Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Some Qatar Airways Business Class sale deals I missed – from £696

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Yesterday I wrote a long piece on the latest business class sale deals from Qatar Airways.  This was offering exceptional fares from as low as £751.

When I researched that article I only looked at the ‘usual suspects’, ie the Netherlands and Scandinavia.  As it turns out, there are also good deals to be had out of France and Belgium.

Qatar A350

Paris

Out of Paris (this page shows the headline business fares from Paris CDG) the stand-out deal seems to be Tokyo at €1,445 (£1,027).

This is cheaper than all of the other departure points for Tokyo I listed yesterday.  Given how quick and easy it is to get to CDG, this is a great deal if you’ve ever wanted to visit Japan – especially as the sale period covers the Spring ‘cherry blossom’ period.

The Maldives out of Paris is €1,520 (£1,080) which is not as good as the £816 deal from Oslo, but easier for anyone who does not have an easy connection to Oslo from a local airport.  Bali is €1,625 from Paris (£1,155).

Abu Dhabi is €1,250 (£888) which, again, is a little more than the best deal I found yesterday but may be more convenient.

Brussels

The ease of getting to Brussels on Eurostar – your ticket even includes the connection to the airport for free – means that this is another interesting option.

The best deals, summarised here, seem to be Dubai / Sharjah / Ras Al Khaimah at €980 (£696).

This is attractive as a British Airways tier point run, as you pick up 400 tier points for the return trip.

Have we ever seen business class tickets to the Middle East from Western Europe under £700 before?!

As a reminder, here are the fare rules for the current offers:

Book by November 6th

Travel between January 15th and June 30th 2016

Minimum stay 7 days, maximum stay 1 month

All of the Paris deals are summarised here.  The Brussels deals are here.  My listing of special fares from Amsterdam and Scandinavia which ran yesterday is here.

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

Qatar Airways and Privilege Club

Comments (43)

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

  • Scott says:
    4 Nov4 November 10:07

    While I can appreciate that these fare are amazing for business class. If I am flying to Dubai for example, it seems like a lot of hassle to have to fly to Europe and then connect in Doha. If I am positioning the day before, my door to door time will end up around somewhere in the region of 24-36 hours at a cost of £900-£1000. Given that I can pick up a direct flight in Y for around £400 with a door to door time of 11-12 hours, I would aim to fly day time flights where I’m perfectly happy watching movies and reading a book so don’t need a flat bed. Given all of this I’m just not sure I can be bothered with the faff just to fly J to the Middle East.

    The fares to Far East and Australia on the other hand are seriously tempting me…

    • JQ says:
      4 Nov4 November 11:16

      I agree, seems silly to double or triple the travel time to DXB, I would only do this if I needed to be in the European starting point already, or I was at the end of a BA year and short of TPs to reach a higher status. I feel the same way about east coast of North America hence passed on the CPH/OSL to JFK deals.

      • Gavin says:
        4 Nov4 November 12:17

        Agree for flights to East Coast but feel far less keen on the night flight back in Y!

    • Rob says:
      4 Nov4 November 13:24

      Fair point, not sure I would do it myself because of the extra Doha flight (I would do it on, say, Etihad or Emirates ex Europe). The tier points and, frankly, novelty value would swing it for me if I was travelling solo though.

  • Lady London says:
    4 Nov4 November 10:35

    I guess most people know Eurostar sale is open for their subscribers now, open to all from Thursday, Quoting £64 return to Brussels. Misleading and possibly illegal as they advertise Paris or Brussels for £32 headline, then you find out they’ll only sell you it as a return fare.

    • Callum says:
      4 Nov4 November 11:23

      Where are they advertising that? I can’t see it but I highly doubt it’s illegal.

      Every time I’ve looked during a sale in the past one way has been half the price of a return anyway.

  • Callum says:
    4 Nov4 November 11:19

    I’m fairly certain it’s not free to get to Brussels airport on a Eurostar ticket. You have to buy the Any Belgian Station ticket which is £6 more – presumably much more than what an individual ticket would cost.

    • Rob says:
      4 Nov4 November 13:20

      Ah, didn’t know that – apologies. It was included once upon a time I’m sure and I knew they still sold through tickets – didn’t know a cost was now involved!

  • Jono says:
    4 Nov4 November 12:17

    Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but which aircraft are on CDG – Tokyo?

    • Rob says:
      4 Nov4 November 13:19

      CDG to Doha is 1 x A380 and 1 x something else at the moment, but Qatar changes it on a regular basis. The website will show you the aircraft during the booking process although be prepared for switches.

      I am down in the Middle East next month, out Etihad and back Qatar. Both airlines cancelled the A380 services I was originally booked on, forcing me to change my plans (I am back on them now).

      • Leo says:
        4 Nov4 November 13:58

        My return HKT>DOH flight has already changed from an A330 to 787 so not complaining….similarly I’m not getting my hopes up that it will remain the case in 12 weeks time…

  • James67 says:
    4 Nov4 November 12:40

    OT: Happy days, BA to fly daily INV-LHR year round from May and with decent schedule. Hugely significant for tax!

    • Liz says:
      4 Nov4 November 16:45

      Why is it significant for tax James? We normally go from Edinburgh !

      • Liz says:
        4 Nov4 November 16:58

        Just did a quick dummy run on a CW flight to Chicago starting at Inverness next June and it’s £128.50 cheaper! It’s a 3 hr drive from Dundee though!

      • James67 says:
        4 Nov4 November 19:58

        I see Rob already answered you Liz. We live in Edinburgh and it works for us as we like Inverness so happy to stay one or mord nights before departure. HIE and ‘Thistle’ not far from airport. HIE in quite a large retail park with shops, restaurants and cinema to keep folks entertined if they don’g want to go into town.

    • Kinkell says:
      4 Nov4 November 17:34

      Hurrah! I will be one of the 70,000 passengers returning to Inverness. Abz and EDI will be the poorer !

  • Mark says:
    5 Nov5 November 08:41

    Was looking at flights last night in Y…

    Flying into MEL from AMS and returning from RGN to MAN was <£500

    This is a route my sister had planned anyway, so it works out well for her… I wish i could get the old deal i got before £125 from BUD to HKG back to LHR.

    It seems to be when QR have a sale open jaw ticks are cheaper… just got to play around…

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? EARN POINTS WORTH 10,500 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!