Goodbye sweet spot: Qatar Airways Privilege Club devalues American Airlines and Alaska Airlines award flights

15.08.2024 - 13:37 / thepointsguy.com

Qatar Airways has devalued some Avios sweet spots for award flights on partner airlines including American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, as first reported earlier today by DansDeals.

Historically, Qatar Airways Privilege Club has been a popular, if somewhat niche, loyalty program for U.S. flyers thanks in part to the bargain redemption levels of short-haul flights on Qatar's U.S. airline partners. Unfortunately, that's no longer the case. And what's more, Qatar Airways made this devaluation with no notice to its Privilege Club members. It's just one more reason that travelers should always consider diversifying the types of points and miles they earn and redeem because devaluations like this come all too often.

Here are the details on this latest blow, what flyers can expect, and how you might still be able to get some value from Qatar Airways Avios on short-haul American Airlines and Alaska Airlines flights.

Related: 5 versions of Avios: When to use Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways uses multiple (unpublished) award charts for flights on various airlines.

Although the airline made no announcement that it was changing the chart it uses for American Airlines and Alaska Airlines awards, flight searches reveal that the redemption rates for short-haul American and Alaska routes have indeed gone up. The cost of these flights in Avios has increased by up to 64%, with the shortest routes seeing the most dramatic price hikes. Here is what we have been able to piece together.

Seattle to Portland, Oregon on Alaska

12,500 business

20,000 business

+60%

Seattle to Los Angeles on Alaska

16,500 business

27,000 business

+64%

Seattle to Minneapolis-St. Paul on Alaska

22,000 business

34,000 business

+53%

Los Angeles to Newark on Alaska

38,750 business

43,000 business

+11%

This means that even the shortest routes, like a 129-mile flight from Seattle to Portland, Oregon, will set you back at least 9,500 Avios each way.

The good news is that longer-haul flight awards on American and Alaska, as well as redemption requirements for JetBlue flights appear to be unaffected ... for the moment. Since this devaluation came with no warning, there's no telling whether the Qatar Airways Privilege Club intends to make more changes to its award levels in the coming days. So if you were planning to book something using Qatar Airways Avios, do so sooner rather than later.

For now, the Qatar Airways award charts for flights on other partner airlines remains unchanged as well.

Related: Airlines you can book using Avios: How to maximize your points

Although Qatar Airways award rates for these flights have jumped significantly, in the grand scheme of points and miles, they're still relatively