Got 9,500 Qatar Avios? Here Are 472 American Airlines and 72 Alaska Award Routes You Can Book

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We all love an aspirational redemption. Traveling a long way in an international business- or first-class cabin is an undeniably great experience, but that's not all points and miles are good for.

For those times when you need to get from Point A to Point B, you can use points — and often at great value. A perfect example of this comes courtesy of Qatar Airways' partner award chart. You can redeem just 9,500 Avios — or 20,000 in first class — for nonstop American Airlines or Alaska Airlines flights under 650 miles long. All you have to pay out-of-pocket is just the minimum $10.10 in taxes and fees, or a little more if you're going abroad.

While 650 miles might not sound very long, this distance band unlocks a combined 540+ American Airlines and Alaska Airlines routes you can fly for the minimum number of Avios. Plus, Avios are some of the easiest mileage currencies to accumulate.

Here's a look at this award chart sweet spot.

Qatar Airways Award Chart for Partner Flights

Qatar Airways doesn't publish an official award chart, but it effectively uses a distance-based chart for award flights which, for economy and business/domestic first class, looks like this:

Given the low price point, itineraries that fall into the lowest distance band are some of the most compelling. You'll pay just 9,500 Qatar Airways Avios for these short-hop awards — which can be a great deal.

Moreover, Qatar Airways offers more attractive pricing on short-haul partner routes than British Airways or Iberia. In recent history, British Airways has devalued this sweet spot several times. You'll pay 12,000 British Airways Avios for routes that would otherwise cost 9,500 Qatar Avios. That's a notable difference.

List of American Airlines Routes Available for 9,500 Avios

AwardWallet searches found that American Airlines operates at least 472 routes — and possibly more — that you can book for just 9,500 Avios each way. Here are all of the routes where we found this award pricing:

Some of the most noteworthy routes of the bunch originate in Miami (MIA). And for just 9,500 Avios, you can fly from MIA to Key West (EYW), Cancun (CUN), Nassau (NAS), Providenciales (PLS), and more. When cash fares to some of these destinations are expensive, consider using Avios to get you there instead.

Credit: Qatar Airways

List of Alaska Airlines Routes Available for 9,500 Avios

While less extensive than American Airlines, Alaska Airlines still operates plenty of routes that you can book for 9,500 Avios. AwardWallet searches have uncovered 72 routes — but there are perhaps even more out there.

Alaska Airlines can't take you to the Caribbean for 9,500 Avios, but you can still visit some interesting places without breaking the bank. At present, a small sum of Avios can put you on a flight from Seattle (SEA) to Calgary (YYC), Vancouver (YVR), Bozeman (BZN), and more.

Credit: Qatar Airways

Finding American and Alaska Award Availability

One of the major pluses about using Qatar Airways Avios to book American and Alaska award flights is that availability is generally really good. On most occasions, you can plug your itinerary details into Qatar Airways' website and pull up multiple flight results. And if there's nothing on the first date you looked at, chances are there are at least a few options on surrounding days.

Credit: Qatar Airways

A secondary option for perusing availability is using Seats.aero. If you're searching for Alaska Airlines award availability and have Seats.aero Pro, use the American Airlines AAdvantage page and filter for Alaska Airlines routes. Or, if you're looking for American award space, use Alaska's page and filter for American Airlines routes.

Credit: Seats.aero

Generally speaking, if you find a partner award, the odds are good it'll reflect on Qatar Airways' website.

If you don't have a Pro account, you can create a workaround with a keyword search via destination airport and sorting the departing airport alphabetically. It'll take some scrolling, but, eventually, you'll come across relevant results.

How To Get Qatar Airways Avios

Travelers have many convenient ways to earn Avios — even without traveling on Qatar Airways or another Oneworld airline.

Spend on an Avios-earning credit card

For those residing in the United States, you're limited to five co-branded credit cards that earn Avios on everyday purchases. But of those five, only two feature the Qatar Airways emblem: the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Infinite Credit Card and the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card.

Related: All the Details on Qatar Airways’ Two Cardless Credit Cards

You can also earn Avios by swiping the British Airways Visa Signature^® Card, Aer Lingus Visa Signature^® Card, or Iberia Visa Signature^® Card. But if you want to use those Avios to book an 9,500-point award, you'll need to transfer Avios to your Qatar Airways account. Moving Avios between accounts is quick, free, and easy, requiring just a few steps.

British Airways Visa Signature^® Card

Welcome Bonus Earn up to 100,000 Avios - 75,000 Avios when you spend $5,000 within 3 months of account opening, and 25,000 additional Avios when you spend $20,000 within the first 12 months of account opening.

How to Apply

Annual Fee$95

Credit ScoreExcellent, Good

• 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL
• 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations
• 1X Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases

Aer Lingus Visa Signature^® Card

Welcome Bonus Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

How to Apply

Annual Fee$95

Credit ScoreGood/Excellent

• 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, and LEVEL
• 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations
• 1X Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases

Iberia Visa Signature^® Card

Welcome Bonus Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

How to Apply

Annual Fee$95

Credit ScoreGood/Excellent

• 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL
• 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations
• 1X Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases

Transfer points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club

Multiple credit card point currencies partner with Qatar Airways Privilege Club. Earning transferable points and moving them to Qatar Airways when you find a redemption that works for you is one of the best ways to manage your points and miles. Even better, occasional Avios transfer bonuses can make these 9,500-point awards even cheaper.

Related: Do Qatar Airways Avios Expire?

Final Thoughts

Qatar Airways offers a fantastic 9,500-Avios price for nonstop American Airlines and Alaska Airlines routes under 650 miles long. While these routes are short, there's a utility to using Avios points for these redemptions — especially when the award rate is far more favorable than the cash rate.

While we limited our research to sub-650-mile routes in this post, remember that you can also book American and Alaska award flights between 651 and 1,151 miles for just 13,000 Avios — or flights 1,152–2,000 miles for 14,500 Avios.

There's great value to be had by using Qatar Airways Avios for American and Alaska flights, and you can go a decently long way for a reasonable amount of miles.

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