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Bits: Qatar Airways deals from Oslo, Waitrose shopping tracking

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News in brief:

Interesting Qatar Airways deals from Oslo

Qatar Airways has launched some interesting deals from Oslo if you need to travel to Asia, Africa or Australasia over the next couple of months.

These Qatar Airways deals are worth a look because:

you earn Avios and BA tier points when you fly with Qatar – 560 tier points, almost enough for BA Silver, with a return in Business Class to anywhere outside India or the Middle East via Doha

the Qatar Airways business class product is excellent

the fares are very good value

You can take a look at the Oslo deals here.  Highlights are:

Cape Town for NOK 15,939 (£1,488)

Auckland for NOK 19,469 (£1,817)

Singapore for NOK 13,989 (£1,306)

….. plus the cost of getting to Oslo and back!  But that is what Avios ‘Reward Flight Saver’ redemptions are for ….

Note that whilst two people need to travel together to get the Economy deals, this is NOT the case with the business class deals.

You need to book by 10th April for flights between 21st April and 20th June.

As Qatar Airways flies a Boeing 787 on the Oslo route, you will get the latest – and very impressive – business class seat which I reviewed here and which is pictured below.

Qatar 787 350 business class

Waitrose shopping now tracking via Virgin Atlantic

My recent article on the ability to earn Virgin Atlantic miles when you shop in-store at Waitrose generated more excitement than most recent pieces.

Following the initial enthusiasm, people started to get concerned when nothing was tracking.  The good news is that the Virgin portal is now catching up.  As of yesterday, I was showing miles for transactions dated 30th and 31st March.

It isn’t clear if that is the date of the transaction, the date it was processed or the date it posted.

Note that the Virgin Atlantic site is now saying that the ‘4 miles per £1’ deal is a special offer which will only run until 24th May.  It isn’t clear what the on-going earning rate will be after that.


How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

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 comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

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 Virgin Points

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)

Comments (78)

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

  • Glenda says:

    It’s strange that everyone’s first shop hasn’t registered, mine hasn’t either. I registered my credit card on 21st March then waited more than the 24 hours it said you had to do before the first shop. My first shop was 26th march which hasn’t showed up but both of my next two shops have.

  • Capecam says:

    Are the dates specified for Oslo outbound only ? When must travel be completed by ?

    • Rob says:

      Outbound. There may be a maximum stay in the fare rules though, I didn’t check.

  • s879 says:

    Rob are we likely to see more of Qatar’s BOGOF economy deals as they work out value for families? What about around 500 euros in Business class from HEL and other European countries to the Middle East that came around May last year? Waiting for a good bargain as the £1000+ ones are too expensive when travelling as a big family.

    • Rob says:

      Yes, they’ll be back. Doubt they will be that cheap again but they haven’t stopped the deals.

  • Genghis says:

    I saw this on LL. Could you register?
    I got the message, “We encountered a system problem while processing your request. Please try again or contact the IHG Rewards Club Customer Care Centre for assistance.”

    • mark2 says:

      I got the same, probably because I was not invited although a poor error message.
      It only applies to paid stays so I would not benefit anyway.

    • h1tvd says:

      same error message here, shame as i have a stay coming up…

  • Rob says:

    Very likely to be Middle East residents only.

    • Axel says:

      Eh…… why Middle East?

      Change your ihg Country address from Ukraine (hfp default) or UK ….to Malaysia. Should then be accepted into the offer.

      Buyer as ever beware of the consequences.

  • Andy says:

    OT but it’s bits so probably okay. I stayed at the Mercure Haydock on Saturday night on a Happy Mondays deal, didn’t get to sleep until 5am because the air con was very noisy even when turned off (and our room was right next to the marquee in the interior courtyard, though the music stopped at midnight so not too bad). Is there any point me complaining to the hotel or Accor about this? I’ll only complain if it’s likely there will be compensation offered.

    • Rob says:

      Does no harm, start with hotel then escalate to Head Office if no joy.

  • Alex says:

    I spotted the Qatar 787 at LHR today for anyone travelling from LHR, seems they’ve had a reshuffle of aircraft on some flights.

  • James67 says:

    OT @Liz @Genghis, successfully used your tip about paypoint and CT to pay £300 today, thanks.

    • Liz says:

      Great!

    • Genghis says:

      Good stuff

      • the real harry1 says:

        about 2 years too late but glad you caught up

        • the real harry1 says:

          now remember James – you can do it again next month

    • Talay says:

      I’d love to but my Council (Waverley) won’t use PayPoint.

      I also pay shed loads of business rates and not one of my councils (Waverley, East Hants, Chichester) will accept PayPoint.

      Anyone know different ?

      What about BT, Sky, Utilities companies (British Gas, Scottish Power and others) as I pay well over £100k a year to these and don’t get anything.

      • Genghis says:

        BG accepts paypoint – call up and ask to be sent a card and ask to pay the min DD if that’s how you currently pay. I topped up my account again this morning as I have a 5% back at Co Op on Halifax Clarity. Not as good as the 10% a couple of months ago.

    • Graham Walsh says:

      Can you remind me about council tax, Hertsmere say the follow.

      Cash and cheque payments can be made for FREE here.
      Take your bill to any Post Office or PayPoint outlet, along with your payment.
      The assistant will scan the barcode and take your payment amount.
      You will need to ensure you know the amount you wish to pay, as staff will not have access to this information or any of your account details.
      Once your payment has been processed your bill will be returned, along with a receipt

      The Post Office say: Please check your bill to see if cheque or debit card is an acceptable method of payment for your bill.

      So do I just walk in and say I want to pay the value of this month’s DD would be? Due on 15th April. Then had Amex/Visa card over and hope they accept it?

      • Louise says:

        I use co-op in central London, Just hand over council tax bill and say I would like to pay x amount please. Stick amex card in card machine! I pay £200 a month and no issues but some have reported some shops putting a limit on amount that will go through in one transaction. Nothing to stop you asking to do it again though

      • Genghis says:

        Walk into Co op.
        “I’d like to pay £200 on council tax please”
        (Cashier processes)
        (You put card in. Pay)
        “Thanks”.

        • Graham Walsh says:

          Thanks again Louise & Genghis. I shall give it a go later today.

          • Polly says:

            Graham, it has to have a bar code tho, before you can pay with your cc at the co op. My council will only offer me a Lloyds bank pay in book, was hpoingnomcouodmuse PO counters,mouth nomluck, very strict with payments. Most other utilities will send you a pay pint card. Only one co,op can’t do is sky and certain councils. Or pre pay some bills on line with Amex. It’s a faff, but worth a try.

        • Graham Walsh says:

          Went to a newsagent with Paypoint and he said it was £1 for debit cards and £3 for credit cards. Paid it using my Virgin Visa. Didn’t take Amex. I’ll use my IHG Black next month for maximum points. Will also try another local paypoint and see what they charge.

          Was also in the post office and they only accept debit cards for council tax.

          • Genghis says:

            It’s only at a Co Op you will get maximum benefit – i.e
            1) They will do the transaction in the first place
            2) They take Amex
            3) They won’t charge you for spending on a credit card.

            Paying newsagents to do a paypoint transaction defeats the object of the exercise. So you paid £3 for how many Virgin miles (@1/£)? Bear in mind banks (I know Santander at least at 1%) offer cash back on council tax.

        • Graham Walsh says:

          Was short on time today so newsagent was the quick option. Will use co op next month. Currently sitting PE on the way to Shanghai for the F1. Wouldn’t be possible without reading this site. Thanks Rob & Anika.

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

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