British Airways and Qatar team up in mega expansion
Oneworld alliance partners British Airways and Qatar Airways have just taken their relationship to the next level.
In September, they announced a tie-up that will see 42 new countries added across their joint network.
Some of the biggest cheerleaders for this will be Avios collectors. Not only does the expansion mean a host more destinations (and fare choices) for us to set our sights on but also more scope to shift our Avios between airlines to bag the best deals. There are even more places to earn Avios through Qatar’s other partners.
This is a particularly welcome prospect in these times of rising costs. Here are some pointers on what it means and how to make it work for you.
What are the new travel destinations?
Qatar and BA now jointly serve 185 points across more than 60 countries.
Italy, Norway and Sweden in Europe and Singapore and the Maldives in the Asia Pacific region are among the countries to have picked up new routes. Others will be announced once the relevant regulators have rubber-stamped them.
What else does it mean?
Because the two airlines are coordinating flight schedules, they have also created more seamless connections between Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia, with passengers travelling on a single ticket via BA’s London hub or Qatar’s hub in Doha.
Customer support is also now integrated across the airlines.
Thanks to the greater choice and flexibility, another knock-on effect should be a wider range of fares, helping travellers get better value. You can also compare the Avios cost of reward flights, remembering to factor in the fees and taxes, which must be paid for in cash and vary between the two airlines.
Because BA and Qatar are partners, passengers with a business class ticket or upgrade privileges also have access to both airline’s airport lounges and premium cabins, including British Airways’ new Club Suite and Qatar Airways’ award-winning Qsuite. You might already know which you prefer or you could take flights with both, if you’re able, to compare the products.
What about Avios collecting and spending?
Since March when Qatar Airways Privilege Club swapped its currency from Qmiles to Avios, BA and Qatar passengers have been able to earn Avios on flights with both airlines and, significantly, to swap them between the two loyalty clubs to spend them. So, your BA Avios could easily be redeemed for Qatar reward flights and your Qatar Airways Avios for reward flights on BA.
If you held Qmiles before March and haven’t used them for a while you should find your points have automatically changed to Qatar Airways Avios at the same points value.
You can actually spend your Avios on a reward flight on any oneworld alliance member airline, though you can’t swap your points around so easily. Find out more here.
How to swap your Avios between club accounts
To make the most of the airlines’ combined network and bag the best BA or Qatar reward flights, you should make sure you have joined both the British Airways Executive Club and the Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
Once you have done this you can move your points between your two loyalty accounts by choosing to link them. Look for the ‘link my accounts’ option in the Avios balance part of qatarairways.com or find the equivalent page on BA.com.
You will be able to view all your Avios at once and even select ‘combine Avios’ to put them into one pool.
You can then switch your Avios instantly between the two clubs whenever you like, to part pay for your travel or to get the best reward flight.
Using our BA flight finder
Only a few reward seats are released per flight when tickets first go on sale, though some more are added later.
You’ll need to use Qatar’s website to hunt for reward seats on routes you are interested in that Qatar is operating, but if you’re looking for British Airways flights you have the option to use our BA flight finder. This gives you greater flexibility than the one on BA’s own website, for instance by searching on multiple dates.
You can even set an alert so that we carry on searching and let you know as soon as the reward seats you want are released, so you don’t miss out.
Connections and tier points
Members of both the British Airways Executive Club and the Qatar Privilege Club can also pick up tier points to entitle them to extra perks like lounge access that can be redeemed on either airline.
Though ticketing is now seamless between the two airlines, it’s worth remembering if you are on an indirect flight, for instance to Asia or Australia, that you can collect extra tier points if you book the legs as two separate fares. It’s not something you would want to do normally but a factor to bear in mind if you’re keen to climb those tiers.
Extra places to earn Avios
Just as BA offers extra places to earn Avios beyond its flights, so Qatar Airways Avios can be earned through a host of hotel, car rental, banking and retail partners. Some of these differ from BA’s, so it’s well worth checking out the whole list to make sure you’re maximising your Avios collection.
For instance, Conrad, Centara and Millennium branded hotels and resorts are among the places you can now pick up Avios due to their Qatar partnership and several familiar car rental companies partner with Qatar but not BA.
Likewise, some airlines which are outside the oneworld alliance separately partner with Qatar, for instance, Oman Air, Bangkok Airways, which is good for regional Asia flights and JetBlue, which covers much of the US and Caribbean. All these can now earn you Avios.
See the full list of BA Avios partners here and Qatar Airways Avios partners here and look forward to earning even more.
Qatar Airways Avios bonus
If you’re planning on flying with Qatar Airways and haven’t yet signed up to the Privilege Club, now’s the time to do so as there’s a 5,000 bonus Avios promotion running in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup. You will need to join the club by 20 December 2022 using the promotional code on the website and fly with Qatar by 31 March 2023.
Original Source — https://rewardflightfinder.com/news-and-advice/british-airways-and-qatar-team-up-in-mega-expansion
