(IT ERROR) Has British Airways cut the tier points earned in Qatar Airways business class? (No)

EDIT: I’ve now been able to have a chat with BA about this. Even though some other oneworld airlines have reduced the earnings rate on Qatar Airways Business Light tickets, this is an IT error which will be corrected ASAP. All Qatar Airways flights remain at 140 tier points.

This isn’t great news if true, especially for a lot of people who already hold tickets.

According to ba.com, the tier points you earn on discounted Qatar Airways business class flights have been cut by 35%.

If correct, this will have a serious impact on people who were travelling to Asia and beyond on Qatar Airways to knock up some easy tier points.

Historically – and this applies to all partner airlines, not just Qatar Airways – any flight between 2,000 and 6,000 miles in business class earns 140 tier points in British Airways Executive Club. Shorter flights earn just 80 tier points, longer flights earn 160 or 240 tier points.

This meant that any flight from the UK to, say, Asia would require 4 x 2,000+ mile flights. You had UK to Doha, Doha to (say) Bangkok, Bangkok to Doha and Doha to the UK.

You would pick up 560 tier points in just one return trip. Remember that you only need 600 tier points to earn British Airways Executive Club Silver status, albeit that you need to take four British Airways cash flights too.

Get your timing right and you could get almost two years of Silver status on the back of a business class holiday in Asia, flying arguably the best business class product in the world. Who could argue with that?

What has changed with tier points on Qatar Airways flights?

The British Airways Avios and tier point calculator is here.

This is what ba.com is now showing for any 2,000 to 6,000 mile flight on Qatar Airways:

You will see that a new category of ‘Business low’ has been added. This only earns 90 tier points each way.

It also earns just 1 Avios per mile flown.

This has completely upended the entire Executive Club tier point earning system. I can’t see any other oneworld partners with a similar 90 tier points category.

Your return trip from the UK to Bangkok will now only get you 360 tier points instead of 560 tier points, leaving you a long way from Silver.

However …. look at the top line. This is clearly a mistake, with ‘Economy lowest’ showing 90 tier points. So is the whole chart wrong?

For comparison, this is what ba.com shows if you fly London to Doha on British Airways:

Basically, the BA World Traveller Plus rate of 90 tier points is what BA is now applying to Qatar Airways flights in discounted business class.

Amusingly, if the chart is correct for Qatar Airways, you now earn more Avios in British Airways World Traveller Plus than you’d earn in Qatar Airways business class on a discounted ticket.

Note that this only applies to Business Light cash tickets on Qatar Airways, which book into ‘P’ class. These tickets have other restrictions, such as no lounge access.

If you are booking business class on Qatar Airways, you will now need to pay a little more to avoid ‘Business Light’. On the upside, this will also get you lounge access.

What happens if I have an existing Business Light booking?

I don’t know.

It is possible that ba.com is wrong and that someone has typed in the wrong data. This has happened before. I wouldn’t panic immediately. The fact that there is an Economy ticket class showing as 90 tier points implies that something is not right.

If it turns out that you will now only earn 90 tier points for Qatar Airways Business Light tickets, I think you have grounds for insisting on 140 tier points per leg based on the rate at the time of booking.

That said, I don’t see BA being generous given that this is a partner booking, and agreeing to this would mean literally 11 months of admin for them until all existing bookings drop out of the system.

Let’s see. If we’re lucky this is just a typo ….

---

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.