Privilege Club - Qatar Airways

Program Review

Qatar Airways, the state-owned flag carrier is located in Qatar Tower in Doha. It operates a wide network, including more than 150 international destinations all over Africa, Europe, Central and South Asia, Far and Middle East, South and North America, and Oceania. The airline, based at Hamad International Airport, uses a fleet consisting of more than 180 aircrafts. Since October 2013, Qatar Airways has been a OneWorld's alliance member.

This airline was first established in November of 1993, with operations starting in January of 1994. Amman was first served in May of 1994. In April of 1995, the airline’s CEO was the Sheikh Hamad Bin Jabor Al Thani who employed a staff of 75. By this time the fleet consisted of two Airbus A310s that serviced a route network that included Cairo, Dubai, Tokyo, Osaka, and a number of other locations.

Privilege Club Program

The Privilege Club rewards program offers its members an easy way to earn and redeem points. Members of this program can earn points by flying with Qatar Airways or one of their many partner airlines. The points that members earn can be redeemed for award flights, cabin upgrades, car rentals, and even hotel rooms. You will quickly discover that this program has some very lax routing rules and minimal booking fees, making it easier to save money on your travels.

Earning Privilege Club Points

You will be able to earn points in the Privilege Club when you travel on Qatar Airways, oneworld airlines, or one of the other partner airlines. There are a number of services that these partners use that you can earn points through as well.

Qmiles are valid for a minimum period of three years and will expire twice a year by the end of the semester (June 30th and December 31st) in which those Qmiles were earned. Note that Qmiles of Platinum members can't be expired as long as the member retains Platinum tier.

Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club has a distance-based earning system. It means you can accrue points by the distance you travel on your flights. You will be able to earn points through booked flights as well as checking into certain hotels and even renting cars from various rental companies. One of the best things about this rewards program is the fact that earning points is so incredibly easy.

Some of the different partners of Qatar Airways that you can earn points with include AC Hotels by Marriot, Agoda.com, ALOFT, Autograph Collections, Conrad Hotels and Resorts, and many others. Because there are so many different partners that you can earn points though, you shouldn’t have any problem with doing so. You will also be able to accrue Qmiles every time you rent a car from Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Rentalcars.com, or Sixt.
It is highly recommended that you know about all of the different partners of Qatar Airways so that you can make earning Qmiles as easy as possible for yourself.

Redeeming Mileage Points

You will be able to redeem the mileage points you accrue as a member of the Privilege Club for award flights, hotel rooms, cabin upgrades, and more. You can redeem your points for award flights to any of the over 150 different destinations this airline flies to.

Qmiles plus cash offers you have to combine your Qmiles and cash to get the flight award you want, so there isn’t any complication or hassle like with other airlines. You also have the option to book now and pay later. This is a new feature that provides you with the flexibility to book your travel itinerary online and return with a set time limit to complete payment and confirm your redemption booking. To confirm the booking, payment must be completed using either the “Manage Booking” tab on Qatarairways.com or through a local Qatar Airways sales office.

“Easy Deals” is a program that Qatar Airways offers you so you can redeem award tickets online for up to 50% fewer Qmiles, which can be incredibly useful. Every month, the program showcases a list of flights on certain routes that can potentially help you save a significant number of Qmiles.

Benefits of Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club Program

There are quite a few different benefits associated with the Privilege Club rewards program for Qatar Airways, including the fact that there are so many different ways to go about earning points/miles. This airline's Easy-Deals program is great for getting the occasional big discount, which can potentially save you a lot of miles. There are also low fuel surcharges on OR-operated rewards. If you are looking for an airline frequent flyer program that can benefit you in a big way, this one is definitely worth taking a close look at.

Elite Levels

There are a number of Elite membership levels that you can work your up to, including:

Silver Level: Possessors of such elite level are welcome to get a 25-percent mileage bonus on flights, access Flex awards and the business class lounge passing business class check-in, and use a priority boarding. They are also allowed to consider extra baggage up to 10 kg or a piece.

Gold Level: The level owners automatically get a 75-percent mileage bonus, priority baggage handling, and extra baggage allowance up to 15 kg. They are provided with the option to access the business class lounge with a guest and four lounge guests per year, receiving a great Hamad International Airport service. Moreover, they acquire 5 percent off online award booking and increased award availability.

Platinum Level: The members of such an elite program receive 100-percent bonus miles and permission to bring a 20 kg extra baggage. They're also allowed to check-in at first-class and access the business class lounge with two guests (up to five guests per year). In addition, Qmiles don't expire as long as you keep the Platinum status.

Booking Fees/Charges

Fees for this airline/program do not apply for online bookings made more than 48 hours prior to departure. There is a $25 fee for changing or canceling a flight more than 24 hours prior to departure and a $100 charge for changing or canceling a flight 3 hours and 24 hours prior to departure.

Redeem on Upgrades

You have the option of using the miles/points you accrue as a Privilege Club member for cabin upgrades. It is important to keep in mind that you must make arrangements for your upgrade on the official Qatar Airways website ahead of time.

Routing Rules

You will be able to do as many stopovers as you wish, as the cost of the award ticket in Qmiles is calculated by adding the distance flown for each leg and matching to the partner award chart. Also, open jaws are allowed.

Cobranded Credit Cards

There are a number of co-branded credit cards that are available from Qatar Airways and their partners. Some of these partners include American Express, AHLI United Bank, Barwa Bank, and Burgan Bank.