Qatar Airways is perhaps the most exciting airline when it comes to business class seats. It’s got a collection of quality products, but none are more eye-popping than its fabled “Qsuite” seat, which has the potential to convert into a legit double bed.
Qatar’s excellent business class and its competitive award prices are among the reasons we’ve named it one of the airlines with the best frequent flyer programs. Here’s what you can expect when booking Qatar Airways business class — and how you can do it on the cheap.
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What to know about flying Qatar Airways business class
When traveling on Qatar Airways business class from the U.S., you’ll get (with little exception) a top-tier flight experience. Its flagship Qsuites aren’t available on every plane, but you can still expect a comfortable lie-flat seat.
In the points and miles game, Qsuites are a bucket list item — so you should try your best to book an aircraft that offers them. That means Airbus A350-1000s, most Boeing 777s, and a handful of Airbus A350-900s.
You can use tools like ExpertFlyer to quickly discern which flights actually offer Qsuites. A quick glance at the configuration of the seats will tell you everything you need to know. For example, if the seat map shows a staggered configuration (like the screenshot below), you’ll know it’s Qsuites.
It’s also worth noting that other Qatar business class configurations are also considered suites. All to say, just because a flight says “suite” on Google Flights doesn’t mean it’s a Qsuite.
The best routes to fly in business class on Qatar Airways
The best routes to fly Qatar business class are those that offer Qsuites. You can find them from major U.S. hubs like Chicago (ORD), New York (JFK), Washington, DC (IAD), Atlanta (ATL), and Los Angeles (LAX). But Qatar Airways’ sole hub is in Doha (DOH) — so while you can fly Qsuites to faraway destinations like Singapore and Brisbane, you’ll always route through Doha.
Here’s a quick snapshot of routes you can typically fly in Qsuites.
Just note that eligible routes may change depending on the season. In other words, Qatar may decide to introduce additional routes and eliminate others from time to time. Even worse, Qatar may swap aircraft at the last second, meaning even perfect planning won’t guarantee a Qsuite.
What to expect when flying Qatar Airways business class
Similar to most premium airline services, Qatar Airways comes with extra special perks beyond just a fancy airplane seat. Here’s what you can expect when flying Qatar Airways business class:
Check-in and security clearance
At the airport, business class customers can approach a dedicated check-in desk, which often has a considerably smaller line than the economy desk.
Some airports even offer expedited security lanes to help you speed through the tedious screening process. That may not mean a lot to you when in the U.S., as most airports participate in trusted traveler programs like TSA PreCheck (which you can get for free simply by expensing the application fee on an eligible travel credit card).
Luggage allowance
If you’re flying business class on Qatar Airways, you’ll receive extra baggage perks. When flying from the U.S., you’ll get two pieces of checked luggage of 70 lbs each. Economy passengers, on the other hand, get just one piece of luggage weighing 50 lbs.
Your luggage will also receive priority treatment, as checked bags are generally loaded into a separate luggage container than economy class.
Lounge access
Qatar Airways is a member of the Oneworld Alliance — meaning it partners with airlines like American Airlines, British Airways, Alaska Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, and many others. When flying Qatar Airways business class, you’ll be able to access many of these partner airlines’ lounges.
But the true showpieces belong to Qatar Airways, specifically in its Doha hub.
There are multiple enormous lounges to choose from, including its two fancy business-class lounges. The newest (and objectively best) lounge in the airport is the “Al Mourjan Business Lounge — The Garden,” which spans nearly 80,000 feet.
The lounge has multiple buffets, bars, a plated menu, and even a (paid) Louis Vuitton Cafe. You’ll also find other extras like multiple spas, incredible showers and quiet rooms with comfy couches and a TV (excellent for families or anyone who absolutely needs a nap).
The lounge also offers sweeping views of arguably the most stunning terminal in the world — which itself isn’t a bad place to spend a connection.
Service at these Qatar lounges is excellent, with staff proactively solving your issues and searching for any pain points they can remedy. They’re also great with kids.
Seats
Qatar’s business class offerings are as varied as any airline, offering a slightly larger and more comfortable domestic first-esque seat on short-haul flights like those operated by Airbus A319s and A321s. Some A330s offer lie-flat seats, and some offer angle lie-flat seats (meaning they don’t go completely flat).
But it’s Qatar’s big planes in which business class is an absolute grab bag. Some of its Boeing 777s offer the famous Qsuite seats, which can offer either complete privacy or a communal area, depending on whether you’re flying as a group or not. Other 777s have business class configured with minimal privacy — and you may not even have direct aisle access (it still beats sitting in economy, of course).
In most cases, you’ll receive a seat width between 21 and 23 inches. When you fly Qsuites, you and a friend or family member can even convert your two seats into a double bed — putting to shame the average space you’ll get in other business class seats.
You’ll even receive a foam strip to place in between the two seats so that the middle seam is virtually imperceptible. Qsuites even come with a sliding privacy door.
Food and drink
You’ll find the food onboard Qatar’s transatlantic business class cabins to be higher-end, with an on-demand menu. The crew will ask your preferred meal time, and they’ll deliver your food then (though you can ask for a meal whenever you like). There’s a wide variety of seafood, as well as lamb, beef, and chicken. The meals have an upscale presentation to match.
Service, amenities, and in-flight entertainment
Qatar Airways has one of the most comprehensive inflight entertainment catalogs of any airline. Between TV shows, movies, and music choices, there are literally thousands of options. Its technology on flights from the U.S. is typically snappy and modern as well.
When you arrive at your set, you can expect to find a Diptyque amenity kit with lotion, lip balm, fragrance spray, etc. And, of course, there will be a pajama set of surprising quality waiting for you.
You’ll also receive a pre-departure drink.
I’ve flown Qatar business class four times — twice in Qsuites. When it comes to service, I’ve found the flight attendants to be friendly and accommodating, but a far cry from many other experiences. They take a less-than-proactive approach to service. For example, I had to request the foam strip to complete the “double bed” experience during my family’s last trip (and I got the impression I was putting the flight attendant out for it).
How much it costs to fly Qatar Airways business class
Booking Qatar business class from the U.S. with cash is out of the question for most of us. It costs thousands of dollars — routinely over $6,000 each way.
Because of the staggering cash price, it’s unwise to book these seats through your bank’s online travel portal. That’s because you’ll only get between 1-1.5 cents per point, depending on your rewards currency and the specific card you hold (we’ll cover this later). So a $6,000 flight will cost you between 400,000-600,000 points.
However, when you convert your bank points to airline miles for an award flight, prices become much more reasonable. When transferring points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club, a one-way business class ticket between the U.S. and Doha cost:
- 70,000 points for Saver-level awards
- 140,000 points for Flexi-level awards (much easier to find)
Expect to pay a couple hundred dollars in taxes and fees, as well.
You can also book Qatar’s business class seats at reasonable prices through partner loyalty programs, such as British Airways Executive Club and American Airlines AAdvantage. Availability is often few and far between (especially through American Airlines) — but if you’re lucky, you’ll find even better deals than through Qatar Airways.
How much it costs to upgrade to business class on Qatar Airways
You may not have the cash or points to reserve Qatar Airways business class at the time of booking. Or, more likely, there may be no business class award availability. But if circumstances change, you can decide to upgrade your seat later. You can upgrade online until two hours before departure — or in-person up to one hour before departure.
After you book your ticket, you’ll often receive prompts (whether through email or in your Qatar Airways account) to upgrade your seat. You’ll often pay considerably less for the seat than if you had paid cash for it initially — but still expect a transatlantic upgrade to cost around $1,000.
You can also upgrade your flight with Qatar points. Whether it’s a good deal varies by route. For example, you can upgrade a one-way economy ticket to business class for as little as:
- 42,000 points when flying between Los Angeles (LAX) and Doha
- 74,000 points when flying between New York (JFK) and Doha
Qatar Airways has a calculator you can use to figure out how much you’ll pay for a business class upgrade based on your route.
With virtually zero exception, you’re better off booking directly into a business class seat with points instead of upgrading later. But again, if there’s no availability at the moment, it could be worth spending a few more points to secure a seat later.
It’s worth mentioning that you can also upgrade with “Qcredits,” a perk for those with Qatar Gold and Platinum elite status.
How to save on Qatar Airways business class tickets
Sales
Qatar Airways occasionally runs business class fare sales on select routes. The best way to stay in the know is to opt in for deal alerts from the airline.
While you may find some comparatively reasonable cash prices from these deals, they will still be wildly more expensive than using points.
Mistake fares
Once in a blue moon, you may spot a “mistake fare” — a seat that’s accidentally priced far lower than it should be. Mistake fares are unicorn opportunities that only last a short time and aren’t guaranteed to be honored (though they often are!). If you find a mistake fare, it can be worth booking it immediately and figuring out the rest of your plans later. You typically have up to 24 hours to cancel without penalty.
Upgrades
Again, upgrades to Qatar business class rarely make sense. However, if you find a fire sale economy seat on a route with reasonable business class upgrade prices (such as Los Angeles), you could conceivably save on a Qatar Airways business class ticket.
Travel rewards
Your wallet will be least phased when using points and miles to book your Qatar Airways business class seat. Depending on availability and the award currency you’re using, you could pay between 70,000 and 140,000 points or more. Taxes and fees can vary as well.
For example, a flight that costs 70,000 points and $200+ in taxes and fees through British Airways costs 150,000 miles and $21 through Alaska Airlines MileagePlan.
How to book Qatar Airways business class with points
The process of booking Qatar Airways business class is straightforward, but there are a few things that can gum up the process — specifically when booking via Qatar’s own site.
How to book Qatar Airways business class using your credit card portal
Booking Qatar business class through your bank’s proprietary travel portal is almost always a horrendous idea. That’s because your rewards are worth, at a maximum, 1.5 cents each toward airfare. Because these flights are almost always more than $6,000 each way, you’ll pay the following rates:
- 600,000 Amex points with The Platinum Card® from American Express (rewards are worth one cent each through Amex Travel)
- 400,000 Chase points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (points are worth 1.5 cents each through Chase Travel℠
Unless you’ve got an innumerable number of travel rewards, this is an unwise redemption method. The upside is that you don’t have to rely on Qatar Airways award availability — if a business class seat is for sale, you should be able to book it through your bank portal.
Which credit card points transfer to Privilege Club?
You can transfer the following credit card rewards to Qatar Airways:
- American Express Membership Rewards points
- Citi ThankYou points
- Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 ratio, 5,000-point bonus when transferring in increments of 60,000 points)
However, you can also convert British Airways Avios to Qatar at a 1:1 ratio. Because of this, you can, by extension, also transfer the following bank points to Qatar:
- Chase Ultimate Rewards points
- Capital One miles
- Bilt Rewards
- Wells Fargo Rewards
In other words, it’s possible to convert all major credit card points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
How to book Qatar Airways business class using Privilege Club points
To book Qatar Airways business class with Privilege Club points, head to Qatar’s website and log into your Privilege Club account (you can’t search for awards unless you do this first).
You can then enter your origin, destination, and search dates into the search box. Choose flexible dates to help you locate an open seat faster.
What other loyalty programs can you use to book Qatar Airways business class?
Remember, you can book Qatar business class with more than just Qatar Avios points. You can also book through:
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- American Airlines AAdvantage
- British Airways Executive Club
- Iberia Plus
- Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- JetBlue TrueBlue
How to book Qatar Airways business class using points from a partner airline
The benefit of booking Qatar seats with partners is more than just the ability to use rewards other than Qatar Avios; each loyalty program also offers unique pricing and fees, which may be cheaper than Qatar Airways.
For example, seats booked through British Airways offer similar pricing and fees when compared to Qatar Airways. A flight from the U.S. to Doha costs 70,000 points and $235 in taxes and fees.
The same exact seat through Iberia costs an identical 70,000 Avios, but you’ll pay just $100 in taxes and fees. That’s a considerably better deal than booking directly with Qatar.
American Airlines is another partner that typically offers better pricing than Qatar — though, again, finding Qatar Airways business class seats is tough. American’s business class awards to many Asian destinations are cheaper than Qatar’s. For example, a business class flight between the U.S. and the Maldives costs:
- 70,000 AAdvantage miles
- 85,000 Qatar Airways Avios
American Airlines also doesn’t pass along annoying fuel surcharges.
Tips for finding business class award availability on Qatar Airways
Book via Qatar’s generous calendar
Qatar Airways Privilege Club has one superpower that no other partner site does: It opens its award calendar further than anyone else. For example, you can book flights:
- 11 days further in advance than British Airways
- 34 days further in advance than American Airlines
Qatar’s calendar goes a week further out than any other site. For example, it goes 11 days further out than British Airways and 34 days further than American.
This means that if you’re booking with Qatar Avios, you’ve got the first crack at the last couple weeks of the calendar. You may have a better chance of finding open seats during this period.
Search for flights from all U.S. hubs (even if they’re not close to home)
Qatar only serves major U.S. airports. You’re not going to find a Qatar business class seat to Doha from your home airport of Punta Gorda.
Search nearby international gateways instead. For example, if you live in Austin, Texas, search from airports like Dallas (DFW) and Houston (IAH). You should even search hubs that aren’t nearby, like New York and Chicago. You’ll have a better chance at booking Qatar business class if you’re willing to fly to one of these cities to catch your flight.
Look for “Off-peak” in the weekly calendar
It’s not particularly difficult to find “Flexi” level availability through Qatar Airways (the ones that cost 140,000 points each way from the U.S.).
To find the much cheaper off-peak dates, tick the “Premium(Business/First) box before you begin your search. Then click on a day around your desired travel dates to view availability by week. This mini calendar will label off-peak dates. Any other dates that say “Available” are Flexi dates.
Qatar Airways business class vs first class
International first-class seats on long-haul flights are about more than just comfort. They’re an experience that everyone should try at least once. First class on Qatar Airways is no different, as it offers big upgrades from business class in terms of added space, the check-in process, a more obsequious cabin crew, etc.
First class tends to cost thousands of dollars more each way, as well.
However, Qatar’s first-class seats offer less privacy than its lauded Qsuite business-class seats. First-class seats also cannot be combined and converted into double beds when traveling with a friend or family member. In many cases, business class may suit your needs better than first class.
Plus, Qatar Airways doesn’t offer first-class seats on flights to the U.S.
Should you book Qatar Airways business class?
You absolutely should book Qatar Airways business class — especially Qsuites. It’s one of the most Instagrammable experiences you can have in the sky. And it’s reasonably priced when using award currencies like Qatar Avios, Iberia Avios, and American Airlines miles
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