000 to 35,000 Hyatt points (Cat 7) = 10,000 to 14,000 Avios (2.5 : 1) or a room usually worth around £250

The World of Hyatt numbers are slightly better if you convert in chunks of 50,000 World of Hyatt points because you receive a bonus equivalent to 5,000 World of Hyatt points.

Is it worth converting with the 30% bonus?

Looking at these numbers, you are probably better leaving large stashes of Accor Live Limitless, Shangri-La Circle or World of Hyatt hotel points where they are.

Shangri-La Circle is the most extreme case where you should probably take the free room.  I’d far rather have a $330 hotel night for 4,950 Circle points than take (4,950 + 30%) 6,435 Avios.

In general, Marriott Bonvoy is the only hotel programme where it can make sense to transfer points to Avios or other airline miles. Marriott is not part of this offer though!

For a small amount of points it is a different decision

A few years ago I tidied up some of my small hotel balances by converting to Avios, often topping up first from American Express Membership Rewards, and didn’t regret it. If you will never earn enough for a free room, you might as well convert them and a 30% bonus is a good excuse.

The other thing to remember is that the hotel chains convert to many airline programmes, often over 20.  You will get a 30% bonus via Avios, but perhaps topping off another account may be more useful?

If you had a very large pile of hotel points, you may be able to get enough points from scratch in a different airline to redeem with a different alliance, giving you extra flexibility.  Avios is not always the answer.

This offer runs until 31st May so you have a few weeks to decide.

Remember that you must convert into a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account and later move the Avios from Qatar Airways to British Airways following the instructions here.

You can find full details of the offer on qatarairways.com here.