Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Qatar Airways launches Gatwick flights alongside a week long ‘book early’ sale

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

Qatar Airways has landed in Gatwick. On Tuesday the inaugural flight from Doha to London Gatwick was welcomed with a celebratory water arch. The new twice daily service will be operated by a Boeing 787 and increases to 16 flights per week service over the Summer season.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said about the new route:

“Qatar Airways is delighted to be expanding its reach in both London and throughout the U.K. Earlier this month, we launched direct flights to Cardiff, the capital of Wales, clearly demonstrating our continued commitment to this market. We are very proud of our strong and extensive trade ties with the U.K. and look forward to offering our loyal passengers the chance to explore the newest and most exciting destinations within our global network.”

Qatar gatwick water arch

Early Bird promotion

Qatar Airways has also launched an Early Bird promotion for travel later this year.

Book by 29th May for travel between 15th August 2018 and 31st March 2019 to get fares from £391 (Delhi) in Economy.

The travel period for flights departing London is slightly more restricted, running from 1st September 2018 until 31st March 2019.

There’s a blackout period between 13th December 2018 and 13st January 2019 inclusive.

The booking page and T&Cs are here.

Your best option to maximise your miles when paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.  This offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.


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:

Nectar American Express

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

American Express Platinum card Amex

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 card

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.)

Comments (113)

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

  • James says:

    Flying CE to BCN from LGW in a few weeks – booked a long time ago. Just realised it’s being operated by Eastern airways with a embraer 170. Will it be ok or should I get BA to switch us on to one of their own planes?

    Any advice? Usually find the Embraers comfortable from LCY with superior leg room!

    Thanks!

    • Lumma says:

      Not exactly the same but I had a flight LCY-TXL which was changed to be operated by Jota Aviation. There was only one drinks service for the entire plane. The club Europe customers got their bacon sandwich on a plate, that was pretty much the only difference between business and economy

    • Leo says:

      Looks like the seat pitch is 31″ so that’s better than BA a320 etc.

  • Alex W says:

    OT. Mrs W has Gold credit and SPG Amex. When I try to add a supplementary cardholder to the account , it always defaults to SPG account and there seems no way to add a supp Gold card. Are we doing something wrong?

    • Grimz says:

      I don’t think so as I know someone with the same issue. Call Amex or chat online to get this resolved. If Amex do it for you on the phone you may not get the supplementary bonus for adding another card.

      • Alex W says:

        Thanks, yes I’m only doing it for the 3k bonus! Guess I’ll wait till the SPG has been cancelled.

  • Stuart says:

    I got the text message from BA yesterday cancelling my flight from NCL to LHR in December. Fortunately I’ve been rebooked for free onto a flight I tried to change to last week but wasn’t prepared to pay the change fee! So I’ve scored as it means 2 more hours in Terminal 3 at LHR sampling the lounges of Qantas and Cathay Pacific before my BA flight to Budapest!

  • PAL says:

    Regarding the new Virgin CC, anyone having issues with the contactless function? keeps saying insert card…

  • Tom Cook says:

    OT – someone (can’t recall who), commented that they’d not had the ALDI credit on their AMEX due to the store being new. I used m PLAT in a new store in N. Leeds and it has today credited (transaction date was 11.4.18

    • the real harry1 says:

      That was me, the rogues denied it 4x because the new Lidl wasn’t on their list of qualifying outlets and kicked up a fuss when I asked for the statement credits. Which I did get but they told me not to ask for any more for 6 months.

      • the real harry1 says:

        Aldi

        • Tom Cook says:

          Good see you back, H, and I hope you’re on the mend!

        • Yuff says:

          I though Harry had permanently decamped to his place in the sun 😉 ☀️

        • the real harry1 says:

          funny you should mention that, t-48hrs or so, place in the sun here I come 😉

          cheers guys

        • Tom Cook says:

          Have fun, H!

          Have to say we’re heading to Florence and Siena for a week on Saturday on a holiday that without this website wouldn’t have been on our radar!

          Two return reward flights – £70
          Hotel for 3 nights in Florence due to AMEX offer – £200 off.
          2 nights in Siena free with points.
          Car hire at a reduced rate and on gold membership with Hertz.

          So for a week of hotels, flights and car for the two of us I think we’re at £650 or so which includes 2 nights on an agritourismo! Thanks all!

  • Anna says:

    I’ve got an offer on my BAPP for 400 avios for a £40 Ocado spend.

    • Anna says:

      Also for 400 MR points on the gold Amex.

      • Tom Cook says:

        Not for me – offers have to be frank been pants this year so far.

        • AspirationalFlyer says:

          I think they’ve been mixed too and I ignore the vast majority. I’m not sure what the Amex strategy – is it to encourage you to use merchants you wouldn’t normally (based on your spending patterns)?

    • david says:

      I’ve got that as well – useless when they don’t operate in my country!

    • john says:

      I don’t see that either but then I shop there already so maybe they are targetting.. but I do have £10 off £60 at fetch and £10 off £50 at fabled which are both run by Ocado.

  • James says:

    No mention of Qatar’s new redemption fees.
    £25 / £50 / £75 per sector.
    So a return business class redemption via DOHA will now cost you an additional.£200 🙁

    (Might be USD rather than GBP)

    • Rob says:

      Yes, I saw this – but I doubt there are more than a handful of Qatar PC members here given that BA is the alternative.

  • VJ says:

    O/T – IHG Creation Free Night, can you cancel the booking and get the certificate back.

    • Peter K says:

      Yes. I’ve done it. The date it is valid to remains the same however.

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