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Bits: Qatar Airways confirms Dublin launch, Plaza Premium confirms T5 lounge, HfP party

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News in brief:

Qatar Airways confirms Dublin route

Qatar Airways has finally committed to a date for the launch of its Dublin route.

Services will start on 12th June.  It will use a Boeing 787 Dreamliner which means that you will get the newest version of Qatar’s impressive business class seat as pictured below.

You can read my review of Qatar’s 787 business class seat here.

The service will run daily as follows:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday 
Dublin to Doha  QR18  departs: 15:25 arrives 00:40+1
Doha to Dublin  QR17  departs: 07:20 arrives: 13:20

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
Dublin to Doha  QR20  departs: 08:50 arrives: 18:05
Doha to Dublin  QR19  departs: 01:25 arrives: 07:25

With no Air Passenger Duty to pay out of Dublin, there are likely to be some excellent opportunities here for good deals for UK residents.

Qatar 787 350 business class

Plaza Premium re-confirms Heathrow Terminal 5 Priority Pass lounge

Back in February I ran an exclusive HfP story about the planned Plaza Premium lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5.  This was an exciting project because:

a) the two existing Plaza Premium departure lounges in Terminal 2 and Terminal 4 are excellent

b) they participate in Priority Pass and Lounge Club

c) the only existing independent lounge in Terminal 5, Aspire, is woefully small

The story then went quiet.  This was not surprising since projects at Heathrow have a habit of slipping massively behind schedule as the Cathay Pacific lounge relaunch showed.

In a recent interview with Business Traveller, the Plaza Premium CEO shone some light on the project.  The Terminal 5 is now due to open in the second half of 2017 with 156 seats, lower than originally planned.  I still have no idea where it is meant to be!

Before that we can expect a Terminal 3 arrivals lounge (January) and a Terminal 4 arrivals lounge (Q1 2017) although I would take these timings with a pinch of salt.

Details of all of the Heathrow Plaza Premium lounges are here.

The Head for Points Christmas party

Thank you to everyone who attended the HfP Christmas Party last night.  It went well, I think.

Hopefully we can get some photos up on Thursday morning.  Thanks to the Melia White House hotel for their substantial (I’ve seen the drinks bill …..) support.

Category

Qatar Airways and Privilege Club

Comments (69)

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

  • aliks says:
    7 Dec7 December 08:23

    Impressive turn out last night, and great to talk to such a range of the jet set.

    Vote of thanks to Rob and Anika, and of course the Melia and the sponsors!

  • Julie says:
    7 Dec7 December 08:28

    Great job Rob and Anika. Well organised. All was well until 2.30am when the fire alarm went off at the Hilton Metropole and I had to walk down from the 19th floor.. btw for lunch yesterday I went to Pizza Express to try out Bink.

  • Waribai says:
    7 Dec7 December 08:30

    +1 on the great party front! It was great to talk about the hobby over a few drinks. It will live long in the memory (until the next one)!

  • Nick says:
    7 Dec7 December 08:57

    Re Amex, I find contactless payments do always track for offers but it takes ages, much longer than pin ones. A recent fuller’s offer took nearly two weeks to show up but did eventually without having to chase.

  • Johnnycl says:
    7 Dec7 December 09:06

    Thanks Rob and Anika (and Melia Hotel too), it was a good party last night. Great to meet some fellow-HFPers!

  • Richard says:
    7 Dec7 December 09:33

    Many congrats to Rob and Anika for putting the party together last night. For me, it was well worth the trip from Derbyshire and great to meet similar-minded people. Many thanks to Melia too, I can only imagine the size of that bill. Cheers, guys!

  • Cambus says:
    7 Dec7 December 09:34

    Thanks Rob and Anika. Great to swap experiences with others who have this crazy hobby. And my raffle prize will get me to the airport for my next trip in style.

  • Brian says:
    7 Dec7 December 09:55

    OT, but Qatar-related – I’ve just noticed that the email from Accor about their new partnership with Qatar says you can convert Qatar miles INTO Accor points, which might be of interest to some…

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

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