Estimated read time: 5 minutes and 6 seconds

Good morning and happy Monday!

Today is going to be a little different. I want to spend this newsletter walking through how (and why) to book the world’s best business class with points.

So without further ado, let’s get into it:

• ✈️ Deep Dive: How to book Qsuites with points

✈️ Deep Dive: How to book Qsuites with points

I flew Qsuites again last week, which by my count makes it my 20th time in Qatar Airways business class.

I also have four more Qsuite flights booked before the end of the year… so yes. I’ve got a serious Qsuites addiction.

But let me explain why:

A Qsuite is a fully enclosed private room with a door that actually closes, and it's flat out better than what several airlines are still selling as first class. Most people will tell you it's the best business class seat in the world, and they're right.

The good news is you don't have to pay cash for it… there are lots of ways to book Qsuites with points, and doing it is easier than ever.

Which routes actually have Qsuites

The important thing to know is that not every Qatar plane has Qsuites. Most of them have the “normal” business class (which is still very good).

Qatar currently has Qsuites on a variety of Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 planes, but the fastest way to check if a specific flight has Qsuites is to search it in business class on Google Flights and expand the flight details.

If the seat is a Qsuite, Google lists "Individual suite." If the plane is a 787 and also labeled “individual suite,” it’s not quite a Qsuite… but more on that later.

Anyway, here’s an example from New York to Doha on a Qatar 777, and is indeed a Qsuite (for a hefty price, too). 👇

That takes about ten seconds to figure out and it works on any route, which is why I always start there.

Then let Qatar confirm it

Once Google tells you a flight looks right, go pull up the same flight on Qatar's own website.

They label it directly in the search results now, so you don't have to go digging through seat maps like we used to.

Here’s the same flight on the same day, and it's 70,000 Avios in business.

So that's $9,560 versus 70,000 Avios for 12+ hours in the best seat in the world.

The Qsuite that Qatar won't call a Qsuite

Now, let’s talk about the 787-9 planes I referenced earlier.

Qatar's 787s have a different business class seat that a lot of us call the “Qsuite mini” or “Qsuite Lite.”

Every seat still has direct aisle access and a door that closes, but it's noticeably narrower; there's no quad, double bed, etc., and you lose the big ottoman storage that makes a real Qsuite feel like an apartment.

Because the seat has a door, Google still calls it an "Individual suite," which is technically true.

Having said that, it’s still a fantastic seat, and I’m personally flying it in a couple of months from Stockholm to Doha before heading back to Asia in normal Qsuites.

You’ll see those Qsuite mini seats on a lot of European routes, and it’s only offered on the 787-9 – so it’s generally pretty easy to tell the difference.

The quad is worth planning around

Once you're in a real Qsuite, your seat number matters more than it does on basically any other plane.

The middle pairs in odd-numbered rows fold down into a proper double bed, which is the couples setup everyone posts about.

Then there's “the quad,” where four middle seats across two rows face each other around a center table. If you're traveling as a family or with friends, you can sit down and eat dinner together at 38,000 feet. It’s really cool.

Odd rows also face backwards and sit tucked right up against the fuselage, so those are the most private window seats on the plane. That's what I book when I'm flying alone.

Here’s what that looks like from above:

Avios is what I always use

Qatar's own program runs on Avios, and it's my default for three reasons:

First, Qatar releases the most Qsuite space to itself, so availability is better here than anywhere else.

Second, the pricing is good, at 70,000 Avios one-way from the US to Doha, like you saw above.

Finally, the change or cancellation fee is just $25, which is really cheap. When I find availability, I'll grab it even if I'm only 80% sure about the trip, because backing out costs less than lunch. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Oh, and don’t forget that you can freely move Avios between airlines (like I told you about on Friday).

That means you can use the current 30% transfer bonus from MR points to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus to book Qatar flights.

That Qsuites flight for 70,000 Avios will actually cost you roughly 54,000 MR points. A round trip in Qsuites runs about 108,000, which you can easily earn from a single welcome offer.

That bonus runs through September 27, so you've got about six weeks to move points over.

The other two programs, briefly

You can technically book Qsuites with other programs, too.

American AAdvantage also charges 70,000 miles, and it's the better deal if you're continuing past Doha, because the price is the same whether you stop there or keep going to other destinations within a certain range.

The problem is that Qsuite space through American has gotten really thin lately, and the only decent ways to build up those miles are by transferring ThankYou points.

Atmos Rewards is also an option, but the pricing is almost always egregious, often double what Qatar and American ask for.

🚨Nerd Alert: You can also book Qsuites with… Aeroplan points??

Here’s a fun one for you.

Australia caps how many flights Qatari carriers can operate into its major airports. So Qatar bought a stake in Virgin Australia and now leases them 777s to fly the Doha route instead.

It's a Qatar plane, with a Qatar crew, and Qsuites on board. It just wears a Virgin Australia flight number.

And Virgin Australia happens to be an Aeroplan partner, which Qatar very much is not.

That means you can fly this fake Virgin Australia flight (which is actually Qatar Qsuites) for 130,000 Aeroplan points and just $81 USD in taxes and fees.

Now, 130,000 points is not a good price. I want to be clear about that.

But there's a transfer bonus of up to 30% running to Aeroplan through September 30, which drops the real cost to 100,000 UR points if you hold this co-branded Aeroplan card.

That's a much more reasonable number for a 13-and-a-half-hour flight in the best seat in the sky.

Just know it only works on the Sydney and Melbourne flights right now, so I doubt it will be super relevant to most of you…. But it is fun.

The bottom line

Qsuites is freaking amazing. It’s one of those flights where the journey becomes an exciting activity in and of itself.

It really is such a cool experience – and if you’ve never been to the Middle East, there is no better way to take your first trip there than Qsuites.

You can access Avios with basically every transferable currency, so check out our favorite travel cards if you want to start racking up points for your next Qsuites trip:

That’s it, folks! Tomorrow, we’ll be back to a normal newsletter format. But I hope you enjoyed this nerdy deep dive into a fun points topic.

Take care,

44° 28' 33" N, 73° 12' 43" W

With contributions by Katie Begnoche and April Wilson.