Why Qatar Airways new Malta route is great for earning British Airways Executive Club tier points

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• Sam says:

  12 Dec12 December 09:53

  Would anyone really want to do London-Malta-Doha-Asia return with their annual leave just to get to silver? And twice in a year to get to gold? I can’t imagine 720TPs are worth 6 stopovers in one return trip to anyone.

  • Rob says:

    12 Dec12 December 09:57

    Depends how little holiday you get. Would I do with 2 kids? No. Would I have done it before I got married and had 30 days leave to play with? Probably, yes, especially as it would also have been cheaper. And I’ve never been to Malta …

    • Neil says:

      12 Dec12 December 10:10

      For an easy 720TP’s absolutely! Different strokes for different folks as they say but of course the price is the ultimate factor. Any sign of an upcoming sale?

      • Shoestring says:

        12 Dec12 December 10:20

        There are people for whom Silver or Gold status really means a lot, presumably because it represents real airline/ airport freebies/ advantages & they fly a lot. If you can get a real holiday out of it somewhere good & status just by using a slightly convoluted routing with several stopovers, then I guess it’s justifiable.

        Or even shorter ‘pointless’ TP runs where you won’t even get to see the destination properly before heading back – if it gives you just enough to secure status for another couple of years (eg getting over the deadline into Gold). Again, if you fly a lot, quite justifiable.

      • Sussex Bantam says:

        12 Dec12 December 14:58

        I’m in exactly this category. Company policy means I fly shorthaul for European flights once a week and Club for longhaul once a quarter.

        It is a huge benefit to have status for the regular shorthaul flights – I almost always get an exit row seat, blocked middle seat, expedited security, board first (so overhead space) and lounge access all make the SH flight much more pleasurable.

        Yesterday, for complex reasons, I ended up on a Lufty flight where I have no status and seated in 23B. I survived of course but it wasn’t much fun at all and I wouldn’t want to do it every week.

        I would definitely go out of my way to maintain my gold status

  • Optimus Prime says:

    12 Dec12 December 10:09

    Those famous BA Gold TP runs involve even more stopovers: Bucarest-London-Helsinki-London-New York-Phoenix and then return.

    • Alex Sm says:

      12 Dec12 December 12:24

      And what are the most popular ways to use your status for?

      It all sounds to me like doing long hours to earn more money but then not having time/energy to spend it…

      • Shoestring says:

        12 Dec12 December 12:34

        Eg Silver travelling on Hand Baggage Only BA flight – can still use lounge & invite a guest, plus you get 50% more Avios. Quite a lot of frequent flyers will be in this category due to company policy on flights under (say) 4hrs.

      • Alan says:

        12 Dec12 December 12:34

        I’ve not fought to retain Gold because of that – was nice when travelling to/from London a lot (for the First Wing), but otherwise have PP for lounge access, cheaper & quicker flights in Europe via LCC rather than RFS, and tend to travel long-haul in CW/F anyway. Silver still has decent benefits though so plan to keep it whilst I can!

      • Alex Sm says:

        12 Dec12 December 16:20

        Well, the highest I could get was Bronze for a couple of years… With BA becoming more and more an LCC, the status loses its appeal… Also BA status doesn’t work with some OW airlines (I was not allowed to use fast-track security with my colleague in Madrid: “Iberia – yes, Britis Airways – NO”). The benefits which I kind of appreciated were business desk baggage drop and priority boarding (but the latter has now gone – they have introduced some weird groups 1-2-3) and 7 days for seat selection. But these are so minor in order to go out of your way for these… However I appreciate that with Silver and Gold you get more obviously but still it’s a vicious circle.

  • Duck Ling says:

    12 Dec12 December 12:41

    I’d do it in a heartbeat. Providing it combines on of QR’s sales ex MLA of course! 🙂

    And i’ve never been to Malta so would take advantage of a couple nights there on the way.

• LM says:

  12 Dec12 December 12:44

  “…route to watch when the next Qatar Airways sale comes around”

  I long for the day…

  • Stoneman says:

    12 Dec12 December 17:13

    Is Rob hinting that a sale is around the corner with this post?

    • Rob says:

      12 Dec12 December 17:43

      Er, no.

  • Polly says:

    12 Dec12 December 18:39

    We are all waiting and watching for the great sale…but l think QR are sulking on account of how they are being treated by QF and AA, threats to leave OW etc, so, making us all suffer and wait a while for a sale…just a thought…

• milesandmorons says:

  12 Dec12 December 14:33

  OT: (Probably already mentioned somewhere and I missed it) The Miles&More Diners Club card gets you a voucher for one time use of a Lufthansa Business class lounge. Got my card about a month ago and the voucher just arrived in my “inbox” at M&M. Requires a boarding pass for a flight operated by Lufthansa Group, valid in Germany, Athens, Milan, Paris, LHR, Dubai, Delhi and 5 US. Small print says valid for 12 months but mine is only valid until end October 2019. Small print also says valid for the primary card holder OR a travel companion, so it’s not exactly generous.

  • Roger* says:

    13 Dec13 December 10:31

    Mine arrived as a PDF so I was able to print more than one copy.

    They bear the same long reference number. The worst that can happen is they’ll refuse access for one of us, but I’m expecting both will be admitted.

• Guy says:

  12 Dec12 December 14:55

  Hi all,

  Sorry for the OT but quick help required (possibly Rob). I have a friend who for personal reasons wanted to take advantage of the Avios 50% offer, but having only opened his BAEC account today and not having earned Avios, is not yet able to purchase Avios (including the offer). I do not have said problem, would I be able to buy the Avios and gift them to him or would there be restrictions?

  Many Thanks

  Guy

  • Shoestring says:

    12 Dec12 December 15:16

    Have a read of this https://www.britishairways.com/travel/share-avios/public/en_gb

    If you had Gold status, you could transfer them 162,000 Avios each year free of charge.

    Otherwise, depends how good a friend they are! Adding them to your Household a/c would work, no need to transfer points in that case.

  • Rhys says:

    12 Dec12 December 15:18

    From the BA website:
    “You can pay to transfer up to 162,000 Avios, with a maximum of 27,000 Avios to any Executive Club Member, in one calendar year.
    Once you reach Gold membership, you can transfer 162,000 Avios per year for free to eligible individuals who have been added to the Sender’s Family and Friends List, with the option to pay for a further 162,000.”

    So unless you hold BAEC Club you’d end up paying twice for your Avios, once to purchase and once to transfer, so it really makes no financial sense.

    • Guy says:

      12 Dec12 December 15:30

      Thanks both Rhys and Shoestring. I know there are restrictions on sharing, what I am actually proposing is “Gifting” the Avios (the 50% offer page 2nd button), but maybe this is affected by the same rules

      Just had a look at the small print in fact but it says I cannot gift to an account until it has received 1 avios (by which point the offer will be gone) so still at square one!

      • Shoestring says:

        12 Dec12 December 15:37

        Gotcha. See the T&Cs – 5 – The Recipient will be able to spend Avios points when they appear as credited in the Recipient’s Executive Club account.

        So should be OK regardless of your friend not having earning a point yet

      • Shoestring says:

        12 Dec12 December 15:48

        Didn’t see that bit. Right – add them to your Friends & Family list, transfer over 1 Avios then see if you can gift the other Avios using the 50% offer.

      • Anna says:

        12 Dec12 December 16:34

        How soon does your friend need the avios? This offer tends to come up every few months.

      • Lady London says:

        12 Dec12 December 17:58

        Would a Tesco transfer still work?

      • Shoestring says:

        12 Dec12 December 18:10

        Sure, Tesco £2.50 transfer would do the job in a couple of days

• Tracy says:

  12 Dec12 December 19:00

  O/T I will be staying in Intercontinental Park Lane for one night on Saturday. I will be paying for lounge access. Question is, if I have ambassador late check out until 4pm, can I use lounge until 4pm on the Sunday too? Thanks

  • Rob says:

    12 Dec12 December 19:19

    Yes, no problem

    • Tracy says:

      13 Dec13 December 00:07

      That’s good. Almost makes it worth it….

  • Lyn says:

    12 Dec12 December 19:30

    You certainly should be able to, since paid lounge access is associated with your night’s stay and in this case 4pm checkout.

    • Tracy says:

      13 Dec13 December 00:07

      Thanks

• Shoestring says:

  12 Dec12 December 19:52

  Woohoo wife just spent £15 @WHS, so we’ve got £5 back – not that she knew about the offer lol – now what’s she doing spending £15 @WHS at 19.45 🙂

  I have also secretly tracked her 3 times spending money in Morrisons on the 10%.

  • The Original Nick says:

    12 Dec12 December 20:28

    Like it Harry!
    5000 IHG points have hit my account for the recent twitter promo. I know it’s been mentioned in comments but just a reminder to people who maybe don’t use AW.

  • Alan says:

    12 Dec12 December 22:45

    TBH Morrisons offer has been the best one in my book! Brilliant it’s right through to the end of the year too – just a shame dropped from 15 to 5 More points!

• Victor says:

  12 Dec12 December 20:16

  Despite both my wife and I having our own Amex Platinum cards, we’ve received no information at all about the pop-up lounge in Covent Garden. Is this the same for others?

  • Raving Shoes says:

    12 Dec12 December 20:43

    Your name’s not down. You’re not coming in.

  • Shoestring says:

    12 Dec12 December 20:47

    Platinum Card and Centurion members can visit a pop-up Centurion Lounge in London’s Covent Garden, Dec. 13–16. The pop-up lounge is located at Unit 6, Langley Street and is open 11 a.m.–6 p.m. every day. Visitors will enjoy complimentary beverages and appetizers, gift wrapping services, charging stations and family amenities. Members can bring up to two guests to the pop-up.

    • Nic says:

      12 Dec12 December 22:13

      I accidentally popped in today – I got the day wrong. Walked in to wonderful chaos as they were putting the place together. Looked quite fun but not a huge venue. It’s a discrete door opposite the roadworks(!) on Langley Street. Inside, a reception desk directly opposite the entrance then the space opens up to the left. Maybe they’ll add some curtains around the entrance.

      • Nic says:

        12 Dec12 December 23:15

        More of a discreet door, really. :/

      • Rob says:

        13 Dec13 December 00:25

        There is a press party tomorrow so we are popping down.

    • James says:

      13 Dec13 December 05:43

      Wow, sounds great. Think I’ll bring all my gifts along for them to wrap for me !!

• James says:

  13 Dec13 December 05:42

  How long will Qatar flights remain TP earning though (OneWorld exit rumours).

  • Rob says:

    13 Dec13 December 08:34

    I think it would take a year to unwind even if they wanted to go.

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