Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Good business class flight deals to Australia with Air India from £1,825

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It isn’t just Qatar Airways which has excellent business class deals to Australia at the moment.

Air India has launched a great fare from Heathrow to Melbourne or Sydney – just £1,825 return.  The fare is available throughout much of 2018.  You will be getting a new Boeing 787 with flat bed seats.

Air India is a member of Star Alliance so you can credit the miles to Lufthansa Miles & More, United MileagePlus, SAS EuroBonus or one of the other main Star Alliance schemes.  You don’t need to credit them to Air India.

Your best option to maximise your miles when paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.  This offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

If you want to pay even less you can – until TOMORROW ONLY – book a fantastic deal in the Qatar Airways sale.  Oslo to Melbourne / Sydney / Perth / Canberra / Auckland is around £1475 return.  The Norway Qatar Airways sale page is here and my full article on the Qatar Airways sale is here which discusses the best aircraft types to pick.

It is also worth pricing tickets out of Stockholm (Sweden Qatar Airways sale page here).  You may pay a little more but Stockholm is more convenient if you are starting in the regions.

Remember that Europe to Australasia is 600 British Airways tier points (560 to Perth) when you fly on Qatar Airways.

The Air India website is here.


best credit card to use when buying flights

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (April 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

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

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

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

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

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

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