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

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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 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 which 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.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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:

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

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

25,000 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 a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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.

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.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

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.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Category

Qatar Airways and Privilege Club

Comments (189)

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

  • Ben says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:30

    OT. (and very subjective) but I am currently BA Gold and will be 285 TPs short of hitting it again in April.
    2 Questions – Do you think its worth it (I normally fly WT+ with work to South Africa and would hope to use Avios to fly for my summer and chrismas holidays in Club)
    and Second question is are there any good TP runs to get the 285? Im gutted I missed out on the London – Helsinki for £200 but any other that people know on here? ( I looked on FT but find it hard to nagivate)
    Cheers

  • Tom1 says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:45

    O/t New York City Hilton
    Any recommendations – there seem to be lots of middle of the road Hilton/hgi/Hampton – all of which seem to get varied reviews.

    Any personal recommendations please?
    Looking to spend 50k ish points per night. Cash values are around 150usd/night.

    Hilton gold – paying points to escape resort fees.

    • Marcw says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:04

      With cash prices ard 150 USD it’s pointless to spend points. Choose a hotel that doesn’t have resort fees.

    • bsuije says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:51

      Avoid the Hilton Fashion District – room was small and too noisy and breakfast in the hotel was terrible (although you could choose between that and a voucher for a deli nearby – voucher was definitely the way to go!). That was 4 or 5 years ago, though, when it was still an HGI…

      Hilton Times Sq was actually alright – room we had was big, albeit dated, and surprisingly quiet for where it was. Breakfast was OK and location was convenient for transport.

      • Chuck says:
        15 Jan15 January 19:26

        Agree, Fashion District Hilton lousy, I got a 3rd party rate of $80 and still felt cheated !!!

    • Anna says:
      15 Jan15 January 10:06

      We stayed at the Hilton Millennium UN Plaza last year and were very impressed, got a 2 cat room upgrade and lounge access as gold. The rooms were a great size by NY standards and immaculate. Close to 5th Ave and a pleasant walk to Central Park etc. The lounge is on a high floor so had great views of the Hudson on one side and the Chrysler building on the other. We paid about $250 per night, well worth it.

      • Tom1 says:
        16 Jan16 January 14:41

        Thanks Anna, I had seen it and discounted it because it seemed a little far out compared to the others nearer TS/CP. Will give it another look.

  • Rui N. says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:46

    OT: London to Glasgow or Edinburgh via train. What is better (namely, reliability)? A quick look at a random date in the near future seems to indicate that to Edinburgh it takes slightly more time, but the price is more constant.

    • David D says:
      15 Jan15 January 10:19

      Depending on where you are going to as your final destination, Avanti run a quicker train to Glasgow Central which stops first at Warrington Bank Quay and then only 4 more into Glasgow and takes 4 hours 29 minutes. The West Coast Mainline tends to have fewer disruptions until you reach Scotland as there are more tracks for the train to run on and the timetable is more padded.

      • David D says:
        15 Jan15 January 10:21

        LNER wise you can do it in 4 hours 19 minutes to Edinburgh Waverley. Any disruption North of Newcastle will add significant time though and have been pretty bad recently.

      • Grant says:
        15 Jan15 January 10:26

        The section between Carlise and Lockerbie is particularly susceptible to delays during extended periods of bad weather

  • Chrisasaurus says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:54

    I feel like I want to tell her to fasten her seathbelt…

  • Barry says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:57

    OT
    Can anyone please advise on the best strategy for topping up Revolut from Virgin+ credit card without upsetting either party?
    Thanks!

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:00

      Don’t?

    • Alan says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:20

      Curve?

    • CaptainAnonymous says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:23

      First and foremost more data points on needed on whether the majority of Virgin credit card top ups are now coding as a cash advance. If they are, then this is dead. The last reports I saw say some are and some aren’t.

      That aside, just be sensible that you can justify the amount you are funding and where you are spending it. I was audited and had to provide bank statements and payslips to them. The process got stuck for 4 weeks until I contacted them. Not great, but I was keeping my spending well within my salary, so it was ultimately resolved.

      • avstar says:
        15 Jan15 January 09:30

        interesting – can i be so bold as to ask how much you were putting through a month?

        • Anup says:
          15 Jan15 January 13:57

          I thought i read a comment from someone a few days ago around doing it in £200 increments with a [can’t remember number] of transactions a week from each card?

      • Neil Donoghue says:
        15 Jan15 January 09:59

        I can confirm cash advance fees on the Virgin + card

        • Barry says:
          15 Jan15 January 10:02

          Interesting.
          I topped up an initial £10 from Virgin+ when I first opened my account last Sunday and it has hit my account as a purchase with no fees.

          • Neil Donoghue says:
            15 Jan15 January 10:38

            Very interesting! Mine hit the account as soon as the transaction went through.

        • AlexT says:
          15 Jan15 January 10:23

          Did those hit your account together with the transaction or at the end of the month in your statement?

          • stevenhp1987 says:
            15 Jan15 January 12:06

            With Virgin cash fees are immediately applied after a cash transaction.

            If you look online it will say if it’s a “purchase” or “cash” transaction.

      • Grant says:
        15 Jan15 January 10:03

        I have so far managed to avoid cash advance fees on mine and my wife’s + cards.

      • xcalx says:
        15 Jan15 January 16:06

        I have the free virgin card and have not had a charge as yet Just below £1K every couple of days since mid December. Transfered to bank account same day Virgin paid following day.

        Maybe time to slow down a bit

        • Harry T says:
          15 Jan15 January 16:22

          @xcalx
          You top up Revolut and then withdraw the balance straight away to a bank account to pay off Virgin? That’s ballsy.

      • Craig says:
        16 Jan16 January 16:31

        i wonder what would have happened had you just refused to hand over your bank statements to Virgin, surely they would only be able to cancel your card and can’t retrospectively charge you the cash fees?

        Not that i am worried or anything…

    • Scott says:
      15 Jan15 January 13:09

      what about topping up Monese? is that treated as cash or purchase please?

    • The Urbanite says:
      15 Jan15 January 14:39

      I can’t do it at the moment, Virgin Money is security blocking it for me.

  • Flying Vet says:
    15 Jan15 January 09:14

    Hi
    How do you book in to the q suite quad centre seats as a booked family of 4 on the now q suite flights from MAN?
    They all show as unavailable when accessed through the Qatar website or via the ba app? – reward seats booked man to Mle return. The only options available are the outer rows,

    Thanks for any help!
    Regards The Flying Vet

    • Sarah says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:18

      You need to cal Qatar customer service and tell them which seats you would like. Once you’ve done this you’ll have the flexibility to move to any other of the centre seats as well

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 10:19

      You need to call them. Until x days before departure they block out those seats in case a family or group does book.

      • Russ says:
        15 Jan15 January 10:53

        I use twitter for this. Always been fast off the mark to help with the added advantage you have something in writing to refer to if you hit a wobble.

  • Sarah says:
    15 Jan15 January 09:26

    My recent flights from MAN with Qatar were switched to Q Suites, and then back again to the old 2x2x2 seating. Have to say I wasn’t completely blown away by the Q Suites on the other legs, it felt a bit cramped and the screen very in your face and I actually thought the old seat was more comfortable, during the day time at least, as it had a lot more flexibility in terms of seat position. Whilst the old seating definitely lacked privacy, I would say that service on these legs was far better than on the Q Suites, where the crews just seemed frazzled the whole time.

    • Russ says:
      15 Jan15 January 10:54

      Totally agree. Q suites have had their day

      • Lumma says:
        15 Jan15 January 11:55

        +1 for the old 2-2-2 seats. Pretty much limitless space, only downside is having to step over or be stepped over if you have a seatmate in the window pairs.

    • Mzungu says:
      15 Jan15 January 15:48

      I also was underwhelmed with Qsuites. I’ve flown quite a few times with QR, and was looking forward to my first Qsuite experience last October. I was doing ARN-DOH-SIN/BKK-DOH-ARN, and it was only on DOH-SIN. I was in 7K, which I think was the same seat as Rob had for his recent review. I didn’t need the duvet, which was in a large roll. I asked the FA if they could store it, but all the overhead bins were full, as they have removed the centre ones, making storage limited. I had to keep the ‘bedding roll’ in my ‘suite’, which I already felt was a bit cramped. Each time I got up to go to the loo, I had to move it out of the way and put it on my seat, re-storing it when I got back.

      Much prefer the 1-2-1 reverse herringbone, probably about even with the 2-2-2 for me.

      I was keen to try it, but now I have I won’t look out for it again.

  • Neil Donoghue says:
    15 Jan15 January 09:36

    OT: Rob – I am looking at accommodation for my annual visit to Mykonos this year (Can’t beat the direct flights from LCY) and I noticed two very nice Mr & Mrs Smith hotels have popped up on IHG. Do you have a rough time frame when I might be able to redeem points for these stays? I know the merge was announced back in September so I was hoping it would be live this month / February. Any help would be much appreciated.

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

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