See how Qatar’s ‘married segment availability’ can wrongly make you think Avios seats are gone
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We’ve talked about ‘married segment availability’ on Head for Points before when discussing how to find Avios availability on Qatar Airways, but we’ve never done a detailed explanation of how it works in practice.
As it happens, last week a friend asked me to look up some redemption options for him to Jakarta. It showed the Qatar Airways ‘married segment availability’ in action.
What is ‘married segment availability’?
Put simply, ‘married segment availability’ (in Avios terms) is when two flights are available for a connecting flight redemption but the same flights may not be available either individually or with different connections.
There are a couple of reasons why this may happen.
One is an attempt to share out reward availability for some reason. Let’s imagine that there is only one flight a day to Doha from a certain city compared to multiple flights per day from Heathrow. Travellers from Heathrow may want to be ‘encouraged’ onto certain onward connections in order to leave space on flights which are ‘must have’ connections from other cities due to a less frequent schedule.
Another reason can be some sort of ‘opportunity cost’ calculation. Qatar Airways has some cities where flights are priced highly (eg London) and others where it has to price lower to fill an aircraft. When cash fares are lower, the algorithm may open more reward seats because the opportunity cost (selling a seat for Avios vs cash) is lower.
Whatever the reason on any specific route on any specific day, all that matters is that it DOES happen and you need to plan for it.
Let’s go to Jakarta
Here are some examples for flights to Jakarta, one way, on 23rd July.
From Dublin
Here’s is a screenshot for a trip which starts in Dublin:
Look at the connecting flight from Doha to Jakarta (02.35, 24th July). It is available for ‘standard’ Avios pricing in Business Class. Business Class is the middle of the three options shown and you see the ‘O’ showing a seat is bookable.
From Amsterdam
Let’s look at the same flight but starting from Amsterdam. Look carefully below:
The EXACT same flight, the 02.35 on 24th July from Doha to Jakarta, is now ‘occupied’ in Business Class – even though you can book this seat if you start in Dublin.
From Manchester
Let’s try Manchester. Look at this:
The EXACT same flight, the 02.35 on 24th July from Doha to Jakarta, IS available in Business Class but it will cost you double Avios. This is what the ‘Flexi’ tag means above the middle flight option.
It’s also worth noting that there are no Economy seats available from Manchester on the Doha to Jakarta leg, even though you can book Economy from Dublin and Paris.
From Doha
Out of interest, I thought I’d check what was available if you were booking from Doha to Jakarta as a standalone flight:
Both Economy and Business Class are available for ‘standard’ Avios pricing.
Conclusion
The lesson to learn here is that you should never take ‘Occupied’ as the final answer when searching for Qatar Airways Avios availability.
If you are willing to start from a different city, those seats you want may suddenly appear.
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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.
Capital on Tap Visa
NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review
Capital on Tap Pro Visa
10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review
There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:
British Airways American Express Accelerating Business
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.
American Express Business Platinum
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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