14 Best Ways To Earn Lots of Qatar Airways Avios [2023]

Qatar Airways is a Middle Eastern airline that flies nonstop to several destinations across the world, including numerous U.S. airports: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Many people appreciate that the airline has been so innovative with respect to its top-notch Qsuites business class product.

The main downside of Qatar Airways is the fact it requires quite a few Avios to fly its own flights, and the fuel surcharges in premium cabins are heavy on certain routes.

In this article, we’ll cover all of the ways that you can earn Qatar Airways Avios, so you’ll have plenty of options if you’re looking to use Avios for an award flight.

Sign up for a Qatar Avios Account

The first step to start earning Avios is to head to the application page and sign up for a free account.

Once you’re registered with Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club program, you’ll have the ability to earn Avios from a variety of activities.

For example, when you fly on a Qatar Airways paid flight, you’ll earn Avios after the completion of your itinerary.

It’s important to keep track of your Avios account number, as this is what you’ll use to link your account with the points-earning activities.

Hot Tip: Students aged 18 to 30 may be eligible for Student Club where benefits include special fares, excess baggage allowance, date change flexibility, complimentary Super Wi-Fi, and more!

Earn Qatar Avios With Credit Cards

As with any loyalty program, you’ll want to focus on credit cards that partner with as many flexible point programs as possible to make it easier to earn the Avios that you need.

Qatar Airways partners with 2 major programs: Citi ThankYou Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Both of these programs offer an array of personal and business credit cards, which significantly reduces the difficulty of earning Avios.

You can also easily transfer Avios to Qatar Airways Privilege Club from any Avios-earning loyalty program, such as British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, or Aer Lingus AerClub (check out our transfer partner tool for details on these partners)

In essence, the more avenues that an airline offers to earn its miles, the smoother the process is to access any redemption in its award chart!

1. Citi Credit Cards

Citi and its ThankYou Rewards program have also made some noise by continuing to add airline transfer partners and offering transfer bonus points with certain airlines.

The main drawback of ThankYou Rewards is that there aren’t as many cards that earn ThankYou Rewards points as, say, American Express. The Citi Premier^® Card and Citi Prestige^® Card (no longer open to new applicants) are going to be the 2 main options you’ll be picking between. These 2 cards are still phenomenal choices of cards to hold, thanks to unique perks such as the fourth-night free benefit.

The welcome offer that comes with the Citi Premier card is substantial, and its bonus categories align well with the spending of most consumers.

2. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards

The Marriott Bonvoy program is the second transferable point program that Qatar Airways partners with.

One of the best aspects of Marriott Bonvoy is that there are quite a few business and personal credit cards.

If you’re patient with your credit card applications, you should be able to land welcome bonus offers of 75,000 to 100,000 points on most of the co-branded credit cards.

Another item worth mentioning about the Marriott Bonvoy program is that for every 60,000 points you transfer to most airline partners (including Qatar Airways), you’ll receive a 5,000-point bonus!

Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to most airline partners at a 3:1 ratio, so with the bonus, you’re looking at 25,000 Qatar Avios (60,000 points / 3 = 20,000 Avios + 5,000 Avios bonus = 25,000 Avios).

Here are the Marriott Bonvoy credit cards we recommend adding to your lineup of cards:

Bottom Line: Spending on credit cards that earn transferable rewards will likely be the easiest way to earn the Avios you need for your next award flight.

3. Non-U.S. Based Credit Cards

Qatar Airways is based in Qatar, so most co-branded credit card offerings are going to be based in the Middle East. If accessing U.S. credit cards is not possible for your specific circumstances, check out the following chart of all Qatar Airways co-branded bank partners:

Earn Qatar Avios Through Shopping

4. Shop at the Bicester Village Shopping Collection

Boutique shoppers may find value in the partnership with the Bicester Village Shopping Collection which has shops in Barcelona, Bologna, Brussels, Cologne, Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Shanghai, and Suzhou.

After you’ve finished shopping, present your receipts for all qualifying purchases with your Privilege Membership Card to earn 1 Avios per €1 in Europe, £1 in London, or 1.25 Avios for every ¥10 in China, up to an annual spend of €30,000 (or local equivalent). After you’ve crossed this threshold, you’ll earn 1.25 Avios for every €5, £5, or ¥50 spent.

5. Shop at Qatar Duty Free

It’s no secret that Qatar is a huge shopping hub filled with global luxury brands.

When you’re at Doha’s main international airport, Hamad International Airport (DOH), you can revel in over 40,000 square meters of combined facilities dedicated to Qatar Duty Free.

Whether you’re buying fragrances, skincare, cosmetics, fashion, accessories, jewelry, confectionery, souvenirs, or other luxury gifts, you’ll earn 1 Avios per QR5 spent.

6. Additional Shopping Opportunities

Privilege Club has a number of additional retail partners, mainly based in Qatar:

Earn Qatar Avios Through Travel

As you would expect, one of the most straightforward ways to earn Avios, other than credit card spending, is to fly with Qatar or a partner airline, such as American Airlines.

The key point to understand when earning Avios this way is how the airline you’re flying calculates the Avios that you’ll earn.

7. Airline and Airfare Purchases

Privilege Club members earn Avios when flying on Qatar Airways or a Oneworld airline partner (full airline partner list).

The number of Avios a member earns on a Qatar Airways flight will be based on the booking class and distance of the flight.

The best way to determine the amount of Avios you will earn is to use a combination of the Qcalculator and the earning table below:

As with any airline, make sure to provide your Avios membership number when you book your flight, at check-in, or when using any Qatar travel partner so that you’ll earn Avios.

In addition to the Avios that you earn when you fly, Qatar offers other ways to earn its Avios, too.

The first way to earn additional Avios is to make your flight reservation online. When you make your first online reservation, you’ll earn 2,000 bonus Avios.

Members also receive 500 bonus Avios for each subsequent booking from their desktop computer or mobile device.

Privilege Club has a Family Programme which is another way you can earn Avios. Anytime a family member flies with Qatar, Oneworld airlines, or uses the services of any of Qatar’s 60 global partners, you can earn Avios. You can nominate up to 9 close family members, including your spouse, children older than 2 years, and parents.

Hot Tip: If you would prefer to earn miles for a different airline, check out this in-depth guide to help you know where to credit your airline miles.

8. Car Rentals and Other Transportation

If you use rental cars frequently, take note — Qatar partners with several car rental companies that allow you to earn Avios with each rental.

The number of Avios you’ll earn will vary, so check the car rental partner page for more info.

9. Book With Hotel Partners

Each hotel partner provides its own variety of point-earning opportunities.

Whether you are a member of World of Hyatt, Hilton Honors, or another hotel program, Privilege Club has a partnership with lots of hotel brands.

10. Transfer From Hotel Partners

If you need to top-up your account for a redemption, transferring points from a hotel loyalty program might be worthwhile, though we would not advise this method due to low value.

11. Book Vacation Packages

Qatar Airways Holidays, the leisure division of Qatar Airways, offers tailor-made holidays to worldwide destinations. It has travel packages ranging from city life to touring, adventure, cruises, spa breaks, and exclusive honeymoons.

Members also receive complimentary city tours, airport transfers, insurance, and car rentals at select destinations. You can book a vacation package at qatarairwaysholidays.com or at any of the Qatar Holiday shops in Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, and Muscat.

When booking a vacation package, Privilege Club members earn 1 Avios for every QR5 spent (~$1.37), 2 Avios for every KD1 spent (~$3.24), and 2 Avios for every RO1 spent (~$2.60).

Bottom Line: Of the Avios-earning opportunities in this section, flying Qatar or one of its partners will be the most efficient way to earn Avios. 

Specialty Earnings for Qatar Avios

In addition to its airline, banking, car rental, and hotel partnerships, Qatar has several out-of-the-box ways that its members can earn Avios.

12. Ship Your Car From Doha With Qatar Airways Cargo

One of the most interesting ways to earn Qatar Airways Avios is by using Qatar Airways Cargo to ship your car directly from Doha.

You’ll earn 5 Avios for every QR12 spent.

13. Learn a Language

Privilege Club members can subscribe to a language course and earn 250 to 4,500 Avios with each course that you purchase from Language Direct.

14. Purchase Full-service Shipping Solutions for Your Goods

Need to ship to/from Qatar? With CONNECTED by Qatar Post, you will earn 1 Avios per QR3.50 spent on shipping charges.

You can pick between doorstep delivery, 24/7 Smart Lockers, or one of Qatar’s numerous Qatar Post branches.

Bottom Line: Earning Avios in these ways is extremely niche, but they can be a great way to pad your balance of Avios.

Final Thoughts

For an airline that’s not covered that much in the points and miles world, Qatar offers its Privilege Club members several ways to earn Avios.

The most efficient way to earn Avios (assuming you don’t fly Qatar or its airline partners regularly), is to put your spending on a transferable points credit card offered by Citi or Marriott.

While Qatar Avios is not our favorite airline currency to hold, there are several uses of Avios that we covered in the best ways to use Avios that are worth looking into.

The information for the Citi Prestige^® Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express^® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® card, click here.