New fare deals: Qatar Airways from Edinburgh, Vueling, Etihad from Paris

A few more fare deals have popped into my inbox.  None are worth pushing on their own but there was a critical mass of them to justify a summary!

Etihad – pay for business, fly in First

For bookings before July 31st, Etihad is offering a VERY interesting ‘pay for business, fly in first’ deal from Paris – but sadly just on four routes.

These are:

Paris to Ho Chi Minh (€2307)

Paris to Bangkok (€2309)

Paris to New Delhi (€2360)

Paris to Perth (€3987)

These would be decent business class prices on their own (perhaps not so for Perth).  With an immediate upgrade into First Class – photo below, you should get the suites as it is an A340-600 – it is a superb deal.  You need to book by July 31st for travel by December 10th.

There is also a broader ex-Paris business class sale (book by August 15th, fly by August 31st).

Full details on the Etihad website here.  You must click through the link on that page for the ‘buy business, fly first’ fares to show up.  Note that one of the three Paris to Abu Dhabi flights each day is an Air Seychelles codeshare so make sure you avoid that one!

Qatar Airways sale fares from Edinburgh

Qatar Airways is pushing another fare sale from Edinburgh to promote its new route.  Remember that you will earn Avios and British Airways tier points on these flights.

Book by July 25th for travel in September, October or November.

Details of participating routes can be found here.

Vueling – €30 off for three people

Not the greatest deal ever I admit, but BA’s sister airline Vueling is offering a saving of €30 when three people travel together on any of their routes.   There is no discount code, it should show up automatically and is advertised on the Vueling home page.

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How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (May 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

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

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways American Express Premium Plus credit card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express credit card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review