Which Credit Cards Partner With Qatar Airways?

Whether you’re aiming for an upgrade or accumulating points for a once-in-a-lifetime trip, topping up your balance with credit card spend is a great way to get value from your airline loyalty program. If you’re a member of the Qatar Airways Privilege Club, these points can unlock such delights as Qatar’s lounges, discounted flights, and, of course, the inimitable QSuite business class.
Photo: Qatar Airways
Earlier this month, Qatar Airways launched two new credit cards under its Privilege Club banner. This is the first time the airline has launched co-branded cards in the US market, and it is being supported by Cardless, the powerhouse behind TAP Miles&Go Express Credit Card and LATAM’s co-branded card.
However, the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Infinite and Signature credit cards are currently in waitlist-only mode. While they look generous in terms of sign-up bonuses and offers, they’re not the only game in town.
The Cardless credit cards
As it’s the newest offering and the most relevant to US readers, it’s worth recapping the benefits of the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Infinite and Signature Credit Cards. Both come with annual fees and a variety of benefits depending on the card.
The Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Infinite Credit Card
This new co-branded card from Qatar Airways comes with a hefty annual fee – $499 to be precise. However, it comes with a ream of built-in benefits that will see you capitalizing on your investment, even when you’re not flying internationally.
For new sign-ups, the current benefits are:
Welcome offer Up to 50,000 Avios (25,000 initially, then another 25,000 after spending $5,000 in the first 90 days) Avios earning Ongoing 5 Avios per $1 spend at Qatar Airways; 3 Avios per $1 spend at restaurants; 1 Avios per $1 spend on everything else Qpoints 2 Qpoints per 1,500 Avios earned plus 150 Qpoints for $5,000 spend Status One year of complimentary Gold Status with Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Infinite Standard Visa Infinite benefits such as concierge services, rental car deals, and more
The card is open only to US residents, and welcome bonuses are available to new account holders who sign up by June 4.
The generous welcome offers from this card mean new signees can effectively buy themselves access to Qatar’s beautiful lounges for a year for the annual fee. On top of that, they’ll also get a 75% bonus on Qatar Airways flights, 100% mileage for family members and various other benefits.
Image: Qatar Airways
The Qpoints bonus is worth taking note of, too. Combined with the welcome offer of 50,000 Avios (at 2 Qpoints per 1,500 Avios), account holders can bag up to 216 Qpoints from the get-go, giving you a good head start on getting up to Platinum status within the year.
Related The Different Tiers Of Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club Qatar Privilege Club offers exclusive benefits to its members where they redeem Qpoints for reward tickets, upgrades and various other perks.
The Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card
The more affordable of the two options, the new Visa Signature co-branded credit card has an annual fee of just $99. It also comes with various benefits, although slightly watered down from the Infinite list.
Welcome offer Up to 40,000 Avios (20,000 initially, then another 20,000 for a $3,000 spend in the first 90 days) Avios earning 4 Avios per $1 spend at Qatar Airways; 2 Avios per $1 spend on restaurants; 1 Avios per $1 spend everywhere else Qpoints 2 Qpoints per 2,000 Avios earned Status Silver status with Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Photo: Qatar Airways
This card is worth it for the lounge access alone. If you often fly Qatar and love to lounge (who doesn’t?), then this is a quick way to get a pass for the year.
As well as that, Silver status gets you a 25% bonus on Qatar Airways flights, 100% mileage earned by family members, extra luggage, and more.
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Citi ThankYou Rewards
One of the best ways to earn Qatar Avios is to transfer Citi ThankYou Rewards from one of the many Citi credit cards partnered with the program. At the moment, Privilege Club is offering a 30% transfer bonus on any points moved from Citi ThankYou to the loyalty program.
Image: Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways is offering the transfer bonus from a bunch of banks, including the Bank of New Zealand, HSBC Hong Kong, Singapore & Sri Lanka, and CIMB in Malaysia. Yet, for US residents, Citibank is the best way to maximise this offer.
Points are transferred at a 1:1 ratio, under normal circumstances. But now, with the bonus in effect, an additional 30% will be added to any points you transfer. Note that the offer is only available for transfers through May 31st, 2024 and that the airline says it could take up to June 15th for the points to be added to your account.
Image: Qatar Airways
If you’re sitting on a bunch of ThankYou points, waiting for an opportunity – this might be it. Around 70,000 Avios will get you a QSuite award seat to Doha, and that’s just 54,000 ThankYou Points if you transfer within this window.
Other Privilege Club partners
Qatar Airways partners with various banks and credit cards within the Privilege Club partner list. Many of these are Middle Eastern banks, so they aren’t relevant to our US frugalistas. But some partners could be your ticket to the high life…
According to The Point Calculator, these are some of the other credit card partners who feed into points on the Privilege Club:
Card name Ratio of points transfer to Privilege Club British Airways Visa Signature 1:1 Citi Premier 1:1 Platinum Card from American Express 1:1 Blue Business Credit Card (American Express) 1:1 Business Platinum American Express 1:1 American Express Business Gold 1:1 American Express Green 1:1 American Express EveryDay 1:1 Chase World Of Hyatt 5:2 Marriott Bonvoy Bold/Bevy/Bountiful/Brilliant/Boundless & Business 3:1 Hilton Honors American Express 10:1
As well as points transfers, these cards all have various offers for spending, welcome bonuses and points earned for travel bookings. Some also offer either free or discounted TSA Precheck and Global Entry membership, which is a benefit any frequent flyer can get on board with!
Love Qatar Airways? Love Avios
Qatar Airways is now one of six airlines that use Avios as their loyalty currency. For regular Qatar passengers, this opens up a world of benefits for flights with other airlines, including British Airways, Aer Lingus and more.
Related Qatar Airways Partners: Where You Can Earn Avios In 2024 Qatar Airways allows earning of Avios with all alliance members plus several more
Then, of course, there’s the fact that Qatar is one of the most premium members of the oneworld Alliance. This alliance includes members like Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Finnair, Qantas, and more. If you signed up with the new Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Infinite, this would instantly give you Sapphire status with the oneworld alliance.
Image: Qatar Airways
This gives access to any oneworld business class lounges, regardless of the class or airline you are flying, as well as priority check-in and boarding. If you fly a oneworld airline, you also get extra baggage allowance and priority handling.
That means, if you play your cards right, your everyday spending on credit cards could get you access to some of the most stunning airport lounges in the world, no matter where you are or who you’re flying with. Now, that’s an application form worth filling in!