Qatar Airways launches a new Business Class ‘companion’ sale on selected routes

Qatar Airways has a launched a new ‘companion’ promotion, offering savings on Business Class flights from the UK when 2, 4, 6 or 8 people travel together.

You need to book by 21st August via this page and travel by 30th September. Only a small number of routes are included unfortunately.

Remember that Qatar is now on the UK ‘Amber List’, so changing aircraft in Doha is fine as long as you are fully vaccinated. You will not need to quarantine when you arrive in the UK as long as the country you travelled to does not require UK quarantine.

Tickets booked under this offer can be refunded for cash, with no fees, at any time.

Where can you travel with this offer?

Unfortunately the deal is restricted to a small number of routes:

• From London Heathrow to: Abu Dhabi, Baghdad, Bangkok, Johannesburg, Karachi, Maldives, Seychelles, Sharjah, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tehran, Zanzibar

• From Manchester Airport to: Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Durban, Johannesburg, Maldives, Phuket, Seychelles, Sharjah, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Zanzibar

• From Edinburgh Airport to: Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Johannesburg, Maldives, Seychelles, Sharjah, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Zanzibar

Phuket is an obvious destination if you can get your head around Thailand’s new ‘sandbox’ arrangements for tourists although you need to fly from Manchester to get the offer.

The airline is currently operating:

• 3x daily from London Heathrow
• 2x per week from Edinburgh
• 3x per week from Manchester

The airline has recently launched its new Business Class seat on its Boeing 787-9 fleet. We haven’t reviewed it yet, but our latest in-flight review of Qsuite (A350 and selected Boeing 777 aircraft) is here. Our review of the older-style Qatar Airways business class seat – but still very good – on the Boeing 787-8 fleet is here.

How do you book?

The special online page for the offer is here.

You must use promo code TOGETHER to bring up the discounted pricing, which should represent a 25% saving on the usual per person base fare.

If the promo code is entered correctly before starting a flight search, the special fare will be marked with a burgundy tag in the flight selection page along with the words ‘Promo code has been successfully applied’.

You may not receive lounge access

Qatar Airways changes its lounge access policy for discounted business class tickets last year – click through for details.

It is likely that these tickets will not come with lounge access – the small print will tell you during booking – unless you qualify for it via British Airways Silver or Gold status or you have a Priority Pass or similar. Even then, you may be in a secondary lounge and not the main Qatar Airways lounge complex.

Your ticket is refundable if you choose not to travel

Qatar Airways has one of, if not the, strongest coronavirus refund policies on the market.

The rules below apply to tickets booked by 31st August 2021 for travel up to 31st May 2022, and under this deal you will be travelling by then.

You can see the Qatar Airways ‘Travel With Confidence’ policy here. In summary:

• Your ticket has a two-year validity, allowing you to continue pushing forward your travel date if you wish
• You can change your travel date and destination as often as you want, as long as you pay any fare difference and remain within the same travel class
• If you book directly with Qatar Airways via their website or app, you can cash in your ticket at any time for a voucher worth 110% of what you paid (10% bonus is on the base fare)
• Alternatively, you can ask for a full refund at any time – there are no penalties and no refund fees

You can’t say fairer than that.

Remember that flights with Qatar Airways earn Avios and BA tier points

One of key reasons that Head for Points readers like to book business class flights on Qatar Airways is that you can earn a substantial number of British Airways Executive Club tier points and Avios. This is because Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld airline alliance alongside BA.

The reason that Qatar Airways flights are so lucrative is that British Airways Executive Club awards tier points by leg. Unless you are travelling to Qatar itself, your flight will involve a change of aircraft in Doha. This means that your trip requires two flights each way, which earns two sets of British Airways Executive Club tier points.

London to Bangkok, for example, earns 560 tier points return in Business Class (4 flights at 140 tier points per flight) versus just 280 tier points if you fly direct on British Airways.

If you choose to open a Qatar Privilege Club account instead, you will receive 2,500 bonus Qmiles instantly and a further 2,000 bonus Qmiles on your first flight as a Privilege Club member.  Details are here.

You can find out more about the new companion sale on the Qatar Airways website here. The offer ends on 21st August.