The Best Ways To Book Qatar Airways Qsuites With Points and Miles

Qatar Airways has consistently taken the airline industry by storm. With the CEO making controversial statements and the fame of its Qatar Airways QSuites business class, it’s no secret that Qatar Airways has made a name for itself.

Perhaps the biggest way Qatar Airways has impressed the frequent flyer world recently is the speed with which it has rolled out Qsuites — this flagship business class product is arguably the best business class around.

Award availability is generally solid if you plan in advance, and the number of routes offering it continues to grow.

The most difficulty you’ll have is figuring out which planes have Qsuites and which don’t. Not to worry, however — Upgraded Points has your back!

A Look Inside Qatar Airways Qsuites

Arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, you’ll have direct aisle access no matter which seat you pick. You’ll also have access to some of the best inflight dining there is, featuring Arabic and Western cuisine.

You’ll also be graciously anointed with stylish amenity kits, fluffy bedding, comfy pajamas, and posh treatment under the care of Qatar Airways flight attendants!

We’ll get more into this in the later sections.

How To Fly Qatar Qsuites (Business Class) Using Miles

It’s important to note that Qatar Airways operates a few types of long-haul business class products. We want to focus on booking Qsuites, which are the best and newest business class seats.

You’ll need to pay attention to book this correctly. For example, Qatar Airways offers 3 flights from Doha to Paris, 2 of which feature Qsuites (QR 37/38 and QR 41/42).

To find out which flights offer Qsuites, you have to get a hold of the seat map. The best way to do so is with ExpertFlyer, a paid service that costs $9.99 per month or $99 for 12 months.

Here’s what Qsuites looks like with a 1-2-1 configuration:

Here’s what the Qatar Airways old business class looks like:

Alternatively, you can try to use the free service of SeatGuru, but we find ExpertFlyer more reliable.

Here are all the current Qsuites route offerings:

As you will find out below, there are other fantastic ways to book Qatar Airways Qsuites outside of Qatar Airways Avios. Some of the best ways are through airline partners.

Oneworld partners are eligible to book Qatar Airways flights, so long as Qatar Airways releases award availability to these partners. We’ll talk more about that in the sections below.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club

The first method we’ll discuss is none other than Qatar Airways’s own frequent flyer program, Privilege Club.

Qatar Airways transitioned away from its old “Qmiles” currency in March 2022 and started using Avios as its rewards currency. Remember, Avios is the same currency used by Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Vueling.

The biggest advantage that Privilege Club has over British Airways or Iberia Avios is that its itineraries are priced out based on the whole itinerary’s total distance instead of per segment.

We’ll discuss British Airways Avios next, but in general, Privilege Club will have the same prices on nonstop flights and lower prices on connecting flights when compared to British Airways Avios.

And although Qatar Airways is currently only partners with Citi ThankYou Rewards, you can transfer points from British Airways to Qatar at a 1:1 ratio by linking your accounts together.

Hot Tip: Remember, you can’t search for award flights on Qatar Airways’s website unless you already have the Avios in your account. To get around this, search on a different partner’s website first, like British Airways or American Airlines.

To book your Qsuites ticket using Qatar Airways Avios, follow these steps:

1. Use British Airways’s website to search for Qatar Airways’ award availability.
2. Write down the flight details that you wish to book.
3. Transfer your points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
4. Visit Qatar Airways’s website.
5. Log into your Privilege Club account by clicking Login in the top-right corner.
6. Enter your login details and click Log in.
7. Once you’re logged in, you will be redirected to the homepage.
8. At the top of the page, hover over the button that says Privilege Club, and on the left-hand side, click Redeem my Avios/Qcredits.
9. Enter your flight details, check off the box that says Business/First, and click Show flights.
10. Find the flight you wish to book, and complete the booking 100% online by using your Avios and a credit card to pay for taxes and fees.

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British Airways Avios

The next method we’ll talk about is using British Airways Avios, which has attractive transfer partnerships, particularly with Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Also, British Airways Executive Club has implemented special pricing on Qatar Airways flights that make using BA Avios much more attractive.

There are plenty of travelers who are Chase loyalists. Since Qatar Airways is a Oneworld partner, it’s difficult to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points here, as its focus has been on the Star Alliance.

British Airways is an excellent option, so if you’ve got lots of Chase Ultimate Rewards points to burn, you’ll find great use in this section.

If you’ve decided to use Avios to book Qsuites, follow this easy process:

1. Search for availability on British Airways.
2. Transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to British Airways.
3. Pay with Avios and for any taxes and fees completely online.

Bottom Line: British Airways Avios are great here for Chase Ultimate Rewards loyalists who want to take advantage of new sweet spot redemption rates with Qatar Airways. It’s simpler than the Qatar Airways Privilege Club process, but just keep in mind that you can end up paying more Avios on connecting flights.

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You can also consider the British Airways Visa Signature^® Card.

American Airlines AAdvantage Program

American Airlines employs a region-based award chart. We like using this program because it has some pretty cheap sweet spots, especially from the U.S. to the Middle East.

Here’s why we rank American’s AAdvantage loyalty program at the top of our list:

1. Easy to earn miles through welcome bonuses
2. Excellent sweet spot on U.S. to Middle East routes
3. Straightforward booking process
4. Can hold awards for 5 days
5. No fuel surcharges on Qatar Airways flights

Although American Airlines only has 2 transfer partners (Marriott Bonvoy and Bilt Rewards), the best way to earn American Airlines miles is through Citi and Barclays co-branded credit cards.

Here’s the award chart for Qatar Airways flights to/from the Middle East using AA miles:

Here are the steps to book:

1. Visit British Airways’ website to search for award availability.
2. Log into your account using your Member ID and Password.
3. Click Spend Avios (located when expanding the Executive Club banner on the top of the page).
4. Click Book a reward flight.
5. Enter your desired dates for travel, destination and origin cities, and check off the box that chooses Business/Club.
6. Locate your flight.
7. Write down the flight numbers, dates, and times.
8. Call AA at 800-882-8880 and provide them with the information you wrote down.
   • If you need to transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points to American or top off your AA miles balance, request to put your award on hold.
9. Pay for applicable taxes and fees.
   • Be sure to ask for the Qatar Airways record locator! This will allow you to select your seats in advance through Qatar Airways’ website.

Bottom Line: AA’s easy-to-use frequent flyer program allows for 5-day award holds and great sweet spots for flights between America and the Middle East make it a terrific option!

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank

If you are looking for the cheapest redemption cost, look no further than Japan Airlines Mileage Bank. It uses a distance-based award chart, so the optimal usage of miles will be at the longer end of a distance range.

In general, Japan Airlines will at all times be the cheapest mileage cost.

The drawback, however, is the lack of transfer partners. The only transfer partner is Marriott Bonvoy, so the best ways to earn Japan Airlines miles might be more limited than, say, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles or British Airways Avios.

However, your mileage cost will be lower than Cathay Pacific and British Airways for the most part, so it might be worth it to transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points to JAL.

Here’s how to use Japan Airlines miles to book your Qsuites flight:

1. Use British Airways to search for award availability.
2. Log in using your British Airways Member ID and Password.
3. Click Spend Avios underneath the Executive Club banner.
4. Click Book a Reward Flight.
5. Type in your desired travel dates, Business/Club, number of passengers, and route.
6. Write down all flight information.
7. Visit Japan Airlines.
8. Select your City and Language.
9. Log in with your JAL Mileage Bank ID and Password.
10. Select Award Ticket on the red banner next to Flight Status.
11. Select Book JMB Partner Airlines Award Ticket under the 2 main icons.
12. Select Qatar Airways from the dropdown menu.
13. Repeat the same award search to verify award availability.
14. Reserve your flights and pay for any applicable taxes and fees.

It’s possible to skip the British Airways steps to searching award availability, but British Airways is reliable and easy to use, which acts as a foolproof mechanism.

If you’re sitting on a stockpile of Marriott Bonvoy points, using Japan Airlines to book your Qsuites flights might be worth it.

Just keep in mind that the transfer times can be up to 2 business days for transfers to execute from Marriott Bonvoy to JAL.

Bottom Line: If you want to preserve your precious points/miles, using Japan Airlines miles might be best for you. Keep in mind you can only transfer Marriott Bonvoy points, which may take a while. Look into adding stopovers and open-jaws to truly optimize your trip!

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Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Using Cathay Pacific Asia Miles is great if you have a lot of Citi ThankYou Rewards Points or American Express Membership Rewards points.

Asia Miles is a transfer partner with Amex, Bilt, Citi, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Importantly, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles employs a distance-based award chart for Oneworld partners, similar to Japan Airlines. Cathay Pacific has 3 award charts, but we’ll focus on the single partner award chart in this guide.

Fuel surcharges will be passed on in this case, with around $600 to $700 each way being the price tag for Qsuites flights between America and the Middle East.

The best use of Asia Miles to book Qsuites is to build it into a complex itinerary. 

Here’s an example route starting in Los Angeles that you can fly using Asia Miles:

1. Los Angeles (LAX) – Tokyo-Haneda/Narita (HND/NRT) on Japan Airlines 777 Sky Suite business class
2. Osaka (KIX) – Hong Kong (HKG) on Cathay Pacific business class
3. Hong Kong (HKG) – Doha (DOH) on Qatar Airways Qsuites
4. Doha (DOH) – Sydney (SYD) on Qatar Airways Qsuites
5. Sydney (SYD) – Singapore (SIN) on Qantas business class
6. Kuala Lumpur (KUL) – Hong Kong (HKG) on Malaysian Airlines business class
7. Hong Kong (HKG) – Los Angeles (LAX) on American Airlines Flagship Business class

You can fly this 31,335-mile route between 6 countries and 6 airlines with 65 hours of total flight time for only 210,000 Asia Miles.

We’ve always been huge fans of Asia Miles for this specific purpose: complex Oneworld itineraries involving lots of partners and countries.

Compare this to the round-trip business class cost between Los Angeles and Doha, which costs 180,000 Asia Miles! For only 30,000 more Asia Miles, you get to fly double the amount of miles, visit 5 more countries, and try 5 more airlines! 

The biggest challenge will definitely be searching for award availability.

Here’s a step-by-step booking guide for your Asia Miles to fly Qsuites:

1. Visit British Airways and follow the same steps listed in the American Airlines and Japan Airlines sections above to search for availability.
2. Once you have found award availability for all your flights and written down all the flight information including dates, times, and flight numbers, give Asia Miles a phone call at 866-892-2598.
3. Provide them with all your flight information.
4. Confirm your reservation and pay for taxes and fees.

Bottom Line: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles presents an unbelievable value proposition for complex itineraries involving travel on multiple airlines to many countries.

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Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 125k (or 150k) points with the Amex Platinum. The current public offer is 80,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 90,000 points with the Amex Gold card. The current public offer is 60,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

Great Qsuites Redemptions and Points Required

Now that we’ve talked about some of the best frequent flyer programs for flying Qsuites, let’s talk about what you came here for: the best Qsuites redemptions!

There are more than 30 routes that either currently offer Qsuites.

Here’s a chart of the award redemption costs between Doha and the U.S. for some of their best routes:

Bottom Line: As you will see above, we can conclude that for flights between the U.S. and Doha, one-way flights using Qatar Airways Avios, BA Avios, and AA miles are the cheapest, and round-trip flights using Japan Airlines miles are the cheapest.

Here are a few great uses of Japan Airlines miles for Qsuites:

• New York City (JFK) – Doha (DOH) round-trip for 100,000 Japan Airlines miles
• Sydney (SYD) – Doha (DOH) round-trip for 130,000 Japan Airlines miles
• Washington, D.C. (IAD) – Doha (DOH) round-trip for 100,000 Japan Airlines miles

Here are some fantastic redemptions using Qatar Airways Avios for Qsuites:

• Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 70,000 Qatar Airways Avios
• Philadelphia (PHL) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 70,000 Qatar Airways Avios
• Seattle (SEA) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 70,000 Qatar Airways Avios

Here are some awesome redemptions using British Airways Avios for Qsuites:

• Atlanta (ATL) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 70,000 BA Avios
• Miami (MIA) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 70,000 BA Avios
• San Francisco (SFO) – Doha (DOH) – Malé (MLE) one-way for 105,000 BA Avios
• Singapore (SIN) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 50,000 BA Avios

And here are some examples of the best uses of American Airlines miles for Qsuites:

• Houston (IAH) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 70,000 AA miles
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 70,000 AA miles
• Tokyo-Narita (NRT) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 40,000 AA miles

Here are some interesting ways to use Cathay Pacific Asia Miles for Qsuites:

• Berlin (BER) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 30,000 Asia Miles
• São Paulo (GRU) – Doha (DOH) one-way for 75,000 Asia Miles

How To Earn Enough Points for Qsuites

If you’ve decided to book a flight on these industry-leading Qsuites, you’ll be pleased to find that there are tons of avenues to earn points for Qsuites.

Qatar Airways is a 1:1 transfer partner with Citi and a 3:1 partner with Marriott Bonvoy.

British Airways is a 1:1 transfer partner to Amex, Capital One, and Chase, and 3:1 with Marriott Bonvoy. Watch for transfer bonuses with American Express (up to 40%).

American Airlines is transfer partners with Bilt at 1:1 and Marriott Bonvoy at 3:1.

Japan Airlines has 1 sole transfer partner in Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1 ratio.

Cathay Pacific is a 1:1 transfer partner to American Express, Bilt, Brex, Capital One, and Citi, and transfers 3:1 with Marriott Bonvoy. Be on the lookout for transfer bonuses with American Express (up to 30%) and Citi (up to 20%).

Furthermore, if you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to some of the aforementioned partners, you will receive a 5,000-mile bonus, resulting in a total of 25,000 miles.

Hot Tip: For even more ways to earn, check out our in-depth article on the best ways to earn Qatar Airways Avios! 

When Should You Search for Award Space?

Qsuites generally have excellent award availability; in fact, Qatar Airways now has an award seat guarantee that there will be at least 2 business class and 2 economy class award seats on every flight.

Here’s a snapshot of the AA calendar view for nonstop Qsuites award availability on the flight from Chicago to Doha:

As long as you can work in some degree of flexibility, you should not have a problem finding Qsuites award availability. Just be sure to check the seat map on SeatGuru or ExpertFlyer before booking your flights!

If you’re looking for the most reliable award search engine and have your dates narrowed down to a small range, use British Airways to search for availability.

To see a calendar of award availability, you can use American Airlines or Qantas — they can be somewhat unreliable when it comes to showing award inventory, but it’s an option nonetheless.

Hot Tip: To see what routes are available, check out our guide to Qatar Airways’ direct routes from the U.S.

What Makes Qsuites a Great Redemption?

If you’re on this page, you probably already know that Qatar Airways’ Qsuites is one of the best business class products in the world (if not the best). You can expect a luxurious inflight and ground experience here.

Let’s get into just how good Qsuites is.

Business Class Double Bed

The Qsuites double bed is arguably the most comfortable bed in the sky. Each of the seats in the business class cabin is arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration with direct aisle access offered everywhere.

Seats are 21.5 inches wide and recline to a fully-flat bed that is 79 inches long! Even better, traveling with your family is made fun by the fact that you can reconfigure your seats to be a mini-cabin like this:

Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge

Enjoy a gigantic business class lounge complete with stellar dining options, a game room, and multiple floors of space! Signature dishes offered in the buffet are Middle Eastern foods such as baba ganoush and mezze.

Qsuites BRIC’s Amenity Kit and The White Company Pajamas

This amenity kit features luxurious toiletries from BRIC’s, an eye mask, socks, and a fancy hard-shell carrying case, along with comfy pajamas from The White Company!

Priority Check-in and Boarding

You’ll be able to board ahead of everyone else when flying in Qsuites!

Hot Tip: If you are interested in reading more about the QSuites experience, check out our review of Qatar Airline’s Qsuites on a Boeing 777 from Sydney to Doha.

Final Thoughts

With an all-star business class, Qatar Airways has successfully made its way into travelers’ minds as a hugely aspirational product.

Although it might be confusing to figure out which planes feature Qsuites, it’s only going to get better with Qatar Airways ramping up the rollout of these awesome business class products.

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