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

Qatar Airways confirmed on Monday that it will start flights between Malta and Doha on 4th July 2019.

The service will use a short-haul A320 aircraft but with fully flat beds in business class.  There will be one flight per day in Summer and four per week in Winter.

This page of the Qatar Airways website looks at the A320 layout in detail.

This is a very interesting option if you are looking for British Airways tier points.   London to Malta, on British Airways, is one of the few routes that earns 160 tier points return in Club Europe because of the distance.   A full list of Club Europe routes which give you 160 tier points is here.

Malta is also a cheap route.  Look at the BA Low Fare Finder website here.  Apart from August, you can get return flights for as low as £310.

From Malta, the route to Doha is over 2,000 miles so you will receive 140 tier points in Qatar Airways business class.  Any onward flight to Asia will also be over 2,000 miles, earning you another 140 tier points.

Let’s imagine you bought a Qatar Airways sale deal from Malta to Hong Kong, and positioned using a return British Airways Club Europe flight.  You would earn 80 (BA) + 140 (Qatar) + 140 (Qatar) + 140 (Qatar) + 140 (Qatar) + 80 (BA) = 720 tier points return.  You could – just about – get to British Airways Executive Club Gold with two runs like this over the course of your membership year.

It looks like Malta is a route to watch when the next Qatar Airways sale comes around.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.