Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card Review 2024

• Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card Introduction
• Quick Facts
• What Is the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card Best For?
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card Rewards
• Other Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card Benefits
• Fine Print
• How the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card Stacks Up
• Is the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature Credit Card for You?
• Methodology

The Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature* is a new card offered by Qatar Airways and the fintech company Cardless. You’ll get instant access to your card when approved and earn rewards with an airline known for luxury. Plus the card has a solid welcome bonus and strong ongoing earning rates.

However, that’s where the praise for this card ends. Its list of other benefits is rather short when compared to other airline credit cards, lacking common benefits like priority boarding or discounts with the airline. The main benefit offered by the card is a fast track to Qatar Airways’ Silver status tier—however the benefit only lasts for a year.

Those who spend heavily with Qatar Airways stand to earn a lot of rewards on this card by earning 4 Avios per dollar spent with the airline and 2 Qpoints toward elite status for every 2,000 Avios earned with this card. Those aiming for Privilege Club elite status may find these perks outweigh the shortcomings in other areas.

• $99 annual fee
• Earn 4 Avios per dollar spent on Qatar Airways purchases, 2 Avios per dollar on restaurants, 1 Avios per dollar on all other purchases and 2 Qpoints for every 2,000 Avios earned.
• Earn 20,000 bonus Avios after the first transaction and an additional 20,000 bonus Avios after spending $3,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.

The Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature* is best for those who fly regularly with Qatar Airways and want to be rewarded for it—but don’t fly enough to justify a card with a higher annual fee. If you aren’t pursuing Qatar Airways’ highest ranks but are simply wanting to be rewarded on your handful of flights with the airline, this card makes sense.

Earning Rewards

With the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature* you’ll earn 4 Avios per dollar spent on Qatar Airways purchases, 2 Avios per dollar on restaurants, 1 Avios per dollar on all other purchases and 2 Qpoints for every 2,000 Avios earned. Unfortunately, you won’t earn bonus Avios on other airlines that use the Avios currency (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia or Finnair).

New applicants can also earn 20,000 bonus Avios after the first transaction and an additional 20,000 bonus Avios after spending $3,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. The ability to get part of the bonus after your first transaction is excellent, as you’ll have rewards to redeem while working on the second portion of the welcome offer.

Redeeming Rewards

The most obvious way to redeem Qatar Airways Avios is for flights. You aren’t limited to Qatar Airways flights, either. Aside from Qatar Airways’ renowned Qsuite business class, you can redeem flights for economy, premium economy and first class across the Oneworld alliance network and even nonalliance partners like LATAM and JetBlue.

If you’re wondering how many Avios you’ll need for a flight, there’s a handy calculator to make it clear. Input your route, class of travel and which airline you want to fly on, then you’ll see how many Avios you need per person for your reservation.

Other redemption options exist—shopping and dining at Qatar duty free, for example—though they tend to provide less value than redeeming Avios for flights.

Rewards Potential

Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies to determine both baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage earners bring in $118,438 annually and have $39,337 in expenses that can reasonably be charred to a credit card. We base our sample household spending on these numbers.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature* Rewards Potential
Category	Earning Rate	Estimated Annual Spend	Estimated Annual Earnings
Qatar Airways	4X	$770	3,080
Restaurants	2X	$4,622	9,244
All Other Purchases	1X	$33,945	33,945
			46,269 Qatar Airways Avios

See MoreSee Less

• Bonus Qpoints toward status. Receive 2 Qpoints for every 2,000 Avios earned on the card. Qpoints are what you need to earn every 12 months to qualify for elite status with Privilege Club. Earning Silver status requires 150 Qpoints, while Gold requires 300 and Platinum (the top tier) requires 600.
• Silver status fast-track. Silver status provides bonus earnings, lounge access and priority boarding, but this fast-track is only available for a year.

Interest Rates

• Regular APR: 21.24% to 28.24% variable
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: N/A

Fees

• Annual fee: $99
• Balance transfer fee: N/A
• Foreign purchase transaction fee: $0

Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature* vs. British Airways Visa Signature® Card

With the British Airways Visa Signature® Card, you’ll pay an annual fee of $95, and you can earn a welcome bonus of 85,000 Avios after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Beyond the welcome offer, you can earn 3 Avios per dollar on purchases with Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL, 2 Avios per dollar on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel and 1 Avios per dollar on all other purchases.

The ability to earn Avios on more than one airline is a strength of the British Airways card, and it provides bonus earnings on hotels, rather than Qatar Airways’ Visa Signature card earning double Avios at restaurants. Obviously, Qatar Airways’ Visa Signature card offers higher earnings on Qatar Airways flights, and it offers the ability to earn bonus Qpoints. In contrast, the British Airways card offers up to $600 in reward flight statement credits each year, up to 10% off British Airways flights departing the U.S. and the ability to earn a Travel Together ticket each year after $30,000 in purchases on your card.

Additionally, you can transfer your Avios from your British Airways account to your Qatar Airways account, freely and instantly, if you want to redeem with Qatar. Unfortunately, neither card promises extra baggage allowance or priority boarding.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature* vs. Iberia Visa Signature® Card

The Iberia Visa Signature® Card also earns Avios, has a $95 annual fee and is issued by Chase—just like the British Airways Visa Signature® Card. With the Iberia card, you’ll earn 3 Avios per dollar on purchases with Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL, 2 Avios per dollar on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel and 1 Avios per dollar on all other purchases. Cardholders get up to 10% off on flights and can earn a $1,000 discount voucher each year after making $30,000 of purchases on the card. The Iberia Visa also has a welcome bonus of 85,000 Avios after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

With this card, you can earn Avios with multiple airlines, but you won’t earn bonus Avios on Qatar Airways purchases—or earn at the higher rate provided by Qatar’s Visa Signature credit card. However, you’ll enjoy flight discounts that may feel more practical than earning Qpoints if elite status isn’t your goal. Neither card offers priority boarding or complimentary checked bags as built-in benefits.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature* vs. Citi Premier® Card

The Citi Premier® Card is no longer available to new applicants. Please see the issuer’s website for more information on available offers. Card details have been collected independently by Forbes Advisor and have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.

Stepping away from airline credit cards, it’s also possible to earn Avios indirectly with a card offering transferable rewards like the Citi Premier® Card (No longer open to new applications). The Citi Premier doesn’t provide benefits with any particular airline. Instead, its two main strengths are the earning rates and the ability to use your points with numerous airline and hotel programs. You’ll earn 3 ThankYou points per dollar at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels, 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases and a total of 10 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel portal through June 30, 2024. The card also offers $100 off a hotel stay of $500 or more (once per year, excluding taxes and fees) booked through Citi’s points website.

These earning rates may be more attractive if they match your spending habits, though you should understand that you won’t be able to spend your way toward airline vouchers or elite status here. Earning extra points will be an acceptable trade-off for some people, and the welcome bonus is attractive as well. Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Points can be transferred to airlines like Qatar Airways, Air France and JetBlue plus hotel programs like Wyndham, Choice and Accor.

For those who spend money on Qatar Airways tickets each year, boosting your earning rates on the purchase can make sense. For just a $99 annual fee, the Qatar Airways Privilege Club Visa Signature* Credit Card would give you 4 Avios per dollar spent on these tickets, plus you get Silver status for a year and can earn Qpoints toward future status—two additional perks on the card.

However, the list of benefits feels short compared to other airline cards offering discount vouchers, companion fares and increased checked baggage allowance. If the Silver status fast-track and bonus Qpoints on spending look enticing, and you spend money semi-regularly with Qatar Airways, you might enjoy the earning rates and Qpoints boost. However, Qatar Airways has a more premium card that earns Qpoints from less spending, earns Avios at higher rates on purchases and could help you accomplish those goals faster—in exchange for a higher annual fee.

So who is this card for? It’s for those who spend money on Qatar Airways flights and want to test out the airline’s elite status but don’t want to commit to a high annual fee until they’re more convinced. If you’re interested but hesitant, this is the right card for you. But if you already know you like Qatar Airways, or already know you want a more robust earning scheme, this card won’t be right for you.

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors, including:

• Annual fees
• Welcome bonus offers
• Ongoing earning rates
• Value of individual points or miles
• Included travel or merchant credits
• Additional cardholder benefits

Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors come together to provide a star rating for each individual card.

Read more: How Forbes Advisor rates credit cards