New Qatar ‘all business class’ Heathrow service launched – a great Avios redemption

In the ‘I didn’t see that coming’ stakes, Qatar Airways announcement this week of an ‘all business class’ service from Doha to Heathrow scores pretty highly.

Using a newly acquired sixth daily slot at Heathrow, the service will launch on May 14th.  It will use an Airbus A319 with a similar layout to the one British Airways uses on its London City to New York JFK flights.

It will offer an overnight service to Doha, leaving Heathrow at 21.55 and arriving at 06.40.  The return leaves Doha at 14.50, arriving in London at 20.25.  With only one plane available in this configuration, it remains to be seen what happens when there are technical issues, especially as the 21.55 is the last Qatar service of the day.

Seating will be in a 2 x 2 formation, with just 40 seats on the plane.  Qatar released these mock-up images:

and

Whilst the seating looks tight, Qatar Airways says that the seats will be fully flat and that the planes will be wi-fi equipped.

My gut feeling would have been that Qatar Airways would not release Avios seats on this route because they need to fill it with paying passengers to make it work.  However, the seats are there.  At the time of writing, for example, there are 4 seats available on the Heathrow to Doha service on 2nd June – 10% of the plane!  In fact, there seem to be 4 seats available on most days.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

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

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios 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.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)