This Qatar change impacts every reward flight booking

Without warning, Qatar has changed the rules on reward flights

For most travellers who use Avios with Qatar, this is going to be a significant pain point. Why the airline hasn’t been more communicative about this change is anyone’s guess. The reason behind it is “security”, but it’s incredibly restrictive.

What has happened?

Qatar has quietly introduced a change that will affect anyone who wants to book a reward flight for themselves and someone else.

You can now only book flights for yourself and anyone on either your Family & Friends list, or what they call “My list”. The issue is, you cannot add anyone to either list unless you have done one of two things:

1. Earned at least one Avios point from a Qatar cash flight
2. Earned at least one point via a Qatar Airways credit card.

If you’re based outside of Qatar, then it’s unlikely you’ll have a credit card, as residency is required.

It’s also likely, if you’re a points collector, that you have paid for any flights using cash. This means you cannot book reward flights for anyone except yourself.

Why have they made this change?

The reason given is security. Points theft is a real issue that impacts airlines and collectors. This does feel like it’s a sledgehammer to crack a nut, though.

Qatar, in my opinion, is one of the most secure airline websites to log in to. Every single time that I want to log in, I have to get a code sent to me via SMS. Sometimes it even logs me out halfway through my session. It feels fundamentally secure, given that you need that code to access your profile, or even book a fight using Avios.

How do you get around this?

You can get around this issue in two ways:

1. You can book a Qatar flight using a partner airline, for example, British Airways. The cost, in both points and cash, should be the same as if you book with Qatar.
2. You can book flights individually, assuming that each flier has their own Privilege Club account.

The first option is clearly the better one. With the second, you run the risk of seats becoming unavailable when you try to book the second, or third, or fourth seat. It also poses another challenge around points.

I’m in a BA household account with my wife. I can move Avios from Qatar to my BA account. I can then move points from that pool of household points to my wife’s Privilege Club account. If you’re booking for people who aren’t in your household, then this isn’t going to work. They would need their own Avios in their own account.

What about partner flights booked through Qatar?

The same rules still apply, and this is where there is no workaround. As an example, we recently used Avios to book two flights with Bangkok Airways. We did this through Qatar, and it was easy and relatively low-cost. BA are not a partner, so the only way to book is through Qatar.

What’s the difference between the Friends & Family list and “My List”?

Both lists have the same requirements to add people: you can’t unless you have earned points via a flight or via a co-branded credit card.

• My List allows you to add people who you want to book flights for.
• Friends and Family allows you to do the same, but you can also pool your Avios points.

How easy is it to book Qatar through BA?

It’s not difficult, and you should see the same availability as on the Qatar site. Pricing should be the same as if booking through Qatar. The only disadvantage is that you have to use the BA reward flight search, which is a little clunky and slow.

Firstly, if you haven’t already, link your BA and Qatar Privilege Club accounts. This is a quick and easy process.

Then it’s just a case of using the Book with Avios function. Make sure to avoid applying a companion voucher. These are selected by default but searching using one will remove Qatar flights from the results.

You can see in the screenshot below how my search for an example flight from Doha to Manchester brought up Qatar results.

There are other ways to search for Avios availability on BA. Unfortunately, since the new app launched, we’ve lost one way of searching for reward flights as that function has been removed.

What does this change mean?

This puts up a seemingly unnecessary barrier if you want to use Avios through Qatar. It’s such a bizarre change that I had to reach out to their customer support to make sure it wasn’t just an issue with my account.

For those starting out on their points journey, it feels like an unnecessary step to jump through. Not only do you need to build up the required points and then find availability, but you also need to have a Qatar credit card or have paid for a flight using cash already.