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Qatar drops the flight-first rule for redeeming Avios on family

Less than two months after adding it, Privilege Club dropped the rule that you had to fly Qatar, or spend on its co-branded card, before you could redeem Avios for anyone else. Avios that arrive by bank transfer can book family awards again.

What changed

Better for you

Improvement · Qatar Airways

Before

From July 2026, a Privilege Club member had to credit a Qatar or partner flight, or spend on a Qatar Airways co-branded card, before creating a My List or Family & Friends group — the only way to book an award for anyone else. Avios transferred in from a bank card did not count

After

Any member whose account is at least 30 days old can set up My List (up to four Privilege Club members) and a Family & Friends group (up to six non-members) with no qualifying activity; a My List nominee must stay on the list six months before being swapped

See it with every other change

Qatar Airways rewrote its Privilege Club rules on 14 September 2026 and took back the rule it added in July. In July Privilege Club started limiting award bookings for other people to two named groups: My List (up to four Privilege Club members) and Family & Friends (up to six people who aren’t members). To create either group, you first had to credit a Qatar or partner flight to your account, or spend on a Qatar Airways co-branded credit card. Avios transferred in from a bank card didn’t count.

That requirement is gone, according to Live From A Lounge and InsideFlyer. If your account is at least 30 days old, you can now set up both groups with no qualifying activity. The two caps stay, and anyone you add to My List has to stay on it for six months before you can swap them out.

Why an Indian reader should care. Seven Indian card currencies transfer straight into Privilege Club: HDFC, Axis EDGE Miles and EDGE Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, HSBC, Kotak Solitaire Air Miles and RBL. For two months, a Privilege Club account funded only by those transfers could book Qsuite for its owner and no one else, so the classic two-seats-to-Doha redemption was off unless you’d flown Qatar first. Now it works again. If you skipped a transfer over the summer for that reason, the reason has gone. Set up My List before you move the points, so the award is bookable the day the Avios land.

The 30-day account age rule still applies. Open your Privilege Club account a month before you need it, not on the day you find the seat.

Source: Live From A Lounge; corroborated by InsideFlyer.

More on this story

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  4. British Airways ties Avios earning to fare, not miles flown

  5. IndusInd Avios Visa Infinite launches — 36,000 bonus Avios

  6. Qatar Airways Privilege Club ditches Qmiles, adopts Avios

Avios (BA / Qatar / Finnair)

Sources

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