Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Check your Qatar Airways flight bookings for ‘mixed cabins’

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We were caught off-guard yesterday when we covered the latest Qatar Airways sale.  Qatar Airways had loaded some fares which included economy segments when you searched for “premium only” flights.

These tickets were CLEARLY marked as ‘mixed cabin’ fares but it wasn’t clear exactly what that phrase meant.

It was even more confusing given that you could argue that Qsuite and non-Qsuite business class flights on the same trip may constitute ‘mixed cabins’.

It seems that Qatar Airways realised that this was not a good move, as ‘mixed cabin’ fares disappeared from its website yesterday afternoon.  It is worth checking any bookings made yesterday, however, to be sure that ALL segments show ‘Business’.


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.

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.

Comments (184)

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

  • Don says:

    Holding the PRG, if I refer my partner who already has a PRG for another Amex card, like the ARCC or Green, would they still get the welcome bonus and/or would I get the referral bonus? Amex say no no no. I’m quite confused by it all.

    • Anna says:

      Holding SPG means you are ineligible for sign up bonuses apart from BAPP and Platinum – but only if you haven’t held another BA or MR Amex in the past 2 years.

      • Anna says:

        But you would still get the referral bonus on acceptance.

        • Don says:

          Is that official or just a mistake in the system? Its 6000 for a PRG to refer to any Amex except the very basic one?
          Between a couple is this the best strategy for them to get some kind of bonus?

          • TGLoyalty says:

            No mistake

            Referral bonus is regardless of if the person is eligible for the sign up bonus.

  • RussellH says:

    Tried to reply to Shoestring above on Morrisons / Virgin, but post is consistently rejected…
    (Not rude – honest!)

    • Shoestring says:

      there are a few banned words which result in posts not getting through the HFP filter

      I hope it was to say you managed to find the Virgin Shopping card registration page for the extra 8%

      • RussellH says:

        No. Part of it said:- Remember that the 8 points / £1 only apply on larger shops of over £20 – that is often more than we usually pay for a weekly shop.

        • BJ says:

          Some on here have been known to spend 20x that in a day in Morrisons…probably why they are hiring 7000 new staff.

        • Polly says:

          Russell, add a £10 gift card for somewhere else, like w h smith, for stamps or lottery tkts etc..cinema restaurant, whatever..that’s what l do…

      • RussellH says:

        But perhaps the name of the Virgin Atlantic Shopping Portal is banned?

        • RussellH says:

          Because I used it in my next paragraph, which, paraphrased, said that all my cards were already registered and points are now pending.

          I went on to say that one does not get anything for a couple of months, and I am not really sure if the Virgin miles will actually be worth anything. I have 9980 at present and always planned to convert to Hilton when I got to 10000; 5000 being genuinely free from the basic Virgin CC. But I now have 590 pending miles from Morrisons, and more if we go again tomorrow and spend over £40.

        • Shoestring says:

          though how the Dickens you only pay £20 for a weekly shop amazes me – the we implies 2 people (or more) – or is it that you shop mostly elsewhere?

          I guess – family of 5 with at least 2 of the teenagers having BIG appetites – we are on way more than that – maybe not £200/ week but well north of £100, probably £150/ week

          and that’s with me and all my bargains 🙂

          • Don says:

            I manage £20 a week but then I am flying a lot and I rely on BA Serenading my Senses with the Luxury in Every Detail food and drinks.

        • BJ says:

          Yes, HFP is very sophisticated, even appears to understand local dialects 😀

      • Nick_C says:

        There are a few more words that need adding to that list, as the early morning posts showed.

        I guess Trolls are an indication of success.

    • Mac says:

      @shoestring
      How are you getting 20% off at Morrisons or is it just the 8x virgin points?

      • Shoestring says:

        10% Amex
        1% MR points
        8% Virgin miles (register card on Virgin Shopping)
        0.5% More card
        another 0.5% More card because you get it when you buy M’s giftcard and again when you spend it on fuel or in-store

        • Mac says:

          Lucky guy wish i had the 10% offer, must be a good advantage for buying some lottery tickets!

          • Shoestring says:

            get the Green Amex card – best card I ever had for offers

            very happy to refer you if you wish 🙂

          • Polly says:

            And if you get the 5% offer ignore it, so the 10% will follow next time. 7% is good enough, if you can use it like SS does above, tho.

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    OT:
    I’ve hit my target for IHG Spire Elite & received the 25k bonus points.
    My Spire tracking has started again, if I achieve the 75k Q points soon, do I get another set of bonus points?

    • Craig says:

      Only one set per calendar year, if you achieved it last year then yes you will get the reward again this year.

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        Thanks Craig, I only received the bonus a few months ago & I’m certain to hit the next Spire target soon so will this roll over to next year when I will get the next set of 25k pts?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          No the earning period for status is CY so 1st Jan to 31st Dec. Every 1st Jan it resets the points and nights counter.

          If you have hit spire with 75 nights then your nights rollover to the next year but points do not rollover so you need 75k points again.

  • Shoestring says:

    Totally O/T – sorry folks – HFP pls delete after a few hours if you object – but I wouldn’t mind a few suggestions! – thanks

    One for the sleuths. So my wife is out at our place in the sun. In the kitchen there is some pooled water on the floor, slight evidence of it not being 100% H2O as there is a slight white residue on the edges where it has dried. She saw this a few days ago, dried it away but has come back today and there is fresh water on the floor.

    – we have underfloor heating but I don’t think this has failed/ leaking as the pressure gauge is normal and the radiators are working normally
    – I left the fridge freezer to thaw with doors open back on Jan 3rd or so, any water from here would have evaporated
    – no sign of ingress of water from upstairs
    – mains water was turned off so there’s no pressure
    – there’s a dishwasher, again mains water was turned off but do they have potential to let reservoir of water to leak out? white residue a hint?

    Any ideas? – thanks

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      What appliance is the water pool nearest to? Possibly the dishwasher if nearby, I take it your kitchen floor is level?

      • Shoestring says:

        tiled floor (very nice Italian terracotta tiles!) and level, so obvs there are grooves at the edges and water can run down these then pool where the floor wasn’t as 100% level as it looks

        there’s a chance it has come from the corner where the dishwasher sits, looking at the photos

        20 yrs old but functions perfectly as only used 13/52

        is logic pushing me to think white residue – soap powder? – leaking from a broken dishwasher seal? do dishwashers hold a couple of litres of water when the cycle has finished?

        I’ve asked my wife to get some white residue & smell it, but she’s gone to see her mum in hospital right now

        • Lady London says:

          – Is there a washing machine?
          – Could undersink drain pipe or joints or a container under the sink be leaking?
          – Could it be just water and the whiteish residue come from the terracotta floor tile if it has water standing in contact with it or drying off it?
          – Has dishwasher or washing machine got any.sort of condensation bin (like in a dryer) inside which has overflowed? Floor under or around source likely to be wet even if not obvious.
          – Do you have an incontinent cat?

          • Shoestring says:

            I think I’ve got it – nothing to worry about – when we left at New Year, I had to stop the dishwasher before it finished the cycle because the taxi arrived, so it had water in it

            looks like this has drained out somewhere

            asked my wife to run the dishwasher cycle again and it should solve the problem

            phew! cheaper than failed central heating underfloor stuff

          • Shoestring says:

            *cat is neat as, that I can give as a positive, not that it redeems her

            I hardly have to clean the cat tray at all as she prefers to do her business in various neighbour gardens lol

          • Lady London says:

            Glad you sorted it @Shoestring. The dryer condenser having a water catcher that needed to be emptied once in a blue moon was the one I got caught on

          • Shoestring says:

            I got caught on the fridge freezer hole in the summer – it got blocked with mould – I couldn’t understand why water was leaking out but my bro in law got a kebab stick and poked out the mould for me so that it drained properly

          • Shoestring says:

            Just time to tell you a little something about our place in the sun before the whole lot gets deleted as not exactly HFP – so this house was built by a young TV star (newsreader very popular in the magazines as she is very pretty, good personality etc).

            She decided to sell up after a few years as I understand she was divorcing. So we bought it. Neighbours probably preferred a TV star to a Brit but turned out to be very nice neighbours.

            Anyway, she built the place to a very high standard and her father made an art of wrought iron so we have some very nice gates and fences as well.

            The TV star came back last year and rang the gate bell – I wasn’t there – she has become much more famous in the last 20 years – what she wanted to do was look around the house she built & loved, so my wife obliged, sucker for that kind of thing. Sort of half crying with nostalgia and regretting she’d sold it to us.

            There you go – the Shoestring place in the sun.

          • Rob says:

            In that case, I used to work with Justin, her ex-husband.

          • Lady London says:

            🙂

          • marcw says:

            That´s a nice story @Shoestring. I gather your place MUST be somewhere in Italy.

          • BJ says:

            Harry is/was into diving so I think it us a sound bet his place in the sun is also a place on an island and I’m reasonably confident I know which one 🙂

          • Cat says:

            You know all that talk of having a HfP get together that’s not in London…

          • Shoestring says:

            Truro it is 🙂

            Newquay, Padstow etc – no probs

            we are blessed with Wetherspoons

          • Cat says:

            😂

          • Shoestring says:

            I could probably persuade my wife to step up as regards the kids – Newquay – Saturday – Travelodge – Premier Inn – etc – Newquay airport – train

            might get over my shyness if 20 of us could turn up in jolly old Cornwall to talk points & other stuff

          • Cat says:

            I’d be up for that, if I could find a cheap way of getting there from London…

          • Cat says:

            Surfing and snorkeling on Sunday?

          • Lady London says:

            I’d be up for that. How about late September.

          • Lady London says:

            PS I don’t get wet so would be strictly an observer

          • Cat says:

            I can do mid-September, or early ish October (I got in on the BA sales recently, as I’ll be newly silver for the first time, so last weekend in Sept and 1st weekend in Oct are out!).
            I promise I’m not incontinent.
            Are you regretting this yet Harry?

        • Sloth says:

          Surely the cheap way to Newquay is RFS on the newly announced LHR to Newquay service 🙂

  • E says:

    ITB in Berlin has just been cancelled for this year.

  • Pid says:

    OT – In process of renewing my IHG Ambassador status and notice that the $200 option is only stating the 15,000 points and does not mention the 10% rebate on redemptions. Has this stopped or is still offered but just not mentioned? Any experiences from recent renewals?

  • Harry T says:

    OT:
    Booked the W in Abu Dhabi for race weekend with Bonvoy points. There’s a destination fee for the race weekend. The hotel just contacted me to ask for 2850 AED to be paid in the next two days, to cover the destination fee. However, my reservation online says the cost is only 2100 AED. I’m not really happy paying another ~£160 when I agreed to 2100 AED at booking. I’ve emailed the hotel to say this. Will I end up having to pay the extra 750 AED or should I stand my ground?

    • Cat says:

      Re-read everything carefully, then stand your ground. It’s not OK for hotels to add hidden costs like this.

      • Harry T says:

        Looks like they want to charge me for one more day than the Marriott website does. But the website does say that the charges are for four nights, not three – so that would be consistent with the rate the hotel wants to charge me. So Marriott appear to have calculated the fees wrong. However that doesn’t change the fact that I agreed to pay 2100 AED, not 2850 AED.

        • Rim says:

          Hi Harry T. Just received a message from W Abu Dhabi after I send an email about incorrect charges. A new bill arrived after 6 hours for AUH2150 as they say they made a mistake.. I stay for 5 nights, so charges are 350 AUH per person for 3 nights (not 4 or 5) and 10AUH per room per night Municipality fee.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      If you booked for 4 nights over race weekend it’s 2800 for 2 people.

      Always possible they sent out a generic email if you booked less than that.

      • Harry T says:

        I think you’re right but the website says I only need to pay 2100 AED!

        They don’t take Amex either, apparently.

        • Lady London says:

          Call Marriott Bonvoy and ask them to intervene since you have a confirmation with a different number?

          I’d ensure I had good travel insurance, paid on Amex Plat or credit card for s.75, and I would get to hotel very early in day, long before official check-in, with some dollar bills handy, and make sure that hotel gives me my room and doesn’t tell me theyve overbooked. If you can engineer to purchase some small service and pay for it in advance I would. Such as a cake in the room on your day of arrival as you’re celebrating xyz…

          • Harry T says:

            I understand the first part but not sure I get the second! Please could you explain a bit more?

          • Lady London says:

            @Harry T Just that if the hotel is behaving like this now and rooms are hotly sought after on your dates I’d like to reduce the likelihood of my particular reservation being picked for further shenanigans by the hotel if someone else waves money and they’re fully booked.

        • Harry T says:

          @Lady London
          Thanks for the advice. Luckily the hotel acknowledged that an IT glitch had given me a lower taxes figure than I should have been charged, but they have agreed to honour the lower charge.

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