Great deal: Qatar Business Class, Prague to Shanghai, for £885 return with 560 BA tier points

Qatar Airways has launched an excellent sale fare between Prague and Shanghai.

(Qatar Airways has a history of launching random sale fares.  My guess is that they find two routes which are under performing, put in a cheap fare between the two via Doha and then let people like Head for Points readers snap them up.)

You need to book this via the Qatar Airways website here.

The fare will come out at 26,040 CZK which is £885.

The easiest way to find dates is to select ‘Premium Only’ on the initial booking page, which drops all the economy results.  You are looking for dates with an outbound fare of 14,000-ish CZK and an inbound fare of 12,000-ish CZK.

The fare is valid for outbound travel until 31st March 2018.

A minimum 7 night stay is required.

You can only fly out Tuesday to Friday and you won’t find the fare available on every day.  I had no problem finding suitable dates though.

What aircraft do I fly?

OK, it isn’t the best Qatar Airways has.

The outbound is a short-haul A320.  You should get this premium seat, which is fine for a six hour flight:

From Doha to Shanghai it is a Boeing 777.   You might get the new Qsuite but the odds are that you will get the old-style seat, which is still fully flat.  It is a good seat for a couple as you can sit side by side.

I reviewed the old Qatar Airways Boeing 777 business class product here.

How many British Airways tier points do I earn?

560 tier points.   Each flight (Prague-Doha, Doha-Shanghai) is 140 tier points.

That is almost enough (600) for a British Airways Executive Club Silver card, although remember that you also need to have flown 4 BA cash one-way flights in your membership year before you are promoted.

You will also earn a huge chunk of Avios back too!

Do I need a visa for Shanghai?

Yes, if you only intend to stay in Shanghai.

No, I think, if you intend to spend less than 144 hours in Shanghai before travelling somewhere else (not in China, not back home).  You can get a transit visa on arrival as long as you can prove you have an onward flight.  We got one of these in Beijing this summer.

Do get separate advice on this.  I am not sure if holding a return ticket back to Doha – which would NOT be eligible for a transit visa – invalidates you from a transit visa even if you have a nested ticket for, say, Shanghai to Tokyo booked.

Conclusion

If you are looking for an interesting spot for a winter holiday – and possibly a short break in Prague on the way – then this is an excellent fare.  The fact that you will effectively get a British Airways Silver card as well (just about) is the icing on the cake.

The Qatar Airways website is here if you want to have a look around.

---

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.