Qatar Airways to replace Emirates as F1’s airline sponsor – use Avios for tickets?

SportBusiness has an exclusive story on Qatar Airways replacing Emirates as the official airline partner of Formula 1.

To quote:

Qatar Airways is set to be announced as the new airline sponsor of Formula 1, nearly doubling the fee paid by previous incumbent Emirates to secure the rights.

SportBusiness understands the state-owned flag carrier has agreed a deal to become a top-tier F1 Global Partner from the start of the 2023 season, with the deal expected to be announced ahead of the first race in Bahrain from March 3-5.

I asked the Qatar Airways PR team in Doha if they could confirm the story but they refused to comment either way.

It sounds plausible, because Qatar has signed a 10-year deal with Formula 1 to host annual races from this year.

The reason I mention this is that Emirates has historically offered great value Paddock Club hospitality packages for Emirates Skywards miles.

You were never going to get a bargain for the British Grand Prix, but for anyone willing to head to some of the lower profile European races there were deals to be had. I know one reader paid just over 100,000 Emirates Skywards miles for 2 x 3-day Paddock Club hospitality packages for a European race last year.

At present Qatar Airways does not have ‘experiences’ redemptions. If they decided to launch them – and obviously having Formula 1 tickets to dish out is a good base to start from – this would be good news now that Qatar Privilege Club has adopted Avios as its currency.

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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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.