(Updated) Qatar’d! New Restrictions on Booking Qatar Airways Award Tickets

New Qatar Airways Award Booking Restrictions

Qatar Privilege Club has quietly rolled out significant changes to who you can book award tickets for using Avios. The new Qatar Airways award booking restrictions were pointed out in a post by a ToP Facebook group member Shelly F. and confirmed by new terms on the Qatar Airways website.
Previously, members could search and book award flights for virtually anyone without restrictions. Now, if you want to redeem Qatar Avios for someone else, they’ll need to be added to one of your account's family and friends lists—and your account will also have to meet some limiting qualifications. Let’s take a look at what changed, what it means for award travelers and a possible solution. UPDATE 7/21/26: Qatar has updated these restrictions for select elite members. Details below.

How Have Qatar Airways Award Bookings Changed?

Historically, Qatar Privilege Club allowed members to redeem Avios for anyone—a spouse, friend, client or family member. The process was simple. Similar to programs like British Airways Executive Club, it had very few restrictions on who could occupy an award ticket booked with your points. New rules have introduced two separate systems, requiring most travelers to be invited to and pre-approved through one of two lists on your account:

• “Family & Friends”
• “My List”

While there are still some unanswered questions regarding partner bookings and edge cases, the overall direction is clear: Qatar is tightening who members can redeem Avios for.

7/21 Updates: Modified Terms for Elites + Searching Capabilities

Select Elite Members Can Now Book for Others

As of 7/21/26, Qatar has somewhat loosened its new booking restrictions, but only for select members. The updated My List terms now say:

• Gold and Platinum Members may book award tickets for members added to their My List, and also have the flexibility to book award tickets for any additional individual of their choice through our Contact Centre or Member Service Centre.

Privilege Club has four status tiers, so unfortunately this still locks out those at the Burgundy and Silver levels.

Is Searching for Group Travel Back?

Last week, we'd noticed that Qatar had appeared to walk back its initial search restrictions. The desktop website was allowing ToP team members to search award availability for up to nine adult and child passengers combined, as well as infants. App searches were not working for our team. But as of 7/21, this ability might be fading, with one possible workaround we'll explain below.

Some of our team members are able to search for more than one passenger without meeting the new requirements or having “Family & Friends” + “My List” groups setup. But, an error message appears warning us to add members to our “Family & Friends” + “My List” groups.

Some of us were able to see the searches by clicking “Modify search.” But this may only be a temporary workaround for now. Let us know what you are seeing with your searches in the ToP Facebook Group.

How The “Family & Friends” + “My List” Options Differ

Let's take a look at the new Qatar Airways award booking restrictions' two separate systems that must be used for bookings:

Option 1: Family & Friends

“Family & Friends” allows members to pool Avios earnings among up to six people. According to Qatar Airways:

• “Family & Friends allows members of any tier create a group by nominating up to six family members or friends (including children over two years old) to combine Avios earnings for faster rewards.”

Each member maintains their own Privilege Club membership number and can continue earning Avios through flights, hotels, car rentals and partner activities. Those Avios are then pooled into the main member’s account.

Requirements to Create a “Family & Friends” Group:

The primary member must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Have had a Privilege Club account open for at least 30 days
• Complete at least one qualifying activity:
  • A flown flight credited to Qatar Airways Privilege Club
  • A flight credited from a partner airline
  • An eligible Qatar co-branded credit card earning transaction

This means that simply opening a new Privilege Club account—or even transferring points into your account—will no longer allow immediate redemptions for others.

The Most Important Family & Friends Group Limitation

One of the most significant restrictions is that individuals joining a Family & Friends group cannot already have an existing Privilege Club account. This requirement may create headaches for many existing Qatar members who were hoping to simply add family members and continue booking as before.

Option 2: “My List”

For travelers who already have Privilege Club accounts, Qatar introduced a separate feature called “My List.” According to Qatar:

• “My List allows you to invite up to four Privilege Club members to your account. You will be able to spend your Avios to book award flights for them.”

Unlike Family & Friends, “My List” does not pool Avios. Each member keeps their own account and their own Avios balance. The “My List” owner simply gains the ability to redeem their Avios on behalf of members added to the list.

Requirements To Create A “My List” Group:

To create “My List,” members must satisfy the following requirements, which mirror those of Family & Friends.:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Have a Privilege Club account that is at least 30 days old
• Complete one qualifying activity:
  • A Qatar Airways or partner airline accrual
  • An eligible co-branded credit card earning transaction

Additional “My List” Restrictions

There are several limitations worth noting:

• You can only add up to four members.
• Members must already have a Privilege Club account.
• A member cannot belong to multiple Lists simultaneously.
• Once added, a member must remain on your List for a minimum of six months.
• Members under age 18 cannot be added to My List and must instead be placed in a Family & Friends group.

The six-month lock-in period is particularly noteworthy, as it removes the flexibility many points enthusiasts previously enjoyed.

How To Navigate These Changes

If you frequently redeem Qatar Avios for family members, now is a good time to prepare for the new Qatar Airways award booking restrictions. Here are a few recommendations:

• Consider setting up “My List” as soon as possible if you meet the eligibility requirements.
  • Create Privilege Club accounts for family members you regularly book for.
  • Remember that members added to “My List” are locked in for six months.
• If booking for children, “Family & Friends” will likely be the required path.
• Keep in mind the 30-day account age requirement before future redemptions.

A Possible Solution For Those Who Don't Yet Meet Booking Qualifications

A short Qatar or partner airline flight credit could potentially satisfy the activity requirement. Your account will still have to be 30 days old, but flying a revenue ticket on a partner like American Airlines or Alaska Airlines and crediting it to Qatar should be able to meet the other requirements.

What We Still Don’t Know

While the airline has published terms and conditions for the new Qatar Airways award booking restrictions, there are still several unanswered questions. The biggest: Whether these restrictions will apply equally to partner airline awards booked through Qatar Privilege Club. Many points enthusiasts use Qatar Avios to book flights on partners such as American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue. Qatar’s award booking pages indicate that My List and Family & Friends are now tied to award flight redemptions, but the airline has not clearly addressed every partner booking scenario. As more data points emerge from travelers, we’ll continue updating this article.

New Qatar Airways Award Booking Restrictions: ToP Thoughts

The new Qatar Airways award booking restrictions represent one of the most significant Privilege Club changes we’ve seen in recent years. For casual travelers, the impact may be limited. However, those who frequently redeem Avios for spouses, friends, relatives or clients will need to adjust their strategies moving forward. The days of freely redeeming Qatar Avios for anyone appear to be over—at least for now. If you have upcoming Qatar award bookings planned, it may be worth setting up your Family & Friends group or My List now rather than waiting until you’re ready to book. Have questions? Join the conversation in our ToP Facebook Group.