You can now fly the Qatar Airways Qsuite in business class from Manchester Airport

Qatar Airways is giving Manchester and the north a Valentine’s present in the form of its excellent Qsuite business class seat.  From 14th February, Qsuite is scheduled to fly on at least one daily service between Manchester and Doha starting with QR27/QR28.

From 1st March this is set expand with QR21/QR22, which means that two of the three daily flights will have HfP’s favourite business class seat and service as voted on by you in the HfP Travel & Loyalty Awards 2019.

Qsuite was the first business class seat to have a door and, arguably, is still the best.  You can read Rob’s recent review of Qsuite here.

The only catch is that Qatar Airways has a reputation for last minute aircraft changes which means that you can never quite be certain what you’ll get.  Nevertheless this is a win for anyone who prefers flying from Manchester, as you’ll be able to experience a genuinely excellent product.

If you want to find out more about Qsuite, there is a special section on the Qatar Airways website here.

If you want to know about other Avios redemption ideas from Manchester, this HfP article looks at Avios flights from UK regional airports.

Qatar Airways sale extended by 48 hours

The Qatar Airways sale was due to end on Monday, but it has been extended by two days.  You now have until tonight (Wednesday) to book

Qatar Airways has some excellent deals if you are willing to start outside the UK – check the list in this article to see if you can save even more money by flying from Stockholm, Oslo or the many other European starting points.

There are a lot of other special offers linked to the sale, including:

• Double Qmiles if you choose to credit to Qatar Airways Privilege Club instead of British Airways Executive Club
• Very low-cost Doha stopovers for up to four nights
• Upgrades at the Oryx Airport Hotel
• 25% off lounge access in Doha if it is not included in your ticket
• 20% off excess baggage

Full details are on the sale website here.  If you are booking for flights from a European city, remember that the sale will end at midnight local time.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best option for paying for flights starting outside the UK is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.

This offers triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency.  This is because the transaction triggers the ‘double points for airline spend’ and the ‘double points for foreign spend’ bonuses.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

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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 Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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.