QATAR. In what it says is an airline first, Qatar Airways is allowing its Privilege Club members to use their “˜Qmiles’ to pay for purchases at Qatar Duty Free stores in Doha International Airport.
Under the new scheme, members can pay with cash or Qmiles (or a combination of both) on any purchase with Qatar Duty Free, whether departing, transiting or arriving in Doha. Passengers can make their store purchases at the Departures, Arrivals and Premium terminals.
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Redemption day: Qatar Airway’s various Privilege cards can all be used for duty free purchases |
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “It’s all about giving passengers greater choice and value for money. Here is an example of how Qatar Airways is widening its service levels as the only airline to offer frequent flyers an option of instant redemption on duty free purchases.”
Members can also purchase raffle tickets for the popular luxury car draws or the One Million Dollar draw with their Qmiles.
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Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker: “It’s all about giving passengers greater choice and value for money” |
In addition, as an exclusive benefit, Privilege Club Gold members enjoy a special discount on the Qmiles required for redemption on duty free purchases.
Qatar Airways Privilege Club members departing from Doha, travelling to Doha as their final destination or transferring at Doha International Airport to an onward connecting flight can make use of Qmiles redemption on duty free products of their choice.
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Qatar Airways claims that the Qmiles duty free redemption scheme is a world first |
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The shopping opportunity is heavily promoted in the airport concourse |
To redeem Qmiles while shopping, members simply present their Privilege Club membership cards to the cashier at the checkout counter at Doha International Airport. Their membership accounts are debited automatically.
Al Baker noted: “Over 80% of our passengers are in transit through Doha and the shopping experience at Qatar Duty Free is exceptional. With the Qmiles redemption programme, Privilege Club members anywhere around the world have even more flexibility on purchases.”
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Destination Doha: Qatar Duty Free’s extensive retail offer will be expanded significantly when the new airport opens |
Since launching 12 years ago, Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club has established itself as one of the industry’s leading frequent flyer reward programmes. Qatar Duty Free is also one of the world’s fastest-growing duty free retailers and is gearing up for a major expansion at New Doha International Airport, which is due to open by the end of 2012.
As reported, Qatar Airways recently opened Oryx Galleria, a dedicated boutique exclusively for Privilege Club members to redeem their Qmiles. The airline described the initiative as a “unique retail proposition for frequent flyers”.
ABOUT QATAR AIRWAYS
Qatar Airways operates a fleet of 107 aircraft to 113 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.
As part of its 2012 expansion programme, the airline is launching flights to a further 11 destinations – Zagreb (Croatia) from 9 May; Perth (Australia) from 3 July and other cities during the year, including Mombasa (Kenya), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Helsinki (Finland), Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Belgrade (Serbia), Erbil (Iraq), Baghdad (Iraq), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) and Yangon (Myanmar).
In February, the carrier launched services to the Azerbaijan capital Baku and Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi, and last month began flights to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda in East Africa.
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