Qatar Airways is a global airline that flies to 160 destinations, with its main hub at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar. The airline is a member of the Oneworld alliance. Its frequent flyer program is called Privilege Club, and when you fly on Qatar Airways or partners, you earn QMiles, which can be redeemed for award flights, upgrades and more.

Here’s what a points collector needs to know before booking their first Qatar Airways flight.

About Qatar Airways

Here’s a quick overview of a few key features of Qatar Airways and Privilege Club.

Fare types. While Qatar’s award-winning business class cabins, known as the Qsuites, are the most well-known, the airline also offers various economy options (economy saver, economy value or economy flex) and first class cabins on flights.

Main U.S. routes. Qatar flies regularly to U.S. airports including in New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Points currency and loyalty program. Qmiles are the reward miles earned when you or your nominated family members travel with Qatar Airways, Oneworld airlines or over 100 global partners. Each flight with Qatar Airways or any Oneworld member airline also earns Qpoints, which count toward elite status in the airline’s Privilege Club. Qmiles can be redeemed for future award flights, while Qpoints count toward elite status on Qatar Airways.

How to earn Qatar Airways Qmiles

There are many ways to earn Qmiles, including by flying, spending money with Qatar's business partners (like car rental companies) and transferring points from other rewards programs. Qatar’s Privilege Club allows members to nominate family members to pool miles with so that awards can be earned faster.

Earn Qmiles by flying

Privilege Club members will earn miles for flights on Qatar Airways, Oneworld member airlines, GOL, Middle East Airlines, LATAM Airlines and Bangkok Airways. The number of miles earned for flights is based on the fare class, distance flown and elite status level of the member.

Be sure to check out rolling flight booking bonus offers to take advantage of additional opportunities to boost Qmiles earnings.

Earn by spending on transfer partners’ credit cards

Qatar Airways doesn’t have a co-branded credit card with any U.S. financial partners, but that doesn’t stop you from earning Qmiles from the following transfer partners:

Citi ThankYou.

Marriott Bonvoy.

World of Hyatt.

Citi ThankYou

Transfer Citi ThankYou points in 1,000 point increments to the Qatar Privilege Club at a rate of 1:1.

The following credit cards earn ThankYou points that can be transferred to Qatar:

Citi Premier® Card.

Citi Prestige® Card.

Marriott Bonvoy

The transfer ratio of Marriott Bonvoy points to Qmiles is 3:1, but you’ll receive a 5,000 point transfer bonus when transferring 60,000 Bonvoy points. That means 60,000 Bonvoy points will get 25,000 Qmiles.

Here’s a list of Marriott credit cards that could be used to earn points, which you could then transfer to Qatar Privilege Club:

Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card.

Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card.

World of Hyatt

The transfer ratio of World of Hyatt Points to Qmiles is 2.5:1, which means you can convert 5,000 Hyatt points to 2,000 Qmiles. And if you convert 50,000 points or more, you’ll receive 5,000 bonus Qmiles.

World of Hyatt Points can be earned on the World of Hyatt Credit Card.

Other ways to earn Qmiles:

Qatar Airways travel packages. Earn 1 Qmile for every $1.37 spent.

Buy Qmiles. Qatar Privilege Club Members can buy up to 250,000 Qmiles per year in blocks of 1,000 Qmiles.

Car rental partners. Members can earn up to Qmiles by renting cars through partners like Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Rentalcars.com, Salik and Sixt.

Hotel partners. Members earn points for stays through more than 30 partner hotels, including Kempinski, Hilton, Booking.com and Shangri-La hotels and resorts.

How to redeem Qatar Airways Qmiles for maximum value

Qatar Airways doesn’t publish an award chart for using Qmiles on Qatar Airways flights; instead, you have to enter the desired cabin, along with the route you wish to fly into the Qcalculator to see what your award redemption options and prices are. This can be inconvenient when you’re trying to plan trips and assess options.

But the partner airline award chart is very detailed. This same chart applies to all eligible partner flights. Prices are based on class and distance.

On Qatar flights

Redeem Qmiles for a Qatar Airways flight. Here are a few more helpful things to know:

You can book during busy periods (popular bookings) in exchange for doubling Qmiles. Keep in mind that this devalues Qmiles by 50%.

You can spend Qmiles + cash on bookings. This is helpful when you don’t have enough Qmiles in your account for the ideal flight.

You can also pamper yourself by redeeming Qmiles for an upgrade to business or first class on the airline, rather than paying for the full ticket with them.