Qatar Airways Devalues American and Alaska Awards
After British Airways' brutal devaluation in July, Qatar Airways became one of the cheapest options for booking award flights with American and Alaska. Unfortunately, Qatar Airways decided to follow in British Airways' footsteps and implemented its own devaluation for American and Alaska awards, also without any notice. Let's take a look at the details as Qatar Airways devalues American and Alaska awards.
Qatar Airways Devaluation
Here are the new rates for redeeming Qatar Airways Avios on American or Alaska:
| Zone | Flight distance | Economy – old | Economy – new | Business – old | Business – new |
| 1 | 1 – 650 miles | 6,000 | 9,500 | 12,500 | 20,000 |
| 2 | 651 – 1,150 miles | 9,000 | 13,000 | 16,500 | 27,000 |
| 3 | 1,151 – 2,000 miles | 11,000 | 14,500 | 22,000 | 34,000 |
| 4 | 2,001 – 3,000 miles | 13,000 | 16,000 | 38,750 | 43,000 |
The short-haul flights of 650 miles or less were hit the hardest as their cost increased by over 50% in economy and 60% in business. But these increases are painful across the board.
Qatar's award pricing for American and Alaska is still cheaper than British Airways, but not by much.
The silver lining here is that Qatar Avios are incredibly easy to earn and transfer bonuses could make these flights affordable. For example, at the time of this devaluation, there is a 30% transfer bonus from Amex to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. Since you can transfer Avios among all the Avios airlines, including Qatar, the 30% bonus essentially applies to Qatar as well. With this bonus, you can book a flight for under 1,150 for 10,000 Membership Rewards, which is just 1,000 points more than the old award chart.
Qatar Airways Devalues American and Alaska Awards: ToP Thoughts
Qatar Airways devalued redemptions for American and Alaska flights without any notice, just like British Airways did earlier in the year. This hits particularly hard since Qatar Airways Privilege Club had become one of the most affordable methods for booking American and Alaska redemptions just a over a month ago.
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