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

40,000 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.

  • N says:

    OT – Just got a refreshed HSBC Prem Credit card (the free one) and it has a LoungeKey logo on the back. Seems to mean I can use it at LoungeKey lounges for £15 a pop.

    Are there lounges that don’t accept PP but accept LoungeKey?

    • Rob says:

      Doubt it, as same owners. It is DragonPass which has some different ones.

    • Kevin says:

      I think Priority Pass has a slightly bigger footprint than LoungeKey.

  • Jill says:

    Last year did a BA flight around 13.15 Dubai to LHR. Looking to book again for 9/10 or 11 May 2019. Can’t find any flight after 9.20am. Does anyone know if this flight went with the recent changes?
    Thanks

    • Nick says:

      One of the three daily flights is seasonal so doesn’t run all year.

  • Alex says:

    If I book a room on Hilton website for my parents (ie I will not be one of the guests), will they receive my Gold benefits and I receive the points? Thanks.

    • Alex W says:

      Slightly risky. Make sure one of their names is down as “additional guest” otherwise they might not be able to check in. You could ring ahead, say you’re running late and your additional guest will arrive first. I suggest only one of them presents at check-in, in case they think 3 people are trying to use a 2 person room.

    • Peter K says:

      It depends on the hotel. I’ve rung a couple of them in advance and they’ve said yes it’s fine. There’s no harm in ringing anonymously to ask the front desk.

  • ChrisC says:

    O/T but is anyone else having issue with BA and booking rewards?

    I select route / date cabin etc. Then say NO stopovers

    The website then goes very slow and then throws an error saying I haven’t chosen any stop overs!

    So I try a different tack and chose a route with stop overs and guess what – it says I haven’t selected any!

    Been like this for over 24 hours and probably longer given a couple of posts on flyer talk.

    Yes I guess I could phone but I want to check out multiple dates which a phone agent probably won’t like.

    BA website is an embarrassment and not fit for purpose.

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

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