BA removes Qatar ‘R’ business class from tier point and Avios earning

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This week saw the launch of the British Airways / Qatar Airways revenue sharing deal on routes from the UK to Doha which I discussed here. This means that BA and Qatar are effectively operating as one airline on these routes with the revenue being shared out between them, irrespective of carrier used.

Regular Head for Points readers will know that Qatar Airways regularly has incredibly cheap business class sales from Europe which credit to British Airways Executive Club and make requalification for Executive Club status very easy. One £900 return ticket to Bangkok would get you over 90% of the way to a BA Silver card.

No longer.

It seems that, as part of the revenue sharing deal, British Airways will now refuse to credit heavily discounted Qatar Airways business class tickets to Executive Club. You will not receive ANY Avios or tier points at all.

They do NOT appear to be giving any leeway for tickets booked before this week.

Here is the key page of the Executive Club website:

Note that ‘R’ is missing next to ‘Business’.

This is not a mistake, based on various Twitter and call centre conversations reported on Flyertalk. That said, ‘R’ class flights do still show up in the Avios miles calculator tool.

Oddly, Qatar Airways ‘R’ class DOES still appear as an earning miles and status points in Iberia Plus as at 5am today (click to enlarge):

…. and, of course, all other oneworld frequent flyer programmes continue to offer credit for ‘R’ class Qatar Airways tickets.

If you have an ‘R’ class Qatar Airways ticket booked, do not panic immediately. Some clarity on what is happening should emerge over the next couple of days. If the worst comes to the worst you can credit the flight to a different frequent flyer scheme – possible even Iberia Plus to earn Avios – although that won’t help you earn BA status of course.

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: