Following the announcement that it is to join the Oneworld airline alliance (see online news October 9) Qatar Airways is introducing a number of changes to its Privilege Club loyalty scheme, as of November 1.
Due to the continued expansion of Qatar’s network the Privilege Club regions will be expanded from eight to 13. Qpoints and redemption charts are defined by region, so these will change accordingly.
Qpoints are awarded to achieve membership status and are currently earned based on the cabin you travel in and the regions you are travelling to or from. This will be changed so that Qpoints are earned based on the booking class (type of fare) purchased and the regions travelled in.
Qmiles will continue to be earned based on the booking class purchased, but the accrual percentages have been altered. For example, first class booking code P will earn just two thirds of what it currently does and business class booking code K will now only earn half of the base miles awarded. For a full break down to the changes in booking class earnings, see the table below.
To view the Qmiles you will earn on your Qatar Airways flight there is a mileage calculator tool available online.
Based on the new Privilege Club regions, award levels for award tickets, upgrades, Qmiles plus Cash and excess baggage will also change.
For example, a business class return award ticket between Mumbai (now falling within the South Asian Subcontinent 1 region) and London (Europe 2), would require: 35,000 Qmiles for Mumbai-Doha and 75,000 Qmiles for Doha-London, meaning a total of 110,000 Qmiles required for a Mumbai-London-Mumbai, business class return trip.
Qmiles will be awarded according to the applicable rate at the time of the flight not the booking, so these changes will come in to force for flights taken after November 1.
Privilege Club has also introduced Flexi Awards, which make it possible to take advantage of an award seat during high demand periods in exchange for double Qmiles, when you make an award booking online. This was previously only available to Gold members. Qatar has also introduced Easy Deals, a monthly set of discount deals on redemptions of up to 50 per cent of Qmiles.
For more information and a set of tables showing the various changes, click here.
Report by Scott Carey
