Flying Qatar Airways soon? New bonus miles and fast-track status promo launched

If you have any Qatar Airways flights booked, or are looking to book one this month, the airline has launched a couple of special mileage and status promotions exclusively for the UK and Irish market.

The first deal is for anyone buying a ticket this month.  The second deal is for anyone who is due to fly Qatar Airways soon, whether or not they already have their ticket.

Full details are on the Qatar Airways website here.

Deal 1 – Earn up to 10,000 bonus Qmiles

If you buy a Qatar Airways flight between 5th and 30th December, departing from the UK or Ireland, you can earn a chunky bonus if you credit it to their Qatar Airways Privilege Club loyalty programme to earn Qmiles. This would be instead of crediting your flight to, say, British Airways Executive Club to earn Avios.

You can learn more about Qmiles and Qatar Airways Privilege Club on the Qatar Airways website here.

You will earn 10,000 bonus Qmiles for a Business Class ticket

You will earn 5,000 bonus Qmiles for an Economy ticket

The flight must be booked between 5th and 30th December and flown before 31st March.

On the assumption that almost everyone who reads Head for Points has a British Airways Executive Club account, here are the points to consider before doing this:

Do you need the tier points you would earn from crediting the flight to British Airways?  If yes, choose BA.

Have you also compared the number of base miles you will earn from crediting your flights to either Qmiles or Avios?  The Qmiles calculator is here, the BA Executive Club calculator is here.

Have you looked at the spending chart for your preferred redemption routes?  This is as important as considering the amount of miles you will earn.

Do you have an obvious route for topping up your Qmiles account if it is short of the miles you need for a redemption?  Qatar Airways does not have a UK credit card and they are not an American Express Membership Rewards partner in the UK.  You can transfer points earned via the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express credit card, or points from Amex Gold or Amex Platinum which you transfer to Starwood and then on to Qmiles.

Remember that, as a member of oneworld, you can redeem your Qatar Airways Qmiles for any British Airways flight redemption which is also bookable on Avios.  All of the other oneworld airline partners – Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Qantas, American Airlines etc – are also bookable.

This offer could work out nicely for anyone who does not need the British Airways tier points from their flight, but do the maths first.  You MUST register for the offer before you fly via this page of the Qatar Airways website.

Deal 2 – Get a fast track to Qatar Airways status

The second part of this offer is open to anyone who has a Qatar Airways flight booked, or will be booking one.  Unlike the bonus miles offer, the date you booked your ticket does not matter.

If you choose to credit your Qatar Airways flights to Qatar Airways Privilege Club and not to any other oneworld frequent flyer scheme, you will get a ‘fast track’ to status.

If you earn 75 Qpoints from Qatar Airways flights between 5th December and 31st March, as a Burgundy member you will be upgraded to Silver tier. If you are already a Silver member, you will retain your status for an additional one year.

If you earn 150 Qpoints from Qatar Airways flights between 5th December and 31st March, as a Silver member you will be upgraded to Gold tier. If you are already a Gold member, you will retain your status for an additional one year.

If you earn 300 Qpoints from Qatar Airways flights between 5th December and 31st March, as a Gold member you will be upgraded to Platinum tier. If you are already a Platinum member, you will retain your status for an additional one year.

To see whether this makes sense for you, you should look at the Qpoints calculator here to see how many Qpoints you will earn from a particular flight.

In terms of matching to BA and oneworld benefits, Qatar Silver = BA Bronze, Qatar Gold = BA Silver and Qatar Platinum = BA Gold.

There is no right or wrong answer to whether you should credit your flights to Qatar Airways Privilege Club instead of, for most HFP readers, British Airways Executive Club.  It depends on where you are flying, in what class and on what fare ticket.  That said, for most people, British Airways Executive Club will work out well.

It is worth bearing in mind that Qatar Airways Privilege Club gives more status points if you are travelling on flexible or semi-flexible Business Class tickets.  BA Executive Club does not.  The Qpoints promotion is more attractive if you are travelling on higher priced Business Class ticket types.

If you are booking your ticket between 5th December and 30th December, you should also factor in the bonus Qmiles offer I talked about earlier in this article when deciding where to credit your flight.

You need to register for this offer via the Qatar Airways website here.  Your status upgrade will not take place until early April after the end of the promotional period.

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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.