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Bits: Qatar Airways selling UK-Dubai for £975 in Business, new BA Innsbruck flight launched

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News in brief:

Qatar Airways launches Dubai in business class for £975

Qatar Airways has launched an exceptionally good fare to Dubai – just £975 return.  I have NEVER seen flights to the Middle East so cheap in business class from a UK starting point.

At the moment, this is bookable from Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester.  I have been told that a London sale price will launch next week which may or may not be the same.

Details are on this special webpage here.  You must book by 21st July.  Seats are available until May 2017 although some dates may be blacked out.

If you are sitting on an Avios redemption to Dubai you need to think about this.  Swapping your redemption – with over £500 of taxes – for a £975 cash ticket is well worth considering, especially if you were having to connect via Heathrow from a regional airport.

Remember that Qatar Airways flights earn Avios and British Airways tier points.  You would get 360 tier points return for this routing.  Here is my review of Qatar’s Boeing 787 business class seating.  There is a special Qatar 787 microsite here if your potential flight is on one.

More details are on the Qatar website here.  I will let you know if a similar Heathrow fare appears.

Qatar 350

British Airways launches Heathrow to Innsbruck

British Airways announced a new service to Innsbruck from Heathrow on Wednesday.  This will complement the existing Gatwick service.

It launches on 4th December.  There will be four flights per week during the Winter season (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and two per week during Summer 2017.

As always with new routes, there should be excellent Avios availability at the moment as all of the flights should have been loaded into the system with at least two Club Europe and four Euro Traveller seats available.

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

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The Platinum Card from American Express

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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.

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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

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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

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Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

American Express Gold card, American Express Platinum card, British Airways American Express, British Airways and Avios, Marriott Bonvoy, Qatar Airways and Privilege Club

Comments (59)

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

  • Tilly71 says:
    24 Jun24 June 09:10

    flights from Turkey to the UK have fallen dramatically this morning

  • Matthew says:
    24 Jun24 June 10:15

    This is good, but I did pay £770 in June 2015 with BA. So I think it could be better…

  • RTS says:
    24 Jun24 June 10:22

    Going to need to be cheaper than this unless Sterling improves! Everything abroad has increased in price by 10% more!

    • barry cutters says:
      24 Jun24 June 16:45

      the euro is 1.24 to the £. that is not a 10% increase in cost. , more like 3-4%

  • Gavin says:
    24 Jun24 June 11:11

    Only 2 more years for Harry to enjoy his place in the sun?

    • harry says:
      24 Jun24 June 11:54

      Spouse visa should sort me out in my dotage 🙂

    • mark2 says:
      24 Jun24 June 12:12

      It will come as a surprise to you young people that we used to travel freely to other European Countries before we joined the EEC.

      • Alan says:
        24 Jun24 June 12:21

        But not with the freedom to work/live/study there indefinitely…

        • mark2 says:
          24 Jun24 June 15:24

          No, but that is a benefit to very few and the majority were not prepared to pay the cost.

          • Andy says:
            24 Jun24 June 16:09

            Precisely. The Leave group worded their campaign around lowering immigration too which would mean abandoning free movement.

          • Alan says:
            24 Jun24 June 20:16

            The almost identical cost that we’d be paying with a Norway model? The cost that is a fraction of the list to our economy today?

          • will says:
            24 Jun24 June 23:02

            Have I missed something here? It would be highly unusual to have anything other than a passport check at immigration, and I already get this anyway.

            Perhaps a stamp in and a swipe of the passport in and out.

            Hardly a big deal.

            If you want to remain and work, then get a Visa.

            Yes slightly more difficult but really not a big chore at all.

  • Nick M says:
    24 Jun24 June 11:50

    OT – Amex MR transfer

    I’m in the process of closing my Amex MR account down – the only transfer that is yet to complete is a small one to Club Carlson… Am I right in thinking that it’s fine to cancel now anyway? – rather than waiting and paying the £1.24ish/day fee for Platinum?

    • Rob says:
      24 Jun24 June 13:30

      No idea, you may the guinea pig for this idea!

    • Genghis says:
      24 Jun24 June 15:28

      Doesn’t ones MR account stay open for 30 days or something after one has cancelled the card but can only be accessed over the telephone? Can anyone else confirm this? If so, you might be OK…

      But the only sure way is to get the points and then cancel.

      • AndyR says:
        24 Jun24 June 16:28

        That’s correct you have 30 days after cancelling to transfer. But you have to call to do it.

    • Scallder says:
      24 Jun24 June 16:27

      I did this the other day – had an unprocessed transfer to BA of 3k Avios. After I sent it (10pm), I received the email saying it was processing the next day and cancelled. It hit today (2 days later) without issue, so reckon you should be fine.

  • Jay says:
    24 Jun24 June 18:10

    Hi,

    I booked return first class tickets to Dubai using my 2-4-1 BA voucher for the summer. Taking my daughter too (4 months old).

    This new Qatar deal looks interesting. I am assuming it is only worth switching (taking into account avios earned/tier points) had my reward booking been business class as BA first > Qatar business? Also with Qatar I would have to have stopover which might be difficult with the baby?

    • Rob says:
      24 Jun24 June 19:23

      Yes, stopover is a pain with the baby – quick direct flight easier

  • Steve says:
    24 Jun24 June 18:23

    Just checking some bookings and see my Christmas trip to DXB on QR only cost £932pp. Still think LHR/AKL for £1800 for Easter will still take some beating too.

  • barnaby100 says:
    24 Jun24 June 20:47

    Are they alcohol free?

    • TGLoyalty says:
      24 Jun24 June 23:26

      Not on any Qatar flight I’ve flown

      • barnaby100 says:
        25 Jun25 June 22:16

        The website says

        We offer a wide selection of non-alcoholic beverages at anytime during your journey. Enjoy a tantalising combination of fruity fizz or spicy zest, and savour signature Mocktails designed by our celebrity chefs. Relax and unwind with a cappuccino, espresso, a freshly brewed cup of coffee or tea served from an individual porcelain set.

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