Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Amazing Qatar Airways £750+ business class flights to Middle East, Asia, Maldives, Australia

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Qatar Airways is back with some more great business class fares out of Europe (and Scotland).

These deals represent exceptional value for business class travel, especially as Qatar Airways has an excellent reputation for the quality of its seats, food and service.

£775 to the Middle East is certainly good although admittedly diverting via Europe is hassle for a short route.  The upside is that, as your Doha to  Dubai / Abu Dhabi / Bahrain connection books into First, you should be able to access the new Qatar First Class lounge on the outbound.

Qatar 787 350 business class

£860 to Bangkok or Singapore is fantastic value, as is £816 to the Maldives over peak season.  £1,500 to Australia is laughably good value. 

Remember that Qatar Airways flights earn Avios and British Airways tier points if you add your BA Executive Club number.  Most of the Asian routes below will generate 560 tier points return (140 x 4).  The Middle Eastern routes, assuming you connect to Dubai or Abu Dhabi, would earn (140 + 60 x 2) 400 tier points return as the ‘domestic’ sectors book into First Class.

As with recent sales, Qatar is discounting heavily from selected cities in Europe.

The best deals appear to be out of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm at the moment.   This is not surprising – Qatar has to fill TWO Boeing 787 aircraft from Copenhagen almost every day in Business Class.  Scandinavian cities are competing against the cheap long-haul pricing offered by Norwegian.no.  Amsterdam is also a small country with big planes to fill.

If you have a particular route in mind, you should also try out other starting points.  Brussels has had some good deals in the past, for example.

Here are the fare rules for the current offers:

Book by November 6th

Travel between January 15th and June 30th 2016

Minimum stay 7 days, maximum stay 1 month

Here are some sample prices – remember that these tickets start in Amsterdam (full list here):

Bangkok – €1,310 (£935)

Ho Chi Minh City – €1,875 (£1,339)

Hong Kong – €1,680 (£1,200)

Kuala Lumpur – €1,865 (£1,335)

Perth – €2,390 (£1,707)

Phuket – €1,490 (£1,064)

Singapore – €2,155 (£1,539)

Tokyo – €1,875 (£1,339)

Here are some prices from Copenhagen taken from this list:

Abu Dhabi – DKK 9,995 (£957)

Bahrain – DKK 8,745  (£837)

Bangkok – DKK 10,445 (£1,000)

Colombo – DKK 14,045  (£1,345)

Delhi – DKK 8,845 (£847)

Dubai – DKK 8,095 (£775)

Hong Kong – DKK 11,145  (£1,067)

Kuala Lumpur – DKK 14,045 (£1,345)

Maldives – DKK 14,045 (£1,345)

Melbourne – DKK 16,545 (£1,584)

Perth – DKK 16,495 (£1,579)

Phuket – DKK 12,145 (£1,163)

Singapore – DKK 11,845 (£1,134)

Here are some prices from Stockholm taken from this list:

Bangkok – SEK 11,295 (£858)

Delhi – SEK 12,295 (£934)

Dubai – SEK 10,695 (£812)

Hong Kong – SEK 10,395 (£790)

Kuala Lumpur – SEK 16,395 (£1,246)

Melbourne – SEK 20,445 (£1,553)

Perth – SEK 20,395 (£1,550)

Phuket – SEK 12,745 (£968)

Singapore – SEK 12,195 (£926)

Tokyo – SEK 16,795  (£1,276)

Here are some prices from Oslo taken from this list:

Abu Dhabi – NOK 12,645 (£965)

Bangkok – NOK 11,945 (£912)

Delhi – NOK 9,845 (£751)

Dubai – NOK 10,795 (£824)

Kuala Lumpur – NOK 14,845 (£1,133)

Maldives – NOK 10,695 (£816)

Melbourne – NOK 19,795  (£1,511)

Perth – NOK 19,795 (£1,511)

Singapore – NOK 11,345 (£866)

Qatar Airways A350 Doha

Finally, there are a couple of deals from Edinburgh.  Dubai is £1,150 if you fly to the new airport or £1,250 to the main airport.  Other routes are around £1,800+.  Weirdly, Manchester to Dubai is £1,860 so you save £610 by heading to Edinburgh first!

When booking with Qatar Airways, it is important to NOT just look at the headline price. It is also important to get the right aircraft. You want to be booking onto a Boeing 787 featuring the latest impressive 1-2-1 business class seating which I reviewed here. The A380 and A350 aircraft have the same seating.

The Boeing 777 seating I reviewed here is fully lie flat but is in a more traditional configuration.  The A330 aircraft have recently been converted into flat seats although I am not sure that they are like.  The final A340 aircraft are due to be fully flat by February according to the comments below.

The good news is that Copenhagen, Oslo, Amsterdam and Stockholm are usually operated by Boeing 787 aircraft so you should get the newest business class product.

Apart from Oslo, which is further and uglier (!), all of these departure points are easy to reach from the UK and a pleasant place to stay for the night if a stopover is required.  I would have a serious look at these deals for your long-haul travel plans over the next six months.  Have a play around at qatarairways.com and see what you can find.

You should also do the maths and consider whether it is worth cancelling any Avios redemptions in order to rebook on a Qatar cash ticket.

The list of Copenhagen deals is here, the list of Stockholm deals is here, the Amsterdam deals are here and the Oslo deals are here.  Other destinations apart from those listed may well be available at sale prices if you search.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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 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 card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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

25,000 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Comments (165)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Waribai says:

    Slightly OT but just an update for those heading to CP Heythrop Park via Points break.
    I’m currently in the premises so to speak.

    Pros: Lovely building and grounds. Good food
    in the restaurant this evening with attractive kids options too. Decent swimming pool. Occupancy seems less than 10% so we’ve pretty much had the run of this place!

    Cons: No suite upgrade for Spire status. Only upgraded to a King Exec. Not sure why considering the place is empty! Maybe points break?!

  • Chris says:

    Seriously tempted at these fares, but have been put off by the battery problems on the 787.

    Any further news regarding this? Apparently they never found out the cause of the battery fires but they have engineered a protective box to put around the batteries in case they catch fire again?

    • James67 says:

      I was too at the start but there now seems to be plenty of 787s flying around quite happily. Always possible, but unlikely, the industry is keeping quiet on any issues. I have not yet flown 787 but I’m no longer concerned about doing so. Probably much safer than the trip to the airport.

  • gill says:

    Hi
    Feel very stupid at the moment!
    Trying for first time to book Qatar Airways offers to Dubai from Brussels.

    Found flights individually:
    1. Manchester to Brussels return – 18 May
    10:45MAN 1h 20 Direct arrive 13:05BRU Brussels Airlines
    16:45BRU 29 May 1h 20 Direct arrive 17:05MAN Brussels Airlines £79 £157 total for 2

    2 Qatar
    Brussels Dubai
    Wed, 18 May 2016 16:15 BRU 23:30 DOH Business
    Wed, 18 May 2016 23:30 DOH 03:10 DXB First

    Sun, 29 May 2016 06:30 DXB 06:40 DOH First
    Sun, 29 May 2016 08:05 DOH 13:50 BRU Business

    Obviously easy to book as 2 sep but need to book all in one to check baggage through.
    This is where my problems come – tried Expedia and Opodo multiple destinations and both say no flights available on that combination.

    Can anyone explain how I do this – only 2 more days to book the offer. Thanks in advance 🙂

    • Rob says:

      You can’t. I am guessing there is no interline deal between the airlines (eg why should Qatar pay up if Brussels delivers you late? Why should Brussels give you the Qatar baggage allowance?). You will need to book separately and hope for the best.

    • Polly says:

      Gill, I would leave your departure back to the UK a longer interval, if only to allow for a delay arriving back in CPH from DBX. And no, luggage cannot be loaded, as you are flying ex EU for a reason, to avoid taxes etc so the flights must be kept separate that where the risk comes in which we refer to on the flight articles. Hope you get it booked up it’s a great experience flying J on QR. You will never want to turn right again!

  • Nathan says:

    Is there anyway round the insane 14h stop over in DOH on the Copenhagen to BKK route?
    Also do you have to sleep in the airport for 14h?

    • Rob says:

      No, you can leave – but it is £10 for a visa to enter the country!

      There is a transit hotel in the airport which is meant to be impressive. I may be checking it out next month.

      • Nathan says:

        I think the 14h is overnight annoyingly so can’t really do much other than sleep! Its even more frustrating as there is an earlier flight which you could catch but it falls outside the fare rules.. what are the chances of getting on that flight when you get to the airport?

        • Polly says:

          Nathan, we tried asking when we checked in, to see could we get on the early am flight, but they said no, claimed it was full in J. It probably was. Worth asking though. But there were only 4 of us in J on the day flight. And the scenery from the window ie vast mountain ranges and roads of Iran was quite fascinating. The Oryx hotel is lovely downtown.

          • harry says:

            Qatar is on a par with Saudi Arabia in awfulness, maybe better on the execution front. Worked there 6 months. Don’t recommend.

            Funniest thing I did was my driving test @ 4am in the morning in the pitch black (Ramadan), 4 of us stuffed in the car with the examiner, the other 3 were Indians, we took it in turns. Reverse parking, dodge around the bollards in figure of 8, hill start in reverse up a crazy artificial hill @ about 45 degree angle, 5 mins road test.

            Needless to say: I passed lol.

      • Nathan says:

        Does this fare count for the free limo/hotel thing? is there anyway to check before you book

        • Polly says:

          Yes, but do check the t and c . It states connections over 8 hours if there isn’t a shorter connection available. We did pay more for the shorter connection from CPH , could have had the flight for approx £220 pp cheaper from AMS . But chose the shorter more pricey one from CPH to HKT. 787 all sectors, really comfy .

          • Nathan says:

            does that mean they aren’t available because they are all sold out?

          • Polly says:

            They said it was a full flight. So we stayed with our long layover…

    • Polly says:

      Nathan, Ours was about 10-12 hrs on way bk from HKT but they transit you through to the downtown hotel in a limo each way anyway. Quite lovely 5 star hotel. So I would t worry about it….once your layover is over 8 hrs they look after you…

      • Nathan says:

        hmm.. the AMS – BKK route although a bit more money, a lot less transit time etc.. but a night in DOH might be fun… decisions decisions…

      • Nathan says:

        Just been told that my booking isn’t eligible because there is an earlier flight even though it’s not part of the offer. So 20 hours in Doha at a cost :/ never mind

  • Diego says:

    Just moved back home to Spain and this offer came perfect on time as I was thinking of going to Japan for cherry blossom next year (again!). Economy departing from Barcelona for £300 return, not just to Tokyo but to any Japanese destination (including the far away Okinawa and Sapporo!). The best bit is that QR flies HND, not NRT and uses the 787! Paid £25 extra to do a multi city and I’m flying to Okinawa and coming back from Sapporo. Sadly, I cannot afford business class tickets or chasing TPs as I’ve decided not to work for a while but hey, cannot wait for this trip (hopefully the GBP remains strong vs the YEN).

    Remember the offer ends tomorrow 6th November!

  • Wyvern says:

    I’ve just booked my first ever ex EU longhaul – BCN-DOH-PER-SYD and return SYD-DOH-BCN in J, for 740TP. Not the 787 but the positioning suits me, and cheaper than LHR-SIN-SYD and return in WTP on BA for the same dates, paid for with the Lloyds Avios Amex so no exchange rate markup either. Thanks Rob for letting us know of these great deals.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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