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Qatar Airways Privilege Club devalues American Airlines and Alaska Airlines award flight redemptions

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Qatar Airways has devalued some Avios sweet spots for award flights on partner airlines including American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, as first reported earlier today by DansDeals.

Historically, Qatar Airways Privilege Club has been a popular, if somewhat niche, loyalty program for U.S. flyers thanks in part to the bargain redemption levels of short-haul flights on Qatar’s U.S. airline partners. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. And what’s more, Qatar Airways made this devaluation with no notice to its Privilege Club members. It’s just one more reason that travelers should always consider diversifying the types of points and miles they earn and redeem because devaluations like this come all too often.

Here are the details on this latest blow, what flyers can expect, and how you might still be able to get some value from Qatar Airways Avios on short-haul American Airlines and Alaska Airlines flights.

Related: 5 versions of Avios: When to use Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways devalues American Airlines and Alaska Airlines short-haul awards

VDB PHOTOS/SHUTTERSTOCK

Qatar Airways uses multiple (unpublished) award charts for flights on various airlines.

Although the airline made no announcement that it was changing the chart it uses for American Airlines and Alaska Airlines awards, flight searches reveal that the redemption rates for short-haul American and Alaska routes have indeed gone up. The cost of these flights in Avios has increased by up to 64%, with the shortest routes seeing the most dramatic price hikes. Here is what we have been able to piece together.

Flight distance Sample flights Cost before (in Avios) Cost now (in Avios) Change
Up to 650 miles Charlotte to New York City on American

Seattle to Portland, Oregon on Alaska

6,000 economy

12,500 business

9,500 economy

20,000 business

+58%

+60%

651 to 1,151 miles Miami to New York City on American

Seattle to Los Angeles on Alaska

9,000 economy

16,500 business

13,000 economy

27,000 business

+44%

+64%

1,152 to 2,000 miles Miami to Chicago on American

Seattle to Minneapolis-St. Paul on Alaska

11,000 economy

22,000 business

14,500 economy

34,000 business

+32%

+53%

2,001 to 3,000 miles Miami to Seattle on American

Los Angeles to Newark on Alaska

13,000 economy

38,750 business

16,000 economy

43,000 business

+23%

+11%

This means that even the shortest routes, like a 129-mile flight from Seattle to Portland, Oregon, will set you back at least 9,500 Avios each way.

QATARAIRWAYS.COM

The good news is that longer-haul flight awards on American and Alaska, as well as redemption requirements for JetBlue flights appear to be unaffected … for the moment. Since this devaluation came with no warning, there’s no telling whether the Qatar Airways Privilege Club intends to make more changes to its award levels in the coming days. So if you were planning to book something using Qatar Airways Avios, do so sooner rather than later.

For now, the Qatar Airways award charts for flights on other partner airlines remains unchanged as well.

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Related: Airlines you can book using Avios: How to maximize your points

What’s the best use of Avios?

ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY

Although Qatar Airways award rates for these flights have jumped significantly, in the grand scheme of points and miles, they’re still relatively affordable.

British Airways Executive Club, which also uses Avios as its currency, recently underwent a similar devaluation. The British Airways award chart for Alaska and American partner flights is structured much like Qatar’s, except that each price tier costs a few thousand more Avios.

Flight distance Qatar Airways cost (in Avios) British Airways cost (in Avios)
Up to 650 miles 9,500 economy

20,000 business

12,000 economy

24,000 business

651 to 1,151 miles 13,000 economy

27,000 business

16,000 economy

32,000 business

1,151 to 2,000 miles 14,500 economy

34,000 business

18,000 economy

40,000 business

2,001 to 3,000 miles 16,000 economy

43,000 business

20,000 economy

50,000 business

If you plan to use Avios to book award flights on American or Alaska, you’ll still get the best prices if you book through Qatar Airways. However, depending on what rewards currencies you have, there may be better options.

For instance, if you wanted to fly from Miami to Chicago, a one-way ticket on American booked through Qatar would cost 14,500 Avios in economy or 34,000 in business class.

QATARAIRWAYS.COM

Or you could book the same flight through American for only 8,500 AAdvantage miles in economy or 26,500 miles in business class.

AA.COM

However, since American uses dynamic pricing, using AAdvantage miles may not always be the cheapest option. You’ll need to double check in each case.

AAdvantage miles are also some of the hardest frequent-flyer miles to earn because the program has very few transfer partners (the same is true for Alaska Mileage Plan miles). You may find it easier to book award flights with Avios since you can transfer them from:

As mentioned, Qatar Airways has not, at time of publication, changed its award chart for JetBlue flights, so may still be able to get great value from your Avios by booking short-haul flights on JetBlue. Here’s the current award chart Qatar uses for JetBlue flights:

Flight distance Cost in Avios
Up to 1,100 miles 8,500 economy

17,000 business

1,101 to 2,000 miles 13,000 economy

26,000 business

2,001 to 2,800 miles 18,500 economy

74,000 business

2,801 to 3,700 miles 25,000 economy

78,000 business

So, you could fly from Fort Lauderdale to New York (a 1,070-mile route) on JetBlue for only 8,500 Avios each way in economy.

A comparable route on American or Alaska would cost 13,000 Avios through Qatar Airways or 16,000 through British Airways.

QATARAIRWAYS.COM

When searching for routes to or from cities that Qatar Airways doesn’t serve, the city or airport may not appear in the destination drop-down menu. That’s okay — just enter the airport code into the destination box and click “Search,” and flight options should appear.

Related: The best Avios-earning credit cards: Which is the one for you?

Bottom line

Despite this devaluation, Qatar Airways Avios are still the cheapest type of Avios to book Alaska Airlines and American Airlines award flights.

British Airways’ award chart is pricier than Qatar’s for these partner flights, and it’s much more difficult to book partner award flights on the other airlines that use Avios (Finnair, Iberia and Aer Lingus). You should also always double-check awards on American and Alaska’s own sites if you have their miles to see if you can get a better deal that way.

For now, Avios collectors should keep their eyes peeled, as more devaluations could be in store.



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