Using your frequent flyer points to fly to Europe is high on many of our reader’s wishlists. And to make it happen, Qatar Airways is a prime pick for a few reasons – good route connectivity in Australia and beyond being a crucial one. It also doesn’t hurt that Qatar Airways’ Business Class experience is regarded as one of the best in the industry.
The challenge, as with most other major airlines, is finding and booking those reward seats. To help you, we’ve compared the five most relevant points ‘currencies’ for Australian frequent flyers when it comes to redeeming points for Qatar Airways flights, to see which are the easiest to use and which offers the best rates. Those programs are:
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Velocity Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Cathay Asia Miles
- American Airlines AAdvantage
Of course, these tips aren’t exclusive to the Qatar Airways Business Class. It’s the same concept for the airline’s Economy and First Class cabins as well – just the points and taxes needed will differ.
Tips on searching for Qatar Airways reward seats
You can expect to see Qatar Airways seats released from 361 days before departure, including on the airline’s own Privilege Club scheme. But some partner programs won’t see those seats until later on as their calendars may only stretch to 330 days (such as with both Virgin Australia and American Airlines).
Though it’s not perfect, a good place to search for a monthly view of Qatar Airways flights is on the American Airlines website. You can filter results by cabin class and look at non-stop options only, which is an efficient way to sleuth out the rare seats.
Then you can take that information and book online through the other partner airline websites (depending on which points or miles you want to use).
In the example above, I see that Saturday 4 February 2023 has a Business Class seat from Melbourne to Doha. Checking the Virgin Australia website yields the same results, which I can book with Velocity Points. The same goes for using Cathay’s Asia Miles.
Limitations with partner programs
Unfortunately, the Asia Miles calendar seems to be limited to seeing Qatar Airways flights from only 119 days before departure, which makes it difficult to plan trips when other partner programs have access more than 200 days earlier.
Access to Qatar Airways reward seats through Qantas Frequent Flyer is even more heavily restricted at the time of writing – no Business or First Class seats appear on the Qantas website at all (at the time of writing). Only Economy is available when I check. I’ve tried calling up and it’s the same story there.
We understand that this isn’t Qantas’ fault – it seems to be an issue with Qatar Airways. Still, it’s a frustrating situation for those with a huge stash of Qantas Points.
Which program offers the best value on Qatar Airways flights?
Australia-Europe flights tend to be in the highest ‘zone’ or pricing for reward seats, so it’s easy to compare costs across the five programs. Here’s a summary of the points and approximate cash you’ll need for a one-way Business Class flight from Melbourne to London.
| Qatar Airways Melbourne-London in Business | Airline points/miles required (one-way) | AMEX Membership Rewards points equivalent | Approximate taxes required (converted to AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qantas Points | 159,000 | 318,000 (Ascent Premium only) | $646 |
| Velocity Points | 139,000 | 278,000 | $775 |
| Privilege Club Avios | 90,000 | 180,000 | $350 |
| Asia Miles | 90,000 | 180,000 | $635 |
| AAdvantage miles | 85,000 | N/A | $140 |
Using Qantas Points
This is all theoretical at the time of writing, as I can’t find anything bookable in Business Class.
But if you could, it would cost you 159,000 Qantas Points to fly from Melbourne to London in Qatar Airways Business Class. Taxes are around AU$646 one-way, and I only know this because I have a confirmed booking made before all the availability dried up.
Using Velocity Points
Velocity Frequent Flyer has a cheaper partner points table than Qantas, so Melbourne to London on Qatar Airways will set you back 139,000 Velocity Points one-way. The cash payment is the highest out of all the programs though, at AU$775. This is due to the carrier charges that Velocity levy.
On the plus side, availability in Business Class is excellent and mostly mirrors what is available to Qatar Airways’ own members.
Using Asia Miles
You’ll only need 90,000 Asia Miles to fly Qatar Airways from Melbourne to London. If you’re transferring points from a bank program, that means you’ll need far fewer points to fly compared to transferring to Velocity Frequent Flyer.
But the main issue is that Asia Miles has far more restrictive availability than Velocity. Our suggestion is to only transfer points to Asia Miles if you can see a bookable reward seat.
Asia Miles also passes on all taxes and surcharges on partner redemptions. The out-of-pocket cost on this route is AU$635 one-way, which is broadly similar to Qantas.
Using Privilege Club Avios
Qatar Airways’ own Privilege Club members enjoy the best access to Business Class reward seats. The main problem is that it’s hard to come by Avios in Australia, as there aren’t any local transfer partners. You can buy Avios on sale or consider the British Airways Avios subscription to boost your balance.
British Airways, Qatar Airways and Iberia are the main airlines that share the Avios ecosystem. You can transfer those Avios at a 1:1 rate to Privilege Club to book these reward seats.
Fees and taxes are around AU$350 one-way, which is quite reasonable.
American Express Platinum Card
Using AAdvantage miles
Somewhat ironically – given the previous feud between the two airlines – travellers savvy enough to have a stash of American Airlines AAdvantage miles are the best off when it comes to flying Qatar Airways.
Not only does American Airlines have the best search interface, but members only need to redeem 85,000 AAdvantage miles and pay the equivalent of AU$140 for a one-way Business Class from Melbourne to London. What a steal.
You can buy AAdvantage miles on sale, but otherwise, there’s no easy way to earn them in bulk in Australia.
Summing up
It’s great to have Qatar flying from five Australian cities, including Brisbane. The carrier certainly offers strong competition on the Middle East routes, especially with Australian travellers being able to experience their newer aircraft. Sydney and Perth are graced with the Airbus A380 – but Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide get the swanky Qsuites Business Class.
Right now, Velocity Points are the easiest accessible points ‘currency’ to use on Qatar Airways in Australia. But you do also pay the most in carrier charges. On the other hand, Privilege Club Avios and AAdvantage miles offer excellent redemption rates and low fees and taxes, but those points are quite difficult to collect in Australia.
Qantas Points used to be a decent way to book Qatar Airways flights, but unfortunately, there are practically no premium cabin rewards available to Qantas members right now. Talk within the industry is that Qatar Airways and Qantas aren’t getting along, particularly with the Red Roo’s strong partnership with Emirates.
But we can only hope the situation mellows out in time and that members can use their Qantas Points to fly to Doha and beyond, once again.
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If you can wait till Amex do a 50% transfer bonus to Marriott then your 300,000 Amex will = 300,000 Marriott which gives 5 x 20,000 = 100,000 AA miles. For another 60,000 Amex points you would then have a bit more than the 115k American Airlines miles needed to fly firstclass.
Also, not sure its true but I am seeing more J/F avaliability in June 2025 leaving from Auckland (connecting on business to SYD) than leaving from SYD itself. So come across to AKL for a few days before heading to Europe.
Hey! Can I use my Qantas points etc booking direct on the Qatar website? Or do I need to book a Qatar flight via the QANTAS website to be able to do that? SO CONFUSED lol
Can now earn Qatar Avios with Amex Australia
I can’t find Qantas business class on points to DOHA on the same day offered by Velocity online.
If I call Qantas direct, will they have the seat?
Hi Ellie, Qatar Airways now releases many more seats to Velocity than to Qantas, given Qatar’s closer partnership there. Qatar generally only releases seats to Qantas within a few days before departure (practically on a ‘what probably won’t sell’ basis). You could certainly try calling to see if the Qantas contact centre can do anything, though – particularly as some routes and destinations can’t easily be searched and booked via the Qantas website even if seats were made available.
Any idea if you book a seat using Velocity points for business class on Qatar whether or not the fare type is ‘Lite’ or ‘P’ class? This would mean no lounge access.
Hi Ado, the fare type when booked with points is ‘U’ which is Business Reward. This gives lounge access, fortunately 🙂
Currently I can’t see business rewards availability of Qatar airways at velocity from Sydney to London. Don’t know what’s happening.
Hi Flybird, the downside of the Virgin Australia website is that you have to search day by day to find reward seats. Although QR availability is better via Velocity, London is still a very premium destination for reward seats will be snapped up quickly. You can use QR’s own website or the American Airlines AAdvantage website to help find reward seats on QR, before heading back to the Virgin Australia website to make the booking.
When availability suddenly opened up (Covid opening) last year I jumped in and got a Business Class ROM – SYD for my wife for 85K points. I had to wait about 5 days longer to confirm my return for a later date and then could only find First at 115K, not a bad problem to have. Those seats were certainly popular, wide open to nothing in about 10 days so we were lucky.
Great lounges and flights though!!
Nice one.
There are times when the AA site doesn’t show Qatar awards.
The Virgin Australia site is a pain in the butt if looking for premium awards (you need to check each day), so best to look elsewhere first and then cross check.
The fuel surcharges per QF and VA redemptions are mental. They were set several months when fuel as at its peak, now eased substantially, but both QF and VA are price gouging on the back of the peak price.
Sometimes BA shows excellent redemption rates (e.g. SIN-MAD via DOH for 54,000 Avios one way in biz).
Fuel surcharges weren’t being applied on QF redemptions originating in MNL last time I checked – so option to route that way.
Alaska Airlines sometimes will show QR awards when others don’t, although their miles redemption rates are high (but no fuel surcharges).
VA appears to mess with availability on Etihad on some routes where Qatar fly (e.g. MAD-DOH / AUA).
For fuel surcharges read carrier charges….;)
It’s a very fiddly business….
There seems to be a lot of availability on the ADL-DOH route via MEL. Interestingly, it wouldnt let me book MEL-DOH, it has be ADL-MEL-DOH or DOH-MEL_ADL. While it is tempting, I dont know what you are supposed to do for 6 hours when you arrive at MEL inbound from Doha. Flight arrives at 11pm and departs at 5am. Curious to know if anyone else has tried this route.
The second daily DOH-MEL flight is reportedly subject to some game play behind the scenes, was gonna be CBR-MEL-DOH now apparently temporarily ADL-MEL-DOH. Do a little background research on Google and you’ll soon get the picture…and I did look at booking CBR-MEL-DOH at one point – glad I didn’t because it changed to ADL with that crazy stopover you cite…expect change…;)
Yes, I am aware of the bilateral agreement. I am just not sure what you are and what you are not allowed to do during the 5 hours in Melbourne. I am guessing they let you off the plane, but you have to find a place in the airport to sleep. I dont think any lounges would be open at that time.
Hi Matt,
I have some Qantas points that I was hoping to use on a return fly from Europe (Italy or Holland) to Melbourne, Australia.
Can I purchase flights with Qantas points only for Qantas flights? I tried to book Qatar, but I don’t seem to be able to use points for flights, bit rather just add-ons.
Thank you
Hi Valeria, it’s possible to use Qantas Points for Qatar Airways. Ensure ‘Use Points’ or ‘Classic Rewards’ is selected when you’re doing your search.
Hi Matt, I’m a newbie to redeeming QFF points for business class. I’ve been able to amass over 1 million points over the years and I’m looking at redeeming them for business seats for my family of 4 to head to Europe in September 2020 out of Adelaide. Is the Qantas site the best place to to look for availability? Whats my chances for 4 of us? Happy to head to any European city if it helps. Any tips? Any advantage to ringing Qantas FF to make the booking (even though it costs points)?? love the site, keep up the good work!
Hi Michael, I’ll answer your questions in bullet form:
Hope that helps!
“The good news is I can see a heap of award availability in both directions. There are at least two Business Class seats available almost every day between mid-October and the end of the booking calendar (currently February 2020).”
Hi Matt, I can’t find many (if any) seats DOH ADL in J from about 28 October using either QF FF or AAdvantage… Any tips? Asia Miles?
Last leg of our RTW Business adventure Jan/ Feb 2019 on Qatar A380 Doha/Perth. Superior service, delicious food, best experience. Had the pleasure of flying Qantas, JAL, British airways & Qatar.
Sounds lovely!
hello. im trying to use qantas points to get a business class classic rewards seat from doha to perth on qatar.
I used qantas text message customer service portal, and they said ‘our fares do not permit the route doha – perth’. Is this a mistake? your guide says 92,000 points for perth to doha. Wouldnt it be the same for Doha to Perth?
Thanks. Andrew.
“Qatar First Class award redemptions are usually readily available from Sydney to Doha” – may have been true once upon a time but certainly not the case anymore, as QR seem to have massively restricted F availability to partners.
Hi I would like to flight business to my nephews wedding I have over 700,000 qantas points (been saving them for this for years) and flying with my son-therefore 2x adult tickets – how do I buy a qatar flight with these points. Thankyou for your help in advance
You’ll get a better response to this if you post it in our Questions section.
Hi Matt,
I’ll be flying return to Europe on Qatar ex Sydney in business class. I’m based in Australia and was wondering which would be the best programme to earn miles on for this trip? I have QF frequent flyers, but wasn’t sure whether it would be better to join another programme to earn points for this trip (I prefer flying virgin in Australia but they’re not aligned with Qatar)
Any advice would be appreciated.
Kevin
Hi Kevin, this post should help.
Thanks Matt for your help
Hi…
I’m Newbie here. I’m an Asia Miles member. If i booked an award flight from BKI – CDG via HKG and ZRH – BKI via HKG for the return leg. How many Asia Miles point need to redeem? Is this consider Open Jaw?
Thank you
Yes, that is an open jaw. You can calculate the distance here and the Asia Miles needed here.
Hi Matt
I have a newbie question on redeeming QFF point on Qatar flights. You mention above that Qatar flies to Larnaca. I want to book Qatar flights going from Larnaca to Doha to Sydney (using QFF classic award). Larnaca does not seem to even appear on Qantas’ website. Should I still be able to call Qantas to book this route using QFF classic awards (obviously pending Qatar award availability)?
Thank you
George
Use the British Airways search engine to search for availability on the Larnaca – Doha segment, then call Qantas to book and ask them to waive the phone booking fee as you cannot book online.
Thanks Matt for your answer.
I will try that way
Hallo
I’m a newbie in this all (travelling world).
I have at this moment some qatar miles.
How can I best spent them. Do I use them best on using them for qatar tickets, or better for an other oneworld airline for example Qantas?
Welcome, Cassie! You may get more responses if you ask this to the Point Hacks community in our Questions section.
I’ve had enormous difficulties booking any business or first class flights using Qantas FF points and have been told that the only way I’ll have ANY chance is to book 11 1/2 months ahead of time. Admittedly I haven’t tried booking a trip flying Qatar. Do you have any suggestions as I rarely know 11 1/2 months in advance where I want to go by then and it really annoys me needing to fly economy when I have hundreds of thousands of FF points.
The general rule is that award space opens up 11-12 months ahead of departure as well as last-minute seats 3-14 days before departure.
Would echo above comments…
Plenty of “business promo” and “business award” seats show up on qatar airlines home page search engine, but when you log into Asia miles to redeem using Asia miles, no availabilty for exact same dates…
Why is this do we think??
Mark
You should be able to redeem Asia Miles for Qatar Airways flights online but perhaps try giving them a call. If not, the other explanation may be that airlines often keep more award seats for their own members than those of partner frequent flyer programs.
Hi, thanks for the good work as usual. I currently have an aa award booking in first to europe out of SYD on Qantas. Award availablity on Qatar is now available on the 38o for the same route. Would you recommend qantas or qatar as a better first class experience. Particularly as a soft product as it will be a honeymoon flight and neither of us has flown first before. Thanks, Geoff
The article should say May 2016 not 2015
Optimism! Fixed, thanks.
Hi – have you tried booking awards on Qatar for the new Sydney or Adelaide flights?
I tried today via AA telephone operator and the business award availability showing (for Sydney) is not bookable. They say the awards are visible on their system but Qatar does not allow the booking to go through.
I also tried the Adelaide flights which are showing on the BA website as being available (I tried flights for the end of August 2016).
Again – the AA booking system the operator was using showed the availability but did not allow the booking.
Thinking it might be an operator error – I tried processing the booking via the BA site. It shows an error message similar to the one that shows for CX phantom awards. (Sorry, there’s a problem with booking this journey…..)
Any advise?
The only extra experience I have is from booking SYD-SFO on Qantas when that route launched earlier this year. I called AA and it was like the route needed to be added into their systems before it could be bookable. Maybe that’s the same with the new QR routes. Always worth calling back and trying again.
What about flying on to the states? Is that a go-er on points?
Doable from all Australian ports, yes – makes most sense for East Coast US of course, but even for Perth / Adelaide flights to anywhere in the US could be worth considering. Not cheap though with Qantas Points or Asia Miles. Not possible with AAdvantage miles (can’t route to Australia from the US indirectly).