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Qatar Airways is one of the premier airlines flying around the world today. Justifiably, it's also a sought-after redemption for points and miles enthusiasts due to the ultra-luxurious products it has onboard, namely Qsuite. Qatar has always charged some carrier-imposed surcharges on awards but recently increased the out-of-pocket burden. Let's dig into the details to see how these changes can affect your next award flight on Qatar Airways.
Qatar Airways Hikes Out-Of-Pocket Surcharges on Award Redemptions
The fee in question here is the “redemption fee,” a surcharge only imposed on award flights by Qatar. In 2022, these surcharges were imposed on a per-segment basis when using Avios to fly on the airline. Now, they're based on the distance traveled for your itinerary.
As a reminder, Qatar adopted Avios as its mileage currency, making it possible to transfer Avios between British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. The airline has also made premium cabin award availability largely exclusive to the currency.
You can easily earn Avios from many transferrable programs, like American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Marriott. Plus, a trio of airline co-branded Chase cards let you earn Avios directly. Better yet, award prices were reasonable for such a luxurious business-class product. If you find Qatar availability through American Airlines or Alaska Airlines, those carriers do not pass on surcharges to award redeemers.
The good news is the initial rollout of increased surcharges that occurred on September 15, 2024, were much worse than what's live now. Reports say there was a pricing issue with the new distance-based logic. Here are some Qatar routes and the new redemption surcharges:
- New York (JFK) to Doha (DOH) in business class: ~$236
- Chicago (ORD) to Doha (DOH) in business class: ~$200
- Frankfurt (FRA) to Bangkok (BKK) via Doha (DOH) in economy: ~$90
- New York (JFK) to Bangkok (BKK) via Doha (DOH) in economy: ~$197
That said, these rates are much lower than those of other premium airlines like Emirates, which charges very high fuel surcharges on award redemptions. So, while this is a negative change for travelers, it could've been worse. And, thankfully, you can still book these awards and pay less out of pocket through several partner programs.
Related: How To Find Partner Airline Award Flight Availability
Final Thoughts
While I'm never a fan of the price to book an award flight going up, the initial rollout of these increased fees was much higher than they eventually became. And while paying ~$236 out of pocket to book an award flight from New York to Doha in business class isn't ideal, other similar carriers impose even higher surcharges on their award customers. We'll continue to watch to see if further increases in surcharges are on the horizon.
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