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The first Qatar Airways A350-1000 aircraft arrives, to be used on London Heathrow

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On Tuesday Qatar Airways received its first (and the world’s first) A350-1000 at the Airbus factory in Toulouse

This makes Qatar Airways the first airline worldwide to operate an A350-1000.  The airline has ordered a total of 37 A350-1000 and after a delay of a few months they are finally here.

With 327 seats there is a seat increase of 44 compared to the shorter A350-900.

Qatar A350 1000

It will be the first Airbus to feature the new Qsuite Business Class product which has so far been installed on 15 of Qatar’s Boeing 777 aircraft.

As well as having advanced air system technology, renewing the air every two to three minutes, the A350-1000 claims to have the quietest cabin of any twin-aisle aircraft.

Qatar Airways says that:

“The A350-1000 is the first aircraft to systematically offer internet connectivity, providing passengers with a global broadband connection, a high-bandwidth fibre optics delivering high-definition video to passengers, cameras installed on the tail and belly of the aircraft that provide passengers with a 360° outside view throughout the flight and advanced design technologies that contribute to fuel consumption, which is 25 per cent lower than other aircraft in the same category.”

The first A350-1000 flight will be on the Heathrow to Doha route as QR15 on 24th February.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

Get 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

30,000 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 – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.

Comments (52)

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

  • Roger says:

    OT-

    Can someone please post the link to upgrade from PRGC to Platinum?

    Thanks.

  • Tom says:

    Hi Rob,

    Actually QR15 is DOH-LHR rather than LHR-DOH, LHR-DOH will be the second flight 🙂

    Tom

    • HarryKUK says:

      Is there any special event at LHR to mark the occasion?? I’ll coincidentally be there at the same sort of time but flying on MH1, also on an A350 but the previous version.

  • Holger says:

    Interesting to see that the Arab airlines still investing heavily into new aircrafts and lead the way. Considering BA’s planes are so old and shabby maybe they can ask Qatar and co for their “older” planes. When flying back from Cancun the other day I couldn’t not believe the state of the 777 plane. Ripped carpets, overhead lockers didn’t close properly, plastics broken and the overall plane was very very dirty overall. Not to mention the Inflight Entertainment screens being so small and crappy you need to go to spe savers first in order to see beyond the checkerboard displays. For a premium airline this is really a bad show.

  • menachem says:

    is it possible to downgrade from platinum to gold ?

  • menachem says:

    as well on the gold is there a link to get a additional user and get 5k for it (believe saw it somewere on your post )

  • JamesB says:

    OT Nationwide, apologies for being way off topic but I kow from past comments quite a few HFP readers manage the Nationwide FlexDirect account to achieve 5% saving in alternate years. Sadly, this is no longer possible, I got this message from them today:

    “Please note, the FlexDirect Account terms and condition recently changed from 13 January 2018, Current Account Terms & Conditions will change and members will only be entitled to 5% the first time they open a FlexDirect account.
    Any members opening additional accounts or switching back from another product to FlexDirect, or members that have previously held a FlexDirect with the 5% rate, will be entitled to 1%. (Members are still entitled to benefit from the introductory offer on both a sole and a joint account).”

    • Grimz says:

      I had the Nationwide 5% savings account last year and my year was up in January. I now have another 5% savings account but the max is £250 a month now instead of £500.

      • JamesB says:

        Yes, been a great year for Nationwide, they added £3 to the FlexPlus a few months ago too and reduced the benefits. CS agent tried to impress by stating my 15yr loyalty saver had been increased to 1% so I just informed her I could get 1.3% at Tesco as a new customer.

        • Grimz says:

          Yes I have been thinking of moving all my accounts as well. The £3 rise was just about the last straw but I haven’t got round to moving yet!

        • EwanG says:

          Grimz/James
          Remember that FlexPlus still provides 3% AER credit interest on balances up to £2,500 so not quite as good as the 5% on free FlexDirect account.

          Agree it’s disappointing that FlexPlus cost increased and benefits decrease but overall I still consider it worthwhile for me.

  • Chris says:

    OT Possibly not most HFP readers favoured destination but there is a new Hampton in Blackpool due to open in June, no bookings being taken currently i cant see what category it is.

    • JamesB says:

      I have not been there in years but any new Hampton is welcome, I like the brand.

  • Doodles says:

    OT Has anyone any recent experience of points from Melia hotels going to their Iberia account? I checked out two weeks ago and while the points show as transferred to Iberia on my Melia account, I still haven’t received them.

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

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