Qatar Airways reward flights …. what time are seats released?

[Amy C]

Feel like I should know this but I don’t and can’t find anything about it in my search. Do QR release their reward flights at a certain time of day? I’m going to be joining the Aussie rush next month and need to be on the ball. Thanks.

[polly]

We would like to know this too….. they used to just randomly open 1 seat, which was useless. Have no clue of their new avios rules tho. Law onto themselves it seems….

[rams]

From what I can tell they seem to release the double avios seats immediately 350ish days in advance but who wants to pay that!

I’m also interested in this.

[JDB]

I’m not sure of the answer, but there was mention on a separate thread that QR cash bookings can be made 360 days ahead vs 355 for BA and therefore Avios seats may also be released on QR before you can book them via BA.com.

[Aston100]

rams wrote:

From what I can tell they seem to release the double avios seats immediately 350ish days in advance but who wants to pay that!

I’m also interested in this.

I don’t think anyone knows, but from what I’ve seen, it does look like double avios seats are released first, and during certain peak periods (such as UK school holidays) they stay at double avios.
Someone commented something previously that the double avios pricing comes up when normal availability is sold out, but I don’t think this is true based on my searches over the past 6 months – i.e. I think they start at double avios immediately and drop down to normal pricing if there isn’t demand, or some other factor.

[NorthernLass]

That tallies with my experience of booking DOH-MAN for late December. All the J seats were double avios (and no availability on BA), so after a few days of checking I went for economy as it’s only 7 hours and I managed to bag exit row seats. I didn’t want all availability to disappear and not be able to get home! But economy was very reasonable for a long haul flight – 21,500 avios plus £60 each.

[marks7389]

I managed to get Phuket-Heathrow for two in J for early December at T-361 (at the base 1x Avios rate) which is when they start to release seats. At that time I could only book a 17:30 layover in Doha, which happened to be the combination of flights we wanted as we plan to take advantage of Qatar’s cheap stop-over hotel deals to break the journey and maybe see a little bit of Doha. However it looked at the time that other options were just taking a little longer to appear.

There doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast rules but you can get an idea by looking at other dates just short of the 361 days.

[rams]

is there any advantage to getting a reward flight through BA rather than directly with Qatar? BA sells them a few days after so chance seats can go

[marks7389]

rams wrote:

is there any advantage to getting a reward flight through BA rather than directly with Qatar? BA sells them a few days after so chance seats can go

Yes, there are some, including:

*Members of a BA Household Account can book using their combined Avios balances
*You don’t have to deal with Qatar’s poor IT/website – which is even worse than BA’s (to be fair, I find BA’s site quite good compared to several other airlines)
*If you want your BA FF status to be associated with the booking you don’t have to jump through hoops to make it happen post-booking

Speaking from experience of having booked a redemption through Qatar’s site….

[Sam106]

Hello,

Apologies I am going to jump on this thread with more questions on the same subject rather than any answers for you. Bit of a novice Avios collector but had diligently been accumulating to get the 360k needed for OH and myself to Australia for Christmas. Realised very naïve to think I could just jump on and find seats at that points rate, as noted can only see double points availability which I didn’t even realise was a thing – very disheartening. Thought I was looking early but can see I am a bit behind everyone else! Does anyone know if more likely to be able to get 360k seats in like Feb (2024) time? Is it a case that you need to get onto these right at the 355 day mark to have a chance?

A couple of practical questions (apologies if already covered)
– On QR website it says you can only book an Avios seat if you have at least 50% of the Avios needed, does this mean you can book when you don’t have the full amount and secure the seat? If so, when and how does the balance of Avios need to be ‘paid’? Could it be I can book Avios seats and then wait for an Avios sale to come up in the next few months to buy the remaining Avios I need at a reduced price?
– How do you book Avios seats on Qatar website for two people? Myself and OH each have enough for ourselves in our own respective BA and QR (combined) accounts – will it recognise this and allow us to be both on the same booking and take the points from our respective QR accounts? Or do you either need to have the total points in one persons account (if so how could you go about this?) Or do you need to make two separate bookings when separately logged in as each passenger?
Many thanks for any helpful replies

[rams]

marks7389 wrote:

rams wrote:

is there any advantage to getting a reward flight through BA rather than directly with Qatar? BA sells them a few days after so chance seats can go

Yes, there are some, including:

*Members of a BA Household Account can book using their combined Avios balances
*You don’t have to deal with Qatar’s poor IT/website – which is even worse than BA’s (to be fair, I find BA’s site quite good compared to several other airlines)
*If you want your BA FF status to be associated with the booking you don’t have to jump through hoops to make it happen post-booking

Speaking from experience of having booked a redemption through Qatar’s site….

Thanks for sharing! Will try via BA then

[rams]

Sam106 wrote:

Hello,

Apologies I am going to jump on this thread with more questions on the same subject rather than any answers for you. Bit of a novice Avios collector but had diligently been accumulating to get the 360k needed for OH and myself to Australia for Christmas. Realised very naïve to think I could just jump on and find seats at that points rate, as noted can only see double points availability which I didn’t even realise was a thing – very disheartening. Thought I was looking early but can see I am a bit behind everyone else! Does anyone know if more likely to be able to get 360k seats in like Feb (2024) time? Is it a case that you need to get onto these right at the 355 day mark to have a chance?

A couple of practical questions (apologies if already covered)
– On QR website it says you can only book an Avios seat if you have at least 50% of the Avios needed, does this mean you can book when you don’t have the full amount and secure the seat? If so, when and how does the balance of Avios need to be ‘paid’? Could it be I can book Avios seats and then wait for an Avios sale to come up in the next few months to buy the remaining Avios I need at a reduced price?
– How do you book Avios seats on Qatar website for two people? Myself and OH each have enough for ourselves in our own respective BA and QR (combined) accounts – will it recognise this and allow us to be both on the same booking and take the points from our respective QR accounts? Or do you either need to have the total points in one persons account (if so how could you go about this?) Or do you need to make two separate bookings when separately logged in as each passenger?
Many thanks for any helpful replies

Where are you going to? I’ve seen seats to Melbourne for next year at normal rate in early Jan

[marks7389]

The “At least 50% Avios” thing is Qatar’s Avios Plus Cash option allowing you to pay additional cash and less Avios on a redemption booking.

https://www.qatarairways.com/en-us/Privilege-Club/redeem-avios/avios-plus-cash.html

There is no option to make up the Avios later.

I’m not sure how it works out, but given it is rarely discussed I suspect it is not all that attractive. Confusingly it seems to be different from their Cash+Avios option which works the other way round to allow smaller amounts of Avios to be used as part-payment on a cash booking rather like BA does.

[ToffeeTom]

rams wrote:

Sam106 wrote:

Hello,

Apologies I am going to jump on this thread with more questions on the same subject rather than any answers for you. Bit of a novice Avios collector but had diligently been accumulating to get the 360k needed for OH and myself to Australia for Christmas. Realised very naïve to think I could just jump on and find seats at that points rate, as noted can only see double points availability which I didn’t even realise was a thing – very disheartening. Thought I was looking early but can see I am a bit behind everyone else! Does anyone know if more likely to be able to get 360k seats in like Feb (2024) time? Is it a case that you need to get onto these right at the 355 day mark to have a chance?

A couple of practical questions (apologies if already covered)
– On QR website it says you can only book an Avios seat if you have at least 50% of the Avios needed, does this mean you can book when you don’t have the full amount and secure the seat? If so, when and how does the balance of Avios need to be ‘paid’? Could it be I can book Avios seats and then wait for an Avios sale to come up in the next few months to buy the remaining Avios I need at a reduced price?
– How do you book Avios seats on Qatar website for two people? Myself and OH each have enough for ourselves in our own respective BA and QR (combined) accounts – will it recognise this and allow us to be both on the same booking and take the points from our respective QR accounts? Or do you either need to have the total points in one persons account (if so how could you go about this?) Or do you need to make two separate bookings when separately logged in as each passenger?
Many thanks for any helpful replies

Where are you going to? I’ve seen seats to Melbourne for next year at normal rate in early Jan

Do you mind me asking on which dates? I have been consistently checking all Australian/NZ cities for standard rate Avios seats in Jan 2024 and haven’t seen any availability until around the 20th/21st.

[rams]

ToffeeTom wrote:

rams wrote:

Sam106 wrote:

Hello,

Apologies I am going to jump on this thread with more questions on the same subject rather than any answers for you. Bit of a novice Avios collector but had diligently been accumulating to get the 360k needed for OH and myself to Australia for Christmas. Realised very naïve to think I could just jump on and find seats at that points rate, as noted can only see double points availability which I didn’t even realise was a thing – very disheartening. Thought I was looking early but can see I am a bit behind everyone else! Does anyone know if more likely to be able to get 360k seats in like Feb (2024) time? Is it a case that you need to get onto these right at the 355 day mark to have a chance?

A couple of practical questions (apologies if already covered)
– On QR website it says you can only book an Avios seat if you have at least 50% of the Avios needed, does this mean you can book when you don’t have the full amount and secure the seat? If so, when and how does the balance of Avios need to be ‘paid’? Could it be I can book Avios seats and then wait for an Avios sale to come up in the next few months to buy the remaining Avios I need at a reduced price?
– How do you book Avios seats on Qatar website for two people? Myself and OH each have enough for ourselves in our own respective BA and QR (combined) accounts – will it recognise this and allow us to be both on the same booking and take the points from our respective QR accounts? Or do you either need to have the total points in one persons account (if so how could you go about this?) Or do you need to make two separate bookings when separately logged in as each passenger?
Many thanks for any helpful replies

Where are you going to? I’ve seen seats to Melbourne for next year at normal rate in early Jan

Do you mind me asking on which dates? I have been consistently checking all Australian/NZ cities for standard rate Avios seats in Jan 2024 and haven’t seen any availability until around the 20th/21st.

earlier in the month was available in the last 2 weeks. They seem to get snapped up quickly

[Sam106]

Thank you for explaining – that makes sense

marks7389 wrote:

The “At least 50% Avios” thing is Qatar’s Avios Plus Cash option allowing you to pay additional cash and less Avios on a redemption booking.

https://www.qatarairways.com/en-us/Privilege-Club/redeem-avios/avios-plus-cash.html

There is no option to make up the Avios later.

I’m not sure how it works out, but given it is rarely discussed I suspect it is not all that attractive. Confusingly it seems to be different from their Cash+Avios option which works the other way round to allow smaller amounts of Avios to be used as part-payment on a cash booking rather like BA does.

[Sam106]

I am looking at Adelaide but would consider just being able to get to any Oz city actually, as mentioned they must get snapped up quickly

rams wrote:

Sam106 wrote:

Where are you going to? I’ve seen seats to Melbourne for next year at normal rate in early Jan

[nectar collector]

Sam106 wrote:

I am looking at Adelaide but would consider just being able to get to any Oz city actually, as mentioned they must get snapped up quickly

rams wrote:

Sam106 wrote:

Where are you going to? I’ve seen seats to Melbourne for next year at normal rate in early Jan

The non stop flight from Doha to Adelaide continues on to Auckland, so potentially increases demand on that one.

[rams]

Successfully booked my Qatar outbound to Melbourne last night on BA website for 23rd Jan 2024. Seats when first released on Qatar only had double Avios but after 4-5 days started to show availability for the 90k Avios seats. This thankfully was reflected on BA whose calendar only releases seats a week or so behind Qatar.

Inbound for the week after looking full now. Hoping seats are released similar to outbound otherwise need to look into other options including Singapore Airlines.

[Rob]

Interesting insights. I am in Doha with the team next week so I will try to get some info. I’d also like a full UK-everywhere price list.

[polly]

Yes @Rob, bit frustrating this, big banner saying you must have 50% of avios, when we quite clearly have more than the 100% needed in the HHA. So, unable to book on QR. But definitely better to book on BA site, as much easier to deal with them than the QR cs. Be useful when you meet up with them, hope they look at their website design. Could do with an upgrade to maybe reflect HHA use.

[ToffeeTom]

After a month or so of searching, I’ve finally managed to grab two business seats to Auckland flying from Manchester via Doha. The challenge now is to secure a return flight in a couple of weeks! I have been checking regularly since the end of December and only saw three dates that had standard reward availability (15th, 21st and 23rd Jan). Some reflections (apologies if any of this is common knowledge):

– Some standard reward seats appear to be tied to the Doha – Auckland leg (which also covers Adelaide, so applies those interested in Australia as well). Prior to my booking, the Qatar site showed standard Avios availability from London, Manchester and Dublin, connecting with the same flight in Doha. Availability from London and Dublin changed from standard to 2x rewards seats as soon as I’d made my booking. I don’t think this applies to every flight but it definitely did in my case.

– You will pay more Avios for Manchester flights on the BA website. Qatar charge the standard 90k, BA charge 113k for each leg. This does not apply to London, which remains at the standard 90k.

[Sam106]

Thank you nectar collector and Toffee Tom – very interesting to know the Doha – Adelaide flight continues on to Auckland

ToffeeTom wrote:

After a month or so of searching, I’ve finally managed to grab two business seats to Auckland flying from Manchester via Doha. The challenge now is to secure a return flight in a couple of weeks! I have been checking regularly since the end of December and only saw three dates that had standard reward availability (15th, 21st and 23rd Jan). Some reflections (apologies if any of this is common knowledge):

– Some standard reward seats appear to be tied to the Doha – Auckland leg (which also covers Adelaide, so applies those interested in Australia as well). Prior to my booking, the Qatar site showed standard Avios availability from London, Manchester and Dublin, connecting with the same flight in Doha. Availability from London and Dublin changed from standard to 2x rewards seats as soon as I’d made my booking. I don’t think this applies to every flight but it definitely did in my case.

– You will pay more Avios for Manchester flights on the BA website. Qatar charge the standard 90k, BA charge 113k for each leg. This does not apply to London, which remains at the standard 90k.

[Rob]

Spoke to the guy running the Avios integration for Qatar – he told me that the two ‘guaranteed’ business seats are at standard rate. Any shown as ‘x2’ are not included in this count.

I suggested raising the guaranteed minimum from 2 to 4 ‘because that’s a normal family size’ – he reminded me that in Qatar the average family size is far more than that! Woman who runs QPC is one of 6 and her mother is one of 10.

[Amy C]

Rob Burgess wrote:

Spoke to the guy running the Avios integration for Qatar – he told me that the two ‘guaranteed’ business seats are at standard rate. Any shown as ‘x2’ are not included in this count.

I suggested raising the guaranteed minimum from 2 to 4 ‘because that’s a normal family size’ – he reminded me that in Qatar the average family size is far more than that! Woman who runs QPC is one of 6 and her mother is one of 10.

Thanks for the update.
However, Qatari culture shouldn’t be his benchmark as they represent a tiny fraction of their customer base.