Qatar Airways and Philippine Airlines to Launch Reciprocal Loyalty Partnership on June 1

Since launching a basic codeshare with Philippine Airlines in June 2025, Qatar Airways has been steadily extending the relationship into more cities and onto more aircraft. The next phase goes live June 1, 2026, and it's the most useful one yet for points collectors.

It introduces a full reciprocal earn and redeem partnership between Qatar Airways Privilege Club and Philippine Airlines' Mabuhay Miles, with a beefed-up codeshare layered on top.

A handful of Philippine Airlines redemptions are already starting to populate the Qatar Airways website ahead of the formal launch date, which gives us a useful preview of how the partnership will price out.

What Changes on June 1

There are two layers to this announcement, and both matter for different reasons.

On the codeshare side, Philippine Airlines will put its code on Qatar Airways flights from Manila, Cebu, Clark, and Davao through Doha, with onward connections to more than 20 European cities including Paris, Rome, and Frankfurt. Qatar Airways, in turn, gets to place its code on Philippine Airlines domestic flights, including the leisure-heavy routes to Caticlan (the gateway to Boracay) and Puerto Princesa in Palawan.

The bigger story is the loyalty linkage, which didn't exist before this announcement. Privilege Club members will be able to earn and redeem Avios on Philippine Airlines flights across Australasia, Southeast Asia, the US, and Philippine domestic routes. Mabuhay Miles members get the mirror image, with access to Qatar Airways' route map across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

Qatar Airways is billing this as the 26th airline partnership for Privilege Club, and it's the deepest one yet in Southeast Asia.

Redeeming Avios on Philippine Airlines

This half of the announcement matters most for Canadian Avios collectors. Philippine Airlines isn't part of oneworld, SkyTeam, or Star Alliance, which has historically made its premium cabins a pain to book on points.

The new partnership opens up online redemptions through qatarairways.com for the first time. Pricing follows Qatar Airways' standard distance-based partner chart, with no published award table.

Early data points from the Qatar Airways booking engine suggest the following business class redemption rates:

Route	Aircraft	One-Way Avios (Business)
Manila–Hong Kong	A321 Neo	24,000
Vancouver–Manila	A350	110,000
New York–Manila	A350	154,500

The full range runs from roughly 18,000 Avios for the shortest hops up to 154,500 Avios for the New York to Manila flight, which is one of the longest commercial routes in the world at over 16 hours of flying time.

Carrier-imposed surcharges look modest. Reports point to around $200 (USD) on the longest flights and well under that on shorter routes, in keeping with Qatar Airways' broader move away from heavy fuel surcharges on Avios redemptions.

Where the Real Value Sits

The short answer is yes, but only on certain routes.

Vancouver to Manila at 110,000 Avios one-way in business class is the headline number for Canadian readers. Philippine Airlines flies this route nonstop in just over 12 hours, with economy going for 55,000 Avios. It's not jaw-dropping next to redeeming Atmos Rewards on Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong, but it's a legitimate fallback when Cathay Pacific business class award space dries up, which happens often.

At 24,000 Avios, Manila to Hong Kong is the real value play. That's solid pricing for a regional business class hop on a modern A321 Neo, especially if you're using the Philippines as a connecting point into broader Southeast Asia.

New York to Manila at 154,500 Avios is harder to justify on pure value. Still, Philippine Airlines is one of the only carriers flying that route nonstop, and award seats on alliance carriers via Tokyo or Hong Kong are increasingly hard to come by. If you need to be in Manila from the East Coast without an awkward connection, this might be the path of least resistance.

The Canadian Path to Qatar Airways Avios

From Amex MR, you transfer to the British Airways Club at 1:1, and then on to Qatar Airways Privilege Club at 1:1 via Combine My Avios. RBC Avion is the better path right now. A 30% transfer bonus to the British Airways Club is live through June 19, 2026, which lines up perfectly with the June 1 partnership launch.

Two warnings worth flagging. Qatar Airways Privilege Club requires a 30-day minimum account age before it can accept incoming Avios transfers, so create the account well in advance. The British Airways Club also holds recently acquired Avios for around a week to 10 days before allowing them to transfer out, so move Amex MR or Avion into British Airways early and only push to Qatar at booking time.

My honest take is that anyone holding a decent Amex MR or RBC Avion balance should set up the Qatar Airways Privilege Club account this week to start the 30-day clock. Keep your Avios parked in the British Airways Club until you're ready to book, since BA's expiry policy is more forgiving and Combine My Avios moves them across instantly when you need them. The Qsuites sweet spots alone justify having the relationship ready to go. The Philippine Airlines additions are gravy.

Conclusion

Philippine Airlines has been outside the major alliances for years now, and there's no sign that's changing. What's changing instead is that bilateral partnerships like this one are doing the work alliances used to do, opening up booking paths to carriers that would otherwise sit behind opaque award charts or phone-only redemptions.

Qatar Airways is positioning itself as the connective tissue for these kinds of deals. The Avios family already gives Canadians a flexible currency that books Qatar Airways, Finnair, Iberia, and now Philippine Airlines through a single ecosystem.

If I were sitting on a meaningful Amex MR balance, I'd open the Qatar Airways Privilege Club account this week to start the 30-day clock, but keep the Avios parked in the British Airways Club until award space firms up after June 1. Even if you never use it for a Manila flight, the optionality earns its keep on Qsuites alone.