Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

More amazing sub-£800 Qatar business class fares from European airports

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Qatar Airways has launched another one-week-only promotion on economy and business class seats from London.  Some of the fares are not bad, such as Abu Dhabi for £310 (£305 from Manchester).  Business class fares start around £1700 and you can get as far as Bangkok for that price.

You can see full details here.  You need to fly before December 10th.

The real action, though, is taking place elsewhere in Europe.

Qatar 787 350 business class

As with previous sales, Qatar is discounting very heavily indeed from selected cities in Europe.  It can’t be easy, to be honest, to fill TWO Boeing 787 aircraft from Copenhagen every day in Business Class.

With prices like these, it is tempting to cancel any outstanding Avios redemptions and rebook for cash on Qatar.  You won’t be paying much more than the Avios taxes and charges figure – use your points to redeem for a hotel when you get there.

Here are some sample prices to Bangkok in Business Class:

ex Amsterdam – £974

ex Copenhagen – £782

ex Stockholm – £784

ex Oslo – £770

ex Frankfurt – £1,155

and here are some prices to Singapore in Business Class:

ex Amsterdam – £1,123

ex Copenhagen – £985

ex Stockholm – £835

ex Oslo – £842

ex Frankfurt – £1,281

Many, many more destinations are available.

To put this in context, I am sitting on Singapore Airlines flights to Singapore in late May where the tax is £600 per person – and that is before the huge number of miles needed on top as I couldn’t get the cheapest saver seats.  However, there is no way I will be allowed to take my kids to Singapore via Stockholm and Doha.

Don’t 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 and A340 aircraft have sloping business class seats so are not the best first choice.

Remember that these fares earn Avios and BA tier points. Most of the Asian routes will generate 560 tier points return!  Don’t forget that you need to book via the Qatar Airways website here to get these fares.


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 (92)

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

  • Matt says:

    4 tickets booked for ARN-DOH-BKK-DOH-CPH £773 per person! Great heads up Rob!

  • Lady London says:

    With this kind of pricing and with the path of upcoming changes to the Avios scheme, it’s making Avios look like a hollow shell….

    • Rob says:

      This sort of Qatar pricing is not sustainable long term, clearly, since it is cheaper than BA economy fares on some dates. However, it will last as long as Qatar is receiving new planes and can’t get the bums to fill them at full price.

  • Paul says:

    Are stopovers allowed with these offers and if so one or two?
    Also is it easy getting to Dubai and Abu Dhabi trying to see if go to Asia November/ December if possible to see F1 and rugby sevens/ golf
    Thanks in advance for any answers

    • Rob says:

      “•Stopovers: Not permitted. Please note that for transit flights in Doha less than 24 hours in duration, baggage cannot be claimed and will be tagged to your final destination.”

      • Mick says:

        These are fantastic prices. Just wish the other half would agree to go to Vietnam rather than Seattle to see family in December (Am I being selfish?)

        Let’s hope they do another sale for the first querter of next year!

        Maybe I am naive, but is there a reason why one of the Middle Eastern carriers don’t have a second hub in UK/Europe to compete more aggressively with the likes of BA/Virgin on western routes. Thier products and service seems a cut above most EU carriers. EU folks would leave BA and the likes to go to Qatar if they done UK to US routes direct. …. Maybe if m just dreaming !

  • Dave S&V says:

    Very tempted with some of these fares but many have 8hrs +overnight layovers in Doha. Not sure if I would want to spend 8hrs in the lounge assuming its open are there any recommended hotels close to the airport?

    • HpW says:

      You can try the airport hotel http://hiahotel.com/ which has decent rooms and a swimming pool.
      I used it for an overnight 8.5hr stay with the family before we caught the flight back to London.
      If you arrive late at night, it beats getting a visa on arrival and travelling downtown. You can also visit the lounge as many times as you like – so no issues with that.

    • Polly says:

      Yes you can go through in order to stay in the airport hotel, short walk, the visa they give you covers this, at arrivals. But there are cabanas in the new giant lounge, and the biz lounge so you can doze quite comfortably.

      • Jason says:

        I did this last Wednesday, walked off the plane straight to the hotel, on the way to Dubai. No visas or passport control.
        Hotel is fab, had a twin Room, with 2 4ft beds.
        8 hr stay, they have various packages, breakfast in the lounge. First class lounge still not finished.

        • Dave S&V says:

          Thanks HpW, Polly and Jason fort he feedback much appreciated.

    • Kurshee says:

      http://www.qatarairways.com/uk/en/transit-accommodation.page

      Not sure if those fares allow the free hotel service and/or what the restrictions are.

  • What's the Point says:

    A very very very tempting offer.
    We have a 2f1 in CW booked LHR – KUL later this year, with an onward Avios redemptions to SIN and DPS.
    Got to factor in getting to CPH or elsewhere. Will be a busy bee this weekend trying to work it all out!

    • Polly says:

      Easy peasy, lots of RFS to CPH am busy doing the same right now , plenty of choice. Lovely time to be in northern Eu for a few hours or days!

    • CV says:

      How much avios would a qatar business flight CPH – KUL earn??

      • Polly says:

        Y has 4 levels of earning rate, and J has 3 levels. QR were first to do this a while back, so the cheapest fares earn very few. If you want to see them look at their privilege club qmiles. It was of the reasons we moved to BAEC. So check your class, and it will show it on the chart. They really reward their frequent flyers ESP J and F.

  • louie-m says:

    Undoubtedly irrelevant to most of you but the maximum stay is 3 months.

  • Allan says:

    If buying from the Qatar site when it quotes in for example Danish Krone for an ex CPH flight, can you then pay in GBP to avoid card exchange fees?

  • John says:

    I was looking to get a flight to India in business in this sale, and tried to use ITA Matrix to see where was the best place to start and where in India you could go, but it doesn’t seem to have any availability for these offers.

    Am I doing something wrong, or does ITA Matrix never have sale fares?

    • David says:

      Make sure you have 6 or 7 nights between the outbound and inbound flights. The fares should then show up. Unfortunately ITA Matrix availability and pricing doesn’t appear to quite match Qatar’s website, so some searching around may be necessary – but it is a starting point.

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

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