£818 business class sale bargains to Asia on Qatar Airways (£566 Dubai, £979 Cape Town)

On Saturday I looked at the impressive £1,150 fares available to Las Vegas this Summer in business class on British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

If you are heading east, the great news is that Qatar Airways has brought back another round of astonishingly cheap sale fares to Asia from various departure points around Europe.  These fares are bookable for dates until 31st March 2017.

You need to book by Tuesday, however.

As well as being great deals, you will earn Avios and British Airways tier points as Qatar is a oneworld partner.  A typical Qatar Airways flight to Asia from Europe would earn 560 British Airways tier points (140 + 140 + 140 + 140) return because of the connection in Doha.  That is only 40 tier points short of British Airways Silver status although you also need to fly four BA one-way flights to gain status.

The best deals this time seem to be from Scandinavia – Oslo, Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen.  Helsinki flights do not start until October so ignore those unless you are booking for later in the year.

The Stockholm deals list is here.  Typical fares in Business are:

Bangkok SEK 11,195 (£916)

Dubai SEK 10,545 (£863)

Hong Kong SEK 10,395 (£851)

Krabi SEK 9,995 (£818)

Phuket SEK 10,945 (£896)

Shanghai SEK 11,145 (£912)

Singapore SEK 11,945 (£978)

The Copenhagen deals list is here.  Typical fares in Business are:

Adelaide DKK 12,945 (£1,322)

Auckland DKK 14,195 (£1,450)

Cape Town DKK 11,245 (£1,148)

Dubai DKK 8,045 (£821)

Hong Kong DKK 10,795 (£1,102)

Kuala Lumpur DKK 11,495 (£1,174)

Maldives DKK 11,995 (£1,225)

Melbourne DKK 15,445 (£1,577)

Tokyo DKK 13,995 (£1,429)

The Oslo deals list is here.  Typical fares in Business are:

Adelaide NOK 18,445 (£1,512)

Bangkok NOK 10,095 (£827)

Bali NOK 15,395 (£1,262)

Cape Town NOK 11,945 (£979)

Jakarta NOK 13,195 (£1,082)

Kuala Lumpur NOK 12,145 (£995)

Maldives NOK 11,445 (£938)

Singapore NOK 10,945 (£897)

The Helsinki deals list is here.  Typical fares in Business are:

Abu Dhabi – €745 (£566)

Adelaide – €1,845 (£1,401)

Delhi – €1,095 (£832)

Dubai – €745 (£566)

Kuala Lumpur – €1,295 (£984)

Sydney – €1,895 (£1,439)

As ever with Qatar, you should keep an eye on the aircraft.  The most modern seats are on the Boeing 787, Airbus A350 and Airbus A380 fleet.  The A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft are now all fully flat, however.  A couple may even find the older style seating on these aircraft better as there are pairs of seat together.  The newer planes have a herringbone layout where passengers faces away from each other.

The A320 short haul aircraft used from Helsinki have ‘very nearly fully flat’ business class seats even though it is a single aisle plane.  I have never flown these but the feedback is OK.

My review of the 787 business class seat is here.  The 777 business seat review is here.  I reviewed the A380 business class seat here. The food and drink is the same high quality whichever aircraft you use.

You can book these deals via the UK Qatar Airways site here.  Remember that you need to book by Tuesday 31st May and travel before 31st March 2017.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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 Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.