New Avios redemptions to South Africa on Qatar Airways – and why they are overpriced

Qatar Airways announced a major expansion of services to South Africa this week.  As you can book Qatar services with your Avios points, this opens up some new options.

This is what Qatar Airways has planned:

Johannesburg increases from 10 to 14 flights per week from 15th December

Cape Town increases from 5 to 7 flights per week from 1st October

Durban to be served by a ‘tag’ on the 4 new Johannesburg services

All flights to South Africa will be operated by new Boeing 787 aircraft which I reviewed here and which guarantee you the new 1-2-1 seating in business class.

Qatar generally makes four business class seats available per flight for redemptions.

Unfortunately, Qatar Airways redemptions will require substantially more Avios than a British Airways flight – although that is a moot point if you cannot find BA availability, which is not unusual at peak season.

London to Cape Town is currently 100,000 Avios return in Club World.

London to Doha + Doha to Cape Town prices at 80,000 + 100,000 = 180,000 Avios in Business.  Johannesburg is cheaper at 80 + 80.

You can reduce the Qatar cost by 30,000 Avios starting elsewhere in Europe.  Frankfurt to Doha is 50,000 Avios return in Business Class, for example.

This is pricing is worse than it should be due to some (beneficial) BA trickery.

BA prices a Doha to Cape Town correctly, in Zone 6 (100,000 Avios).

When pricing its own flights, however, BA treats the entire country as Zone 6 from London.  This is despite the fact that Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg are ALL more than 5,500 miles from London and should therefore be in Zone 7.

The bottom line is that South Africa has always been a hidden bargain of the Avios reward chart because of BA’s generosity in putting it into Zone 6 when flying from the UK.   This may be strategic, of course, to make redemptions on partners such as Qatar look very poor value.

The other point is that South Africa is a FANTASTIC flight to do non-stop.  You pop over to Heathrow after work, have dinner in the lounge, jump on the plane, go to sleep and – with virtually no time difference – wake up in South Africa the next day feeling fine.  Having to change planes on the way would have a massive impact on a good nights sleep.

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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 Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

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

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits 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

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.