Bits: 10% off Qatar Airways flights, Qatar adds Adelaide, Melia sale, BA seat fees

News in brief:

10% off Qatar flights, new Adelaide service launching

Qatar Airways has revamped its website as you can see here.  To celebrate, you will save 10% (base fare only, taxes excluded) on Economy and Business Class fares until 18th October using code NEWLOOK2015 at qatarairways.com.

Qatar has also announced flights to Adelaide in Australia.  This follows the recent addition of Sydney from 1st March and is the result of a new deal agreed with the Australian Government.

Flights will start on 2nd May and operate daily using the new Airbus A350 pictured below.  It will be a two class aircraft with no First Class.

Qatar, as a BA partner, is available for Avios redemptions via ba.com.

Melia ‘40% off’ sale launched 

Hotel group Melia, which includes the lifestyle chain ME, has launched an Autumn sale with discounts of up to 40%.  You need to book by 27th October for stays until 28th February.

Full details are on this page at melia.com.  Grand Melia Rome is pictured below.

British Airways quietly increases seat selection fees

Finally, note that British Airways has sneaked up its seat selection fees over the last couple of weeks.  

There is no published list of prices at ba.com so it is difficult to make a straight comparison.  However, it seems that short-haul seat selection has crept up by £3 to a minimum of £10.  It is substantially more – over £20 – on longer routes.

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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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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