Sweet Spot Sunday: Fly Qatar business trip from US to South Africa with 75,000 miles and $16

news7g10/17/2022

10 7 minutes read

My favorite way to redeem American Airlines miles is a one-way Qatar Airways flight between the United States and Africa.

In particular, I love to spread my ransom to southern Africa to visit Johannesburg or Cape Town. The cost of miles for this one-way business class is just 75,000 American Airlines miles. And, for a one-way from Chicago to Cape Town via Doha, taxes and fees are just $15.70.

Today I will tell you more about this redemption and step-by-step instructions for booking tickets.

Why is it special?

All of Qatar’s long-haul business class products are fun. I always like mine Qatar Airways business class flights, from food and drink to in-flight service.

Best of all, you can usually fly its top flight Qatar Qsuite business class products on flights between the United States and Doha (and on some other routes). Flying Qsuite is a memorable experience, especially if you travel as a couple and can attach two of the center seats which the flight attendant can make into a double bed.

You can redeem 70,000 American Airlines miles plus minimum taxes and fees for a one-way Qatar Qsuite flight between the US and the Middle East or the Indian Subcontinent.

Although it’s a great way to redeem American Airlines miles separately, you can add a flight between Doha and some of the African cities served by Qatar for just 5,000 more miles.

This means you can fly one way between the US and Africa for just 75,000 AAdvantage miles and minimal taxes and fees. And if you don’t live near the gateway to Qatar Airways, you can find an itinerary that allows you to connect domestically in the US for the same cost.

The easiest way to check if your flight has a Qsuite seat is to see the seating chart. I use ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG’s parent company, Red Ventures) to do so. For example, a Qsuite A350-900 flight from Philadelphia to Doha would look like this:

Qatar A350-900 Qsuite business class seat map. EXPERTFLYER.COM

Meanwhile, a non-Qsuite flight A350-900 from Doha to Cape Town will look like this:

Qatar A350-900 business class seat map without Qsuite. EXPERTFLYER.COM

Of course, there are other ways to fly business class to Africa using points and miles. Check out our post on the best ways to get to South Africa in points for more information.

How to order this prize

Thankfully, booking this prize is simple. And now you can cancel and resend AAdvantage rewards until departure without charge, there’s no harm in booking a prize even if you’re not sure you can make the flight.

That said, I don’t recommend transferring points into AAdvantage for speculative book awards. After all, you could be left with depreciated mileage if you need it eventually cancel your prize.

You can prize search even if you don’t have the required mileage. After all, if you follow the steps below, you won’t be asked to sign in until step five. Here’s how to find prizes and make reservations at this hot spot.

Step 1: Start a search on American’s homepage

On the American Airlines homepage, select the “One-way” option (even if you want to fly round-trip, search and set one way maybe easier) and click Redeem Miles. Enter your starting point, destination and date and select the number of tickets you want. Then click search.

The next page will hopefully show some results. If not, consider looking for fewer passengers or changing your starting point, destination, or date.

Step 2: Limit your search to selected airlines

Next, you’ll want to limit your search to specific airlines. If you are flying from a city served by Qatar in the United States, you may only want to select Qatar when choosing your airlines. However, if you want or need to connect within the United States, you should also select the airline you want to connect to.

By choosing only Qatar Airways (or Qatar Airways and your connecting airline), you eliminate other annoying options. And doing so will come in handy when you’re moving to the next step and looking for availability on different dates.

Step 3: Use calendar search to check alternate dates (if needed)

Next, click Calendar to see the calendar with awards. Then, click the “Show All Classes” drop-down menu and select “Enterprise/First”. Doing so will bring up a calendar search showing only business class award dates operated by the airlines you selected in the previous step.

If this calendar search doesn’t yield any itineraries you like, you can go back to Step 1 and search for tickets from another airport or another destination (such as Johannesburg instead of Cape Town).

I recommend searching from a US airport directly served by Qatar, including:

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW)
Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Miami International Airport (MIA)
New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD)

Step 4: Choose your prize and check the trip summary

If you click on a date on the calendar, you will see all the available prizes for that day.

Click on the prize you want to book and check the trip summary. Then click “Sign In” and continue.

Step 5: Log in, check your passenger information and choose a seat

You will need to sign in on the next screen. Here you will need to enter passenger information and trip contact information. Then click continue.

Once your ticket is issued, I recommend calling American Airlines for a Qatar confirmation number. You can then choose your seat on the Qatar website. If you want specific seats to display as blocked on the ExpertFlyer seat map, you will need to call Qatar and ask them to unblock it. Qatar often blocks Qsuite seats for couples and larger groups.

Step 7: Review your flight and pay

Finally, you can review your journey one last time and check costs in both miles and cash.

You will then need to pay taxes and fees for your rewards. I recommend using a Credit cards provide protection when traveling even if you just use your card to pay taxes and fees. My go-to choice is Chase Sapphire Reserve®but Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Also a good choice.

How to earn miles for this award

Earning enough American Airlines miles may not be an issue for some American Airlines loyalists. But for many travelers, the most challenging part of placing this prize can be earn enough American Airlines miles. After all, the only major transferable currency that you can switch to American Airlines is the Marriott Bonvoy and Bilt Rewards.

Transfer points of Marriott Bonvoy

You can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to AAdvantage. DANGEROUS POINTS

You can Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to American Airlines AAdvantage with a 3:1 transfer rate. And Marriott will reward you with 5,000 miles for every 60,000 points you transfer. However, even with bonus miles, this transfer rate can be hard to swallow.

After calculating 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred, you need to transfer 180,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to reserve a one-way reward. To consider this, you can book a week at many midsize properties with this score.

Depends on how many Marriott Bonvoy points you have and how often you redeem Marriott Bonvoy points, transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to American Airlines may seem like a terrible idea or a great idea.

If you want earn Marriott Bonvoy points to transfer and receive Marriott-exclusive privileges such as elite night credit and free night certificate each year, you may want to sign up for one of the following Marriott Bonvoy credit card:

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card: Earn 150,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of becoming a card member. ($650 annual fee, see rates and fees)
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card: Earn 125,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of becoming a card member. ($250 annual fee, see rates and fees)
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Earn 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy Rewards Points after you use your new card to purchase $4,000 within the first three months of your card membership. ($125 annual fee, see rates and fees)
Marriott Bonvoy Borderless Credit Card: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. ($95 annual fee)
The bold credit card of Marriott Bonvoy: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. (no annual fee)

Transfer Rewards Bilt

If you pay the rent in Bilt Rewards or spend on a Bilt Mastercard, you can transfer your 1:1 points to AAdvantage. Transfer Points from Bilt to AAdvantage right away.

Information about the Bilt Mastercard has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Earn money with American Airlines card

Of course, you can also use American Airlines Credit Card to earn more American Airlines miles. You can apply for a new card or spend on a card you already have.

Here are some American Airlines co-branded cards to consider:

Information about the CitiBusiness AAdvantage Premium Select Mastercard has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Key point

It’s relatively easy to find Qatar Airways Business Class Award. Sure, you may need to be a bit flexible with your US travel dates and gateways. However, even if you want to travel with four or more travelers, you can’t find the prize.

Redeem 70,000 American Airlines miles for one way Qatar Qsuite Flights between the US and the Middle East are a great thing, especially when you need to pay minimal taxes and fees for this bonus. And as you have seen in this post, it doesn’t cost much to go to South Africa from USA

For Amex Bonvoy Brilliant prices and fees, click here

For Amex Bonvoy Bevy rates and fees, click here

For Amex Bonvoy Business prices and fees, click here

news7g10/17/2022

10 7 minutes read