New Qatar Airways business class sale – deals from Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, London

Qatar Airways is currently running a sale from the UK.  This includes, as of a few weeks ago, Birmingham.

There are some decent economy deals available (Dubai from £315 for example) but I want to focus on the business class offers here.

These deals need to be booked by Monday evening (a handful of destinations close tonight).  You must travel by the end of May or July, depending on route, for the business class deals.  The economy deals generally run until the end of the year.

Full details can be found on the offers page of the Qatar website.

Here are a few I found interesting:

Birmingham to ….

• Adelaide £2,240
• Amritsar £1,040
• Bali £1,950
• Hong Kong £1,675
• Perth £2,305

Edinburgh to ….

• Abu Dhabi / Dubai £1,030 – an excellent deal
• Bali £1,575 – much cheaper than Birmingham
• Bangkok £1,285
• Cape Town £1,535
• Johannesburg £1,335
• Maldives £1,280 – another great deal

London to …..

• Abu Dhabi / Dubai £1,400
• Cape Town £1,990
• Melbourne £2,780
• Perth £2,175
• Sydney £2,260

Manchester to …..

• Bangkok £1,625
• Phuket £1,870

Before you book, I should warn you about one BIG potential snag.

Qatar Airways flights earn British Airways Avios and tier points.  One of the Asia routes above would get you 560 tier points (4 flights x 140 each) which is 90% of a BA Executive Club Silver card.  It is a great opportunity.

Last month, Qatar brought in a new ticket ‘class’ for cheap business class seats, ‘R’.  I would expect these flights to book into ‘R’ class.

British Airways has been slow to update its partner list.  If you click here you will see that ‘R’ class tickets will only earn Avios and tier points if BOOKED after 1st May.

I am not 100% convinced by this – I get a feeling that it will actually apply to anything FLOWN after 1st May.  However, the rule as it is written on ba.com is that you would need to BOOK after 1st May and, of course, that isn’t possible as this sale ends tomorrow.

If you book one of these deals, you are taking a risk that you will get nothing in British Airways Executive Club.  The best you could do is credit the flights to Qatar Airways Privilege Club but you would be nowhere near earning equivalent status.

The other thing to check with Qatar is which aircraft you will be getting.  It is shown clearly during the booking process.  The new – and fantastic – business class seating shown above is on the A380 (London only, some flights only), Boeing 787 and A350 aircraft.  Try to prioritise flights with those aircraft.  The excellent food, drink and IFE will be the same irrespective of plane type.

Full details of the offers can be found on this page of the Qatar Airways website.  A few routes end tonight but most are bookable until Monday.

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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.