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Qatar Airways resumes direct Auckland flights – book for 180,000 Avios return in Business

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Qatar Airways has announced the resumption of direct flights between Doha and Auckland.

This opens up an exceptional opportunity to fly in Business Class from the UK to New Zealand on Avios, with flights costing just 180,000 Avios return plus around £600 of taxes and charges per person.

If, that is, you can get around the Qatar Airways booking system ….

Auckland Qatar Airways

Post covid, Qatar Airways has been flying to Auckland via Adelaide in Australia. The tag to Auckland is now being dropped and replaced by a direct flight.

Services start on 1st September and will operate daily.

An Airbus A350-1000 is being scheduled, allowing passengers to benefit from the acclaimed Qsuite seat. We reviewed Qatar Airways Qsuite on the Airbus A350 here.

How to book this flight with Avios

The biggest ‘sweet spot’ in the entire Avios system is probably now Business Class from the UK to Australia / New Zealand for 180,000 Avios + taxes and charges per person.

This price only applies to Qatar Airways flights. The British Airways service to Sydney is 250,000 to 300,000 Avios per person, return, in Business Class, on the rare chance you can get seats.

What is even better is that Qatar Airways guarantees to make two Business Class seats available on each flight.

Once those two seats have gone, additional seats are often available for ‘double Avios’. If you needed ‘double Avios’ for all four legs (UK to Doha, Doha to Auckland, Auckland to Doha, Doha to UK) then a return Business Class flight would cost 360,000 Avios. In reality you may pay less as you can mix and match ‘double Avios’ and ‘single Avios’ legs if available.

Qatar Airways A350 to Auckland

No-one has yet figured out when Qatar Airways releases the two ‘standard price’ Business Class seats

Qatar Airways does NOT operate like British Airways. You do not get the two ‘guaranteed’ standard rate Business Class seats appearing immediately when the schedules open.

On Day 1, you usually see only ‘double Avios’ seats available in Business Class. These are marked with a green ‘Q2’ in the booking system.

Roughly 10-14 days later, the two guaranteed seats at standard pricing seem to appear – most of the time.

Some standard rate dates are bookable today

Booking for this new Auckland service only opened today so I wasn’t expecting standard rate Avios seats in Business Class to be available.

However, I did find a few dates. Here is availability from Birmingham to Auckland for October:

and inbound:

The total cost is 180,000 Avios plus £541 in taxes and charges in Business Class.

The cost is meant to be identical if you book Qatar Airways flights on ba.com. However, due to tech weirdness, non-London UK departures often need more Avios if booked on the BA site.

You’ve got another snag – limited UK availability to Doha

Let’s assume that, in 10 days or so, Qatar Airways switches all of the remaining Business Class Avios availability from Doha to Auckland to standard pricing, not double pricing.

You might still be unable to get a seat at 180,000 Avios return because of the inability to get a seat from London Heathrow to Doha for the first leg and final leg.

London Gatwick availability is also tight because Qatar Airways has just scrapped its second daily Gatwick service. The airline has consolidated passengers from the cancelled flight onto the remaining one.

Your best bet for standard rate Avios availability from the UK to Doha this Autumn – assuming you are looking for seats from 1st September when the Auckland flights start – is from Birmingham.

Qatar Airways has only just resumed flights from Birmingham and, until cash and reward demand builds up, seat availability should be OK.

You can see in my example above that I chose Birmingham as my departure point. This wasn’t through choice – it was simply impossible to get a flight from London on the right day. Of course, if you’re happy to spend a few days in Doha in transit then it is not an issue.

Conclusion

Auckland is returning from 1st September as a direct flight from Doha on Qatar Airways.

This means that one-stop 180,000 Avios return redemptions in Business Class from the UK to Auckland are now back too.

This is exceptional value given that you will struggle to find cash fares to Australasia in Business Class for under £4,500 this year.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 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

Get 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

30,000 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 great travel benefits – for a large 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

10,000 points bonus – plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

Up to 80,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Get up to 40,000 points as a sign-up offer 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 (114)

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

  • HH says:

    I remember flying Manchester to Auckland for £1,360 in the 2018 Qatar business class sale – how times change…

    • Paul says:

      We flew for £1100 each at the start of the service from Pisa. Bargainous compared to todays prices ! Glad we did it back then.

  • MediumOne says:

    Where are the current lowest-tax European origins for QR? Both for the purposes of saving some dollar and maybe accessing a bit more Doha availability…

    • Lady London says:

      Tax is not the issue on those : there’s a choice of routes but beware often on poorer aircraft to and from Doha.

      • JDB says:

        @Lady London – there are no ‘poorer aircraft’ on QR from Europe! I travelled on the 787 from Stockholm and the seat (obviously not Q Suite, but also the same as the A380 seat) and every aspect of the trip is vastly superior to BA Club Suite.

        • VALittleRed says:

          There are, you’ll find the A320 on BUD/SOF for example. Maybe others?

          • Lady London says:

            This was what I meant.

          • JDB says:

            If you decide to use those distant routes, starting from London, you have already so compromised your trip, it rather pales into insignificance, plus doesn’t save money should you wish to have a comfortable positioning journey.

          • lumma says:

            I think Sofia doesn’t accrue the full tier points either if that’s what you’re after

        • dougzz99 says:

          @JDB keep digging……….

  • zapato1060 says:

    Rob, is the 241 on QR a pipe dream or a real possibility?

  • Lady London says:

    PS Can someone please explain why there’s such a frenzy around this destination?

    • Ramones says:

      Dumb comment. What are you on about?

      • Lady London says:

        Thank you for your compliment. What I mean was, why is there such an urge to visit this destination?

        • Rob says:

          It’s a big ‘visiting friends and relatives’ (VFR in the trade) route I think. My wife is a big NZ fan to be fair and wants to drag us all down there at some point.

          • robert says:

            what an amazing country, just been there on points . last time was 1997. not much change ! haha
            In answer to Lady London – honestly , South Island NZ is just stunningly beautiful and with the most lovely people. would emigrate there anyday BUT its so bl**dy far away..

        • John says:

          Perhaps because it’s English-speaking and viewed by some people as being a “mini-UK” on the opposite side of the world, even if that is only slightly true in reality.

        • babyg says:

          don’t think there is a frenzy – but there are limited flights (only 1 daily DOH-AKL) and are now usually expensive, also there is no further point on the planet you can fly to from London, so its the best bang for buck(points)…. its basically 180k Avios to effectively circumnavigate the globe.. or for the same 180k with BA would get you to Dubai…. (and it would cost most £££ in charges)

        • Robman says:

          New Zealand is an incredible country and Auckland a great city. I’m biased because I am a NZ’er, but if you haven’t been there, you should definitely make plans. We have so much to offer from world class beaches, geothermal areas, mountains / lakes / outdoor beauty, excellent wines and food options, friendly people and stunning scenery and landscapes. I have never met anyone who did not immensely enjoy their holidays in New Zealand.

        • Alan says:

          Well it’s a much nicer place to visit than Dubai for a start, plus now pricey in business which is more appealing given the long flight time – seems all fairly logical!

    • HH says:

      Gateway to New Zealand’s awe-inspiring nature. I’ve travelled to countless places, and to this day NZ stands out as one of the most memorable.

      • NorthernLass says:

        Agreed, I’ll never forget driving through “hobbit” country of rolling meadows and undulating hills when all at once we were confronted by a towering, snow-capped volcano! And this was en route to stunning Lake Taupo via some hot springs!

        • Lady London says:

          Sounds like you drove past my place NorthernLass! Truthbetold take note. Some of us are just interested in why there is a rush to certain places. Whether we know them or not.

    • truthbetold says:

      @LadyLondon have you ever been to NZ? As a highly intelligent commentator on here, I imagine you are trying to divert attention from what is great news for many.

    • Can2 says:

      1. It is far, makes it attractive.
      2. The only developed country with such amazing and untouched nature
      3. English speaking, makes it easier to get around.
      4. It is big

      • pauldb says:

        It’s not that big. Many people like a touring/driving holiday and few places will give you such varied scenery in 1,000 miles / two weeks.
        Then add in the seasonality: where else can you find the above Is you fancy an escape from the northern winter.

        • Jim Lovejoy says:

          It’s not that big, but it’s long from North to South. Google maps has about 1900 km tip to tip by road. In addition the variation between mountain, caldera lakes, inlets and sounds and pasture and forest makes the country seem larger than its 242,900 km2 area.

  • rob keane says:

    Anyone with AA miles, AKL-DOH-LHR on QR is 85K + £46 in biz one way.

    • zapato1060 says:

      This is just 5k shy off of that but yours arrives in LHR. If Iberia and Aer don’t mind transfers with BA why not AA too?

      • VALittleRed says:

        AA don’t use Avios. AFAIK you cannot transfer between AA miles and Avios sadly.

        • Lady London says:

          …But can you transfer from Amex to AA?

          • Rob says:

            Only via Marriott.

          • Jonathan says:

            The options for earning AA points for UK based collectors is very limited (when earning their points other than crediting flights to their program

            Years ago there was the MBNA co branded credit card, that’s long gone along with the others like Lufthansa M&M, and Emirates Skywards (there were two different cards available for those collectors
            Yes, how times have changed…

      • Thegasman says:

        Iberia & Aer Lingus are owned by IAG, Qatar are a significant shareholder in IAG. AA & IAG have no common ownership.

  • TD says:

    Qatar Avios flights to and from Australia/New Zealand are superb value. I booked via the BAEC site and the ticket release date seemed to operate exactly as normal on there, 355 days ahead. Two one-way business class tickets for Adelaide-Doha-LHR cost 180,000 Avios + £400.

    The only downside was that I couldn’t reserve seats via the BA site (not having much status with them!). However, that was quickly solved by joining Qatar Privilege Club and finding my booking there. Qatar allowed me to choose seats immediately, at no charge.

    • Rob says:

      That’s not actually not how it works. Qatar releases seats at 361 days, so there is a 6 day window when you can book at qatarairways.com before they become available via BA. During this window they may drop from double Avios to single Avios but they often start out at double Avios.

      • TD says:

        Ah, interesting. I wouldn’t have booked for double points, though I understand that these tickets increase flexibility for those who have Avios to burn!

  • RJ says:

    Random question , Hi Rob & team, are you guys aware of any QR plans to resume F to any other destinations in Europe, apart from LHR and IST that are currently running please? Was a shame to lose ZRH & CDG in December

    • Andrew J says:

      Little to no possibility now they have resolved the aircraft delivery issues and will start to wind down the A380 again.

  • Davis says:

    Managed to secure 2 seats in March from LHR for travel next February at the normal rate when we were due to transit in Adelaide. We are now on the direct flight, but downside is that we now have an 8 hour transit in Doha and the Auckland flight now gets in at 0355 which is pretty brutal!

    • Rob says:

      Won’t they change your London flight? Would only seem fair.

    • John says:

      Do you mean that the 36-hour journey will be brutal, because landing at 0355 isn’t really a problem, and your body clock will be confused anyway. When I did it the 18 hour flight went by very quickly, but I went landside at DOH and walked around the city centre for a bit

    • babyg says:

      there is only 1 flight to AKL, there are some 9am arrivals in September, but then its 4am, then changes to 5am later in the year…. If you’ve never been to DOHA 8 hours can actually go very quick if you use all the airport facilities (pool/spa) and have access to the QR lounges..

    • truthbetold says:

      March is a great time to go to NZ – best weather on the South Island for sure.

    • Ollie says:

      I had similar and after a couple of online chats managed to get flights changed to 2 or 3 hour connections. They did switch me to revenue fare buckets and on the return flight I haven’t been able to gets seats selected for free because of this

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