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Bits: LAST CHANCE for the best Qatar deals ever, BA chops Gatwick flights – has yours gone?

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News in brief:

Last change to book Qatar Airways at an amazing price

Today is your last full day to take advantage of the Qatar Travel Festival – the deals end at 9pm UK time on Sunday.  Some of the business class prices are simply astounding – Oslo to Bangkok for £772, Oslo to Cape Town for £914, Copenhagen to Sydney for £1550 etc.

All Qatar Airways flights earn British Airways Avios and tier points.   You can book until 16th December at these prices so you have no excuse.

The home page for the Qatar Travel Festival is here.   My full article from earlier in the week is here.

Qatar A350

British Airways cancels Gatwick services for Winter 2016

British Airways announced a raft of cancellations for next Winter yesterday.  They will not have told customers yet so check if you are impacted.  If you call BA now you will have a better chance of getting first choice of alternative flights.

Tampa – reduced to six flights per week with the Wednesday flight cancelled

Barbados – reduced to 11 flights per week with one Monday and one Wednesday flight cancelled during December, January and February

Kingston – reduced to three flights per week with the Saturday flight cancelled during December, January and February

Orlando – reduced to seven flights per week with one Monday, Wednesday and Saturday flight cancelled in November and March

Remember that using the My Flights app would have alerted you to these changes to your flight automatically.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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.

Category

British Airways and Avios, oneworld alliance partners

Comments (60)

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

  • Marco says:
    16 Jan16 January 07:47

    I just tried to download the My Flights app via your link and I got a message saying it was not available in the UK?

    • Raffles says:
      16 Jan16 January 08:30

      Eh? Very weird. Try the iOS App Store direct (not on Android) or use their desktop programme.

      • Jason says:
        16 Jan16 January 09:54

        I had a similar problem trying to download it on my iPad a couple of weeks ago, however it downloaded it on my phone first then on to my iPad.

    • Pat Butcher says:
      16 Jan16 January 10:21

      I just had an etihad flight change. First found out via text from etihad. So checked website to look at changes properly. Couple of hours later got an e-mail from etihad.
      My flights app didn’t notify me until several hours after that. Not what I was expecting!

      • Rob says:
        16 Jan16 January 11:10

        MyFlights is not ‘real time’ – it checks box a day I think. This is usually faster tag the airlines. Etihad will never tell you of an equipment change.

  • Will says:
    16 Jan16 January 08:03

    I wonder if this is the knock on effect of G-VIIO being out of action due to the engine fire and a lack of ‘spare’ aircraft.

    • TimS says:
      16 Jan16 January 09:40

      I doubt it. The knock on effect would be being felt already if so, not just from next winter’s scheduling onwards.

      I think G-VIIO’s flying is being covered by a couple of scheduled airframe retirements being postponed.

  • mark says:
    16 Jan16 January 08:13

    This QR sale has been great for Y passengers too, OSL > SGN GOI KUL £330

    These are all my 62 year old mother has booked as she starts to backpack around asia, while keeping status :/

    • Raffles says:
      16 Jan16 January 08:29

      I like the sound of your Mum!

    • Olivula says:
      16 Jan16 January 08:48

      Can I go with her? I’ll even carry her rucksack

    • Lady London says:
      17 Jan17 January 00:07

      Don’t tell everyone about my plans Mark

    • JamesW says:
      17 Jan17 January 11:12

      Was really tempted last night to do a cheapy to SGN in economy £220 (if they did Jto SGN for £600 same as BKK then I’d absolutely have booked that but it’s ~£1200) and whilst I’ve flown a dozen or more QR flights I’ve never done so in economy so took to review sites to see what people say about it……Oh my Gosh !! The economy setup on the Dreamliner gets severely slated !! And the seats have almost an inch less width than Ryanair ! and only 2 inches more recline. Savage. If they’d been like Emirates Y on the A380 then I’d have gone for it and braved the great unwashed in cattle class 🙂

      Good on your Mum for still having her adventurous spirit 🙂

      Just can’t bring myself to do it though !

      Hopping from BKK to Ho Chi Minh and back from Hanoi adds about £120 (and faff !) and whilst it’s not too much extra it is a totally unnecessary extra holiday so decided £720 (plus positioning to OSL) was a bit OTT given I was thinking of a real cheap trip @ £220 !

      Nuts. I know I’ll be sorry at 9pm tonight that I oly snagged one business class trip (Nov) when the deals are off the table 🙁

      Hopefully a few more airlines have mass sales of this magnitude (and OTAs undercut them too !!) this year so I can grab something else later.

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
    16 Jan16 January 08:52

    Isn’t the £100 code for ex-UK flights only?

  • Tilly71 says:
    16 Jan16 January 09:48

    Strange how BA axe flights to Barbados during their peak season months from London.

  • simon says:
    16 Jan16 January 09:53

    choice of either a 7.25pm or 1am BKK back to DOH

    both are 777, which would you choose?

    • John says:
      16 Jan16 January 10:45

      Depends whether you want a full day in Bangkok before you leave, or a full day in London after you arrive (or wherever you’re going)

      • simon says:
        17 Jan17 January 00:01

        Thanks John, but i misread the flights. one was the A380 so i’ve gone for that!

  • harry says:
    16 Jan16 January 11:00

    bits
    Man uses microchip implanted in hand to pass through airport security
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/12101449/Man-uses-microchip-implanted-in-hand-to-pass-through-airport-security.html

  • RIccati says:
    16 Jan16 January 11:05

    This is crazy. The real sale where the supply of tickets increased and they got cheaper on the last day.

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

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