Qatar Airways launches a 25th anniversary flight sale with fare deals and bonus miles

This article has been sponsored by Qatar Airways

2022 marks the 25th anniversary of Qatar Airways. Launched in 1997, Qatar Airways has become one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world, and operates one of the youngest fleets in the industry

Prior to the pandemic, the airline flew to over 170 destinations and still operates to more than 140 destinations today.

To celebrate 25 years of existence, Qatar Airways has some special fares on offer when you book by 10th January for travel by 31st October 2022.

Economy prices start at just £359 pp, but there are some strong Business class fares available too, including some attractive prices from non-London UK departure points.

Sample fares include:

• Edinburgh to Dubai – £1,745 pp  
• Manchester to Johannesburg – £1,827 pp
• London Heathrow to Dubai – £1,876 pp
• Manchester to Hong Kong – £1,907 pp
• London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur – £2,261 pp
• London Heathrow to Bangkok – £2,294 pp

You can look for more destinations and find out further details about the sale using this link to the Qatar Airways website.

Get 2,500 bonus Qmiles for joining Privilege Club

In addition to the flight sale, if you enrol as a new Privilege Club member before 10th January 2022, you will get a bonus 2,500 Qmiles (the Qatar Airway’s loyalty currency).

All new members will get a further 2,000 bonus Qmiles when they make their first online booking and a further 500 bonus Qmiles per online booking following that.

To get the 2,500 Qmiles bonus, use this link to sign up to Privilege Club and use the enrolment code FLYQR22.

What does Privilege Club offer?

As it is part of oneworld, many Head for Points readers will credit any flying they do with Qatar Airways to BA Executive Club rather than Privilege Club, but it’s worth considering joining the Qatar Airways programme.

Privilege Club has made some big improvements in the last 18 months, slashing the miles cost for redemption flights, making it an attractive alternative to Executive Club. For example, a flight from London to Doha in Business Class would cost 86,000 Qmiles, but you’d need between 100,000-120,000 Avios for an identical flight.

In addition, Privilege Club has removed ‘hard expiry’ for Qmiles. Provided you earn or spend just 1 Qmile every 36 months, your balance remains safe.

Can you earn Qmiles with a UK credit card?

One reason why you may not have considered Privilege Club is the lack of its own UK credit card to help boost your miles.

Although Qatar Airways does not have a UK credit card, there are still ways to earn Qmiles with your everyday spending. We’ve summarised all the credit card options for earning Qmiles in this article, but the highest miles earning option is the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card.

You earn 2 Marriott Bonvoy points per £1 spent on the card. This page shows the rate to Qatar Airways from the Marriott Bonvoy programme, which is 3:1:

• 3 Marriott Bonvoy points get you 1 Qatar Privilege Club mile
• You get a 5,000 mile bonus if you convert 60,000 Marriott points in one transaction

This means, assuming you convert in chunks of 60,000 Marriott points:

• £1 spent = 2 Marriott Bonvoy points
• 2 Marriott Bonvoy points = 0.66 Qatar Privilege Club miles
• Convert 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at once for a 5,000 mile bonus and you are getting 0.825 Qatar Privilege Club miles per £1 spent

The annual fee on the Marriott Bonvoy card is £75 and you get a sign-up bonus too – details of the current offer as of today are below.  This makes the card well worth getting for the first year at least.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Bonus: 20,000 points

Read our full review

Sign-up bonus and earn rate:

• Get 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
• Earn 2 Marriott Bonvoy points per £1 spent
• Earn 6 points per £1 spent at Marriott hotels
• Points convert at 3:1 into Avios or other airline miles

Other information:

• 15 elite night credits per year to help you towards higher status
• Free night, up to 25,000 points, when you spend £25,000 per year.
• Upgrade to Gold Elite status when you spend £15,000 in a card year
• Annual fee: £95

Representative 54.8% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £95 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 31.0% APR variable.

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 20,000 points sign-up bonus: +

You will receive 20,000 points as a sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous 24 months, have held any other personal American Express card.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s American Express account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held a Business American Express card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from the 15 elite night credits per year, the free night (up to 25,000 points) for spending £25,000 and Gold Elite status for spending £15,000.

Learn more about the card benefits +

You will receive 15 elite night credits per year in Marriott Bonvoy.  The first batch will arrive within 60 days on applying and then in Spring in each subsequent year.

15 elite nights will automatically get you Silver Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy and put you nearer to Gold Elite and higher tiers.

If you spend £15,000 per card year, you will be upgraded to Gold Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy.

If you spend £25,000 per card year, you will receive a free night voucher, valid at any hotel where reward nights cost up to 25,000 points.

You need a minimum personal income of £20,000 to apply for the card.

Conclusion

With travel restrictions falling away, it is a good time to book your next trip. You can find out more about the Qatar Airways 25th anniversary sale on its website here.