Qatar Qsuites is one of the best ways to fly, period. And booking these fancy suites with easy-to-earn Avios – from either British Airways or Qatar Airways itself – is the best way to make it happen for as low as 70,000 miles.
But now, you'll need to fork over even more cash on top of all those miles to book your trip in Qsuites.
Without a word of warning over the weekend, Qatar quietly raised its “redemption fees” on long-haul routes by $100 or so, bringing the final tally to 70,000 miles and over $200 for a one-way flight between the U.S. and Doha – and even higher for a connecting onward. Those heftier “redemption fees” apply whether you book through Qatar or British Airways.
So while it previously cost just over $100 for a nonstop from the U.S. to Doha (DOH) …
Here's what you'll pay now: Nearly $235 for those same one-way redemptions to or from Qatar's hub in Doha.
That's right: Twice the cash to fly Qsuites. And the cash cosh of booking a connecting itinerary through Doha has increased, too.
These connecting flights through Doha to Dubai (DXB), the Maldives (MLE), or all the way to Bangkok (BKK) have always cost more, as Qatar (and therefore British Airways) add redemption fees on a per-segment basis: A one-stop trip would incur twice the redemption fees.
But what was once a $205 total cash charge for a one-stop booking in Qsuites has jumped north of $300. The final tally will vary slightly based upon your final destination.
Put it all together, and it's a gut punch for one of the best ways (if not the only surefire method) to book Qatar business class. Using Avios is practically essential to book these suites, as there's typically solid availability to book 11-plus months out – further in advance than most other airlines allow.
That means you can lock up a trip in Qsuites as far out as September 2025, as of publication. Now, it'll cost you $100 or so in additional surcharges and fees.
This is just the latest devaluation … by another name. While other airlines like Virgin Atlantic, Avianca LifeMiles, and Turkish Airlines have been raising award rates like crazy lately, Qatar and company are jacking up cash surcharges instead. So it goes.
Then again, another $100 is a relatively small price to pay to fly in one of these – especially with how easy it is to earn the Avios you need, as both airlines are transfer partners with most of the big credit card companies … and you can even combine and transfer Avios between carriers.
Read our full review of Qatar Qsuites … and our in-depth guide on how to book them!
And yet it also could have been worse. Over the weekend, Juan Ruiz first spotted that the final cash surcharges on these award tickets had shot north of $500 for a connecting itinerary. Fortunately, those have been rolled back to a more moderate increase.
You won't see these nasty cash surcharges when booking Qsuites through other partner airlines like American AAdvantage, Alaska Mileage Plan, or even JetBlue TrueBlue. But that's largely a moot point: You can rarely find the award space to actually book through those airline programs anyway.
For the last year and change, Qatar has been throttling award space, making it nearly impossible to book its prized business class seats using miles from U.S.-based airline programs. Combined with the extra one-month edge you get when searching and booking, it makes using Avios a necessity these days.
And with this recent change, you'll have to pay another $100 or so on top of all those miles to do so.
Bottom Line
Without a word of warning, Qatar Airways raised the award fees you'll pay when booking its vaunted Qsuites business class using Avios by another $100 or so.
That brings the total cash surcharge for a nonstop award between the U.S. and Doha (DOH) to roughly $230, while connecting onward throughout the Middle East and beyond will now cost you another $300 or more.