Qatar Airways Privilege Club has adopted Avios as its rewards currency.
What is Avios?
Like Asia Miles and Krisflyer miles, Avios is a loyalty rewards currency. It is used by International Airlines Group (IAG) airlines like British Airways and Iberia.
Key points to note
- Qmiles in your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account is now called Avios.
- You can now transfer Avios between frequent flyer programs (FFP) of other IAG airlines instantly, for free and at 1:1 ratio
- You will still require the same amount of “miles” to redeem for award flights with Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- You will still earn “miles” at the same rates, when crediting to Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Is this good or bad?
As mentioned above, with this change, you will still redeem and earn miles the same way with Qatar Airways Privilege Club. The key difference is that you can now transfer points to/from FFPs of other IAG airlines.
Although this flexibility is welcomed, I personally do not see any exciting benefits in the FFPs of other IAG airlines, especially as a Singapore-based traveller.
However, because we can now transfer Avios freely between those FFPs, we may benefit in receiving more sales of Avios by any of those airlines, as well as potential credit card transfer bonuses in future.
In short, there’s nothing bad to worry about and the benefits are really mild.
How to link your Qatar Airways and British Airways accounts
To link your Qatar Airways and British Airways accounts:
- Go to this page and click on Link my accounts.
- Log in to your Qatar Airways account.
- Click on Link account with British Airways Executive Club and then Link accounts. You will then be redirected to British Airways’ website.
- Log in to your British Airways account
- You will then be redirected back to Qatar Airways’ website and the linkage should be completed.
Bottom line
Qatar Airways adopts Avios as its rewards currency for some (minor) additional benefits.
