Qatar Airways Privilege Membership affords the best variety of award seats for Qatar Airways flights amongst all loyalty packages.
Since Qsuites enterprise class is such a aggressive product, discovering an award seat on the lowest “Saver” charge can show to be fairly tough, regardless of which program you guide from.
Nevertheless, Qatar Airways Privilege Membership additionally options “Flexi” awards, which supply entry to extra seats in trade for a higher quantity of factors.
What Are Qatar Airways Privilege Membership Flexi Awards?
Within the Qatar Airways Privilege Membership loyalty program, one distinctive function accessible to members is Flexi awards.
With Flexi pricing, you get entry to a higher variety of award seats, albeit at twice the price of the “Saver” off-peak award worth.
It’s price noting that that is completely different than dynamic pricing, because the value is all the time fastened at twice the quantity of an ordinary, off-peak award seat, and doesn’t in any other case fluctuate.
If you seek for an award flight on the Qatar Airways web site, it’s possible you’ll discover the phrase Flexi within the search outcomes. This denotes that the worth you see is twice that of the usual, off-peak “Saver” charge.
Should you don’t see Flexi above the search outcomes, then you realize that you just’re paying the decrease “Saver” charge, which is a superb deal.
For instance, a “Saver” award for a one-way flight from Montreal to Doha prices 70,000 Avios on off-peak dates in Qsuites enterprise class.
Nevertheless, the Flexi worth for a similar flight is 140,000 Avios.
You may additionally see Flexi pricing displayed on a inexperienced flag with “Q2” written on it. Flexi tends to look extra usually on the Qatar Airways web site, and the Q2 banner tends to look on the app; nevertheless, it might additionally seem on the web site.
In both occasion, they each confer with the identical factor.
Flexi pricing is barely accessible for flights with Qatar Airways in financial system, enterprise class, and First Class booked by means of Qatar Airways Privilege Membership.
You received’t discover Flexi pricing for Qatar Airways flights booked with different loyalty packages, nor will you discover Flexi pricing for different airways booked by means of Qatar Airways Privilege Membership.
Qatar Airways makes use of peak and off-peak pricing to its loyalty program, with flights priced larger throughout peak dates on “Saver” charges.
Flexi costs aren’t affected by this distinction, and also you’ll pay the identical Flexi worth whether or not you guide a peak or an off-peak date.
Are Qatar Airways Privilege Membership Flexi Awards a Good Deal?
Ideally, there would all the time be ample award availability on all routes on the “Saver” degree. Sadly, this simply isn’t actuality.
As an alternative, Flexi pricing affords entry to a higher stock of award seats, albeit at the next value.
On the one hand, gaining access to extra award seats that may be booked with factors is all the time higher than not having any seats accessible in any respect.
Moreover, since Flexi costs are fastened, they aren’t topic to the identical fluctuation in costs that you just’ll discover with packages that use dynamic pricing. On this regard, pricing remains to be predictable, so long as you could find an award seat.
Compared to the money charges for Qatar Airways flights, you’ll be able to nonetheless wind up getting a great return in worth together with your factors on Flexi awards.
For instance, a round-trip flight from Montreal to Doha in Qatar Airways Qsuites enterprise class may cost a little round $7,200 (CAD).
On the “Saver” degree, those self same flights would worth out at 140,000 Avios, plus taxes and costs. After accounting for the money part of the award reserving, you’d have netted a worth of round 4.5 cents per Avios (CAD), which is superb.
With a Flexi award, those self same flights would worth out at 280,000 Avios, plus the identical quantity of taxes and costs. On this scenario, and after accounting for the money part, you’d nonetheless have come out with a worth of round 2.4 cents per Avios (CAD).
We worth Avios at 2 cents per level (CAD), and even with Flexi awards, you’re nonetheless in a position to redeem factors at larger than our goal valuation.
Whereas it’s not almost nearly as good as what you’d get on the “Saver” degree, your factors are nonetheless punching above their weight, particularly when in comparison with the money fare.
Leverage Switch Bonuses
Understand that there are sometimes switch bonuses to each Qatar Airways Privilege Membership and The British Airways Membership.
Since you’ll be able to freely switch Avios between accounts, you would leverage a switch bonus promotion to both, after which transfer them round from inside the Avios ecosystem for a Qatar Airways redemption.
Should you’re in a position to take advantage of a switch bonus, which normally leads to 30–50% bonus Avios, then you definitely’d be taking a few of the sting out of Flexi pricing.
For instance, a one-way flight from Seattle to Doha in Qsuites enterprise class prices 140,000 Avios with Flexi pricing.
A 30% switch bonus would successfully cut back the variety of factors required right down to 107,700 factors. Equally, a 40% switch bonus would convey the efficient value right down to 100,000 factors, and a 50% switch bonus would decrease it even additional to 93,400 factors.
At these values, it’s not a completely unreasonable worth to pay for one of many world’s greatest enterprise class merchandise.
Helpful for A number of Seats
It’s additionally price noting that reserving Qatar Airways Flexi awards would be the solely approach to safe award seats for a bigger group on the identical flight.
If there are greater than two folks travelling collectively, it may be somewhat exhausting, if not unimaginable, to search out a number of “Saver” award seats with Qatar Airways. That is particularly the case on routes to or from North America.
By combining Flexi awards with “Saver” awards, you’d have a a lot better probability of flying collectively, maybe even within the Qsuites Quad.
Conclusion
Qatar Airways affords Flexi awards by means of its Privilege Membership loyalty program.
In trade for a higher stock of award seats, Flexi awards are twice the price of the “Saver” off-peak awards.
Whereas it’s all the time a greater deal to guide award seats on the “Saver” degree, it’s not all the time attainable, particularly on in style routes.
Flexi rewards provide you with a greater probability of scoring a seat in one of many world’s greatest enterprise class merchandise; nevertheless, it’ll simply come at a steeper worth.
By transferring factors throughout a switch bonus occasion, you’ll be able to successfully cut back the variety of factors required, which additionally takes a little bit of the sting out of Flexi pricing.
