Using Qatar Avios for Bangkok Airways to Koh Samui: A High-Value Sweetspot
There are a few popular and aspirational destinations that have a high cash outlay to get to, whether you are taking a seaplane to the St Regis Maldives or taking a small regional aircraft to JW Masai Mara.
The short flights to Koh Samui in Thailand are perhaps not as expensive as the above examples, but they can still run $300 to $400 CAD per person for a round-trip booking. While there are several loyalty programs that you can use to cash out flexible points to cover these costs, you can actually redeem a very small amount of Qatar Airways Avios with a minimal amount of taxes and fees to wipe the cost out almost entirely.
While this is a niche redemption, if you plan to travel to Thailand and want to visit Koh Samui, using Qatar Airways Avios is undoubtedly the best way to save on your flight costs. Let’s get into the details.
Getting to Koh Samui Can Be A Bit Expensive
If you ever visit Thailand, the island of Koh Samui is a must-visit destination. The island offers amazing accommodations, gorgeous views, and a relaxing respite from the busyness of Bangkok. It’s a place that I loved visiting, particularly with my stay at the Conrad Koh Samui, and one I look forward to visiting again soon.
Koh Samui airport (USM) is only an hour and 15 minutes round-trip from Bangkok (BKK), but your options to get to Koh Samui are limited. Bangkok Airways is the exclusive carrier from any origin in Thailand, where passengers going to or from Singapore can rely on Bangkok Airways or Scoot, Singapore Airlines’ budget carrier.
With limited options come elevated prices as you can’t exactly shop around with choices, and these can add up. For example, if you are booking a round-trip flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui on Bangkok Airways, you can expect to pay somewhere in the range of:
- $300 to $400 CAD cash fare for a round-trip per person in economy class
- $500 to $600 CAD cash fare for a round-trip per person in business class
While not as egregious as seaplane costs in the Maldives, these costs are high and not unavoidable when planning a trip to Koh Samui. While you could use a currency like Scene+ points or TD Rewards to wipe out the cost via a flexible travel redemption, the best option is to redeem a small sum of Qatar Avios to cut costs to almost zero with an efficient mileage redemption.
Using Qatar Avios to Book Bangkok Airways To/From Koh Samui Sweetspot
Redeeming Qatar Airways Avios for Bangkok Airways flights has been difficult in the past, but as of October 2025, members can now self-serve the entire booking process online.
Not only is it easier than ever to make a redemption like this thanks to the changes they’ve made in the booking process, but Avios are super accessible and easily earned by Canadians, as I’ll touch on in the next section.
I’ll highlight some other excellent route redemptions below, but let’s take a look at a search via Qatar Airways Privilege Club for the most common route for many travelers, Bangkok (BKK) to Koh Samui (USM) with a one-way booking:
If traveling from Bangkok to Koh Samui on a round-trip economy itinerary with Bangkok Airways, passengers can redeem 12,000 Avios plus $11 CAD in taxes and fees for what would otherwise be at least a $300 CAD cash fare, working out to a rough valuation of 2.4 cents CAD per Avios point.
Similarly, if traveling from Bangkok to Koh Samui on a round-trip business class itinerary with Bangkok Airways, passengers can redeem 25,000 Avios plus $11 CAD in taxes and fees for what would otherwise be at least a $500 CAD cash fare, working out to a rough valuation of 1.9 cents CAD per Avios point.
Economy class is the better redemption from a straight-up value perspective, and after all, since it’s only an hour-long flight, business class doesn’t exactly make any sort of meaningful difference (unless you are flush with Avios and looking to burn them). I would gladly pay 12,000 Avios anytime to save $300 that I would otherwise be trapped paying, so this redemption falls into the excellent territory for my travel needs.
If you aren’t flying to/from Bangkok, or perhaps are heading to another destination after your time in Koh Samui, there are several other good redemptions as well, including:
- Koh Samui (USM) to Singapore (SIN) for 6,000 Avios + $32 CAD in economy class
- Koh Samui (USM) to Chiang Mai (CNX) for 6,000 Avios + $13 CAD in economy class
- Koh Samui (USM) to Phuket (HKT) for 6,000 Avios + $13 CAD in economy class
By no means is this an exhaustive list of all destinations that Bangkok Airways flies to, so ensure you check a resource like FlightConnections to see where they fly as you are planning your next vacation.
How To Earn Qatar Airways Avios in Canada For Your Redemption
Earning Avios in Canada is straightforward, as there are two main currencies that transfer directly to Avios: RBC Avion points and American Express Membership Rewards.
As a side note, it is key to remember that you can transfer Avios between partnered frequent flyer programs, such as moving Avios from British Airways Executive Club to Qatar Airways Privilege Club. So ultimately, the focus is to get your points transferred to British Airways Avios if you want to make a redemption like this, and then move your points from British Airways Avios to Qatar Airways Avios.
The most common method of earning Avios is through transferring RBC Avion points at a rate of 1:1, and oftentimes, there are transfer bonuses of up to 30% from Avion to Avios.
We recommend the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card as the quintessential option, as it comes with a welcome bonus of up to 70,000 Avion points with a bonus structure that provides the majority of the points on credit card approval.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card
The RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card earns flexible Avion points that can be transferred to British Airways Avios, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, American Airlines AAdvantage, WestJet Rewards, or used against travel purchases via the fixed-rate Air Travel Redemption Schedule.
OFFER
70,000 Avion points
MINSPEND
$5,000
EST. VALUE
$1,330+
ANNUAL FEE
$120
FOREX FEES
Yes
EXPIRY
Jul 15, 2026
There are several other personal cards from RBC that earn Avion points that can be transferred, and the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card, which earns Avios directly:
Membership Rewards also transfer to Avios at a rate of 1:1, and this is another excellent avenue, as there are many high-value American Express cards in Canada that earn this valuable currency quickly:
| Credit Card | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
170,000 Membership Rewards points Estimated value: $3,400 Ends Jul 28, 2026 |
|
 |
120,000 Membership Rewards points and $150 FlyerFunds Estimated value: $2,550 |
|
 |
70,000 Membership Rewards points Estimated value: $1,400 |
|
 |
60,000 Membership Rewards points Estimated value: $1,200 |
|
 |
15,000 Membership Rewards points and $50 FlyerFunds Estimated value: $350 |
|
 |
10,000 Membership Rewards points Estimated value: $200 |
|
Conclusion
While it is an under-the-radar and not too flashy of a redemption, redeeming Qatar Avios for Bangkok Airways provides unreal value on specific routes that you would otherwise be stuck paying cash fares for. The cent per point value is pretty strong, and it effectively puts cash back in your pocket that can be used for other vacation expenses, which makes it a win in my book.
