How do Qatar Airways ‘double Avios’ Flexi Awards work?

Back in March 2022, Qatar Airways announced that it was adopting Avios as its loyalty currency. You can link your British Airways Club and Qatar Airways 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 usually 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 The British Airways 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 at least 30 days in advance
• only British Airways flights are available
• you can only book by telephone
• pricing is based on the ‘most Avios, least cash’ option shown on ba.com (usually the £1 cash option) which means the flight requires a disproportionately high number of Avios

Using double Avios on Qatar Airways

The Qatar Airways version works totally differently:

• any member of Qatar Airways 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 one way flight from Manchester to Melbourne on 2nd December.

Note the little ‘Flexi’ logo in the business class box. 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 Manchester to Melbourne, the cost doubles from 90,000 Avios to 180,000 Avios, plus £480 of taxes and charges.

Does ba.com offer this flight? No. Here is ba.com for 2nd December:

No business class Avios seats are available on Qatar Airways via ba.com because these ‘Flexi’ seats come from additional availability that Qatar Airways reserves for its own members.

ba.com WOULD show the flight if it was available for the standard level of Avios, which for Manchester to Melbourne in business class is 90,000 points, one way.

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.

For Australia and New Zealand, 360,000 Avios for a return business class ticket from the UK on the excellent Qatar Airways is still arguably still a deal at peak time.

At the standard 180,000 Avios return in business class, of course, it’s laughably cheap although availability at this level comes and goes in waves.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better.

To join our 70,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 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:

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th October 2025, the sign-up bonus on the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card is doubled to 40,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to 40,000 Avios! The spend target is changed to £5,000 within SIX months of approval. T&C apply. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th October 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to 80,000 Avios! The spend target is changed to £10,000 within SIX months of approval. T&C apply. Click here to apply.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 on the FREE standard card and 1 Avios per £1 on the Pro card. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

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 14th October 2025, the sign-up bonus on The American Express Business Platinum Card is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to 120,000 Avios! The spend target is changed to £12,000 within three months of approval. T&C apply. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th October 2025, the sign-up bonus on The American Express Business Gold Card is TRIPLED to 60,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to 60,000 Avios! The spend target is changed to £6,000 within three months of approval. The card remains free for the first year. T&C apply. 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.