Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Qatar Airways launches Gatwick flights alongside a week long ‘book early’ sale

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Qatar Airways has landed in Gatwick. On Tuesday the inaugural flight from Doha to London Gatwick was welcomed with a celebratory water arch. The new twice daily service will be operated by a Boeing 787 and increases to 16 flights per week service over the Summer season.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said about the new route:

“Qatar Airways is delighted to be expanding its reach in both London and throughout the U.K. Earlier this month, we launched direct flights to Cardiff, the capital of Wales, clearly demonstrating our continued commitment to this market. We are very proud of our strong and extensive trade ties with the U.K. and look forward to offering our loyal passengers the chance to explore the newest and most exciting destinations within our global network.”

Early Bird promotion

Qatar Airways has also launched an Early Bird promotion for travel later this year.

Book by 29th May for travel between 15th August 2018 and 31st March 2019 to get fares from £391 (Delhi) in Economy.

The travel period for flights departing London is slightly more restricted, running from 1st September 2018 until 31st March 2019.

There’s a blackout period between 13th December 2018 and 13st January 2019 inclusive.

The booking page and T&Cs are here.

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.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 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

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 – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,000 points bonus – plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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

Up to 80,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Get up to 40,000 points as a sign-up offer 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 (109)

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

  • James says:

    Flying CE to BCN from LGW in a few weeks – booked a long time ago. Just realised it’s being operated by Eastern airways with a embraer 170. Will it be ok or should I get BA to switch us on to one of their own planes?

    Any advice? Usually find the Embraers comfortable from LCY with superior leg room!

    Thanks!

    • Lumma says:

      Not exactly the same but I had a flight LCY-TXL which was changed to be operated by Jota Aviation. There was only one drinks service for the entire plane. The club Europe customers got their bacon sandwich on a plate, that was pretty much the only difference between business and economy

    • Leo says:

      Looks like the seat pitch is 31″ so that’s better than BA a320 etc.

  • Alex W says:

    OT. Mrs W has Gold credit and SPG Amex. When I try to add a supplementary cardholder to the account , it always defaults to SPG account and there seems no way to add a supp Gold card. Are we doing something wrong?

    • Grimz says:

      I don’t think so as I know someone with the same issue. Call Amex or chat online to get this resolved. If Amex do it for you on the phone you may not get the supplementary bonus for adding another card.

      • Alex W says:

        Thanks, yes I’m only doing it for the 3k bonus! Guess I’ll wait till the SPG has been cancelled.

  • Stuart says:

    I got the text message from BA yesterday cancelling my flight from NCL to LHR in December. Fortunately I’ve been rebooked for free onto a flight I tried to change to last week but wasn’t prepared to pay the change fee! So I’ve scored as it means 2 more hours in Terminal 3 at LHR sampling the lounges of Qantas and Cathay Pacific before my BA flight to Budapest!

  • PAL says:

    Regarding the new Virgin CC, anyone having issues with the contactless function? keeps saying insert card…

  • Tom Cook says:

    OT – someone (can’t recall who), commented that they’d not had the ALDI credit on their AMEX due to the store being new. I used m PLAT in a new store in N. Leeds and it has today credited (transaction date was 11.4.18

    • the real harry1 says:

      That was me, the rogues denied it 4x because the new Lidl wasn’t on their list of qualifying outlets and kicked up a fuss when I asked for the statement credits. Which I did get but they told me not to ask for any more for 6 months.

      • the real harry1 says:

        Aldi

        • Tom Cook says:

          Good see you back, H, and I hope you’re on the mend!

        • Yuff says:

          I though Harry had permanently decamped to his place in the sun 😉 ☀️

        • the real harry1 says:

          funny you should mention that, t-48hrs or so, place in the sun here I come 😉

          cheers guys

        • Tom Cook says:

          Have fun, H!

          Have to say we’re heading to Florence and Siena for a week on Saturday on a holiday that without this website wouldn’t have been on our radar!

          Two return reward flights – £70
          Hotel for 3 nights in Florence due to AMEX offer – £200 off.
          2 nights in Siena free with points.
          Car hire at a reduced rate and on gold membership with Hertz.

          So for a week of hotels, flights and car for the two of us I think we’re at £650 or so which includes 2 nights on an agritourismo! Thanks all!

  • Anna says:

    I’ve got an offer on my BAPP for 400 avios for a £40 Ocado spend.

    • Anna says:

      Also for 400 MR points on the gold Amex.

      • Tom Cook says:

        Not for me – offers have to be frank been pants this year so far.

        • AspirationalFlyer says:

          I think they’ve been mixed too and I ignore the vast majority. I’m not sure what the Amex strategy – is it to encourage you to use merchants you wouldn’t normally (based on your spending patterns)?

    • david says:

      I’ve got that as well – useless when they don’t operate in my country!

    • john says:

      I don’t see that either but then I shop there already so maybe they are targetting.. but I do have £10 off £60 at fetch and £10 off £50 at fabled which are both run by Ocado.

  • James says:

    No mention of Qatar’s new redemption fees.
    £25 / £50 / £75 per sector.
    So a return business class redemption via DOHA will now cost you an additional.£200 🙁

    (Might be USD rather than GBP)

    • Rob says:

      Yes, I saw this – but I doubt there are more than a handful of Qatar PC members here given that BA is the alternative.

  • VJ says:

    O/T – IHG Creation Free Night, can you cancel the booking and get the certificate back.

    • Peter K says:

      Yes. I’ve done it. The date it is valid to remains the same however.

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

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