Get 2,500 free Avios when you sign up for Qatar Privilege Club, more when you use Cash + Avios

If you're not a member of Qatar Airways' Privilege Club loyalty program, now is a great time to sign up.

When you sign up for an account and use promo code "FLYQR3," you will be rewarded with 2,500 welcome Avios.

And since Privilege Club members can link their Avios accounts to British Airways Executive Club, you can transfer your Qatar Avios (including the 2,500 welcome Avios) to British Airways at no charge.

Plus, you can earn even more free Avios when you take your first flight and use the new Cash + Avios feature.

Let's take a closer look at how you can benefit from each of these promotions.

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How to get 2,500 free Avios

As mentioned, Qatar Airways is currently running a promotion that awards 2,500 bonus Avios to new members. You can join the program by registering on this page.

As with signing up for any airline loyalty program, you will be prompted for a variety of personal details. But you'll want to take special note of the "Enrolment promo code" section. Add "FLYQR3" to that box before continuing to the next screen.

After you submit your application, you will be given a membership number, and 2,500 Avios will instantly be deposited into your account.

If you fly with Qatar Airways by Sept. 30 and credit the flight to your new membership account, you will receive an additional 5,000 bonus Avios.

Keep in mind that this promotion expires on March 31.

Earn up to 10,000 Avios with this Cash + Avios promotion

Qatar is also giving members up to 10,000 bonus Avios when using its new Cash + Avios feature. When you book a flight by March 31 and fly before Oct. 31, you'll earn 5,000 Avios when you book an economy ticket and 10,000 Avios when you book a first- or business-class ticket using this feature. You will only earn the bonus on flights operated by Qatar Airways.

This feature lets you use a mixture of cash and Avios to pay for an award ticket. You can use as many Avios as you'd like, with more Avios equaling a higher discount.

When booking your ticket, make sure that you're logged in to your account. You'll also need to use promo code "QRAVIOS" when you search for your flight.

When you get to the payment page, you'll find a slider where you can select your preferred ratio of cash to Avios. On an economy-class flight from Doha, Qatar, to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, costing 410 Qatari riyals (about $112), you can use a minimum of 1,250 Avios, which takes 36 riyals (about $10) off the bill. If you want to use 2,500 Avios, you will save 73 riyals (about $20).

Any combination of cash and Avios should trigger the 5,000 Avios (economy class) or 10,000 Avios (business or first class) bonus promotion, even if the amount of points you use is less than the bonus you earn.

You can transfer these Avios to British Airways

To transfer your Qatar Avios to British Airways Avios, you first have to link your British Airways and Qatar Airways accounts. You can do this on the British Airways or Qatar Airways website, following the instructions found in this article.

We value each Avios at 1.5 cents apiece, so the 2,500 Avios earned with the sign-up promotion are worth $37.50, while the 5,000 earned from an economy Cash + Avios booking is worth $75. Stacking the two promotions would give you over $100 in value, which isn't too shabby if you're already considering booking a Qatar Airways flight.

There are plenty of British Airways Avios sweet spots too. For example, short-haul domestic award tickets on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines start at just 7,500 Avios. This includes all routes under 651 miles, like Washington, D.C., to New York; Portland, Oregon, to Seattle; and Phoenix to Los Angeles. Longer routes cost more Avios, but there are many great deals to be had.

You can also top off your Avios account by transferring American Express Membership Rewards points, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards points or Marriott Bonvoy points to British Airways, and from there, you could transfer the points to Qatar. Citi ThankYou points also transfer directly to Qatar, so you can seamlessly top up your balance for an award ticket.

Bottom line

It's great to see Qatar Airways ring in the addition of Avios with a handful of excellent promotions. And let's be real: It doesn't get better than earning Avios just for signing up for an account. Make sure to take advantage of the new account promotion if you don't already have a Qatar Privilege Club account, and keep the others in mind if you're planning a trip with Qatar Airways in the near future.