Good Qatar Airways Australia availability for 180,000 Avios return in Business

The cheapest way to get to Australia in Business Class with Avios, by far, is with Qatar Airways.

The cost is only 180,000 Avios return plus around £600 of taxes and charges per person.

Availability comes and goes, but currently looks surprisingly good.

A comment from Kaconym in our comments section yesterday made me take a look.

Kaconym was correct. Apart from Sydney and Auckland, Business Class Avios availability on the other Qatar Airways routes to Australasia (Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne) is looking pretty good, both short term and long term.

I did a quick survey. This is looking for:

• 1 x Business Class seat
• outbound from London
• priced at standard rates, not the ‘double Avios’ Flexi rate
• for February 2025 (an off-peak month)
• booking on the Qatar Airways site (but ba.com availability should match)

Availability will be reduced for two people travelling together. You should still find something, or consider splitting and travelling on consecutive flights.

Here’s what I found:

Melbourne

• 21 out of 28 days available

Perth

• 21 out of 28 days available

Brisbane

• 14 out of 28 days available

Adelaide

• 27 out of 28 days available

What about taxes and charges?

Here’s a typical total cost including taxes and charges:

Yes, just 180,000 Avios return for a Business Class seat.

You could reduce the taxes and charges by starting in Dublin, Amsterdam or similar to avoid long haul premium cabin UK Air Passenger Duty.

However, Qatar Airways uses ‘married segment availability’ so its possible that the onward leg to Australia might not show if you start from elsewhere. This rule also applies to departures from Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.

Remember that the headline British Airways cost to Sydney is 290,000 Avios + £750 off-peak return, on the very rare occasions when there is availability.

You should be able to book via ba.com using the standard Avios booking portal, but it’s worth checking the Qatar Airways site as well. This article explains how to link your British Airways Executive Club and Qatar Airways Privilege Club accounts. You don’t need to transfer your Avios to Qatar Airways – once linked, Qatar Airways is able to pull Avios directly from your BA account when you book.

Here are our latest Qatar Airways reviews

Our most recent Qatar Airways Business Class flight reviews are here, for the new Boeing 787-9, and here for the Qatar Airways A380.

If you are based in London you should also read our review of the excellent Qatar Airways Premium Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4 and the new Qatar Airways Frequent Flyer lounge in T4, for oneworld elites travelling in Economy, here.

We also have 2023 reviews of the lounges at Doha’s Hamad International Airport if you look through our Qatar Airways articles here.

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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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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.

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.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.