Qatar Airways quietly locks most people out of booking Avios flights for friends and family

After rightly updating their policies to crack down on fraud within Avios, Qatar Airways have snuck in a new change that could render Avios flights on Qatar virtually unobtainable if you want to book for friends and family.

Thank you Marcus (@m.aspell) for tipping us off to this one on Instagram.

What changes did Qatar make?

First, let's briefly recap the initial batch of changes that were prompted by a wave of Avios thefts (you can read Helena's full write up here), whereby criminals hijacked BA Club accounts and either:

• Transferred stolen points out through linked partner accounts.

• Purchased flights for themselves using your Avios, before cancelling or selling these flights later on.

Under the new rules, you'll only be able to book reward flights for people on two pre-approved lists: a "Friends & Family" list of up to six non-members, and a "My List" of up to four fellow Privilege Club members, capping you at booking for ten people plus yourself. On top of that, any newly created Privilege Club account can't be linked to a BA Club account for 30 days, and the "My List" feature won't switch on until the account is a month old.

Okay, so you're going to need to create a Friends & Family list for non-members of the Privilege Club. Who can create one of those?

"Any Privilege Club member aged 18 years old or above can create a Family & Friends group."

Okay, makes sense. But here's where the changes kick in.

"A member will only be eligible to invite individuals to join their Family & Friends group after meeting the following criteria:

The member's Privilege Club account must have been active for a minimum 30 days

The main member must have completed at least one qualifying activity;

1. A flown flight accrual with Qatar Airways or any partner airline

2. At least one eligible co-branded credit card accrual transaction"

So to be able to create a Friends & Family list you must have credited some flying to your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account, which most of you will not have done as you're more than likely just crediting your flights to your BA Club account. Past Avios redemptions on Qatar won't count either. A redemption isn't an "accrual", as it earns no Avios or Tier Points.

If this is you, that means that you are effectively blocked from redeeming Avios on Qatar for members of your family.

So how about creating a "My List" for existing members?

"If you are an existing adult Privilege Club member, you can create your own List. You will be the owner and administrator of the List – this allows you to manage your List, send out invitations, remove List members and spend Avios on award flights for your members."

So far so good.

"All Privilege Club accounts are subject to a 30-day account maturity period before members are eligible to create a List. In addition, members must complete one of the following qualifying activities:

1. Qatar Airways flight or any partner airline accrual or

2. Accrual through co-branded credit card transaction"

We already knew about the 30-day rule, but again, the requirement to have flown a Qatar flight or any partner airline accrual is new, and potentially troublesome.

Regarding point two; transferring Avios from your American Express, Capital on Tap etc to Qatar will not qualify as although these cards allow transfers directly to Qatar, these are not "co-branded credit cards".

What to do then?

If you haven't already, create a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account now, and the next time you fly a Qatar Airways partner such as BA, Iberia etc, credit at least one flight to your Qatar Privilege Club account.

If you're unable to do this anytime soon then the workaround is that you can book Qatar flights on ba.com, but there are some problems:

• Qatar releases their flights 361 days in advance, and the BA system will only allow you to book 355 days in advance

• Qatar will allow you to mix your fares for a journey, on BA you must book one fare all the way through

• You cannot book Qatar's double price "Flexi Award" seats on BA

Hopefully they loosen these restrictions, but if it's between people having their Avios stolen and this, I'll have to choose this any day of the week.

Sam

Points Well Made is a passion project from Sam and Helena. If you've enjoyed this and want to help us keep the lights on, please consider buying us a Ko-fi or subscribing monthly. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for more of the same. Thanks for reading.