Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Avios redemptions at The O2 now come with £400 to spend on food and drink

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

We’ve covered Privilege Club Collection a few times recently. This is the new events platform launched by Qatar Airways Privilege Club which allows you to use your Avios for VIP tickets to key entertainment and sporting events (British Grand Prix coming soon, Monaco Grand Prix available now).

Tickets for The O2 concerts come with access to The NinetyThird, the new private club at The O2. My review of The NinetyThird launch event is here and Qatar Airways has the naming rights. You also get to take some Instagram pictures from The Walkway, pictured below.

Use Avios for Formula 1 Paddock Club tickets

The NinetyThird has multiple bars, including a champagne bar, and multiple places to eat including a fine dining restaurant.

Qatar Airways has had some teething problems delivering food and drink to people who buy O2 tickets for Avios via Privilege Club Collection. It now seems to have come up with a solution.

If you redeem Avios for an O2 event via Privilege Club Collection, it will come with £400 to spend at The NinetyThird. Between two people. You don’t need me to tell you that you’re going to get a pretty good night from that:

Privilege Club Collection

You can check out the auctions currently available by clicking here. As you can see, the WWE wrestling is currently priced at 10,100 Avios. Thirty Seconds To Mars is currently at 2,100 Avios as you can see above. These packages come with £400 to spend on food and drink between you and your guest in The NinetyThird, remember.

(EDIT: a reader has posted his experience of using the £400 credit in the comments below)

How can you bid for Privilege Club Collection experiences?

You must have Avios in a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account before you can bid. It is NOT good enough to have Avios in a British Airways Executive Club account which is linked to your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account. You must have physically moved Avios across to your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account.

(One snag here is that you can’t use the entire balance of a British Airways Executive Club household account to bid. The only Avios you can move into a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account are those in your own personal account. If you have 100,000 Avios and your partner has 50,000 Avios to give you a household balance of 150,000 Avios, the most you could use to bid for a single Privilege Club Collection auction is 100,000 – ie your own balance.)

Your must have enough Avios in your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account to match your maximum bid. You cannot bid more than your current Avios balance, and you cannot set a future auto-bid which is higher than your balance.

This Head for Points article explains how to link your BA and Qatar Airways Privilege Club accounts and transfer Avios between them. Transfers are free, instant and can be reversed at any time.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

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

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.

Category

Qatar Airways and Privilege Club

Comments (42)

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

  • Matt says:
    21 Mar21 March 05:39

    Has anyone tried the food and drinks, and are they any good? Is it actually a premium offering, with food properly cooked on site by proper chefs, or is it just pre-prepared catering warmed up and plated on site by non-chefs? I’m just skeptical about self proclaimed “fine dining” restaurants, that usually aren’t fine dining :). If the food is genuinely fine dining though then sounds like a fantastic use of avios assuming current bids stay less than 20k.

    • Rob says:
      21 Mar21 March 06:53

      It’s a full on restaurant. Remember that The NinetyThird has a £15,000 annual membership fee and you still have to pay for F&B on top.

  • R2 says:
    21 Mar21 March 06:01

    Part 1

    Full review of this experience below – it’s amazing!

    I attended Jason Derulo (19k), Ne-Yo (33K) and Michael McIntyre (34K, other date 1 week after went for 66k!) – primarily because I like to do different things, not necessarily the artist. Hans Zimmer last night went for 86k (the sum of all of my 3 redemptions) I was lucky and Qatar Airways just figured out how to give guests £400 F&B credit. It goes a long way!

    Pre-bookable VIP drop off by car: super exclusive entrance to the O2. High security entrance including sniffer dogs if they are on duty. Your registration plate that you gave will be on their computer (not necessarily on their clipboard for Valet parking, inform them that Qatar Airways arranged the drop off). You can’t get dropped off by a taxi here, unless you know the registration plate before hand – I asked. The drop off entrance, via a hallway of O2 artists, leads to the AEG reception (This is at the side of Entrance A).

    If you have a car to park, the cheapest option is North Greenwich Station Car Park Code – 801637 – Arrive before 7pm for £12.50 (£7.50 on Sundays). Use the ‘Pay by Phone’ app (AMEX not accepted) or manually at the machine located in the car park. Less than 5 mins walk to Entrance A/B through the station. If you want, you can also visit the many outlet stores as you are there. Getting out could take up to 30 mins, it does go though. Be wary of any Blackwall Tunnel closures.

    Go to The Guests Services Hub under the ICON Staircase just past All Bar One on the left if you want to access to the AMEX Invites lounge – expect a big queue if you really want to go – they issue the tickets from 5:30pm. You need to get passes by showing your tickets. At the lounge reception, ask for some drink tokens by showing your relevant AMEX cards. Don’t bother going before the show though, as you have £400 to spend in the Ninety Thirds. Maybe come back later – no drink tokens given after the show so best to get some before :). Scheduled to close one hour after the event finishes.

    Your O2 ticket on the axs app shows Entrance B. This ‘entrance’ is quite wide – you need the left part of this where it will say Ninety Third Lounge.

  • R2 says:
    21 Mar21 March 06:04

    Part 2

    Go at 5:30pm as you have £400 to spend! Ask for a tab number to put all your expenses on (you don’t have to put down your credit card – pace yourself:) ). Tour and take pics of the walkway. Then a cocktail at the 1800 bar. Then dinner in the main restaurant which has proper a proper kitchen and chefs (After ordering most of the menu I can confirm the food is very good!). Ask the staff what time the show starts etc. They will know the exact earliest timings. You can order dinner for after the warm up show. Then you can order drinks (plastic/paper containers only), food, sweets, ice cream to bring to your seat yourself.

    Toilets are at either side of the lounge.

    Be prepared to eat, and if drinking, don’t plan anything the following morning 🙂

  • Tariq says:
    21 Mar21 March 06:25

    I guess the context is the actual pricing of the F&B. If on the same warped scale as the other outlets in the O2 arena (and in entertainment venues in general), it might not actually go far. Spent £65 on a bottle of wine and two hot food items at the O2 last month, and that was after the Amex discount!

  • Zoe says:
    21 Mar21 March 07:41

    I was at the O2 on Monday and felt like my mother complaining about the drinks prices. Over £10 for a plastic glass of wine (after the Amex discount). Maybe I don’t get out much!

    • Chris W says:
      21 Mar21 March 09:33

      I’m fascinated by people who pay over 10 pounds for what I assume is a pretty low-range plastic cup of wine. If you were that desperate for a drink surely you would load up at a pub beforehand? Or do these people have so much money they don’t care about the prices. In that case wouldn’t they want something more sophisticated than a savvy b in a tumbler?

      I see people on a Tuesday night at a West End Theatre smashing the plastic cups of wine. I abstain both because I try to limit drinking during the week and it seems like an absurd waste of money.

      • Rob says:
        21 Mar21 March 09:39

        If you can afford an event at the O2, you can afford £10 for a glass of wine!

        • Geoff says:
          21 Mar21 March 09:52

          I can afford to pay £20 for a Mars bar. Doesn’t mean I would

        • No longer Entitled says:
          21 Mar21 March 12:35

          Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. Two completely different concepts that most people confuse.

          • Rob says:
            21 Mar21 March 13:15

            We’re grateful to you for highlighting the fact that food and drink can be highly priced in concert venues, sporting venues, cinemas, theatres, at festivals etc – something which I’m sure is news to most readers 🙂

            £10 for wine really isn’t expensive though in London. I’d say £8 was cheap / passes without a second thought. At £15 I’d get grumpy. I’ve just spent over £10 on a Pret sandwich and a pot of fruit.

    • BBbetter says:
      21 Mar21 March 12:39

      Is that any different to popcorn costing £5 at cinema?

      • Erico1875 says:
        21 Mar21 March 20:09

        Took grandchildren to Disney on Ice last month at Hydro Glasgow. Popcorn was £15.

        • Erico1875 says:
          21 Mar21 March 20:26

          And a £2 equivalent, plastic sword was £32 each. X those by 3 and £140 is gone.
          However we knew we were getting gouged before we turned up, you accept it as a special occasion and prepare accordingly

  • R2 says:
    21 Mar21 March 08:30

    Part 3

    The staff are very friendly and helpful.

    Special shout out to Sameh and Hajer (Qatar PC pre-event) and onsite to Natalie, Va’nusa, Leon, Sal, Dhillon, Yash and Remy.

    I hope you enjoy whatever O2 event you go to and hopefully my review will aid you. Happy to answer any questions also.

    • Matt says:
      21 Mar21 March 09:19

      Your 3 part review was very informative and helpful thanks!

    • R2 says:
      21 Mar21 March 10:00

      It’s worth noting that the lounge is VERY far (almost furthest) from the main front stage, so if you want to be up close then you will be disappointed. However, it gives a great view of the arena as a whole, as you are in a central position.

      • Rob says:
        21 Mar21 March 10:15

        Yes, it’s as far back as you can get although you are directly front on.

  • Andyf says:
    21 Mar21 March 09:09

    I had a email from Radisson yesterday about buying points. It made me actually think why are they even selling points anymore. it was 375,000 points pretty much for roughly $1400 dollars or so (+50% bonus). But if the points now have a fixed value at 0.2p per points. Surely this is just printing money for Radisson. As soon as you purchase these points they only worth $750 dollars towards rooms? I don’t get it… how can they be doing this…Have I missed something, I thought they removed the set points for a room. Very dodgy to me.

  • Alexey says:
    21 Mar21 March 09:20

    30 seconds to Mars is actually rescheduled for June so screenshot is outdated

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!