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American Express US Adds Qatar Airways Privilege Club as a Transfer Partner

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has become the 21st transfer partner available through American Express US Membership Rewards.

Written by T.J. Dunn

On July 27, 2023

Read time 7 mins

American Express US Membership Rewards has just added its newest transfer partner. As of today, members can transfer Amex US MR points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club at a 1:1 ratio. 

Qatar Airways Privilege Club becomes the 21st transfer partner for Amex US MR. However, it was technically possible to access the program beforehand via other loyalty programs in the Avios ecosystem.

Transfer Amex US MR to Qatar Airways Privilege Club

Privilege Club is the loyalty program for Qatar Airways. In 2022, Qatar Airways joined British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus in using Avios as its currency.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club joins American Express US Membership Rewards as its 18th airline partner, bringing the total number of transfer partners to 21, as there are three hotel transfer partners, too (Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, and Choice Privileges). 

Qatar Airways Privilege Club has been added to the online transfer portal, and you’re already able to link your Privilege Club account to your Amex US MR account.

The transfer ratio is 1:1, which means that 1,000 Amex US MR points = 1,000 Qatar Airways Avios. The transfer time is listed as up to 48 hours; however, it should be more or less instant.

You must transfer at least 1,000 points, and in increments of 1,000 points, up to a maximum of 750,000 points at a time.

With this development, American Express US MR joins Citi ThankYou Rewards as a direct transfer partner to Qatar Airways Privilege Club; however, it has also been possible to access the program indirectly ever since it joined the Avios family.

Should You Transfer Amex US MR to Qatar Airways Privilege Club?

While it’s now possible to directly transfer American Express US Membership Rewards to Qatar Airways Privilege Club, it’s worth noting that this has already been possible, albeit indirectly.

That’s because Amex US MR already had British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, and Aer Lingus AerClub as transfer partners, and you can instantly transfer Avios between accounts. This means that it’s long been possible to transfer Amex US MR to, say, British Airways Executive Club, and then move the Avios from your Executive Club account to Qatar Airways Privilege Club online.

In this sense, the addition of Qatar Airways Privilege Club isn’t a huge development; however, it’s never bad to have more options at your disposal.

Keep in mind that there are currently transfer bonuses from Amex US MR to both British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus, but not Qatar Airways Privilege Club. Therefore, if you’re looking to transfer points into the Avios ecosystem, it’s in your best interest to take advantage of the transfer bonus and then move them into Qatar Airways Privilege Club, since you’ll benefit from a 30% bonus.

If now’s not the time, then keep an eye out for any transfer bonuses from Amex US MR to Qatar Airways Privilege Club in the future. 

In fact, if you have access to Amex US MR, you can leverage a transfer bonus to any of the four Avios programs, and then move points around internally to take advantage of advantageous pricing with the different programs.

Conclusion

American Express US Membership Rewards has added Qatar Airways Privilege Club as its newest transfer partner. This brings the total number of transfer partners available in the program to 21.

While having more options is always better, it’s technically been possible to access Qatar Airways Privilege Club by way of other Avios programs ever since Qatar Airways joined the Avios ecosystem last year. 

However, you’ll now have another possible transfer bonus partner to take advantage of, and then move your Avios around to leverage better pricing for specific redemptions in the different loyalty programs.

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