Iberia Airlines - Latest news & views for loyalty members
Qatar Airways expands its strategic partnership with Malaysia Airlines
Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines today unveiled details of the next phase of their strategic partnership, following Malaysia
Airlines’ announcement to launch a non-stop service from Kuala Lumpur to Doha from 25 May. The two partners will significantly expand their codeshare cooperation, allowing passengers to travel the world and enjoy seamless connectivity via their leading hubs in Kuala Lumpur
and Doha.
The codeshare expansion, which adds 34 destinations to the existing 62 codeshare destinations, marks another milestone in the long-standing
relationship between the two countries’ national carriers and Oneworld partners.
In linking their route networks, the partners are striving to develop Kuala Lumpur as a leading aviation hub in the Southeast Asia
Region connecting Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand with the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, and Africa.
We would expect Singapore Airlines and Singapore's Changi Airport to have a different view, so developments in this space will be
interesting.
Virgin Australia's surprise partnership with Qatar Airways | Velocity members easy access to Q-suites?
Virgin Australia today announced a new partnership with Qatar Airways, which will commence later this year. More details, including a
commencement date, are expected to be released soon.
Qatar Airways currently operates daily flights from Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth as well as three weekly flights from Adelaide with
one-stop connectivity from these ports to over 140 worldwide destinations, including 54 cities in Europe.
Once the partnership starts, Virgin Velocity members will be able to earn Points and Status Credits whenever flying Qatar Airways.
Eligible members will receive their status benefits such as lounge access, higher checked baggage allowances and priority boarding.
Reward Seat availability will be another benefit of this new partnership, as Velocity members will be able to use their Velocity
Points to book Economy, Business and First Class seats, including Qatar’s renowned Q-Suite
(available on select flights).
This could prove very attractive to Australians, by combining the ease of earning Velocity points and using them for Q-suite
bookings (depending on the awards table, when released).
For others, Avios earned on Qatar flights (or transferred from BA and Iberia, which also use Avios as their rewards currency),
could be redeemed for connections using short-haul or domestic Virgin Australia flights.
Qatar joins Virgin Australia's global family of international airline partnerships, including Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada, Etihad
Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways and United Airlines.
Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways and United are members of Star Alliance, while Hawaiian
Airlines and Virgin Atlantic are unaligned and have individually agreed partnerships. Qatar is the only OneWorld
alliance member that has a partnership with Virgin Australia. So Virgin Austalia's Velocity could be a bridge between Star
Alliance members and Qatar Airways.
Also interesting is the fact that Virgin Australia has a partnership with 2 of the 3 large Middle East airlines (Etihad and now Qatar). Is
this strategic? - Rhetorical question...
Qantas and Qatar are both members of OneWorld, yet Qantas chooses to have a codeshare agreement with Emirates (the 3rd of the
"ME3")...just saying...
Qatar Airways Shock Move - Replacing Qmiles by Avios
In a surprise move, Qatar Airways and IAG
Loyalty announced overnight that effective from late March, Qatar's mileage currency will be Avios, replacing
Qmiles.
Qatar will join BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, but will be the first airline not owned by IAG using Avios. Qatar will be no
stranger to Avios though, as it a key shareholder of IAG with approx 25% ownership.
While more details are to be provided in early March, key points revealed so far are:
Qpoints (used to determine tier status) and Qcredits (offering free upgrades on Qatar Airways flights for elite Gold and Platinum tier
members) will remain unchanged.
Existing Qmiles will transfer 1:1 into Avios in your Qatar Airways Privilege account “by the end of March” 2022.
Qatar Airways promises that the number of Qmiles/Avios you need to redeem for flights will remain the same - no devaluation (at least for
now).
Rules for expiration of Qatar Avios will remain the same as for Qmiles, as will those for attaining tier status. The tier validity of all
Silver, Gold and Platinum members due for renewal this calendar year was recently extended to 31 December 2022.
For Qatar Privilege members, it opens the possibility of earning Avios in far more many ways, which can be then redeemed for flights on not
only Qatar Airways flights, but also BA, Iberia etc (or other OneWorld members).
While not explicitly stated, there are hints that Qatar Avios will be able to be transferred to other Avios programs on a 1:1 basis without
cost. This would open up the potential to earn Avios on (say) BA and redeem them on a Qatar flight (or vice versa).
Privilege Club allows for sharing miles with your family, and, British Airways allows for points pooling, so if we see the ability to
pool Avios together and then transfer them to other programs, this could make the programs very flexible.
Initial Thoughts:
If Avios can be pooled, or transferred freely, then potentially a member could select whichever carrier best suits their redemption
goals. BA’s distance-based redemption table is known to favour short-haul flights, while Qatar’s redemption table offers greater
opportunities for (surcharge-free) travel between say UK and Asia or Australia.
For Australians, Avios earned on the more plentiful Qatar routes could be redeemed (as BA Avios) for domestic Qantas flights,
for approx 2/3 the number of Avios vs Qantas points.
The greater options to earn Avios (say from spending or credit-cards sign-up bonuses or transfers) will provide more travellers with access
to redemptions for Qatar’s famed Q-suites.
Could this be the start of Avios becoming the mileage currency for all OneWorld alliance members? Imagine the possibilities !
As always, the devil is in the detail. More will be revealed in the next few weeks...
Qatar Airways (advertiser) is celebrating its 25th birthday with a host of special offers for the next 7 days (book before 18
January). The
Global Sale 25th Anniversary Campaign is valid on all Qatar Airways flights for travel until October 31, 2022.
There are great savings on flight tickets (economy and business), seat selection, extra baggage allowance, hotel
bookings, and car rental.
If not already a member, join
Privilege Club
using the enrolment promo code FLYQR22 to instantly earn an additional 2,500 bonus Qmiles.
To take advantage of this offer, travellers must book on qatarairways.com/25Years or visit their preferred travel
agents.
Qatar Airways has won numerous awards during its 25 year history, including Skytrax 2021 Airline of the Year (the sixth time), Skytrax
2021 World's Best Business Class, Skytrax 2021 World's Best Business Class Seat, as well as AirlineRatings.com Airline of the Year for 2021.
Airline Ratings has announced its 2022 rankings of the Top 20 Safest Airlines, taken from the list of 385 different
airlines it monitors.
Qantas lost its long-held spot at number 1. This year, the winner's prize travels across the Tasman sea to Air New
Zealand.
When announcing the results, Airline Ratings noted that “there is very little between the top 20, they are all standouts.” So
all of these 20 are excellent choices from a safety perspective.
Two of the ME3 were in the top 5 with Singapore Airlines and TAP.
Qantas dropped to 7th spot. The Virgin cousins ranked 10th.
The full list of rankings are:
Air New Zealand
Etihad Airways
Qatar Airways
Singapore Airlines
TAP Air Portugal
SAS,
Qantas
Alaska Airlines
EVA Air
Virgin Australia/Atlantic
Cathay Pacific Airways
Hawaiian Airlines
American Airlines
Lufthansa/Swiss Group
Finnair
Air France/KLM Group
British Airways
Delta Air Lines
United Airlines; and
Emirates.
Congratulations (and thanks) to all these airlines for their ongoing commitment to safety !
Buy Qmiles with up to 30% off
Qatar Airways is running a promotion through 24 December, offering Qmiles with up to 30% off their usual
price.
This equates to USD 21 / thousand.
Not the cheapest of deals, but ok if you need to top-up a few miles for a targetted redemption.
T&C's apply.
BA and Qatar Airways combining to offer more routes
British Airways and Qatar Airways have unveiled plans to extend their joint business partnership.
The news follows British Airways’ relaunch of daily services to Doha, with the airline’s first flight taking off from Gatwick last week.
This winter, the airlines will jointly operate up to six daily flights between London and Doha - five from London Heathrow and one
from London Gatwick.
The two airlines also announced that they intend to further expand their joint business and offer customers access to more destinations on
their respective networks.
The proposed expansion will give customers enhanced access from Europe to popular destinations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and
Australasia, such as Singapore, Sydney, Colombo and Nairobi.
It will also improve access to destinations within Europe such as Amsterdam, Madrid or Dublin.
The expansion of routes will provide more options to connect onto popular holiday hotspots such as the Maldives and Seychelles.
The airlines expect to receive news of any relevant regulatory approvals of their expanded proposition in the first half of 2022.
Alaska adds Awards Table for Iberia
Alaska is slowly further integrating with its Oneworld partners.
Following the increase in code-shared routes with Iberia announced in early October, Alaska has now released its Partner Awards Table for
Iberia.
At first glance it doesn't offer the exceptional value obtainable with other partners (especially for business and first class).
Alaska seems to be retaining individual tables for its partners rather than a single unified table for all partners. So the program may continue to offer gems of redemptions.
There are still a few Oneworld partners that do not have tables in place, so keep watching this space.
With just over a year to go until the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 kicks-off, Qatar Airways Holidays has launched a range of fan travel
packages.
The deals are inclusive of match tickets, accommodation options & return flights from more than 140 destinations
around the globe.
Football fans can guarantee their match tickets to support their favourite team during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 with the option to
choose additional services to explore the host country.
By joining the Qatar Airways Privilege Club, fans will have access to unique travel packages with booking flexibility. The fan
travel packages will guarantee fans an experience where every step of their journey will be hassle-free and with a few easy steps, they can
secure seats for their favourite team’s matches.
Each fan can book a total of seven matches by combining more than one package.
Additionally, fans can specify how many guests they are travelling with and the number of rooms they would like to stay in. They can choose
from standard to premium accommodation based on their preferences.
Read More…
Alaska Airlines and Iberia launch new codeshare agreement
Alaska Airlines yesterday further cemented its place as a member of the OneWorld alliance.
Following on from its codeshare agreement announced in July 2021 with Qatar Airlines, Alaska has further expanded its global reach with the
announcement of a new codeshare agreement with Iberia Airlines, providing flyers with exciting and convenient travel
options.
The agreement allows passengers on Iberia to book travel and easily connect to more than 40 routes throughout Alaska's network effective October 7, 2021. Iberia operates three weekly return flights between Madrid and Los Angeles, using Airbus A-330-200s (and a seasonal service between San Francisco and Barcelona). Iberia passengers
can now connect to more than 20 additional routes on the West Coast and Hawaii served by Alaska Airlines, including Anchorage, Fresno, Honolulu, Kona, Las Vegas, Portland, Reno-Tahoe, Seattle-Tacoma and Salt Lake City.
The partnership enables Alaska's Mileage Plan and Iberia Plus members to earn miles on each other's flights while
enjoying reciprocal elite benefits, including preferred seat selection; priority check-in, security clearance and boarding; lounge access; and extra baggage allowance.
The 2021 Skytrax World Airline Awards winners were announced this week. ....and the winner of the 2021 Airline of the Year goes to...Qatar Airways. Singapore Airlines ranked 2nd, and ANA All Nippon Airways in 3rd place. Qantas
was ranked 8th
Qatar Airways also received the awards for the World’s Best Business Class, the World’s Best Business Class Seat and
the Best Airline in the Middle East.
Singapore Airlines, ranked No 2 worldwide, won the top accolade for the World’s Best Cabin Crew and was
also honoured with awards for the World’s Best First Class, the Best Airline in Asia and the World’s Best First
Class Seat.
ANA All Nippon Airways maintained its No 3 global ranking from last year and also won the World’s Best Airport
Services award. Winning the 2021 award as the World’s Cleanest Airline is a particularly important success during the global pandemic.
Best First Class class was awarded to Singapore Airlines, with Lufthansa and Emirates second and third
respectively.
The rankings for Best Business Class were identical to the overall rankings - Qatar, follwed by Singapore
and then ANA.
Virgin Atlantic was named the World's Best Premium Economy Class airline, ahead of Singapore Airlines in 2nd place and Lufthansa in 3rd position.
For more details, or to see how your favourites fared, click below.Read More…
Alaska and Qatar code-sharing
Alaska Airlines and Qatar Airlines have applied to codeshare on a number of routes operating in the Americas. Under the proposal, most routes are out of Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles with direct flights from Doha into those 3 "hub" cities.. The code-sharing opens up routes for Qatar into Mexico and Hawaii. For Alaska Airlines, it demonstrates its commitment as a new member of the OneWorld alliance and also provides a handy feeder into its US network. For more details, use the link below.
Qatar offer discount to Alaska MP members
Qatar Airways has launched a new coupon discount offer for Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members. You must book prior to 11
July 2021
and travel is to be completed by 11 July 2022. You can save $63 to $550 on ex-US itineraries depending on the class of
service and whether a one-way or return.
The promo code ‘MPMEMBERS’ must be entered at the time of flight search.
The promo code is valid for bookings on all Qatar Airways operated itineraries worldwide originating from the
United States only.
