United partners are dropping like flies. First Emirates was gone, then was Virgin Atlantic’s turn earlier this year, and now it is a final couple of days to redeem awards on Qatar Airways. United gave heads up of this change on June 1st.
You can still continue booking awards that have Qatar legs until and on 14th of this month. Theoretically you should be able to do this over the phone as well, but you may encounter uninformed agents that tell you that the partnership has already ended when, in fact, it has not.
I have flown quite a bit on Qatar this year and have come to like their business class product and often empty cabins. Most often than not I have the entire two seat sections just for myself. I am not a huge fan, however, of the Qatar transit experience and the premium terminal that is at capacity often during the flight banks.
Conclusion
If you are contemplating using United miles on award tickets on Qatar, this is the last choice. The Qatar’s business class product is fantastic compared to United.
