It has been a couple months now since Qatar Airways joined the oneworld alliance and British Airways has finally gotten around to updating some of the data they publish related to award costs using the carrier. That’s great news in that the rates can be verified but it is also a bit strange in that many Qatar Airways-operated routes are still not reflected in the BA calculator. And we’re not talking about crazy, obscure cities which are being skipped here. Routes such as Doha – Delhi or Mumbai are not being shown by BA. The good news is that more than 80 routes are being shown in the system which means I can properly update my Avios Calculator tool with that data.
This update adds a bunch of new routing options for many city pairs and also at least 10 new destinations to the calculator:
- ADD
- EBB
- ESB
- GOI
- IKA
- ISB
- LHE
- MHD
- SYZ
- TRV
Looking at the award rates there are a few quirks in the chart which are worth being aware of. Travelers from most Qatar Airways US gateways to Doha will pay a premium to take the non-stop flights versus a connection. Chicago has the most notable cost spread, but JFK and Houston see similar variations (Dulles is cheapest on the non-stop). Of course, there are other factors to consider, including taxes/fees, different products and award inventory, but looking just at the points required the numbers can be rather interesting. Here’s what ORD-DOH looks like:
One the flip side there are many routes where BA will advertise their connecting service price over the Qatar Airways non-stop options which are much less expensive. Doha to Stockholm prices at 12,500 Avios one-way non-stop in economy, or 27,500 for the connecting trip on BA metal. Moscow (DME) is also 12,500 non-stop or 30,000 via London on BA. The largest spread I saw in the data results was between Doha and Baku, Azerbaijan. The route prices at only 7,500 Avios non-stop or 32,500 with the connection. I’m not loading the cruddy BA rates into the data set I’m querying against for the calculations on the Avios Calculator tool; I’d rather not show such bad options to you.
Finally, a quick list of all the 4,500 Avios routes BA is showing for Qatar Airways flights:
- BAH-DOH
- BSR-DOH
- DOH-DXB
- BKK-HAN
- HKT-KUL
- DOH-KWI
- DOH-MCT
- JNB-MPM
- PNH-SGN
- DOH-SYZ
There are a couple fun 5th freedom routes in there worth looking at.
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Dang, 300K for a r/t non-stop. That makes the new UA award chart look cheap.
I would like to share my experience which shattered my dream of redeeming AVIOS on Qatar airways.
India(ANYWHERE ) to Doha one way AVIOS cost is 10K miles.
But add the taxes and fuel surcharges , it cost APPROX 9,500 INR equal to 150 USD. (IN ADDITION TO MILES)
Instead if i use LCC’S like AIR INDIA EXPRESS , FLY DUBAI , AIR ARABIA, etc the total one way ticket cost inclusive of taxes and surcharges is APPROX 120 USD.
Instead if i use QR FFP (PRIVILEGE CLUB) i pay only 23 USD , OF COURSE more miles are required APPROX 12K TO 18 K depending on zone ,less for EASY DEALS.
CAN ANYONE JUSTIFY REDEEMING AVIOS ON QR?
Thanks for the list .
Each time I have been in the region and wanted to swing through KWI for a few hours the flight options have been quite expensive so will be nice to take care of a stop with a 4,500 Avios ticket.
Indeed, though the GBP 50 in fees each way makes it a bit less appealing. Hooray, YQ!