Qatar Airways Privilege Club Discounts American Airlines and Alaska Airlines Award Flights
Qatar Airways has devalued some The Sweet Spot of Avios for award flights on partner airlines including American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, as first reported today by InDeals.
Historically, Qatar Airways Privilege Club Qatar Airways has been a popular, albeit somewhat niche, frequent flyer program for U.S.-based fliers, thanks in part to its stellar redemption rates for short-haul flights on Qatar’s U.S.-based partner airlines. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. What’s more, Qatar Airways did this devaluation without informing its Privilege Club members. This is just one more reason why travelers should always consider diversifying the types of points and miles they earn and redeem, as devaluations like this happen all too often.
Here are the details on this latest blow, what passengers can expect, and how you can still get some value from Qatar Airways Avios on short-haul flights on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
Related: 5 Avios Versions: When to Use Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways cuts prices on short-haul awards from American Airlines and Alaska Airlines
Qatar Airways uses multiple (unpublished) award charts for flights on many different airlines.
Although the airline has not made any announcement about changing the chart they use American Airlines And Alaska Airlines Award search shows that redemption rates for short-haul American and Alaska flights have actually increased. The cost of these flights on Avios has increased by as much as 64%, with the shortest routes seeing the biggest price increases. Here’s what we can piece together.
| Flight distance | Model flight | Prepaid (in Avios) | Current cost (in Avios) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 650 miles | Charlotte to New York City on American From Seattle to Portland, Oregon on Alaska | 6,000 economies 12,500 businesses | 9,500 economies 20,000 businesses | +58% +60% |
| 651 to 1,151 miles | Miami to New York City on American From Seattle to Los Angeles on Alaska | 9,000 economies 16,500 businesses | 13,000 economies 27,000 businesses | +44% +64% |
| 1,152 to 2,000 miles | Miami to Chicago on American Seattle to Minneapolis-St. Paul on Alaska | 11,000 economies 22,000 businesses | 14,500 economies 34,000 businesses | +32% +53% |
| 2,001 to 3,000 miles | Miami to Seattle on American Los Angeles to Newark on Alaska | 13,000 economies 38,750 businesses | 16,000 economies 43,000 businesses | +23% +11% |
This means that even the shortest routes, like a 129-mile flight from Seattle to Portland, Oregon, will cost you at least 9,500 Avios each way.
The good news is that longer-haul flight awards on American and Alaska, as well as redemption requests for JetBlue flights, appear to be unaffected… for now. Since this devaluation came without warning, it’s unknown whether the Qatar Airways Privilege Club plans to make any further changes to its award tiers in the coming days. So if you’re planning on booking with Qatar Airways Avios, do it sooner rather than later.
Currently, Qatar Airways’ award pricing for flights on other partner airlines remains unchanged.
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Related: Airlines You Can Book With Avios: How to Maximize Your Points
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Although Qatar Airways’ award prices for these flights have increased significantly, overall the points and miles are still relatively affordable.
British Airways Executive Clubalso uses Avios as its currency, which has recently undergone a similar devaluationBritish Airways’ award chart for partner flights to Alaska and the US is structured quite similarly to Qatar’s, except each price point is a few thousand Avios higher.
| Flight distance | Qatar Airways Cost (in Avios) | British Airways Cost (in Avios) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 650 miles | 9,500 economies 20,000 businesses | 12,000 economies 24,000 businesses |
| 651 to 1,151 miles | 13,000 economies 27,000 businesses | 16,000 economies 32,000 businesses |
| 1,151 to 2,000 miles | 14,500 economies 34,000 businesses | 18,000 economies 40,000 businesses |
| 2,001 to 3,000 miles | 16,000 economies 43,000 businesses | 20,000 economies 50,000 businesses |
If you plan to use Avios to book award flights on American or Alaska, you’ll still get the best rates if you book through Qatar Airways. However, depending on the type of award you have, there may be better options.
For example, if you want to fly from Miami to Chicago, a one-way ticket on American booked via Qatar would cost 14,500 Avios in economy class or 34,000 Avios in business class.
Or you can book the same flight through American for just 8,500 AAdvantage miles in economy or 26,500 miles in business class.
However, because American uses dynamic pricing, using AAdvantage miles isn’t always the cheapest option. You’ll need to check on a case-by-case basis.
AAdvantage miles are also one of the Frequent flyer miles are the hardest to earn. because the program has very few transfer partners (the same is true for Alaska Mileage Plan miles). You may find it easier Book award flights with Avios because you can transfer them from:
As mentioned, Qatar Airways, at the time of publication, has not changed award chart for JetBlue flightsSo it’s still possible to get great value from your Avios by booking short-haul flights on JetBlue. Here’s the current award chart Qatar uses for JetBlue flights:
| Flight distance | Cost at Avios |
|---|---|
| Up to 1,100 miles | 8,500 economies 17,000 businesses |
| 1,101 to 2,000 miles | 13,000 economies 26,000 businesses |
| 2,001 to 2,800 miles | 18,500 economies 74,000 businesses |
| 2,801 to 3,700 miles | 25,000 economies 78,000 businesses |
So you can fly from Fort Lauderdale to New York (a 1,070-mile route) on JetBlue for just 8,500 Avios each way in economy class.
A similar route on American or Alaska would cost 13,000 Avios via Qatar Airways or 16,000 Avios via British Airways.
When searching for flights to or from cities that Qatar Airways doesn’t serve, the city or airport may not appear in the destination drop-down menu. That’s okay — just enter the airport code in the destination box and click “Search” and your flight options will appear.
Related: Best Avios Earning Credit Cards: Which Card Is Right for You?
The last line
Despite this depreciation, Qatar Airways Avios remain the cheapest Avios to book award flights on Alaska Airlines and American Airlines.
British Airways’ award chart is more expensive than Qatar’s for these partner flights, and booking partner award flights on other airlines using Avios is much more difficult (Finnair, Iberia and Aer Lingus). You should also always double-check the awards on American and Alaska’s websites if you have their miles to see if you can get a better deal that way.
Avios collectors should pay attention now as there could be more price drops to come.
