Often considered the worldâs best business class product, Qatar Airways QSuites is an aspirational redemption for many miles and points enthusiasts. With QSuites, an excellent hard product and soft product are combined to make even the longest of flights a true delight.
Thankfully, it is pretty easy for Canadians to earn and redeem miles and points to fly this business class experience for themselves. There are a number of points programs with their own pros and cons available to Canadians who are looking to book this aspirational flight in the future.
Letâs take a look at everything you need to know about Qatar Airways QSuites and the various miles and points programs you can utilize to book this aspirational business class experience.
The Qatar Airways QSuites Experience
Qatar Airways QSuites is truly an experience that combines both a stellar soft product and hard product into a memorable flight. The suite, food and beverage, and amenities make it well worth experiencing this business class product for yourself. While we have covered the basics below, check out our full Qatar Airways QSuites review for more details as to what you can expect.
While not discussed below, those flying Qatar Airways business class through or originating from Doha can also access the Al Mourjan business lounge, which is in a league of its own so make sure you donât miss it. If you are departing on a Qatar Airways first class flight in Doha, you can access the even more exclusive Al Safwa first class lounge.
QSuites Seat Map
The beauty of Qatar Airways QSuites is that there isnât a bad seat to be had; if anything, some seats are superior depending on your travel situation and preferences. All seats have sliding doors and aisle access.
If you are flying as a couple or with a close travel partner, the best seats would be the backward-facing E/F seats in the middle. The divider between these sets can be lowered to make the famous âdouble bed in the skyâ.
If you would prefer a window seat, the backward-facing A/K window seats are the best choice as the seats are closer to the window, meaning that the seat storage space provides additional space from the aisle.
The window forwards facing B/J seats would be less desirable as the storage space is near the window, pushing the seat closer to the aisle. Similarly, seats D/G would probably be least desirable for most passengers since they are in the middle and spaced away from each other, making them unsuitable for couples traveling together.
If you are flying with a group of four, the middle divider can be opened to create a QSuites quad configuration. While it feels like this would be utilized rarely, it is neat nonetheless.
QSuites Suite
The design of the QSuites suite is stunning, with Qatar Airways color accents throughout. The seat itself is my favorite part of flying on QSuites. The suites are very roomy, have ample storage space and countertops, and the door creates a feeling of privacy that is unmatched by many business class products.
A blanket, pillow, and amenity kit are available at every seat. The entertainment console screen is sizable and contains a number of television and movie options to keep you busy during your long flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
The seat is also very comfortable when put into lie-flat mode for sleeping and the footwell is big enough for those who prefer sleeping on their side. Flight attendants can provide a mattress pad that fits over the seat if desired.
Food & Beverage
The food and beverage experience on Qatar Airways QSuites is nothing short of excellent. Upon arriving at your seat, you will have separate food and beverage menus, showcasing the culinary journey you are about to go on.
Once you are up in the air, your table is set for the first meal service. Qatar Airways offers a bread basket, a variety of oils to pair with your bread, and sets every table with a candlelight.
The main meal service typically includes an appetizer, soup, entree, and dessert. Qatar Airways also offers an âorder when you likeâ menu for snacks mid-flight. This included options such as afternoon tea with finger sandwiches, hamburgers, and a poutine.
Qsuites also has an extensive liquor menu, including a number of cocktails. Of note, Qatar Airways offers two different champagnes in business class, one more typical and one that is a rose (the rose is not to be missed!). They also do iced lattes, which was one of our favorite things when we flew QSuites.
Amenity Kit & Pyjamas
All QSuites business class passengers receive an amenity kit with Diptyque. On flights to Doha, the amenity kit is typically contained in a stylish cardboard box, whereas on flights from Doha, passengers will receive a more classic amenity kit in a zippered container.
Pajamas and slippers are also provided and will be handed out once you are seated and the flight attendants can âsize you upâ. Pajamas received on QSuites can be kept by the passenger, which is not always the case when flying in business class.
Qatar Airways QSuites Routes
Qatar Airways flies a number of routes from North America to their hub in Doha. While many of these do often contain QSuites, it is never a guarantee that your route will feature a QSuite-equipped plane until you physically step onto your flight.
Montreal and Seattle typically feature QSuites airplanes and as these are the most likely routes for Canadians to fly, they are a good option to hedge your bets when making an award flight redemption with QSuites in mind.
Be aware, there is always the risk of an aircraft change on any of the above routes which could mean that you might be flying on the normal Qatar Airways business class. While this is still a great way to fly, it does pale in comparison to QSuites. With that in mind, consider keeping an eye on the seat map for your flight to easily determine if you are flying on a QSuites-equipped plane.
Booking Qatar Airways QSuites on Points
Below Iâve covered the best options for Canadians who are looking to book an award flight on Qatar Airways QSuites. The analysis looks at the ins and outs of each loyalty program, award flight availability, mileage pricing, and taxes and fees.
There are other loyalty programs that can book Qatar Airways QSuites, such as Qantas Frequent Flyer and Cathay Asia Miles, but it can be harder to earn these points and to find flight availability, so I havenât covered those within this article.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top three redemption options for Canadians who are looking to book their next flight on Qatar Airways QSuites: British Airways Avios, Alaska Airlines Miles, and American Airlines AAdvantage Miles.
Booking Qatar Airways QSuites with British Airways Avios
When booking Qatar Airways QSuites with British Airways Avios, you wonât actually be booking on the British Airways website. Instead, you will need to create a Qatar Privilege Club account to book your flights.
Once the account is created, you can link your British Airways Avios account with your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account through the Qatar site, and in doing so, it enables you to transfer points back and forth instantly. You can link the accounts here.
Once you have linked your Qatar Airways Privilege Club and British Airways Avios accounts, you are now able to search for award availability directly on Qatarâs website. You can expect to pay 70,000 Avios plus $100 in taxes and fees per person, per direction when traveling between North America and their hub in Doha when booking with Qatar Privilege Club.
Most routes tend to have two business class seats available for award bookings on calendar release. However, Qatar tends to also randomly drop additional award space throughout the year, so if you arenât willing to book a year out, check often for availability. Utilizing the seats.aero QSuites Finder Tool can also make this search much easier.
Of note, when you are searching for award flight availability, you might notice that some days have what is called âFlexiâ availability. You do not want to book this, as it costs double the points and is essentially Qatarâs version of tiered or dynamic pricing based on demand.
Qatar Airways Privilege Club has the furthest availability calendar, meaning that you can book award flights that are 360 days away. This is huge, as the other two options in the article only have access to 330 days in the future, meaning that utilizing Qatar Airways Privilege Club is the best way to secure availability before it is released to the broader public.
Booking Qatar Airways via Qatar Airways Privilege Club (using British Airways Avios) is one of the best uses of British Airways Avios for business class flights, and I would put this high on your list of aspirational redemptions if you are considering visiting a location that is serviced by Qatar Airways. You can even tack on an additional business class flight on Qatar Airways, such as one to the Maldives or Bangkok, for a nominal cost of 15,000 or 20,000 Avios respectively.
The Best Way to Earn British Airways Avios
Since you can transfer your British Airways Avios at a 1:1 ratio to Qatar Airways Privilege Club, the focus for this redemption should be earning as much Avios as possible. With that goal in mind, the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite card is the best option for Canadians who are looking to work towards their Qatar Airways QSuites redemption.
The RBC British Airways Visa Infinite card earns Avios and gives cardholders the opportunity to earn 2x Avios on all British Airways-related purchases.
Check out our RBC British Airways Visa Infinite review for more details.
60,000 Avios
$6,000
$855+
$165
Yes
–
That being said, a number of other great options exist when it comes to earning British Airways Avios in Canada.
If you arenât interested in the RBC British Airways credit card, RBC Avion points can also be transferred at a 1:1 ratio which makes the RBC Avion Visa Infinite card one of the best travel credit cards for quickly amassing a large amount of Avios. There are also often promotions of up to an additional 30% Avios when transferring points which makes this option even stronger.
American Express Membership Rewards, both in Canada and the United States, can also be transferred to British Airways Avios at a ratio of 1:1. There are seven credit cards in Canada and nine cards in the United States that earn Membership rewards, so there is no shortage of options if you are looking to build your British Airways Avios balance.
Booking Qatar Airways QSuites with Alaska Airlines Miles
Searching for Qatar Airways QSuites awards on the Alaska Airlines website is simple. Log into your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account and search for the date and route you are interested in booking. Ensure that you click the âUse Milesâ checkbox before searching to look for award availability.
Once you are served the results for the day you selected, click âView by Calendarâ to easily filter reward availability by a month at a time which is much more efficient than searching day by day. You can also filter by class of service, making it easy to find business class availability.
You can expect to pay 85,000 Alaska Miles plus $20 in taxes and fees per person, per direction when traveling between North America and their hub in Doha when booking with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. While you will pay less in taxes when booking with Alaska Miles, the points cost is the most expensive of the three options.
Similar to booking with British Airways Avios, you will most likely see many dates that are double the cost at 170,000 Alaska Miles. These awards are not worth booking, and instead, it would be worthwhile to be more flexible with your dates so you can find a day that does have availability at the 85,000 Alaska Miles price point.
When searching for QSuites award availability through the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, you can only see flights up to 330 days away. This is a significant disadvantage over booking with Qatar Airways Privilege Club directly, as those members will have already picked over availability. While it is still possible to find availability, know that you are searching at a disadvantage if you choose to book with Alaska Miles instead of Avios.
Alaska Miles can be redeemed for a ton of other excellent options, including Starlux A350 business class, so they might not be the best option for your QSuites redemption unless you are sitting on a massive pile of them.
The Best Way to Earn Alaska Miles
While this option isnât available for Canadians yet, soon enough the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard will be the best option for accruing Alaska Miles in Canada. This will be the best option since cardholders will be able to transfer MBNA Rewards points at a ratio of 1:1 to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, making this the only way to earn Alaska Miles in Canada.
The MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard earns MBNA Rewards points and gives cardholders the opportunity to earn 5x MBNA Rewards on restaurant, grocery, digital media purchases, and more.
Check out our MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard review for more details.
30,000 MBNA Rewards
$2,000
$180+
$120
Yes
–
On the US side, Bank of America offers a few Alaska Airlines co-branded credit cards, such as the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card. These cards are obtainable by Canadians who have entered the US credit card market and have received an ITIN, however, applications must be done in-branch for any person who is applying with an ITIN.
Booking Qatar Airways QSuites with American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
Searching for Qatar Airways award availability is simple with American Airlines AAdvantage. Log into your account, enter your desired route and date, and ensure you select the âRedeem Milesâ checkbox before searching.
American Airlines also has a calendar feature that is available once you are on the search results screen. Through the calendar search, you can filter for award availability quickly and add in additional filters, such as number of stops and fare class, making it easy to find the award availability for the desired route you are looking for.
You can expect to pay 70,000 AAdvantage Miles plus $10 in taxes and fees per person, per direction when traveling between North America and their hub in Doha when booking with the American Airlines AAdvantage program. This makes the AAdvantage program the best booking option when considering the combined mileage and tax costs.
I would also consider this the most restrictive of the three options available for Canadians as American Airlines AAdvantage Miles can be hard to come by. While there are several options available that I will touch on below, the juice simply might not be worth the squeeze to consider this an actual reasonable option for booking Qatar Airways QSuites.
Similar to booking with the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, when searching for QSuites award availability through the American Airlines AAdvantage program, you can only see flights up to 330 days away. This may make it more difficult to find award availability than with British Airways Avios, but if you are flexible with your travel plans, the significantly cheaper taxes and reasonable points cost make this a compelling booking option.
The Best Way to Earn AAdvantage Miles
If you are a Canadian with access to US credit cards, the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard is your best option for earning AAdvantage Miles. Citi credit cards can be applied for online with an ITIN, so if you have a credit history in the United States this is a great option to build your AAdvantage Miles balance.
The Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard earns AAdvantage miles and offers perks when flying American Airlines including a first checked bag free and priority boarding.
75,000 AAdvantage
$3,500
$1,050+
$99 (FYF)
No
–
Outside of the Citi credit cards, not many other options exist for Canadians to earn AAdvantage Miles. RBC Avion cardholders can transfer points at a ratio of 10:7, but this isnât worth it unless you were topping up before making a flight redemption. The better option would be to transfer your RBC Avion points to British Airways Avios and book your Qatar Airways flight through that program.
Conclusion
Qatar Airways QSuites is an incredibly desirable business class redemption in the miles and points community. If you are interested in booking this product, knowing the ins and outs of what currencies to earn and what programs to book with goes a long way in making your next flight on QSuites a reality. As always, ensure you keep the best practices in booking award flights in mind when searching for availability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Check the seat map for your upcoming flight. If the business class cabin seat map has seats E/F rear-facing and located close together in the middle it is a QSuites-equipped flight.
No, QSuites are rarer to experience on Boeing 777 aircraft. These planes offer a mix of QSuites and normal business class, so always check the seat map in advance of your flight.
The Qatar Airways Airbus A350-1000 always has QSuites, whereas the A350-900 can be either QSuites or normal business class.
Josh Bandura
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