In the miles & points world, there are all kinds of rites of passage. Have you redeemed for an overwater villa in the Maldives? Have you visited the Lufthansa First Class Terminal? Have you showered on an Emirates A380? Have you flown Qatar Airways Qsuites?
Of those, redeeming for travel on Qatar Airways is probably the most widely useful and interesting redemption option. In this post I wanted to take a closer look at how to most efficiently redeem miles for travel on this popular Gulf carrier.
In this post:
Why you should care about redeeming on Qatar Airways
Let’s start with the very basics. Why should you even care about redeeming for business class travel on Qatar Airways? The way I view it, there are two main reasons this is valuable…
Qatar Airways has an amazing business class
Qatar Airways offers one of the best business class products in the world. The carrier has what’s known as Qsuites, which is its award-winning business class that’s available on many jets.
Business class products really don’t get more well-rounded than Qatar Airways business class, between the seats, service, dine on demand concept, amazing food and beverage selection, entertainment, reasonably priced Wi-Fi, amenities, and more.
There’s not an airline that I’ve found to be as consistently high quality in business class as Qatar Airways, and I know that’s a sentiment shared by many. 
Qatar Airways has a global route network
A great business class product is of course nice, but what’s most important is that it can take you to the places you actually want to go. Qatar Airways has a massive global route network.
The airline flies to a dozen destinations in the United States, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington. While all flights route through Doha, there are all kinds of amazing destinations you can access in one stop.
For the purposes of routing efficiently, you can’t beat flying Qatar Airways to places in the Middle East, India, and Africa, in particular. 
The best programs for booking Qatar Airways business class
One of the tricks to maximizing points is to understand airline partnerships, because the airline you want to fly with and the airline you want to redeem points through often won’t be the same. Airline partnerships create some awesome arbitrage opportunities, and that’s especially true for travel on Qatar Airways.
What are the best ways to redeem for travel on Qatar Airways? Below are my favorites, roughly ranked…
American AAdvantage
One of my favorite uses of American miles, and also one of my all-around favorite award sweet spots, is redeeming AAdvantage miles for travel on Qatar Airways. While you can redeem for travel on Qatar Airways globally, my favorite one-way business class sweet spots are as follows:
- Book Qatar Airways from the United States to the Middle East or India for 70,000 miles
- Book Qatar Airways from the United States to Africa for 75,000 miles
Those are spectacular values, especially when you consider just how far you can travel. For example, you could fly from Chicago to Doha to Johannesburg for 75,000 miles in business class, which is an amazing value.
These awards can be booked directly on aa.com, and there are no fuel surcharges.
How do you earn American AAdvantage miles? American has several co-branded credit cards, and AAdvantage also frequently sells miles directly at a reasonable cost.
Alaska Mileage Plan
There are lots of great uses of Alaska miles, and one of those is redeeming for travel on Qatar Airways. You can only redeem for travel on Qatar Airways in select regions, with one-way business class pricing being as follows:
- Book Qatar Airways from the United States to the Middle East or India for 85,000 miles
- Book Qatar Airways from the United States to Africa for 120,000 miles
As you can tell, the pricing is higher than through American AAdvantage. One benefit of booking through Alaska Mileage Plan is that you’re allowed a free stopover, so if you’d like to spend a couple of nights (or more) in Doha, then this would be the better value. Otherwise I’d generally recommend booking through American AAdvantage, assuming you have balances with both programs.
These awards can be booked directly on alaskaair.com, and there are no fuel surcharges.
How do you earn Mileage Plan miles? Alaska often sells miles at a discount, and you can also rack up miles with the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card (review) and Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card (review).
British Airways Executive Club & Qatar Airways Privilege Club
It might seem weird that I’m grouping British Airways Executive Club and Qatar Airways together, so let me explain:
- In May 2022, Qatar Airways adopted Avios as its rewards currency, which is the same currency used by British Airways, Iberia, etc.
- It’s possible to instantly transfer Avios for free between the various currencies, so you can move Avios all you’d like between British Airways Executive Club and Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- American AAdvantage and Alaska Mileage Plan don’t partner with major transferable points currencies, so this is a way to book Qatar Airways awards using flexible points
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club is transfer partners with Citi ThankYou, while British Airways Executive Club is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards
You’ll largely find that award pricing and availability is aligned between the two programs, though at times there will be discrepancies. The beauty of Avios is that you can always compare prices between the two programs, and then transfer points to whichever program offers a better value.
While British Airways doesn’t publish its award pricing for Qatar Airways awards, you can find the Qatar Airways Avios calculator here. Regardless, you can ticket awards on either of the carrier’s websites.
Here are some of the one-way business class award redemption rates:
- Book Qatar Airways from the United States to the Middle East for 70,000 Avios
- Book Qatar Airways from the United States to India for 80,000 Avios
- Book Qatar Airways from the United States to much of Europe (via Doha) for 85,000 Avios
There are some mild fuel surcharges on these redemptions, though they’re hardly that high. The main selling point of these redemptions is the ability to book with transferable points currencies. Furthermore, we sometimes see transfer bonuses of 20-40% when transferring points from programs like Amex and Chase, which can get you an astonishingly good deal.
What is Qatar Airways award availability like?
It’s one thing to know the best award redemption values, though the biggest question is what award availability is like. After all, an award sweet spot is only worth so much if there’s no availability. So, what’s Qatar Airways business class award availability like?
As is the case with many airlines, it seems to vary significantly. Sometimes there’s not much availability at all for the entire schedule, while at other times the airline opens the floodgates of award availability, making it super easy to redeem.
Like many things in life, snagging Qatar Airways business class awards is all about timing, and I try to note on the blog when the airline has a lot of award availability.
Personally I think the easiest way to keep tabs on Qatar Airways availability is through aa.com, since the airline has a useful award calendar that lets you quickly search availability for months at a time. Specifically, I recommend searching availability for one nonstop route at a time.
For example, say you want to search availability from Washington to Doha for flights in October 2023. Just do a search as you usually would, and select the “Redeem miles” button.
When you get to the next page, click the “Calendar” button at the top right of the page.
Then you’ll be brought to a calendar that shows you availability for a month at a time. Just select “Nonstop only” and “Business / First,” and then you’ll see a calendar with all dates that are available. You can also toggle between months, and search an entire year within a minute or so.
You should find that availability matches with other programs, including Alaska Mileage Plan and British Airways Executive Club.
Bottom line
Qatar Airways offers one of the world’s best business class products, which can take you to points around the globe. Fortunately it’s also possible to book with miles, with some of the best redemption values out there.
Whether you have AAdvantage miles and want to travel 25+ hours in business class from the United States to Africa, or have transferable points currencies and can take advantage of a transfer bonus, the opportunities are endless.
If you’ve redeemed miles for Qatar Airways, what was your experience like?
"What is Qatar Airways award availability like?"
I feel like this answer was an evasive answer. I'll spoil it: it's terrible. Nothing on schedule. You think you find something on AA's site, but no. It's BA with an economy leg on Etihad, and a 1k surcharge per ticket.
The floodgates haven't opened since this article was written, so I'd say it's time for an update.
Gone are the days of 70,000 miles to travel long haul in Q suites. It’s all 2X meaning 2 times the miles now! Hoping something changes soon.
Hi, whenever I try a business award flight to India, it automatically switches to BA flights through London which involve paying 600+ dollars in taxes etc, even though the nonstop flight to Doha is available that day. How do I get it to show QA instead?
Are you searching through Qatar’s site or American’s site? You can also call and get results you might not see on line.
What are the other places you can fly from Doha? To Europe?
Used 80,000 Alaska miles for SFO-Doha-Bangalore. Best business class I’ve flown. I agree that the hard and soft product are amazing. The A350 is great on the SFO segment. Their 777 to India was good but showing some age. Alaska’s availability was quite limited with them wanting 200,000 miles for most flights. Alaska’s dynamic pricing is awful.
BEWARE
Purchased OW MLE SEA Q suite using AA miles last March (2 pax). At check in in MLE QR claimed wife ticket valid, mine CANCELLED (same pnr). QR had changed aircraft and AA in reassigning seats had not passed my new ticket # to QR (or QR screwed up). Had to purchase Y last minute row 43 at $3k. No support from QR or AA - still fighting. Don't use AA miles on...
BEWARE
Purchased OW MLE SEA Q suite using AA miles last March (2 pax). At check in in MLE QR claimed wife ticket valid, mine CANCELLED (same pnr). QR had changed aircraft and AA in reassigning seats had not passed my new ticket # to QR (or QR screwed up). Had to purchase Y last minute row 43 at $3k. No support from QR or AA - still fighting. Don't use AA miles on QR as there is NO SUPPORT when things go south. Finger pointing but no way to get through to anyone to solve problems!
Wow, sounds disturbingly similar to my situation where QR / AA “unconfirmed” our ticketed travel. At least we know in advance. I’ve been able to get my partner reconfirmed to our originally ticketed Q suite travel CPT-IAD but AA refusing to reconfirm me or offer any alternative. Honestly I’ve met such a brick wall; complaining to US DOT got me nowhere and while I still have cases open with the DC Attorney General (where I...
Wow, sounds disturbingly similar to my situation where QR / AA “unconfirmed” our ticketed travel. At least we know in advance. I’ve been able to get my partner reconfirmed to our originally ticketed Q suite travel CPT-IAD but AA refusing to reconfirm me or offer any alternative. Honestly I’ve met such a brick wall; complaining to US DOT got me nowhere and while I still have cases open with the DC Attorney General (where I live) and BBB, I think I’m gonna have to take this to small claims court. I highly recommend that you do.
I noticed for the same flight SYD-DOH-LHR (and similar routes) the pricing on BA using avios, was 113,000, but on Qatar Privilege it was 90,000 avios. Same fees 'n taxes charges.
For a return trip this was a saving of 46,000 avios!
Most of the awards for Qatar to India or similar destinations require 200k on Alaska airlines. It's very difficult to find any redemption at 85k. When Emirates was a partner it was never this high.
I agree with you. I have never found any flight from US to India under 150k miles
Be careful relying on QR-operated awards; they are not trustworthy. We had AA-ticketed awards for QR business class flights CPT-DOH-IAD, and three months after ticketing, QR “unconfirmed” them and will not give them back! As the ticketing carrier, AA refuses to do a d@mn thing and is only offering a refund of miles (never mind that we’ve already spent thousands in no refundable travel plans for our trip to South Africa). It’s a mess. Assuming...
Be careful relying on QR-operated awards; they are not trustworthy. We had AA-ticketed awards for QR business class flights CPT-DOH-IAD, and three months after ticketing, QR “unconfirmed” them and will not give them back! As the ticketing carrier, AA refuses to do a d@mn thing and is only offering a refund of miles (never mind that we’ve already spent thousands in no refundable travel plans for our trip to South Africa). It’s a mess. Assuming AA doesn’t come through with a reasonable alternative itinerary, I expect we’ll end up suing them in small claims court. Careful!!
Hello
Jeremy
Any update on your situation? Did AA come through with alternative?
I thought QR availability was not shown on AA.com as of a few months ago?
I used to have luck booking Qatar business class pre-Covid. I just began booking seats for overseas travel late last year. However, I booked on QA website Q-Suite which cost 30K miles less at 100K from CEB/MNL -YUL/ SEA/LAX with high taxes. QA only flies to YUL in Canada. Hoping no last minute product change. If you want a free stopover in DOH, you must book on QA/ AS website. I'd like others experience the...
I used to have luck booking Qatar business class pre-Covid. I just began booking seats for overseas travel late last year. However, I booked on QA website Q-Suite which cost 30K miles less at 100K from CEB/MNL -YUL/ SEA/LAX with high taxes. QA only flies to YUL in Canada. Hoping no last minute product change. If you want a free stopover in DOH, you must book on QA/ AS website. I'd like others experience the best airline and business seats. BA has early availability not AA. It is more challenging to find affordable availability on AA/ UA now.
I always search aa's and qr's sites for availability. I haven't noticed any difference in availability. I'm typically looking for 1 seat and willing to book last minute, so I've been fairly lucky. By last minute, I mean the seat is not available 4 days before the flight. One thing I do notice about QR is the schedule is nice from Montreal to Africa, but appallingly long DOH layovers (min 7 hours, often 12 or...
I always search aa's and qr's sites for availability. I haven't noticed any difference in availability. I'm typically looking for 1 seat and willing to book last minute, so I've been fairly lucky. By last minute, I mean the seat is not available 4 days before the flight. One thing I do notice about QR is the schedule is nice from Montreal to Africa, but appallingly long DOH layovers (min 7 hours, often 12 or 18 hours) in the other direction.
As for "which miles to use" I disagree with Ben's advice. I value AA points much higher than Avios, so for QR travel I would always use Avios. I reserve my AA points for web specials on AA metal, which aren't available with partner points.
FC BKK-IST 90K AAdvantage miles only 15K more than business, A380 to DOH, only 2 pax in FC, icing on cake was Al Safwa, weird cheese cubes with Krug pre-departure AirFrance would never combine cheese with champagne, DOH-IST was a leased CX 777 seat about wide enough for 2, get a seat on right side to snag a window for seating and a center for sleeping
I’ve noticed that qatar has been releasing last minute biz awards through aa recently. Able to snag a last minute DXB-IAD redemption in Dec. and an IAD-MLE flight in Jan, both redeemed 3 days out from flight. The downside is that Qatar only seems to be releasing 1 biz ticket so not optimal for those traveling in a couple.
Whenever I look to book using AS miles west coast to JNB business is always 280K per seat. I tried your example to DEL using AS cheapest I found was 200K is there something I am missing? When AS had EK the worst we saw then was 160K first west coast to JNB/CPT.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
@Lucky I feel like AsiaMiles is overlooked as a great option to Australia or New Zealand if you want to go the long way. I've booked 90k miles in J from DFW to New Zealand with ~$500 taxes and fees. Then I'm returning Sydney to Doha to DFW for 112.k Asia miles in first class on the A380 and then QSuites (barring a product change) to DFW (also ~$500 taxes and fees). Amex has relatively...
@Lucky I feel like AsiaMiles is overlooked as a great option to Australia or New Zealand if you want to go the long way. I've booked 90k miles in J from DFW to New Zealand with ~$500 taxes and fees. Then I'm returning Sydney to Doha to DFW for 112.k Asia miles in first class on the A380 and then QSuites (barring a product change) to DFW (also ~$500 taxes and fees). Amex has relatively frequent transfer bonuses and so does Cathay Pacific (they currently have 15%). Probably a better route for an avgeek, but it's better than 16 hours in economy and the award availability is decent and you get to experience Doha's lounges. I was also able to find award availability for 2 people for a ton of dates.
I have see QR availability on Asia Miles, but only occasionally. We transferred 600K Amex points for 2 trips on CX and QR for 2020 and 2021 trips that were canceled by Covid. Now half those *hopefully* get used in December on CX and JL.
We found paying fees for CX award tickets very difficult. None of our cards worked, but PayPal did. Go figger...
Since October 2022 I have been trying to get two business class award seats IAD-DOH DOH-LUN for this August with no luck. I check the AA website daily and call every week. Seems a bit ridiculous. Any thoughts or pointers on what to do?
Why ridiculous? I guess it's a busy time, so they don't foresee needing to have reward tickets available because people will pay cash money. There's availability in Sept & Oct and DCA availability to DOH end of August (via JFK) and you can even go in First! very few airlines offer reward seat guarantees.
Perhaps ridiculous was a poor choice of words, frustrating might be better. There are some trips that are not flexible. We are going on Safari and many of the small lodges book up a year in advance. The frustrating aspect is that when I was first checking out award tickets there seemed to be a lot of availability, and that seems to have changed.