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Qatar Airways raises Avios surcharges substantially

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Qatar Airways Privilege Club has raised taxes and charges on Avios redemptions sharply last night in a ‘no notice’ move.

In general, around £125 per sector has been added to Business Class tickets.

This means a return flight with an aircraft change in Doha has risen by around £500 per person on longer routes.

EDIT: Qatar Airways has now rolled back some of the increase – click here to read

Qatar Airways raises Avios surcharges substantially

I haven’t had time to do a deep dive yet but here is one example.

This is Heathrow to Brisbane, priced a few months ago for an earlier HfP article:

Qatar Airways Avios surcharges

As you can see, you were paying £613 plus 180,000 Avios for a return flight in Business Class.

Here is the same route priced last night:

Qatar Airways Avios surcharges

Taxes and charges are now £563 per person, return, higher at £1,176.

If you nominally value an Avios at 1p, the overall implied cost has jumped from (£613 + £1,800) £2,413 to (£1,176 + £1,800) £2,976 which is an increase of 23%.

Suddenly those £1,900 return China Eastern cash tickets in Business Class between Amsterdam and Sydney look more appealing ….

Here is more pricing. Bangkok is now £899 return in Business Class (not sure what it used to be):

Qatar Airways Avios surcharges

Return flights to Doha, because they are only one segment each way, remain cheaper at £499 return in Business Class:

Qatar Airways Avios surcharges

If you’ve recently booked a Qatar Airways redemption and can compare old and new, please post in the comments.

ba.com is showing identical taxes and charges figures if you book through BA.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

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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

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Category

Qatar Airways and Privilege Club

Comments (219)

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

  • James says:
    15 Sep15 September 07:29

    An extra £1200 in bogus fees for a return flight for a couple, overnight? It’s not for me.

    Imagine paying that surcharge and ending up in the old 2-2-2 seating.

    This is a big misstep by QR, it makes redemptions significantly less appealing when cash fares are already a weak proposition.

    • William Avery says:
      15 Sep15 September 08:14

      Ending up on a 777 with 222 as a couple would be the absolute sweet spot for us. Brilliant seat and much better for sleeping.

  • Tim Smith says:
    15 Sep15 September 07:38

    I can never seem to find the 180000 avios return fares to anywhere in Australia , both the app and website only ever offer me the 360000 double avios version. I just quickly looked at the examples in this article which presumably means the 180000 version was available very recently and again nothing. Is there something I’m missing here ? I’ve scoured dates for months and can never find 180000 availability

    • NicktheGreek says:
      15 Sep15 September 07:50

      Use the AA award search, and switch to calendar view. Find what’s available and then book through the Qatar website.

    • Danielle says:
      15 Sep15 September 07:53

      Need to book a long way ahead. Availability doesn’t last long. I booked my lhr to Syd ticket 12 months in advance and got 90000 availability (one way) with no problem. But it does mean that you often need to book your outbound dates one way then call and add the return dates when they become available. If you wait for your return dates to be available before booking then often reward availability for your outbound dates will no longer be available. You can get lucky and find them at other times but it’s sporadic.

    • MediumOne says:
      15 Sep15 September 08:51

      In my experience there tends to be very little for months then they whack a load up at the same time. So do just keep looking!

      • meta says:
        15 Sep15 September 10:01

        AA doesn’t show same availability as Qatar or BA. They have a different inventory. Plus AA only lets you book 330 days in advance and it won’t show beyond that.

    • SG says:
      15 Sep15 September 11:35

      So long as you book way in advance (10-12 months) you won’t have any problem at all finding availability.

  • Ianm says:
    15 Sep15 September 07:39

    Singapore Heathrow via Doha was 75k and £177 pp
    Now 75k and £350 pp

  • Danielle says:
    15 Sep15 September 07:42

    LHR-SYD business one way booked Nov was 90 000 Avios and £413.49 now 90 000 Avios and £706.29

  • Matt Donnelly says:
    15 Sep15 September 07:47

    As a regular Ho Chi Minh City to London/Manchester via Doha traveller this is annoying!

    I booked last week and it was 75K Avios one way + £359.63. Now it’s 75K Avios and £554.69..

  • Andrew says:
    15 Sep15 September 07:54

    Sharing #dp. Vce-kul booked in April 75k avios + €191. Now gone up to €384.

  • Neil says:
    15 Sep15 September 07:57

    Frustrating as this increase/devaluation is, it still doesn’t undo the value on many of these routes in Business Class on Qatar at least.

    Yes there can be some cheaper cash equivalents on sale cash prices, but comparing BA Vs QR, prices are still better value on most QR routes, frequency improved, and factoring in the quality of QR and the flexibility associated with Reward Booking, this “update” is frustrating but not game changing/ending …in my view at least!

  • Jackie Chan says:
    15 Sep15 September 07:59

    LHR – Colombo March 2025 q suite:
    Original price: 65000 avios + £384
    New price: 65000 avios + £547

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

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