Qatar Airways Privilege Club is running a promotion on purchased Avios with up to a 60% bonus, live between October 16 and 19, 2026. It's the strongest buying deal the programme has offered this year, and it brings the effective price down to about 1.44 cents per Avios at the top tier.
The bonus is tiered. Buying 5,000 to 20,000 Avios gets you 30% extra, 21,000 to 40,000 earns a 50% bonus, and purchases of 42,000 up to the 250,000 annual cap score the full 60%. At that top rate, 400,000 Avios would cost $5,750. Base pricing normally runs 2.3 to 2.8 cents per Avios depending on volume, with no extra taxes or fees on top. One catch: you need at least 1,000 Avios earned in your account (through any means, including a partner transfer) before you can buy, and purchases can take up to 72 hours to post, though they usually land faster.
So is it worth it? The case for Privilege Club has grown stronger since Qatar Airways switched to Avios. The airline holds back a lot of its business class award space for its own members, so availability through programmes like American AAdvantage can be thin. Qatar also lets you move Avios freely between Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar accounts once they're linked, which adds flexibility. A one-way US to Doha business class redemption runs 70,000 Avios, with the Maldives at 85,000, Bangkok at 95,000 and Auckland at 120,000.
Partner redemptions are another draw: JetBlue (including Mint), Bangkok Airways, LATAM, Middle East Airlines, Philippine Airlines, RwandAir and Virgin Australia can all be booked with Privilege Club Avios.
That said, there's a solid argument for not buying at all. Citi ThankYou points transfer to Privilege Club directly, and since Avios move between the British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus programmes, you can effectively top up Qatar Avios from Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One too. If you're paying cash, a card that earns well on everyday spending is the smart pick — purchases go through points.com, so they don't code as airfare.
For anyone who does buy, Avios expire after three years of account inactivity, though any earning or redemption — including this purchase — resets the clock for another 36 months. The sensible approach is to buy only when you have a specific award flight in mind, rather than stockpiling on spec.
— Source: One Mile at a Time
