More Avios-earning Qatar Airways £1,000+ business class flights to the Middle East and Asia

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If you have been getting sale withdrawal symptoms, don’t worry! Qatar Airways is back with some more great business class fares out of Europe.

These deals are not as generous as some we saw earlier in the year. They still represent very good deals for business class travel, however, especially as Qatar Airways has an excellent reputation for the quality of its seats, food and service. £1,000 to the Middle East is certainly good although admittedly diverting via Europe is hassle for a short route. £1,100 to Bangkok or Singapore is fantastic value, as is £1,400 to South Africa or the Maldives over peak season.

Remember that Qatar Airways flights earn Avios and British Airways tier points if you add your BA Executive Club number. Most of the Asian routes below will generate 560 tier points return (140 x 4)! The Middle Eastern routes, assuming you connect to Dubai or Abu Dhabi, would earn (140 + 40 x 2) 360 tier points return.

As with recent sales, Qatar is discounting heavily from selected cities in Europe.

The best deals appear to be out of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm at the moment. This is not surprising – Qatar has to fill TWO Boeing 787 aircraft from Copenhagen almost every day in Business Class. Scandinavian cities are competing against the cheap long-haul pricing offered by Norwegian.no. Amsterdam is also a small country with big planes to fill.

If you have a particular route in mind, you should also try out other starting points. Brussels has had some good deals in the past, for example.

Here are the fare rules for the current offers from Amsterdam:

Book by September 10th

Travel before June 28th

No travel inbound between January 2nd – 6th 2016. There are no stated restrictions on outbound travel.

Minimum stay 3 days, maximum 1 month

The Scandinavia deals are more restrictive, especially if you want to travel over Christmas:

Book by September 6th

Travel before March 31st 2016

No travel between December 10th – 25th 2015 outbound and January 1st – 10th 2016 inbound

Minimum stay 5 days, maximum stay 1 month

Here are some sample prices – remember that these tickets start in Amsterdam (full list here):

Abu Dhabi – €1,400 (£1,022)

Bangkok – €1,470 (£1,074)

Cape Town – €1,885 (£1,377)

Hong Kong – €1,870 (£1,366)

Phuket – €1,660 (£1,212)

Singapore – €2,375 (£1,735)

Tokyo – €2,075 (£1,516)

Zanzibar – €1,555 (£1,136)

Here are some prices from Copenhagen taken from this list:

Abu Dhabi – DKK 10,795 (£1,055)

Bangkok – DKK 13,995 (£1,368)

Cape Town – DKK 19,345 (£1,891)

Delhi – DKK 12,695 (£1,241)

Dubai – DKK 10,795 (£1,055)

Kuala Lumpur – DKK 15,995 (£1,564)

Maldives – DKK 15,995 (£1,564)

Phuket – DKK 16,495 (£1,613)

Singapore – DKK 16,045 (£1,569)

Here are some prices from Stockholm taken from this list:

Abu Dhabi – SEK 13,945 (£1,070)

Bangkok – SEK 15,495 (£1,189)

Dubai – SEK 13,945 (£1,070)

Johannesburg – SEK 22,545 (£1,731)

Kuala Lumpur – SEK 20,245 (£1,554)

Maldives – SEK 22,395 (£1,719)

Phuket – SEK 15,795 (£1,213)

Singapore – SEK 15,895 (£1,220)

Here are some prices from Oslo taken from this list:

Abu Dhabi – NOK 13,045 (£1,013)

Bangkok – NOK 14,995 (£1,165)

Dubai – NOK 13,045 (£1,013)

Cape Town – NOK 18,595 (£1,445)

Kuala Lumpur – NOK 17,145 (£1,332)

Maldives – NOK 18,195 (£1,414)

Phuket – NOK 16,145 (£1,255)

Singapore – NOK 17,195 (£1,336)

Because these fares start in Europe, there are no black-out dates for the UK Autumn half-term holidays. I had no trouble getting Copenhagen to Dubai to price up from Sunday October 25th to Sunday November 1st, for example, which is half term for most schools. (Departures on Saturday October 24th were more expensive.)

When booking with Qatar Airways, it is important to NOT just look at the headline price. It is also important to get the right aircraft. You want to be booking onto a Boeing 787 featuring the latest impressive 1-2-1 business class seating which I reviewed here. The A380 and A350 aircraft have the same seating.

The Boeing 777 seating I reviewed here is fully lie flat but is in a more traditional configuration. The A330 and A340 aircraft have sloping business class seats so are not the best first choice.

The good news is that Copenhagen, Oslo, Amsterdam and Stockholm are usually operated by Boeing 787 aircraft so you should get the newest business class product.

Apart from Oslo, which is further and uglier (!), all of these departure points are easy to reach from the UK and a pleasant place to stay for the night if a stopover is required. I would have a serious look at these deals for your long-haul travel plans over the next six months. Have a play around at qatarairways.com and see what you can find.

You should also do the maths and consider whether it is worth cancelling any Avios redemptions in order to rebook on a Qatar cash ticket.

The list of Copenhagen deals is here, the list of Stockholm deals is here, the Amsterdam deals are here and the Oslo deals are here. Other destinations apart from those listed may well be available at sale prices if you search.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

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 BA Amex American Express card

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 BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

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.)

Category

Qatar Airways and Privilege Club

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Richard F says:

25 Aug25 August 09:08

On intra-gulf/middle eastern flights the business class cabin is sold as first class. Usually booking through Qatar airways will book the shorter middle eastern segment in an F fare class meaning the tier points awarded are higher so a typical Europe – Dubai/Abu Dhabi return will net 400 TPs (140+60 x 2).

Sometimes trying to book through expedia or the like will book the shorter flight into economy class as no business class is offered on that segment. On the outward leg this would be very bad as it would also eliminate access to the Al Mourjan business class lounge as the lounge is only for passengers departing on a business class or higher flight operated by oneworld (the entry rules are different than the oneworld standard)
Andy says:

25 Aug25 August 10:05

Do you think we have seen the end of sub £1000 fares on Qatar?
- Rob says:
  
  25 Aug25 August 11:00
  
  You never know with these guys! Bangkok loads are likely to dip a little going forward …
  - Andy says:
    
    25 Aug25 August 13:10
    
    I hope so, would like to go to BKK in Jan/Feb. Just waiting for a QR 2-4-1 biz sale.
    
    Turkish are selling ARN-BKK for £800 but would prefer Qatar for TP’s and Avios and I read TK can be a bit stingy with the champagne 🙂
    
    I see Finnair and Swiss also around the £1k mark. Any idea how there J compares to Qatar?
    - Rob says:
      
      25 Aug25 August 13:19
      
      Finnair launches the A350 to Bangkok in December (8th I think). This is 1-2-1 seating, looks excellent and comparable to Qatar A380 / 787 / A350. £1189 from Heathrow and Manchester, see HFP tomorrow.
      - Andy says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 13:46
        
        Thanks, will look into Finnair a bit more. I’ve seen ARN-BKK for £989 but £1189 from LHR is tempting to save having to position.
        
        Any idea how Finnair on board service is and also the lounges?
      - Rob says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 13:58
        
        No and No!
      - James67 says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 16:21
        
        Andy, tge crrent Finnair staggered J cabins with same seats as Swiss are very nice. I think the J seat on a350s will beat QR J. It is an updated version of CX J. Current AVOD is not great, probably something brtter coming with a350s though. A350s quieter than 787s. Despite reviews, I like the food on Finnair, it’s generally lighter are suited to flying in my view. Service is efficient and professional but a little impersonal. Cabin crew uniforms will make you laugh! Thr huge plus AY has is a 10h direct flight to BKK etc, exEU ME3 options simply cannot compete in this respect. Helsinki a nice city for a short break too. Vaanta is simpke and vrry quick transit. Lounge was just ok, not great. They have a new lounge since I was last there. Supposedly better but surprisingly AY J could not access it, you needed BA gold or OW equivalent I think (this could be wrong or changed so don’t tske my word on it). If tier points important better opt for the long haul with QR via DOH
      - Andy says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 18:10
        
        Thanks for the info James really useful. Will look into AY properly as it will certainly be quicker. Have been to Helsinki before on business and enjoyed it.
      - erico1875 says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 22:38
        
        Cant comment on bus class but our Delhi to Helsinki flight was staffed by the most miserable crew i have ever had on any flight ever.
    - Polly says:
      
      25 Aug25 August 13:31
      
      QR feels even more spacious than BA F, if that gives you any indication of standards. It’s really a v g experience. Plenty of us on this blog feel the same. Def would recommend it. Are you talking about the 241 J sale from UK? Otherwise would suggest booking up with their current ex EU, rather than risk missing out completely. Would that work for you?
      - Andy says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 14:20
        
        Hi Polly, I mean 2-4-1 exEU. I recall exEU to BKK has been as low as £789 each during a 2-4-1 sale. I love a bargain you see 🙂 I might jump in now though as AMS is easy to position to and we like it. Will give it some thought.
Roger says:

25 Aug25 August 10:05

Thanks, Rob, for not only letting us know about the offers but also for spelling out the best options from several Europen airports. At last an offer to CPT that we could use. 🙂

I’m thinking of cancelling our 2-4-1 award to JNB in F on the simple basis that we don’t want to go to JNB. I’ve been there often enough. QR from AMS to CPT in I class is roughly the same cost (netting returned Avios + ‘fees’) but is slightly Avios beneficial, not to mention TPs.

On our proposed return date, there is a 9h 35 m connection at Doha – arr 22:50 dep 08:25+1. A complimentary hotel may (or may not) be offered if there is an 8+ hours connection AND there is no earlier connection. (I’m trying to check the timetable.) Otherwise $150 (presumably each so $300 for the two of us), which increases the nominal cost.

Has anybody stayed overnight on this basis? What’s the experience? Or should we risk slumming it in the lounge? Thanks for your advice. 🙂
- Roger says:
  
  25 Aug25 August 10:27
  
  It seems our suggested CPT-DOH-AMS connection is the quickest so could qualify for the complimentary DOH hotel..
  
  OTOH AMS-DOH-CPT//CPT-DOH-LHR for our dates costs an additional £239 p.p. but is much more convenient. Decisions, decisions!
Mikescores says:

25 Aug25 August 10:35

Hi Rob
Just got back last night from Phuket – via Doha and Amsterdam. Qatar is great- 787, food and personnel. The complementary overnight in Doha (as our layover was 11 hours) was at the Oryx Rotana, a beautiful hotel with easy limousine to/from the airport, also included as was QR175 towards meals etc (although the last thing we needed at that point was another meal !!).

Thanks, Rob ; keep them coming.
- Polly says:
  
  25 Aug25 August 11:02
  
  V useful Mike. We deliberately chose CPH to HKT as the connection time was v short, but £200 more pp. Wish now we had done the AMS route, weren’t sure if hotel would be offered, so next time won’t be so picky. Hotel sounds nice too. All good.
  
  Roger, we did just that, but it was to KUL on BA F 241. Those fares are too good to ignore. Plus we would have had to get to HKT anyway. So swings and roundabouts, either a leg from LON to CPH or to HKT from KUL on MAS.
  - James67 says:
    
    25 Aug25 August 15:54
    
    Not sure why you would want to prolong the journey to stay 11 hours in a hotel with associated hassles Polly. If saving was £200pp I would do it but probably not if £200 total so I personally prefer what you already did. I’m generally in favour of saving my time and will usually pay a premium to do so. Not really sold on exEU ME3 options beyond ME as overall journey times are long. Would really need a superb fare such as those around £800 again to make it worth the hassle. However it helps if you can bulid in short break with positiining flight. For those heading to major far east xities I feel most are missing a trick – Hinnair direct from Helsinki.
    - Rob says:
      
      25 Aug25 August 16:10
      
      Agreed … once the A350’s are fully in place then Finnair does become attractive – unless you need the extra 120 tier points from flying Qatar. You would miss the silliness of Hamad Airport though, and the Qatar food and IFE is world class.
    - Polly says:
      
      25 Aug25 August 17:36
      
      Tx James, yes, convenience is better of course. Thinking about a nice hotel rest, if we got one, due to OH back problems. But with the comfort of the Dreamliner each leg, we should be fine. Yes, Finnair is a new one for us. We will have silver after this trip, plus our couple of BA CE trips, for the first time. (Without status matching, I mean) Main reason for doing QR actually is to gain silver, too good an op to miss. We are then free to try other routes to Asia. How does Finnair J compare with QR J.? Are they using a 121 config? And yes we would like HEL for a short positioning break, it’s different!
      - Rob says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 18:42
        
        Can’t position, need to book from UK with no stopover I think. More on HFP tomorrow.
      - James67 says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 19:14
        
        Polly, I have found through trial and error I sleep more comfortably if I do not put seats full flat. Perhaps your husband could ease back pain by finding angle that provides nore support and less stress on affected area AY is not baf at all, current a330s same weird 121 staggered layout as Swiss. Have flew QR 777 but not 787. Im sure it trumps AY a330 but I expect the new a350 seat to equal or better the QR seat.
      - Polly says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 23:30
        
        Tnx good idea. All helps. OH actually did similar, even tho on that F trip in Jan to HKG, he had to sit forward the entire trip, in agony, and I thinking to myself, what a waste of an avios F seat. Such a shame, but we got through it. Thumbs up to BA tho with wheelchairs, assistance etc, really very good service, and CX. In HKG and Bali.
        Looking forward to trying this QR J. And now he’s pain free so should actually be able to enjoy this forthcoming trip.
Junyang (CTO, Kaligo.com) says:

25 Aug25 August 11:08

ARN – SIN is tempting. Thanks Rob!
Keiths says:

25 Aug25 August 12:48

Just about to book Y to DXB and upgrade to Upper on VS for Feb when I saw this.

I have played around with the Qatar site, but don’t seem to be able to end the trip at LHR or even get a connection at LHR back to CPH / AMS etc which I may ‘miss’ if it was for the following day.

Do I need a positioning flight out and return?
- Roger says:
  
  25 Aug25 August 13:03
  
  To get back to LHR, you need to click on Multicity Booking.
  
  For me, this meant:
  Flight 1 AMS-CPT
  add a flight
  Flight 2 CPT-LHR.
  
  If I go ahead with this routeing, I’d just need a 1-way RFS LON-AMS @ 4,000 Avios (off-peak0 + £17.50 p.p.
  
  Good luck.
  - Keiths says:
    
    25 Aug25 August 14:40
    
    Apologies, I wasn’t clear in my explanation. I could get back to LHR using Multi City but not at the low prices.
- Andy says:
  
  25 Aug25 August 13:29
  
  If you end the trip at LHR it’ll cost more. For example starting CPH-DOH-DXB-DOH-CPH is £1056 where as CPH-DOH-DXB-DOH-LHR is £1665.
  
  Using matrix ita I can see CPH-DOH-DXB-DOH-LHR-CPH with the last leg on SAS for £1191 if thats any good. You can try and skip last leg?
  
  Or CPH-DOH-DXB-DOH-LHR-LGW-AMS for £1222. This has last leg from LGW so you can skip it more easily.
  
  These prices are on matrix ita which is a bit flaky for Qatar.
  - Keiths says:
    
    25 Aug25 August 14:47
    
    Forgive my slowness on this, but looking at Matrix Ita I see you cannot book on it.
    
    Is the only way to go to a TA with the itinery?
    
    Having said that, I may have difficulty in persuading the other half all this changing planes is worth it.
    
    Thanks in advance.
    - Andy says:
      
      25 Aug25 August 15:49
      
      Correct you cannot book on matrix ita. It is the best tool for searching but you need to book it elsewhere. Possibly Qatar multi-city tool but I have never found it very good. Failing that then an OTA. Could try the one Raffles recommends, propeller travel is it? Apparently you can send them the info from matrix ita and they can take it from there.
      
      By the way, good luck persuading the OH, I am sure I will have the same problem when I pitch an ex-EU I am sure 🙂
Adam says:

25 Aug25 August 14:18

🙁

I’m still waiting for another 2-4-1 ex-EUR sale as i want a trip to HKG or HND next Easter or May.
Hoping that they run one around November, fingers are crossed (many times).
- Andy says:
  
  25 Aug25 August 14:22
  
  Me too on the ex-EU 2-4-1. I feel your pain 🙂
  - Worzel says:
    
    25 Aug25 August 16:37
    
    With the business class ticket prices we’ve seen of late, the “hobby” of collecting Avios has become unexciting-Polly perhaps eluded to this in an earlier post. I’ve two close friends who have(in the past couple of months) signed-up(not referred) for BA Amex cards, and I’m sorry to say that I’m struggling to be positive about their collection possibilities/redemptions-we all live “in the sticks” .
    - Andy says:
      
      25 Aug25 August 18:05
      
      Totally agree. We have a few Avios earnt from Y tickets before the devaluation to use on RFS and then Amex MR points which we will keep sat there until we find the best place to convert to. Maybe Virgin?
      
      We also have an upgrade voucher from Lloyds but just can’t see me using it for long haul with the stupid taxes on BA. I might just use it to upgrade an RFS to CE.
      - Worzel says:
        
        25 Aug25 August 18:49
        
        Andy 6:05 pm.
        Understood.
Peter K says:

25 Aug25 August 15:17

A bit off to topic, but does anyone have any idea which airlines do good gluten free businesses class food?