Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Good Business Class deals in the Qatar Airways sale

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The Qatar Airways January sale, called ‘Global Travel Boutique’ this year, is now live – see here for the UK site.

I ran extracts from this article yesterday lunchtime, but this is a longer version with some more background information.

On the face of it, Business Class discounts appear to be lower than we have seen in previous years but we need to see what is teased out over the next few days. If you are expecting a repeat of the sub-£1000 tickets we saw in 2016 and 2017 then you will be disappointed.

Please note the bookings dates – most of June, all of July, August and early September are excluded. This is another negative for anyone with kids in school. The dates are:

  • Sale period: 9th to 16th January 2018
  • Travel period:  9th January to 10th December 2018. All travel must be completed by 10th December 2018.
  • Blackout dates: 9th June to 10th September 2018

From the UK, promo code UKGTBAFFILIATE gets you an extra 5% off the base fare.  Outside the UK, try code PCGTBGIFT for a further ‘up to’ 5% off the base fare, but it only works on some routes.

Qatar Airways is also offering DOUBLE Qmiles if you credit your flight to Qatar Privilege Club – click here for details and to register.  In most cases, however, you will want to credit to British Airways Executive Club because of the 560 tier points available for a return flight to Asia from Europe.

You can book on the Qatar Airways site here.

Why Qatar Airways is a good choice for British Airways flyers

For new readers to Head for Points, I want to highlight why Qatar Airways is so useful to you.

As a member of the oneworld alliance alongside British Airways, you can earn Avios and British Airways Executive Club tier points when you fly on Qatar Airways and credit the flight to BA.

Not only do you earn tier points …. you earn substantially more tier points than you would by flying British Airways.

The reason for this is that, because you will be changing planes in Doha, your return trip is treated as four long haul flights.  As long as each individual flight is over 2,000 miles long – which it is in all the examples except one below – you will earn 560 British Airways tier points per return flight.  This is calculated as four flights over 2,000 miles in Business Class x 140 tier points per flight.

Flights to Australia, except Perth, and New Zealand will earn 600 BA tier points (140 + 160 + 160 + 140).

Silver status in British Airways Executive Club only requires 600 tier points, so a return flight to Asia in Business Class bought in this sale will get you over 90% of the way.  Remember that you also need four cash BA one-way flights as well during your current membership year to get promoted.

What are the best deals?

The best fares will not be found from the UK as you can see from the examples below.  If you are booking from London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester or Cardiff, promo code UKGTBAFFILIATE gets you an extra 5% off the base fare during the sale.

Here are a few of the better headline prices. These deals are all for business class travel via Doha.  If two passengers are travelling together, fares may drop a little more.

These prices are NOT the full list of discounts – they are just random examples I found to be quite good. These are the departure cities you should be trying out if you want a good deal to somewhere not listed. The prices are a return flight per person.  You are looking for the red ‘Business Promo’ fares on the Qatar Airways site.

Here are some example fares.

Athens to Hong Kong €1,467 (£1,293) – Greece sale page (IMPORTANT: Athens to Doha is only 40 tier points)

Frankfurt to Johannesburg €1,702 (£1,500) – Germany sale page 

Helsinki to Tokyo €1,442 (£1,271) – Finland sale page 

Helsinki to Bangkok €1,145 (£1,009) – Finland sale page 

Helsinki to Chiang Mai €1,186 (£1,045) – Finland sale page 

Helsinki to Ho Chi Minh City €1,452 (£1,280) – Finland sale page 

Oslo to Melbourne NOK 16,170 in November (£1,474)  (Sydney, Perth etc similar) – Norway sale page 

Stockholm to Singapore SEK 13,391 (£1,200) – Sweden sale page 

Stockholm to Kuala Lumpur SEK 13,237 (£1,186) – Sweden sale page 

Stockholm to Cape Town SEK 15,060 (£1,350) – Sweden sale page 

Sofia to Shanghai BGN 2,270 (£1,023) – Bulgaria sale page 

Remember that these are only sample destinations to show you what is available.

These routes would (almost) all – apart from Australasia – earn 560 British Airways Executive Club tier points return (140 + 140 + 140 + 140) due to the change of plane in Doha. Australasia, except for Perth, is 600 tier points for a return flight.

The only exception is Athens.  Athens to Doha is under 2,000 miles and only earns 40 tier points. This means 360 for a return trip to Asia or Perth (400 to the rest of Australasia).

How to pick a departure city

It isn’t all about the long-haul flight price. You need to add in the cost of getting to your starting point.

More importantly, you need to build in contingency. You need to arrive early enough to ensure that you won’t miss your connection if your inbound flight is late. If that means staying overnight, you need to factor in the cost of a hotel. You may also want to pick an airport with a hotel on the airport to avoid messing about with shuttle buses.

Remember that BA will no longer tag through bags to connecting flights when they are on separate tickets. If you are checking in a case, you will need to fly London to, say, Stockholm, wait for your case, clear immigration, go to Departures, check in your case and clear security again. This will take some time.

Pick your aircraft as well as your departure city

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. I think that the full A330 fleet has been refitted now too. The newer planes have a 1-2-1 herringbone layout where passengers face away from each other.

The Boeing 777 aircraft are fully flat but have a different 2 x 2 x 2 layout, albeit they will be replaced by the amazing new Qsuite – but that is only on a handful of planes so far.  Qatar Airways also uses short-haul planes on some European routes but these are configured with ‘proper’ business class seats.

Here are my Qatar Airways seat and lounge reviews – you will see that I am very positive about them:

The Qatar website here if you want to have a look at the deals available.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best option for paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency.  This is because the transaction triggers the ‘double points for airline spend’ and the ‘double points for foreign spend’ bonuses.

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 (100)

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

  • Clive says:
    10 Jan10 January 07:56

    Ah, it would probably be worth my while to cancel a booked BA 241 redemption to rebook in this sale… I’ve never cancelled a 241 redemption before and am slightly nervous about losing the avios or voucher if I do it incorrectly – do I just click the cancel button online or do I need to call BA to ask them to do something manually? Any tips appreciated.

    • MikeL says:
      10 Jan10 January 08:13

      I’ve just cancelled a 241 booking. Do it on line, you’ll be charged £35 pp cancellation fee but you will receive all your Avios, 241 and the remainder of the cash element of the booking. Took 1 day to reach my account. Just bear in mind the validity of your 241 as the original expiry dates will still apply.

    • Darren says:
      10 Jan10 January 10:52

      If it’s an open jaw you’ll need to call, just follow the instructions on the manage my booking page. I recently cancelled to reroute to a new destination and called, but I stressed to the CS agent that I needed the points and voucher immediately recreditted to my account. It was completed without any hassle, might take a while to get your cash back, it has taken between a week and a month or two for me in the past.

  • Iain says:
    10 Jan10 January 08:08

    Also worth noting that Ramadan begins in mid May lasting a month. If previous years are to go by you’ll get alcohol on board BUT NOT in lounges.

  • Kevin says:
    10 Jan10 January 08:32

    Thanks to all for the help yesterday. We wanted to go to South Africa over Easter. We had seats on hold from Amsterdam, then Frankfurt but ended up paying a bit more and chose Paris. Shorter layovers but mainly because we get to fly on an A350 and an A380 as well as the 777s.

  • Dominic says:
    10 Jan10 January 09:00

    I always find articles like this one interesting. Personally I couldn’t think of anything worse than flying a couple hundred miles in the wrong direction to catch a cheaper flight, or adding in extra stops in Ireland before flying to NYC. If there is no direct reward flight, surely its better to pay the cash price, adding to your points stash, and get there with minimal fuss and in a quick a time as possible?

    Makes me think who this mainly appeals to and what the make up of the miles and points community is. This isn’t about peacocking/showboating but are these types of tricks, and the points game in general, mainly used by people who wouldn’t ever normally be able to afford to fly business? Or is it a large mix of people, with many high earners in the top 1-2% being happy to add stop overs and 2/3 extra stops if it mean using points over cash? In other words, and I hope not offending anyone, low earners looking for a bargain or frugal rich people?

    Always wondered this. Tried to get tickets to the Christmas party to come and meet some others but all went!

    • Kevin says:
      10 Jan10 January 09:12

      Well I’m not going to speak for everyone but I imagine quite a few people are in between the two groups you mention. So people who will spend a bit extra for premium travel but don’t want to spend £25k on flights for a family of four.

      • Barry cutters says:
        10 Jan10 January 10:02

        I have the same questions and find it crazy that someone would go to the nordics to back track to Heathrow to get to nyc for example . Would people not just rather pay £350 in economy for a direct 7h flight , rather than making the trip an 21h by the time you have added in hotels and layovers etc.
        same for bkk – you can fly direct in economy for say £600 or pay a grand and go direct in PE . But I find it crazy to go in business for £1300 (by the time you have done positioning flights and possibly hotel) with a change in Helsinki and in Doha adding 6 h of layover time and 6h additional flying time e/w. I’d rather just get there . I must admit I have taken advantage of ex eu three times . Paris to Honolulu- AA, Dublin to JFK- BA001, and Stockholm to Shanghai- Qatar. However each time I have been there for work anyway- except for Dublin which was a stag do , I then had to pay over double for this missus to get on the BA001 at city.

        I guess I can understand an ex eu flight if you were flying to oz, Hawaii or NZ and are comparing a £1400 flight to a £5000 flight but for a 7h flight to nyc if I couldn’t afford/didn’t want to pay for business I’d just go economy, get to my destination quicker and enjoy my holiday.

        • Rob says:
          10 Jan10 January 10:09

          I’m not sure we’ve ever recommended flying to Scandi to return to London to fly to New York though! Although, when BA1 was giving 210 tier points, it was attractive from that point of view if the price was right. Stockholm and Helsinki are also places you can hit in a day if you get an early enough flight out, giving you time for a few hours sightseeing. If you live in London and can go home at night, before heading off on the main holiday the next day, it is just like a normal day trip.

        • James says:
          10 Jan10 January 11:06

          I see your point but PE direct to BKK for LHR on BA is £1,150pp. It’s an 11 hr 40 m flight. So say add in 3 hours pre flight and you’re talking 14.5 hours transit time to get to BKK. In PE, which in my opinion, is a waste of time. Qatar are doing a biz flight from HEL to BKK which takes 14.5 hours and costs £1015pp. Add in your positioning flight (£60) and you’re in for £1,075. So it’s cheaper to fly in Qatar biz which is unquestionably streets ahead of BA PE.

          Now the positioning flight adds in 9 hours (3 hours at london, 3 hours to Hel, 3 hours at Hel) meaning transit time is 23.5 hours instead 14.5 hours.

          I guess what it comes down to is, do you value travelling in supreme comfort for 12 hours of flying time or do you prefer spending those 9 hours exploring your destination or sitting on a beach?

          From my perspective, I simply cannot sleep sat upright unless I am literally exhausted or, drunk. And I don’t want to be either, just starting out a holiday. So I favour the flat bed and refreshed arrival at my destination rather than the extra 9 hours exploring/sat on a beach, tired, grumpy and possibly, hungover ????

          Each to their own. I would never pay full price for a biz class flight in the example given as I can’t afford to. But when the sales are on, it allows me to travel on airlines other than BA (241 voucher issuing avios is a great tool) and experience their product.

        • JamesB says:
          10 Jan10 January 14:16

          @James, if you would pay the Qatar price then £1150 would have got TK to BKK from LHR frequently last year so always worth checking.Best use of WTP in my view is to part pay with avios to reduce price and then upgrade with avios to CW. The price you quote exLHR are consistent with my own monitoring but something interesting happens from time to time where the price drops to around £900 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Qatar sale prices exHEL to Asia were consistent with prices AY charge from most northern European airports they serve but AY offer more flexibility and shorter journey times. However, AY fares have increase a bit in tge last few months but it remains to be seen if that is permanent.

        • JamesW says:
          10 Jan10 January 14:31

          @ JamesB – Thanks for that info, interesting to know. In my case I do not have a stash of Avios points to part pay for WTP then upgrade to CW simply for the fact I have moved away from collecting Avios and moved into collecting SPG points, with the intention to buy a flight cash in the sales and use the points for hotels instead. Don’t get me wrong, Club World is better than economy any day of the week but I find BA’s cabin layout poor and my feet always fall off that little drop down stool they use to complete the bed. First world problems I know but this would be the place to talk about them! So I have indeed done that very thing and just paid £2,580 for OSL-DOH-DPS return on Qatar in biz, with both DOH layovers 2 hours long so nothing more than a change of planes as opposed to a long wait around in the lounge. I think it’s great value for 32 hours of flying time in comfort. I’ll use points for the Ritz Carlton in Nusa Dua 🙂

        • Genghis says:
          10 Jan10 January 15:33

          We had one night at RC Bali last Easter before heading for a week at the Conrad. Fantastic hard product but v poor soft product. The hotel had recently opened. Please report back on how what you think as I’d be interested in going back if soft product has improved.

    • Elie says:
      10 Jan10 January 09:13

      I think it’s an interesting question (especially when doing a stop over in Helsinki or Copenhagen)

      • JamesW says:
        10 Jan10 January 14:33

        I should clarify that is for two people, so £1,265pp.

        • JamesB says:
          10 Jan10 January 15:24

          Yes, I figured 🙂 Bali is a sweet spot for the Qatar sales as it is difficult to get a one stop from UK at a cheap price. I agree on the hotels versus avios issue, for my routes to se Asia I need to start in Inverness and use a Lloyds or 241 voucher to squeeze any value out of avios versus cash fares. Contemplated switching to hotels too but for the moment I save for one pair of longhaul CW seats on BA a year. Enjoy Bali.

    • David S says:
      10 Jan10 January 09:21

      HI Dominic
      I obviously can’t speak for the rest of the forum but I am no means a high earner in the top 1-2%. Me and my wife do 2- 3 longhaul trips a year and I got into this game 4 or so years ago and learnt most of the tricks from HfP mainly and have flown exclusively business / first class long haul. My wife is like you, who doesn’t understand why we do crazy routing although I do love doing them. Most of our trips bar using the 2-4-1 voucher with BA start in the continent with a cheap economy flight from UK mainly because of price. We normally make a weekend of it (like Stockholm last time) and so get to visit another city. There are people who do tier runs but I can’t due to work commitments. People do this game for lots of reasons but when I explain to my wife how much we have saved and she gets to travel in style, she is pretty happy to put up with it. However she is still unsure of going to Hawaii starting in Cairo later this!!!

    • Scott says:
      10 Jan10 January 09:24

      I’d imagine there will be a mix of types on here! I have limited experience of premium travel, but so far, it’s been an equal split between getting an ex-EU sale fare, and redemption booking.

      Also, for many non-London folk, flying from e.g. DUB, no more hassle than having to connect at LHR.

    • Lostantipod says:
      10 Jan10 January 09:42

      I returned yesterday from an ex-EU trip to SYD for Christmas, on Qatar, departing OSL and returning via MUC. Did it take a lot longer ? Hell yes – overnight at OSL airport hotel, and a 3 hour wait at both DOH and MUC coming back. But all in, less than £2500 in J including the hotel and positioning flights, instead of the usual £3500-4000 out of LHR, and 787, A380 and A350 instead of a beastly BA 777. . And the best bit? Upgraded at the gate to F on the A380 for DOH-SYD and SYD-DOH ! I can report the Krug is very nice, following extensive testing…..

    • Rob says:
      10 Jan10 January 09:52

      You miss a key point. If you would usually pay cash for J or F tickets, or five star hotels, then getting them “free” is a real cash saving. It’s not a ‘treat’, it is a few thousand quid in your pocket which otherwise wouldn’t be there. As the bulk of wealthy people today earned rather than inherited their money, they understand the effort required to earn it and the value of not unnecessarily spending it.

      Anyway, the readership is a mix of:

      * London professionals, generally 30’s (earning well, less likely to have kids)
      * the self-employed, for whom a £1 saved on a flight for work is – as they own the business – a £1 in their pocket
      * the retired, who built up a huge stash of points during their career and now want help to spend them wisely
      * people who travel business class for work and don’t see why they should trade down for personal travel
      * people who do not earn hugely but are savvy enough to use the various tricks and trips to travel far better than they could ever afford for cash

      You can be all of these people at different times. I was the last one in my early 20’s, the first one for my 30’s, I am now the 2nd one and am moving towards the 3rd one 🙂

      • Dominic says:
        10 Jan10 January 10:18

        That is true regarding a cash saving if you could afford to pay. I’m probably a little guilty of looking at it purely from my eyes and the value I personally place on my time compared to money. Won’t be the same for everyone or at all times. Some interesting answers.

      • Clive says:
        10 Jan10 January 13:53

        And don’t forget, Rob, among those groups this appeals to aviation geeks who get a real thrill out of visiting different airports and lounges – trying airlines, aircraft, seats they haven’t flown before.
        One of the incredulous comments above said “I’d rather just get there.” Which really is missing the point – like going to a vintage car website and asking why people don’t buy a Toyota.

        • Aneesh says:
          10 Jan10 January 16:49

          +1. I’d also add that one of my favorite parts of ex-EU trips is the chance to explore a new European city I might not have ever thought to go to otherwise. For example, my wife and I just did an ex-EU out of Gothenburg. Would we have ever proactively thought to go there on holiday, especially in early January? No. But we loved our 24 hours in Gothenburg and would totally go back to see more. We try to plan our ex-EU trips out of different origins each time and have had a blast.

    • bsuije says:
      10 Jan10 January 09:55

      Personally, I always view an ex-EU trip as an opportunity to do a day trip or a weekend in a different city. On a number of occasions, where we’ve flown out of Stockholm on QR in the evening, we would get the earliest London-Stockholm flight on the day and spend the day looking around Stockholm (there is ample luggage storage in the airport).

      Equally, the plane journey is part of the experience for me, rather than just a means of getting from A to B. So I definitely don’t mind stopping over somewhere and spending a few hours in a nice lounge (although I might feel differently if we’re talking 8 hours, rather than 3, which is normally the longest connection time I’ve ever had). And, to be honest, I prefer breaking up a long journey with a stop over, because I start getting fidgety if I’m stuck in a small space for too long!

      • Cate says:
        10 Jan10 January 11:23

        We prefer layovers/stopovers because we don’t want to fly more than 2 hours in economy or pseudo business class offerings at one time. For an upcoming trip to Helsinki it would have been quicker and cheaper to have gone LGW-HEL/HEL-LGW on Norwegian but they only have economy and it’s over the 2 hour limit. Instead we’ve plumped for LHR-HEL-ARN-MUC-FRA-MAD-LHR with Hilton and Marriott stops.

        To be fair we are miles and hotel points rich, but we’d pay cash if we didn’t have the points. MrCate is a keen spotter so stopping off at airport hotels along the route isn’t burdensome – it’s just time consuming. For us the journey is as important as arriving (flying Finnair A350, Lan 787, IB A340 en route). If we have to get from A to B sharpish then like everyone else it’s first available seat out.

        • Stu N says:
          10 Jan10 January 21:29

          That’s quite a routing – dare I ask how long you’re away for?!?!?

          I’ve done the “long haul” flights in that list, A350 was best seat (loved the outside view cameras) and the LATAM 787 the best food and service . Mmmmm Pisco Sours!

          IIRC Austrian use a 777 between Frankfurt to Vienna too, not sure how regular that is though – maybe one to work in next time? 🙂

    • TT says:
      10 Jan10 January 09:58

      I think it’s a broad church of people who are involved in this and their motivations will vary significantly. For example, flying HEL-DOH-NRT on QR in business when you could do the same journey on Finnair will only appeal to a certain demographic (tier points hunters, those who love flying QR etc). However, if you’re flying to Australia from the UK you will have to stop somewhere anyway, so why not add one extra stop (which will be in the same direction of travel as you’re going anyway), fly business and save approx £4500 per person compared to BA.

      • Rob says:
        10 Jan10 January 10:04

        And BA is rubbish … 🙂

        I am off to Dubai in Swiss First in a couple of weeks and I promise you that the need to change in Zurich to spend a couple of hours in their excellent F lounge will not be a burden at all ….

        When I was younger I did an ex-Budapest on BA to Tokyo for about £1700, which was as cheap as you could get 15 years ago. Pop down to Budapest, come back, go home as usual that night, back to Heathrow the next day and flew to Tokyo. Pretty easy £1000+ saved.

        However …. I have also, in the past, switched hotels every night of a (solo) holiday to max out on promotions. I wouldn’t do that now – older and wealthier, and frankly the promos are not as good. I do remember getting a free night at the Gritti Palace in Venice via a Starwood promo which only required a small number of stays (3?) which I got by hotel hopping. I actually flew Ryanair to Treviso to redeem that which shows how long ago it was!

        On the other hand, I was still doing mattress runs to knock up IHG Accelerate night credit 18 months ago – and probably would again if I had a suitable good target, which I haven’t for a while. Last year I did a couple of mattress run nights to get my Hilton Diamond until March 2019 – the maths made sense.

        • JamesB says:
          10 Jan10 January 11:43

          “And BA is rubbish … ????”

          This is the bit I never get! Sure, we all perceive this to be better than that or the next thing, and we can even reach broad agreement on it. However when it comes to both airline hard and soft products I cannot honestly say that the differences between the majority of carriers are substantive enough to make me compromise on my priorities of schedule and fare conditions. Do people really care much whether they have a 15 or 20 inch screen, red label or black label and so on when chosing airlines? Besides it can go pear shaped any time on the best of carriers, and to be fair to BA I’ve had some great flights with them too. When I’m sat in F or J my thoughts don’t stray to wishing I was on this carrier or that but rather to feeling both orivileged and relieved I am not in Y for many hours.

          • Rob says:
            10 Jan10 January 11:58

            With my family, I agree. I’m not going to start dragging them around Europe. However, if I had to fly to Bangkok next week in Business then – yes – I think all things considered I would book myself on Emirates or Qatar. I wouldn’t do it for South Africa, because I value the unbroken sleep given the lack of time difference. I would happily go via Dublin to US West Coast because the space and privacy of Aer Lingus makes it worthwhile. I may not do it to New York, and if I did I might fly BA back because I’d be asleep all the way.

        • Optimus Prime says:
          10 Jan10 January 12:58

          My only beef with BA is lack of direct aisle access in CW.

          Sitting by the aisle is not “risk-free” either. On our first trip on CW we came back from NY in a red-eye flight. Some woman decided to wake up my wife every 30 minutes because couldn’t/didn’t want to climb over her.

          Since then we always sit separately, try to book one of the few seats where people don’t have to climb over you. Honestly this is the only reason I’d like to have elite status, so I’d be able to book such seats asap.

    • Kathy says:
      10 Jan10 January 10:06

      Bear in mind the people commenting are probably not going to be the very highest earners – whose time is money! – and so you are likely to get a skewed response. A lot of people commenting are HfP regulars because they are average earners with a taste for flying business class and without the budget to pay full whack for it. That’s the demographic that particularly like these sales, I think – they’re not earning miles being flown business class for work, like the very high earners are, so they need to husband their miles stash and use points when they’re getting the best possible value from it. So the value represented from paying £1500 per person to Oz/NZ and earning back avios is worth the extra time and hassle of doing an ex-EU, compared to paying c£700 in taxes fees plus 200k+ avios for a redemption.

      There’s a whole class of points collectors (like me) who don’t have the budget for the extra £800 + £flight to europe + £night in a hotel that an ex-EU trip requires, who will stick with redeeming points for that sort of trip even though it’s not the ‘best value’ use of them. For some of us Avios collecting is about flying in business for the price of economy because we would never pay for even cheap business class fares when flying economy still gets you there and is much cheaper.

      (Though I have to admit HfP has tempted me to break the habit of a lifetime on occasion and pay for an ex-EU business flight!)

      • Rob says:
        10 Jan10 January 10:15

        Quantcast, for what its worth, says that HFP readers are:

        412% more likely than the UK average to earn £70k+
        262% more likely than the UK average to have a PhD
        Disproportionately male
        Disproportionately 25-44
        Oddly, almost exactly on UK average for having kids

        • Kathy says:
          10 Jan10 January 10:22

          So, they’re probably disproportionately men who fly business class for work and can use frequent flyer and hotel loyalty schemes to their full advantage, because men are more likely to be in senior positions in the workplace. And they probably use what they earn back from the schemes for travel with their partners and/or children when flying for leisure.

        • Steve says:
          10 Jan10 January 13:13

          Blimey – I don’t have a PHD…now I feel like a failure?!

        • Genghis says:
          10 Jan10 January 16:29

          @Waribai. I know what you mean. My wife and I are supposedly in the top 1% for UK household income per gov.uk but I think we’re far from wealthy.

        • JamesB says:
          10 Jan10 January 17:17

          @Genghis, those feeling are probably born of spending too much time in the company of your Zurich office juniors!

        • Boi says:
          10 Jan10 January 20:41

          Very interesting demographics Rob. I am all those except I am a woman. I feel average and yet apparently I am in the top 3%. This can’t be true?

    • Stu N says:
      10 Jan10 January 11:00

      For me, it’s about getting business or first at prices I am willing to pay. I couldn’t justify full fare trips but sale fares, redemptions and a fair bit of flexibility enable us to travel in premium cabins for long haul for what we used to pay for Economy/ Premium Economy.

      Being based outside London, ex-EU runs are a lot more difficult as we are not a BA Reward Flight Saver away from the start point. Most potential start points involve either going via London or relying on carriers with a single flight a day at best; the cost ramps up quickly especially when you factor in baggage on LCCs and hotel nights plus the value of annual leave. Gets riskier too as the day trip idea that Rob mentions isn’t really viable and if something goes wrong there are not as many alternatives to get to start point. Would probably only be worth it for SE Asia/ Australasia for a 2+ week trip, and not sure I’d particularly look forward to the return when you come off a long haul in the wrong part of Europe and still have to get home with a long layover. At least connecting on same ticket you can go for a short connection and rely on the airline to sort you out if it goes wrong.

      • Kathy says:
        10 Jan10 January 12:17

        I think Ex-EU really wins for people near a regional airport that flies to Europe, as they’d normally have to spend the time getting to Heathrow anyway, and for morning flights would probably end up getting a hotel at Heathrow the night before to avoid ridiculously early starts or potential problems making their flight.

        I may well consider doing SEN-DUB-US West coast, for example, as a redemption or if a cheap ex-EU deal came up, because SEN is local and it takes me a couple of hours to get to Heathrow anyway, so it’s pretty much time-neutral.

      • David says:
        10 Jan10 January 13:21

        For me – it’s the opposite to what Stu N thinks. To get to LHR for my flight to DEN, I had to leave home over 24 hours before, due to limited connections. That was okay for a redemption, but if I was paying cash, I could have happily done HOME – AMS (or DUB, etc) – LHR in the same time.

        • Stu N says:
          10 Jan10 January 21:23

          Lots of interesting replies here, enjoyed reading about how others see things.

          I guess everyone is making a trade-off between the various constraints (time, money, risk appetite, convenience) to do what they want to do.

    • JamesB says:
      10 Jan10 January 11:16

      My criteria for flights, regardless of being cash or reward flights, is the best possibld combination of convenience of departure and arrival times, overall journey time and flexibility of fares that falls within my budget. Therefore, I too am averse to detours and risks of missed connections. There are also risks from the unstable political situation existing in Qatar at the moment to be considered. More fundanentally though, these Qatar fare sales have become a bandwagon for cheap flights that are more apparent than real resulting in many people taking on onerous itineraries to save at best tens of pounds in most cases. They may be cheap compared to direct flights from Heathrow but that should surprise nobody. The question is why take on the extra risks and inconvenience of starting a journey exEurope when comparable one-stop cash fares with much reduced journey times, more fl*exible tickets, and less date restictions are generally available from both the London area and the regions? The only conclusion I can draw is that many get caught up in the hype with respect to both Qatar fares and quality, and fail to do their homework. That is not to say that the Qatar sales are not useful, they certainly are for those chasing TP, for those interested in taking a short European breal before departure, and there are also a few peaches but not nearly as many as many people believe. From my personal perspective though, the single best thing about Qatar sales is that they are keeping premium fares low on rival carriers that provide me with more comfortabke and convenient journeys with less risks and more flexible tickets so I hope they continue for a long time to come.

      • Leo says:
        10 Jan10 January 12:31

        I agree with all of this. I can afford to pay J prices if I want to and sometimes I do. But what I really want is minimal hassle (i.e not Ex-EU) and acceptable comfort. I don’t really care what champagne is served or really if I’m honest I’m not that bothered what the food is like so long as it’s edible. I don’t care what anyone says, how much “luxury” do you need whilst flying in a metal tube? If I can take a day flight in PE I will – I don’t always need a flat bed and I don’t always need a lounge over and above a Priority Pass one. My partner and I are both tall – proper tall – and we do need leg-room but that’s it. If it’s a long overnight flight then yes I want a flat bed. But i don’t always have to fly business for the sake of it. I won’t do economy without an exit seat over 3 hours though. I struggle with going via Hel to SE Asia on QR with all the ancillary bits needed – positioning flight, extra time, hotel etc, when you can do the same with AY for probably little difference in cost over a QR sale/ex EU . I recently had my flight from ARN go technical and the following flight (the last one of the evening) be cancelled. In my book you simply shouldn’t bank on flying in and out of an ex-EU airport the same day. I wouldn’t want that stress starting a holiday. I’ve flown QR several times – it’s okay, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to fly them again. Handy for tier points if that’s your bag, but i found I was only flying the 4 BA legs needed per year for silver to enable me to use the BA lounge on those 4 flights….So yes it’s great to have choice between redemptions and cheap fares and it’s great that HfP helps people to exercise it, long may it continue to do so.

      • JamesW says:
        10 Jan10 January 14:56

        I don’t think it’s the case of saving tens of pounds. I am only speaking from my booking here but a flight to DPS ex LHR via DOH is £2,250 as opposed to the same flight ex OSL which is £1,280. It’s a considerable saving when you factor in two pax and worth taking the risk of missing a connection (although I always allow around 4-5 hours to arrive at the starting destination) and don’t usually holiday at times of the year where adverse weather would cause delays. It’s a good risk to reward, for me, anyway.

        • JamesB says:
          10 Jan10 January 20:58

          IMO you got a good deal. DPS is an example of where the Qatar sale works as it is difficult to find a one stop fare from the UK for much under £1800 so you can make a genuine saving in the hundreds per person. However, many east Asian destination regular fares with some flexibility and few date restrictions can be found for around £1500-1600 and less during sales. Thus, when factoring in positioning flights and maybe a hotel for a night you are left with tens of pounds difference compared to Qatar exEw. The same is true of more expensive Asian destinations such as Hong Kong, £1442 on KLM today exUK. Is the saving with Qatar exEU including positional costs still worth the risks and inconvenience incurred? Comparing Qatar exEU versus Qatar exUK becomes relevant only if it is the cheapest fare exUK or if one desires to fly Qatar to the exclusion of all others.

    • Tom C says:
      10 Jan10 January 13:14

      As someone who can afford to pay J and F full-fares, and has paid them on many occasions, I’ll chip in on this interesting discussion.

      For me, it is not feeling like I’m being ripped off. £4k return in EY F to Singapore feels fair, but £5k for BA J to Cape Town does not. I can afford both, but one I would pay and enjoy, whilst the other I would be angry at due to what I receive back. I see it as no different to choosing which hotel to stay in, where one may be a lot further to get to, but offers a better experience.

      I would even swap that scenario around and say that I would be happier to pay double the amount to stay in some London hotels than others, due to the different in quality. The same can apply to airliners, where I will choose a better (for me) airliner at a higher price point, as long as it is value for money.

      I have never taken one of these trips from another European city to get a reduced rate, but if I genuinely wanted to go to that city (say Paris/Rome/Geneva) and the flight stopped me feeling ripped off, I would even be prepared to spend more to do so, e.g. flight was £10k from UK, £8k from Paris, yet I spend £3k on hotels, I would be fine with it. I at least got some enjoyment from it.

      Sometimes money, sometimes value, sometimes just wanting something better.

  • Lenin says:
    10 Jan10 January 10:01

    QQ – my BA tier points year ends 08/04. I’m planning on booking a Qatar flight, the return leg completes 07/04. Does anyone know if my tier points will credit my BA account before it resets? Thanks

  • J Monty says:
    10 Jan10 January 10:29

    Is it possible to see a monthly chart of fare prices? Want to travel to Auckland and am flexible on dates

    • James says:
      10 Jan10 January 10:44

      Yes, if you use Google Flights, there is an option to look at a group of dates

    • Gavin says:
      10 Jan10 January 10:52

      Use google flights

    • Cate says:
      10 Jan10 January 13:07

      Don’t forget with Google Flights you can nominate an airline from the Airline drop down box which shows that and only that airlines routes.

  • Shane says:
    10 Jan10 January 10:46

    This is a very disappointing QR sale. Not only is the blackout period 3 months this year, but prices for flights within the blackout period from most European cities have been increased quite markedly from what they were before the ‘Travel Boutique’ opened. So if you now compare the ‘sale’ prices with prices inside the blackout period, the sale prices look good; however if you compare them with the previously prevailing prices, the discount for most routes is only around 5%. QR may think they’re being very clever, but I think this strategy will backfire. My guess is that they will either have to enhance this sale, or, within a few weeks, launch a new sale with better prices and a much less restrictive blackout period. And yes, if QR really want us to fly ex-LHR, then reduce the price differential between LHR and the majority of European cities.

  • Adrian says:
    10 Jan10 January 10:56

    As a data point on the QR sale, for us (2 adults, no children) the sale is poor, much worse than expected. I’ve been tracking prices on google flights and they are about £500 per person more than the companion sales they had only a couple of months ago. Unfortunately i have to wait until Jan for my wife’s holidays to be approved so this is my first chance to book. The usual cheap options (BUD, BUC, PRG, SOF) are the biggest surprise as they really aren’t good deals at all this time. There was a sliding scale of these staring points, generally with poorer metal ranging up to the Germany airports that were more, with better metal. Is this QR making a success of these routes and not feeling the need to discount? I was looking to go to SIN ideally after Easter, but today, for my dates at these prices I’m not a buyer. The other thing with QR is avoiding the long DOH stopovers. I found a half decent price on one destination, but it had 8 hour stopovers both ways and whilst i have an understanding wife, she is not that understanding!

    • S says:
      10 Jan10 January 13:08

      I don’t see what’s particularly controversial about this sale. Isn’t the whole premise of getting a ‘good’ ex-EU deal in the QR sale that we trading convenience for affordability? If you want the most competitive price you have to have a good dig around, and remain flexible. As someone who doesn’t fly business frequently I’m happy to compromise.

      For me the ‘cheap’ options are still there – unless you don’t consider ~£980 SOF – DOH – SIN to be cheap?

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