Qatar Airways unveiled its next generation business class product today, dubbed QSuite. It is set to premiere on 777-300ER flights between Doha and London this June, but will expand to all 777s and A350s. Here’s your guide to using miles to secure business class on the new aircraft.
Qatar Airways Award Space Info
One of the best things about booking award travel on Qatar Airways is that by starting early and having some flexibility you can often get enough awards seats for the entire family in business class. That’s a great way to take advantage of the new QSuite family table set up.
Generally, last-minute award space does NOT appear on Qatar. Sometimes it does–it just happened for a client traveling from Miami to Doha–but I do not see this often. Thus, you want to book early if possible.
Some routes are better for award space than others. The London to Doha route is notoriously bad to score business or first class award space. Routes to other cities in Europe are much easier. Space to the USA is not bad, with Philadelphia, Houston, and Miami a great source.
How to Search for Qatar Airways Award Space
All space you find on the British Airways’ website should be bookable with your oneworld miles, no matter the partner.
QSuites will appear on A350s and 777s, with retrofit slated for completion by the end of 2018.
Qatar Airways A350 Routes
- Qatar
- Frankfurt
- Munich
- Singapore
- Philadelphia
- Boston
- New York JFK
- Adelaide
- Dubai
- Riyadh
- London Heathrow
In the coming months, we will see A350 service added to the following cities:
- Dammam (eff. 26 March 2017)
- Zurich (eff. 01 April 2017)
- Amman (eff. 03 April 2017)
- Madrid (eff. 15 April 2017)
- Geneva (eff. 01 May 2017)
- Male (eff. 01 June 2017)
- Brussels (eff. 16 June 2017)
- Tokyo Haneda (eff. 01 July 2017)
- Barcelona (eff. 01 Sept 2017)
Qatar Airways 777-300 (77W) Routes
- Amman
- Amsterdam
- Atlanta
- Bahrain
- Bangalore
- Bangkok/Hanoi
- Beijing
- Beirut
- Berlin
- Buenos Aires/Sao Paulo
- Cairo
- Cape Town
- Chicago
- Colombo
- Dallas-Fort Worth
- Damman
- Denpasar
- Dubai
- Houston
- Islamabad
- Jeddah
- Johannesburg
- Karachi
- Kochi
- Kuala Lumpur
- Kuwait
- Lahore
- London Heathrow
- Manila
- Melbourne
- Miami
- Montreal
- Mumbai
- Munich
- Muscat
- New York JFK
- Paris CDG
- Perth
- Phuket
- Riyadh
- Seoul ICN
- Shanghai PVG
- Tehran
- Washington
Qatar Airways 777-200 (77L) Routes
- Addis Ababa
- Amman
- Atlanta
- Auckland
- Bahrain
- Bangalore
- Beirut
- Dammam
- Dubai
- Islamabad
- Istanbul
- Jeddah
- Karachi
- Kochi
- Kuala Lumpur
- Kuwait City
- Lahore
- London Heathrow
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Muscat
- Riyadh
- Tehran
- Tokyo Narita
The Point: Lots of Options
The point is that if the retrofit goes according to schedule, by the end of 2018 there will be a wide swath of routes that features the new QSuite business class.
Best Loyalty Programs for Qatar Airways Redemptions
Not all oneworld programs are created equally. Some offer far better redemption options on Qatar than others.
1. American Airlines
American Airlines’ award chart is region based and particularly structured for routing on Qatar Airways. Although AA’s general rule is that you cannot transit a third region on a single award, it makes an exception for Qatar in a couple circumstances. For example, if you are traveling to Africa you can route from the USA to Africa via Doha and will be only be charged the North America to Africa price (75K one-way in business). If you try to do the same thing on AA’s Etihad partner, you will be charged for two awards (70K from the USA to the Middle East, 55K from the Middle East to Africa).
2. British Airways
British Airways charges on a per-segment basis and passes along high fuel surcharges on Qatar bookings. Best to avoid this program except in limited circumstances like shorthaul routes in business class to the Indian Subcontinent or Northern Africa. I mention it because it is so easy to book online.
3. Japan Airlines
Japan Airlines has a distance-based award chart meaning that you can score some incredible deals if your trip is toward the upper end of the zone. For example, New York to Doha is 13,409 miles round-trip. JAL charges 85,000 miles for trips between 12,001 and 14,000 miles in business class. 85K r/t to Doha is cheaper than British Airways charges for one-way!
What about Qatar’s own program? Qatar Privileges Club should be avoided. Just trust me on that.
CONCLUSION
Routes all over the world will feature the new QSuite business class. Although it is too early to book, you can start planning now how you might be able to use your miles to book Qatar’s fabulous new business class product.
> Read More: 3 Reasons I Love Qatar Airways’ New QSuite Business Class
Pretty sure the LAX-DOH flight is a 777-200 unless they’ve swapped aircraft recently.
That seems to be the case, though I was going off the linked list.
Is it possible to book JFK->AKL with any of the award programs?
You can with all programs, but the cost will vary widely. AA will charge two awards on Qatar, BA will charge something like 300K one-way in business. JAL is going to be your bet. Stock up on Starwood points.
I saw a a350 planned for mid April CAI-doh
Any idea if they just messed up in the system or if it’s legit schedule? I know the new seats won’t be in yet but the old ones on the a350 are still one of the better on QR
Matthew,
What is so bad about Privilege Club? I’ve never credited there before. Is it hard to work with? Fuel surcharges? What?
I’m flying Sunday CAI-DOH-PVG return and am lined up for 4x miles (business). Or I could credit to another OW partner at 100% or 125%. Thanks.
One of the most inept call centers in the world. Very, very difficult to redeem miles. High fuel surcharges and unattractive prices as well.
It seems as though Qatar has drastically reduced business class award availabity. I have been looking for ORD to CPT via DOHA with virtually no business class seats using BA’s search. Last year on this route there were 4 business class seats available per flight for virtually every day. Do you know why?
How far out are you searching?
I’ve searched through many months just to see what availability in general was like. Only a few seats in total.
I have also checked each day as far out as you can and watched as each days seats are made available …..and no business class availability.
Is there any good way to book NYC to Singapore/Tokyo via award points on Qatar?
There are many options, but it is not cheap. JAL likely best (via Starwood).