Very helpful, Matt. A couple of weeks ago, I took a look at flights to the Seychelles. Qatar was about half the cost of BA - and will probably offer a much better in-flight experience. You can guess the direction that my Avios will be moving.
Presumably a linen blazer in the tropics??? Hopefully the flood of business towards Qatar that this will create will inspire BA to up their game! Breath not held though...
Matt. If you where going to try and book an avios + Cash trip to Syd with Qatar Airways in the future, as I am (October 23 for October 24) where in Europe would you look at flying from. Or could you fly with Qatar from LHR and if you did would you pay APD. Thanks. Steve. C. YNWA. 🤞
Hi Steve. Still YNWA but it's not been a good month.... 3 factors... Where can you get to easily? My first looks are DUB and AMS as they're easy enough. Be cautious about starting as close to DOH as SOF as that can be serviced by narrow bodies... Fewer avios (I believe) but a lesser experience. 2 is equipment - I'm flying ex-DUB later this week on a 787 without the QSuite. More premium cities are more likely to get the best kit... Although you never can be certain on Qatar until you actually step on the plane... And 3 is availability - I'd go wherever there was a seat available if it meant the Qatar experience to Sydney. And I guess price is number 4 as starting outside the UK swerves the APD. Of course starting in London (and paying the APD) may end up cheaper than flying somewhere to position, if it includes a night. My ex-DUB flight leaves at 07:25... It was a good idea when I booked it....
Hi Matt, thanks for all your great uploads. This January I plan to fly to Thailand, Via Qatar-on-Qatar airlines. Can you please tell me if I will still earn BA tier points on this journey?
Hi Morgy. You will earn Tier Points for any flight taken on a OneWorld airline. There's a handy guide on the BA site which will (usually) show what's coming - www.britishairways.com/travel/flight-calculator/execclub/_gf/en_gb?refevent=bah_ecavscalculat/execclub/_gf/en_gb - I say usually as it can occasionally be wrong, but that's usually with new flights that haven't been put into the database correctly.
Excellent video, I always find your explanation of the complexities of the BA exec club and redemption of Avios to be particularly clear and helpful. It seems strange that after so many rumours about Qatar being about to ditch the relationship with One World this seems to be strengthening that relationship.
Cheers Les. They own 25% of IAG and must have taken a bath over the last 3 years so doubling down by going all-in on avios is a logical step??? Mixing my gambling metaphors a little there, but you know what I mean!
It certainly is possible - its not easy to find availability though - its best to search for the two legs separately then search for the through journey and it should pop up. I used Qatar's site to book when I did LAX-DOH-LGW last year and one of my patrons did a similar route last week so its still possible!
Hello - its always the traveller that gets the points for actually travelling - that works for business travellers who get the benefits despite not paying! You can get points on the purchase through a credit card if you buy for someone else but not the points for actually travelling. Cheers!
Almost impossible to book an Avios award flight with Qatar Manchester to Goa in November 2022,very few avios seats available ! I have 220,000 avios points sort this out Qatar
Thanks Brosnan. It wouldn't surprise me if reward availability had been pulled back given the rising costs and uncertainty. Did you try ex-LHR? Not ideal if living in Manchester but if one leg of a routing is busy with low availability (MAN-DOH) that might explain things
I believe the availability shows up on BA although I saw something from Headforpoints that there may be some IT issues... Don't think DUB-DOH availability would show up on BA as its not a BA route...
The only thing that BA has left is the 2-4-1 Companion Voucher! Due to traveling with a partner, the voucher means it makes more sense to redeem on BA instead of Qatar
I find that the £15 + avios option is quite handy for short European hops - you can usually find a cheaper flight with another airline but with Gold status the lounge experience makes the slight premium for BA worthwhile. And the ease of making redemptions on American (and Alaskan) with trivial cash components on US domestic hops is a plus. But long haul, apart from the 2-fer and the new avios upgrade certificate, redeeming long haul with BA makes very little sense!
Thanks Adam - always nice to scoop up some points you can actually use when travelling on a different airline. Flew Virgin Australia years and years ago and it was always enjoyable - a little less stodgy than Qantas and cheaper too!
@Matt's Planet Free tea, coffee and water along with an app for entertainment. Was also cheaper than the budget Jetstar where you pay for everything, e.g. entertainment on a 8 hour flight costing £8 extra.
Even better, if you are lucky enough to live outside the M25! A connection would be required for BA and as Qatar serves EDI, MAN and BHX. The joy of saving a trip down the M40 is pricless
Very good point Paul - thanks. I do live outside the M25 but on the South Eastern corner where the London airports are the only real options... Fell into the London Airways trap!
G'day Ryan. 6.5k lifetime tier points. But I only returned to live in the UK about 9 years ago and began collecting from then. I currently have about 260k avios, but would have had perhaps a million over those 9 years... I am actually planning a video on how to get more avios which I'll use as a vehicle to explain how I got quite so many without commuting to the US for work in business class!
@@MattsPlanet That will be interesting. I have similar TP but only around 40 K points in total, mostly via flying. I get silver in 2014 and gold in 2019. Though this barclays thing may give me another 10 K in the near future. Will be interested to know how to get more avios and what is the general TP/avios ratio. Does BA have some sort of statistics? they should have actually.
Very useful, ties up a lot of loose ends. Good tips on the search workarounds and on HHAs too, thanks. We are still on the hook with BA for 241 vouchers and the new upgrade vouchers but avios on QR is beginning to look more attractive. We have managed to snag the avios holy grail of 241 plus upgrade voucher to Sydney in F but frankly, having done Sydney to Doha in a Q-suite, I am wondering if it is worth it.
Thanks Geoff. Congrats on the Sydney F - did you do the 1am call to snag them? I have a lengthy Q-Suite flight coming up plus a much shorter BA F leg so you've given me the idea of a comparison video between the two experiences! I feel bad for giving people even more reasons not to fly with BA, but BA needs to up its game if its going to retain its premium business! Thanks for commenting.
Thank you for the great advice Matt you have helped me no end with the complex tier system and avios options.You are by far the best travel blogger and give clear very honest advice.I fly to USA regularly Ba not what it was we live in hope that they up their game but we used to disappointment with them!!I am Blues singer so travel for a living follow your advice regularly thank you so very much for all the hard work you do on the great channel keep rocking Suzy Martell
Heya, I'm in a household account wirh my partner (we aren't married) with BA and I've got myself a privilege account but I can't get our household points on it? Anyone know a solution? As it's cheaper with Qatar to fly to Australia
I believe you can only transfer your personal points to Qatar, not all of the points in HH account. I keep my personal avios in Qatar so when I spend avios in through BA, I'm spending those held by others in the HH account (my Mum is happy for me to do this!!!!) I then bring avios back to BA if I need them... That's how I manage my HH account and keep as many avios as possible free to use through Qatar
@@sarahknights7310 You can transfer points between people but its very expensive to do so. But if that's the only way to get points across to Qatar then so be it... BA claims that there's no Qatar flight bookable with them that's not also available on ba.com so you may not need to move anything around....
I've just looked on ba rewards and the perth to London is now the same as on qatars so I'm happy with that! 90,000 points for a one way to Australia for 2 people is brilliant in my mind 😂
Very well elaborated Matt! Qatar definitely opens up some nice interesting doors both in terms of earnings and redemptions... Plus they unlock some new carriers to redeem Avios for such as Rwandair and MEA as well as bringing back LATAM redemptions post Oneworld divorce
G'day Nick. I don't like the look of it much, I think it produces fewer results than the old one and the ability to filter or search by day parts seems to have gone. But its still free, its still fantastic and I'm thrilled the guys behind it invested the time to rebuild it so it can continue to be available. I started scripting a video about it and did some gentle testing, particularly of the results depth (fewer results as I suspected that the processing power devoted to each query may have been throttled back) but the video was threatening to be extremely boring (even compared to my other videos!!!) so I shelved it. But I think a Matrix 2022 video is probably in order...
@@MattsPlanet The results changes really got me - I'm hoping they don't depreciate the old site. p.s. I'm doing an Aegean points run to get SA status as the off-peak flight prices are very reasonable!
Nice one Matt, flew with Qatar recently and all four flights were excellent. Traveled in business as part of a tier point run to get up to BA silver. Fares from Oslo at the time I booked were very competitive compared with travelling from the UK, the saving more than paid for a few days in Norway.
Thanks Colin. Oslo was my go-to starting point for Qatar trips before the you-know-what. The salmon in the Oslo lounge was always a highlight... Good to see they're back on the radar!
Matt. Yet another informative video. Can you book directly with Qatar Airways using a Ba Amex Premium plus card companion voucher and Avios or do you have to book directly through BA to use it. I was thinking of a trip to Melbourne to experience the Q Suite and like you said BA is basically Sydney IF you can get it. Steve. YNWA
Hi Steve. You can link accounts between BA and Qatar and move avios between the accounts instantly. Any vouchers (Amex or Barclays) have to be used on BA flights though...
@@MattsPlanet I figured that but was just hoping you'd say yes. :)) I did scout BA, LHR to Sing a year in advance and what I found was, if I go through BA looking to book a reward flight (Amex Companion voucher) and Avios for two a year in advance, if I select business class it showed no seats, but if I selected economy it showed me all available seats including business class and Qatar Airways metal. I could book on a Qatar Airways flight if there was availability, which when I Looked there was but do you know how I can check if it would be a plane that has the Q class. I'm looking more at the DOHA to Sing leg for that. It shows the flight details, flight number etc on the BA website but doesn't say what plane it is. THanks Steve. YNWA
@@stevecraven3502 LHR - SIN is the holy grail as you're competing against people looking for SIN and those continuing on to SYD. If BA resurrects KUL or BKK then some options might pop up that make the twofer worthwhile... Otherwise I am starting to really question the benefits... Although as they have recently converted the twofer so it is also a half-off for single travellers, and as I am fairly agnostic about where I go, the BA voucher has gotten a second wind for me... I have been looking at SE Asia on Qatar and found (and booked!) Dublin to Phuket in Qatar in business. Not Qsuites but the 787 product is still very decent. As for seeing the equipment, Qatar is renowned for changing equipment at the last minute so even if you book a Qsuite there is still a risk... But if you make a shadow booking of a route you like through Qatar's site you should be able to see whether the plane had a suite or just a reclining seat...
Hi Matt. Thank you for the great video. I want to start a One World program. I fly around 60k miles a year from Germany. Would you consider Qatar’s Privilege Club a good option compared to BA.
Hi there. I had a brief look at Qatar a year back - I was contemplating giving up on BA! Didn't analyse it in detail but it looked like Qatar's qualification threhholds were higher than BA's... What I'd do is list out the next half dozen trips you're likely to take and see what they would earn in BA and Qatar's schemes. Then see how far that would get you to the status you'd like.
Has anyone managed to link accounts? My Qatar account has my middle name but BA doesn't so the link process fails and they couldn't fix it for me. I've had to request a change via their support. Big faff.
I linked relatively quickly but the name thing would be an issue. It's a faff but your avios balance is like a bank account so you probably do want to be confident there's stringent security in place over linkages and access... Hopefully its a simple fix.
matt, could you do a short video about the new BA Avios Reward Flight Saver, where you pay less fees by using ore Avios.. I'm confused about how it works.
I'm a bit confused too!!! Its relatively simple to calculate the effect - for a New York flight is was 100,000 avios return plus £853. With a RFS its 160,000 plus £350. So the £503 you save in cash is costing 60,000 avios, so 0.84p each. Which is respectable, but not outstanding. And I think you can do this for any routing, although I've not had time to do much digging myself... It does get a bit more complicated but that's the gist of it... Headforpoints.com has some articles on it for a more immediate reaction - they'll always be quicker than I can be!
Yes, great option I was able to book award seats on QA a month before the world cup taht weren't available through BA, 70k miles round trip from the usa to Doha, and 134usd for taxes durin the world cup, you can't beat that
That's excellent - I saw reports that there was surprisingly good availability to Qatar during the world cup, although you needed to have tickets to matches to get int the country?
Great video as usual Matt Got a question mate Just booked business class with Avios with companion voucher from LHR to Dalaman Turkey. Will I get business lounge access? It doesn't say anything about lounge but I'm guessing it does. BA
Excellent video, Question, if I join the Q privilege club, can I still collect tier points with BA? , I have started to fly to Tokyo in business which will be frequent, the privilege club I think will get me top status quicker than tier points as my BA year ends in August meaning I will need less flights with Qatar, many thanks
Absolutely. You make sure your ba number is attached to the bookings so the Tps and avios accumulate with ba. You can then link to Qatar and move to those avios across as required.
Would agree that Qatar are great ( also Bangkok Airways) This will be good for Dad as he can move some points over to Qatar from BA. I'll have to check expiry rules as our BA accounts are normally kept alive with partner / nectar activity if not flying. Where Qatar may still have fixed duration expiry (I'll have to check the wording again). Was frequent until March 2020, but not much since then....
Thanks John. I like Bangkok airways too! You raise an interesting point, which might actually be an opportunity... It's simple to move avios back and forth so you don't really need to commit to holding them in either account. So whichever one has the most sympathetic expiry rules would be the happiest home... Unless moving them back and forth counts as activity and extends their life! That would be good, wouldn't it... Might have to do some testing of that.... Thanks!
Matt, excellent videos! I switched 95% of my business from BA to QR as long as nine years ago - and have never looked back. BTW - Cebu is pronounced Si Boo (I should know, as that’s where my wife is from, and where I’m currently spending Christmas / New Year).
Thanks P D - you were 9 years ahead of most of the rest of us!!! The Cebu thing is a bit embarrassing as I've been there! I usually get the names of places I've been right (eg Saaaaahmoa rather than Samoa) but missed this one! Apologies and have a great stay - it was a beautiful place!
Do you have any advise for the best way to use Avios to fly from USA to London? I will be flying from a regional airport to an international one then on to London. Flying BA with Avios to London seems to incur a lot of surplus fees that all but wipe out the benefit of redeming Avios.
Thanks Sarah. The fees are punishing when departing the US... It will depend on the class of travel you want and how many avios you have... And how much messing about you're prepared to put up with! 3 thoughts - its usually good value to use avios to get to the international port even if you travel on separate tickets... Take a look at getting to JFK then buying the day flight from JFK to LHR in economy which, as its not overnight, is quite tolerable. Doing it myself in January so will make a video about it... 2 would be to look at AA options to the near continent then hop a cheapo flight (or a Eurostar) to get to London - taxes may be lower. 3 - Look at two one ways... That's actually good advice anyway as it can be cheaper to buy the ticket in two halves... Then perhaps come back from Dublin connecting in London to avoid the Air Passenger Duty (which is £180) and hey, you get to see Dublin! Hope there's something in there that's handy... I recommend a spreadsheet!
That's a fair haul... Have a close look and see what you can find. Didn't mention it in the video but there's a cash plus avios option too if you need a little top up. Happy hunting!
Neat tricks as always Matt. Gonna try book up some Qatar flights as alternatives to a booking I have flying club world (not suites) with insane avios and taxes. :)
Some great tips there Matt. The household trick was one in particular I’d not even thought about. Look forward to your videos on Qatar, enjoy the trip 👍🏻
Nice one Matt. For this works since Qatar is my 2nd loyalty programme. Interestingly you can earn SAA Voyager miles, tier miles included on all Emirates flights🙂
Cheers Peet. That's interesting - I know you can get avios (and TPs?) flying Emirates metal on a QF flight number but the SAA trick is a new one to me.
Good question! Everything possible goes through my BA/Amex card. I travel a bit and earn avios from flying but I have a referral code for Amex cards which I mention in the occasional video and always feature in the description. I get a decent flow of referral bonuses from that which accumulate nicely...
Hi Matt.. if i may pick your brain in something here since you are well versed in points and frequent flyer programs. I have 190,000 Qantas miles, and still earning.. however i hate Qantas, and it is way too expensive to fly with my partner and 4 children. I prefer flying Qatar, Emirates and Etihad (in such order).. How can i make use of my Qantas points, or if there is a way to transfer those points to those airlines.. I was told to transfer Qantas to Marriott points, then from Marriott points to Qatar or Emirates (not sure if it works).. but do you have any ideas?
Thanks RK. I was in the Qantas scheme when I lived down under but my recollections of how the scheme worked are dim... I'd say a double hop via a hotel scheme is the best bet - do some googling and look closely at the t's and c's... You may also benefit from doing that as there are occasional bonuses paid for transfers. If that doesn't work, is there a way to spend the Qantas points on something you would buy ordinarily (you can spend BA avios in supermarkets here) which kinda frees up money you can reinvest in travel plans? There are occasional bonus avios offers to buy them that you could redirect the freed up cash on... You may not get top value for what you spend the Qantas points on but it would achieve your goal... Sorry I don't have a slam dunk answer...
Back home now, that was a very well put together video Matt, you must have spent hours going through all the different permutations to get these Avios points but as you say getting flights with BA is getting harder although the new Boss said he is putting more options on to get flights. The flights we had were with a companion voucher in business class, but were hard to get at the time, Antigua was the only island we could get to in the Caribbean. We have another flight with a voucher for next year to St lucia which was a lot easier to get but now all the Avios are nearly used up so will have to start paying for flights to build up points, and going by thus video will have to study it a little more.
Cheers Peter - hope you can cope with being back! Antigua's by no means a bad option - I've never told the story in a video but I nearly got a job in Antigua a few years back so spent a little time there. It's got a bit of edginess to it, which is by no means a bad thing. An independent spirit, which is to be admired! Good example of not letting the avios pile build too high so they are at risk of devaluation. Even if it is a little depressing when the number in the account is so low!
I used to have over 160,000 Avios points. Every time I am trying to use Avios points it shows me I have zero balance. I tried to call customer support and waited in hours on hold and no one can help. Do you have any advice Matt?
Great video ! I transfered a million avios from BA to Qatar . When I tried to book with qatar , it says you don't have enough avios . Why is that ? It shows I have available 1milon avios on their website when I login
I do know, and it cannot. Which is a bummer... As Head For Points recently pointed out, getting to and from Australia for 2 on Qatar costs 360,000 avios, and even with a 2-fer on BA it costs 300,000 for 2 on a peak date (if you can find availability). And Qatar charges less taxes, plus you can really reduce the cash cost by starting from somewhere like Dublin. I may have enough material for an episode 2 of this Qatar/Avios story, and the fact that BA's 2-fer has been substantially devalued by this development will feature!
@@MattsPlanet great response. Thanks for the tip. I’ve flown Q Suites to Vietnam via Doha. We are planning a trip to Australia next year and I hadn’t considered using Qatar. I will definitely be using this option.
@@leejames9422 Not to mention of course that Qatar will probably be a better flying experience than BA can offer as their Club Suite planes aren't (currently) offered on routes down under
Hi Matt Yes great to have Qatar as an option with Avios especially in the premium cabins. Can I ask have you heard anything about them tweeking their offer for Avios bookings. I refer specifically to lounge access for First Class at their new Premium lounge at LHR T4. I’m travelling with them in First in a couple of weeks and want to check the full experience at LHR and AUH is available to those using Avios. Much appreciated Iain
Hi Iain - I believe an avios booking gives all the benefits of a cash booking, including F lounge access if you have an F booking? They introduced a basic business fare without lounge access a but redemption has always brought all the trappings of the class bought?
@@MattsPlanet Hi Matt Head for Points have a 17/6/22 article saying Premium Lounge is only available to those traveling on revenue tickets and not Avios. Don’t know if this has been confirmed but article says “It is still early days and we need to see what happens in practice. However, based on the wording on the oneworld website, it looks like anyone flying on Qatar Airways on an Avios ticket, even if flying First Class, will be relegated to the Frequent Flyer lounge. This means no ‘at table’ food service, no fine wines or top end champagne etc.
@@iainmac7755 Ah - the London lounge had some weird rules before the pandemic - I recently flew through Doha on an avios ticket and had no problems accessing the lounge... I'd trust Headforpoints on this one sadly...
@@MattsPlanet Hi Matt sorry to be a pain but is this not setting an unwelcome precedent in making Avios passengers 2nd class citizens especially when there is no communication telling you what you will or won’t get and in principle why can’t they do the same at DOH. I have a F connection to AUH on Avios so I can visit the Al Safwa lounge. I just hope they don’t start restricting what you do or don’t get hot towels next?
@@iainmac7755 Qatar is a little odd about some things - I think they want to retain the premium experience for people buying a ticket rather than the riff raff redeeming... Which is short sighted and does make avios users second class travellers...
A somehow unrelated question but I thought you would be the man with the knowledge...is there a simple way to check which BA routes have the new Club Suites installed? I want to make sure I get the full benefit of my companion voucher!
If there is, I'd love to know too!! Exactly what I am trying to do myself right now... A couple of blog sites did publish lists of which flights are club suites, but when I've searched they now seem to be out of date - BOM for example... BA also doesn't share the specific type of plane with booking engines, so you may see 787 as the equipment, but you don't know if that's the 787-10 (which do have club suites I think) or the 787-8 or -9. I know BUE and BLR regularly have club suites, and while the availability is good to Bangalore its not a place I necessarily want to go on holiday.... And there's no availability for BUE. Club suites are quite common to the US - all NYC flights are suites now I believe - so its quite hard work... Seatguru does have an idea of the equipment if you know the flight number and the date, Another item on the list of "Ways BA really annoys me"
Hi Matt, Remind me how to freely book Avios flights with Qatar - Is it best to search with availability on American and then book with Qatar (after transferring my BA Avios)? For earning purposes; unless one js on a Qatar flight or one of their partners such as Bangkok; is it best to credit my OneWorld bookings to my BAEC account (not to mention for the tier points) as Avios earning on BA is most efficient on flights when flying BA / IB and AA. Potential Redemption Idea: My partner and I want to go to Tokyo next year. Since Qatar offer flat Avios pricing all year (so we can fly just before Easter) and I like to use the BA 2 for 1 voucher - would a good way to use the 241 voucher be to use Qatar to redemption to Tokyo and then use the BAPP 241 voucher to return to London as APD isn’t required on flights to the UK. For instance, (for 2) the taxes and charges for a BA Business flight from Tokyo to London is £291. BA may offer an inferior business class product the 241 redemption voucher is too good to ignore for efficiency (We managed to get 1 leg of the LHR-SYD route in Club World!)
Thanks G G. I think searching through American is the best way to isolate opportunities. The book through Qatar - the avios are pooled so moving them for a redemption is simple. And I think earning into BA is the best but I would now look at wheretocredit to double check. BA's multipliers for status complicate the results of wheretocredit a little which is why I say "I think" BA is going to be the best if you have status. The redemption question is a little more complicated... It will depend on how you value avios as the "value" you use by only using the 2-fer for a one way flight is significant. What I would do is have a quick spreadsheet of the total cost of the options. Use 0.8p as the value for avios as that's what you'll get for them at Sainsbury. Qatar out and BA back with a 2-fer - you'll still pay the APD on the flight out of London on Qatar don't forget so the taxes saved may not be as big as you expect. The BA out and back - higher taxes but you get free avios from using the 2-fer both ways. Or option 3 - if you have flexibility and if you have the "new" 2-fer which allows you to start outside the UK. A BA redemption from Dublin to Tokyo via London will swerve the APD (provided you're in the UK for less than 24 hours) and may be the best option - relatively low taxes and you use the 2-fer both ways so maximise the value of the "free" avios. Also look at AMS, OSL and other close places. May not be viable given your circumstances but it would probably the best option overall when the analysis is complete. Good luck!
@@MattsPlanet hi Matt. As you explained; unless one is in Qatar for regular business or personal reasons to the middle east or further afield (so Qatar is probably better) - for OneWorld Status as a UK resident; BA is the best bet for ‘allocating’ oneworld status in paid flights. What is the best way of getting to Dublin / Amsterdam on yhe cheap; my initial thoughts are Ryanair (low fare) or Aer Lingus (for some avios) and Eurostar for amsterdam. CDG is a nightmare and Oslo and Copenhagen will require flights of their own. Flying from LHR is so convenient for me though as I can grab a return bus from T2/3 or T5 for just £18.50. That said, using a 241 Voucher back from Tokyo is the best bet for me - sources from BA have suggested that First to Haneda is returning from around October next year…. And an off peak for two from Haneda to London is ‘just’ 102,000 avios and £300 using the 241.
Also, I’m given to understand that for some flights on BA - when it comes to redeeming long haul - the price of certain feeder flights are free when it comes to Avios: Does that include Dublin? I know Manchester is free but that would attract APD.
@@GG-hi5if I'm actually doing both in the next few months - Ryanair to Dublin for c. £17 and then Eurostar to Amsterdam for about £100 - that's Standard Premier - I think Standard will be even cheaper. I recently also booked a DUB-LHR-BOS itinerary and it did add avios to the cost versus LHR-BOS although the reduction in the taxes and fees was significant and it only added c.8k avios which made it an easy choice. That flight from Haneda probably does make sense to use with a 2-fer...
Being able to move AVIOS to QR is such a game changer. More availability in QR & less points needed 🎉
Plus more options out of the UK and surrounding countries and so lower taxes... Win win win!
Sorry I got part of the answer by watching the video again.k🤦♂
I hope my reply helped anyway!
Ah i didn’t know Qatar owned abit of IAG
25%... They bought a chunk at the start of the pandemic so it may not have got the coverage it might have otherwise.
Quite good quality 👌🏾 👏 👍 😌 😎 😏 👌🏾 👏 👍 😌 😎 😏 👌🏾
👍
Very helpful, Matt. A couple of weeks ago, I took a look at flights to the Seychelles. Qatar was about half the cost of BA - and will probably offer a much better in-flight experience. You can guess the direction that my Avios will be moving.
Presumably a linen blazer in the tropics??? Hopefully the flood of business towards Qatar that this will create will inspire BA to up their game! Breath not held though...
@@MattsPlanet Linen does wrinkle so; a silk-linen mix might survive a spell in the overhead luggage bin better.
@@well-blazeredman6187 Great advice!
Matt.
If you where going to try and book an avios + Cash trip to Syd with Qatar Airways in the future, as I am (October 23 for October 24) where in Europe would you look at flying from. Or could you fly with Qatar from LHR and if you did would you pay APD.
Thanks.
Steve. C. YNWA. 🤞
Hi Steve. Still YNWA but it's not been a good month....
3 factors... Where can you get to easily? My first looks are DUB and AMS as they're easy enough. Be cautious about starting as close to DOH as SOF as that can be serviced by narrow bodies... Fewer avios (I believe) but a lesser experience. 2 is equipment - I'm flying ex-DUB later this week on a 787 without the QSuite. More premium cities are more likely to get the best kit... Although you never can be certain on Qatar until you actually step on the plane... And 3 is availability - I'd go wherever there was a seat available if it meant the Qatar experience to Sydney. And I guess price is number 4 as starting outside the UK swerves the APD. Of course starting in London (and paying the APD) may end up cheaper than flying somewhere to position, if it includes a night. My ex-DUB flight leaves at 07:25... It was a good idea when I booked it....
Hi Matt, thanks for all your great uploads. This January I plan to fly to Thailand, Via Qatar-on-Qatar airlines. Can you please tell me if I will still earn BA tier points on this journey?
Hi Morgy. You will earn Tier Points for any flight taken on a OneWorld airline. There's a handy guide on the BA site which will (usually) show what's coming - www.britishairways.com/travel/flight-calculator/execclub/_gf/en_gb?refevent=bah_ecavscalculat/execclub/_gf/en_gb - I say usually as it can occasionally be wrong, but that's usually with new flights that haven't been put into the database correctly.
I linked avios but don’t see where to transfer to my QATAR account, can you tell me where?
I've always pushed or pulled them from the Qatar side rather than from the BA site - always worked nicely and immediately for me!
Hi thanks for the information…question, can you use the companion ticket for BA on a Qatar flight? Thanks
Hi - a "twofer" voucher can only be used on BA flights I'm afraid...
Excellent video, I always find your explanation of the complexities of the BA exec club and redemption of Avios to be particularly clear and helpful. It seems strange that after so many rumours about Qatar being about to ditch the relationship with One World this seems to be strengthening that relationship.
Cheers Les. They own 25% of IAG and must have taken a bath over the last 3 years so doubling down by going all-in on avios is a logical step??? Mixing my gambling metaphors a little there, but you know what I mean!
Spent 20,000 avios for business class from Doha to Paris
That's excellent... Was that a promotional fare?
Is it possible to fly QR from the US to Europe using Avios or will they push you on BA metal?
It certainly is possible - its not easy to find availability though - its best to search for the two legs separately then search for the through journey and it should pop up. I used Qatar's site to book when I did LAX-DOH-LGW last year and one of my patrons did a similar route last week so its still possible!
How to redeem a flight with Avios (in BA account) at Qatar?
Open a Qatar privilege account, connect it to your BA account and move avios back and forth at will. Its not too tricky and not too time consuming
This makes me wonder if one is buying tickets for a friend and it is paid by you, do you get the points for that ticket?
Hello - its always the traveller that gets the points for actually travelling - that works for business travellers who get the benefits despite not paying! You can get points on the purchase through a credit card if you buy for someone else but not the points for actually travelling. Cheers!
Everything is fine here thanks so much ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
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Qatar privilege joined and interested - thanks
A couple of hints dropped that Qatar will accept two-for-one vouchers soon too which would be truly amazing!
Almost impossible to book an Avios award flight with Qatar Manchester to Goa in November 2022,very few avios seats available ! I have 220,000 avios points sort this out Qatar
Thanks Brosnan. It wouldn't surprise me if reward availability had been pulled back given the rising costs and uncertainty. Did you try ex-LHR? Not ideal if living in Manchester but if one leg of a routing is busy with low availability (MAN-DOH) that might explain things
The world cup mustbpf caused this issue
Matt, does search the BA executive club search function not being up all these flights anyway? What am I missing?
I believe the availability shows up on BA although I saw something from Headforpoints that there may be some IT issues... Don't think DUB-DOH availability would show up on BA as its not a BA route...
@@MattsPlanet Ok thanks very much. Really useful video.
The only thing that BA has left is the 2-4-1 Companion Voucher! Due to traveling with a partner, the voucher means it makes more sense to redeem on BA instead of Qatar
Correct; the 2 for 1 voucher is the only reason I’d think to use Avios to redeem for a BA flight.
I find that the £15 + avios option is quite handy for short European hops - you can usually find a cheaper flight with another airline but with Gold status the lounge experience makes the slight premium for BA worthwhile. And the ease of making redemptions on American (and Alaskan) with trivial cash components on US domestic hops is a plus. But long haul, apart from the 2-fer and the new avios upgrade certificate, redeeming long haul with BA makes very little sense!
Qatar Airways is fine for me ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
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Just collected lots of Avios on Virgin Australia due to this. Had a good experience and cheaper than Qantas.
Thanks Adam - always nice to scoop up some points you can actually use when travelling on a different airline. Flew Virgin Australia years and years ago and it was always enjoyable - a little less stodgy than Qantas and cheaper too!
@Matt's Planet Free tea, coffee and water along with an app for entertainment. Was also cheaper than the budget Jetstar where you pay for everything, e.g. entertainment on a 8 hour flight costing £8 extra.
Even better, if you are lucky enough to live outside the M25! A connection would be required for BA and as Qatar serves EDI, MAN and BHX. The joy of saving a trip down the M40 is pricless
Very good point Paul - thanks. I do live outside the M25 but on the South Eastern corner where the London airports are the only real options... Fell into the London Airways trap!
just wonder how many avios you have collected so far. I remember your life time tier points are around 6 k?
G'day Ryan. 6.5k lifetime tier points. But I only returned to live in the UK about 9 years ago and began collecting from then. I currently have about 260k avios, but would have had perhaps a million over those 9 years... I am actually planning a video on how to get more avios which I'll use as a vehicle to explain how I got quite so many without commuting to the US for work in business class!
@@MattsPlanet That will be interesting. I have similar TP but only around 40 K points in total, mostly via flying. I get silver in 2014 and gold in 2019. Though this barclays thing may give me another 10 K in the near future. Will be interested to know how to get more avios and what is the general TP/avios ratio. Does BA have some sort of statistics? they should have actually.
Hey Matt, Was that business class?
My redemption was in business class. 70k for LAX-DOH-LHR. It would have been 35k in economy but that would be hard work!
Brilliant video. Thanks for the breakdown. I look forward to seeing your Qatar flights if you’re uploading then
Thanks Peter - the flights will certainly feature on the channel. Flying early July so not long to wait!
Very useful, ties up a lot of loose ends. Good tips on the search workarounds and on HHAs too, thanks. We are still on the hook with BA for 241 vouchers and the new upgrade vouchers but avios on QR is beginning to look more attractive. We have managed to snag the avios holy grail of 241 plus upgrade voucher to Sydney in F but frankly, having done Sydney to Doha in a Q-suite, I am wondering if it is worth it.
Thanks Geoff. Congrats on the Sydney F - did you do the 1am call to snag them? I have a lengthy Q-Suite flight coming up plus a much shorter BA F leg so you've given me the idea of a comparison video between the two experiences! I feel bad for giving people even more reasons not to fly with BA, but BA needs to up its game if its going to retain its premium business! Thanks for commenting.
Thank you for the great advice Matt you have helped me no end with the complex tier system and avios options.You are by far the best travel blogger and give clear very honest advice.I fly to USA regularly Ba not what it was we live in hope that they up their game but we used to disappointment with them!!I am Blues singer so travel for a living follow your advice regularly thank you so very much for all the hard work you do on the great channel keep rocking Suzy Martell
Thanks Suzy! You must be thrilled to be back on the road after two years of being locked away!
Heya, I'm in a household account wirh my partner (we aren't married) with BA and I've got myself a privilege account but I can't get our household points on it? Anyone know a solution? As it's cheaper with Qatar to fly to Australia
I believe you can only transfer your personal points to Qatar, not all of the points in HH account. I keep my personal avios in Qatar so when I spend avios in through BA, I'm spending those held by others in the HH account (my Mum is happy for me to do this!!!!) I then bring avios back to BA if I need them... That's how I manage my HH account and keep as many avios as possible free to use through Qatar
Thanks for getting back to me, i think I'm under the impression I can pay do a transfer of points so maybe I'll just have to do that
@@sarahknights7310 You can transfer points between people but its very expensive to do so. But if that's the only way to get points across to Qatar then so be it... BA claims that there's no Qatar flight bookable with them that's not also available on ba.com so you may not need to move anything around....
I've just looked on ba rewards and the perth to London is now the same as on qatars so I'm happy with that! 90,000 points for a one way to Australia for 2 people is brilliant in my mind 😂
Very well elaborated Matt! Qatar definitely opens up some nice interesting doors both in terms of earnings and redemptions... Plus they unlock some new carriers to redeem Avios for such as Rwandair and MEA as well as bringing back LATAM redemptions post Oneworld divorce
Cheers Matthew. Its win win win win win really!
Absolutely love your video, thanks a million for presenting such great info with such eloquence 🤗
Aw, shucks. You're making me blush....
Great video!
What are your thoughts on the changes to Matrix ITA?
G'day Nick. I don't like the look of it much, I think it produces fewer results than the old one and the ability to filter or search by day parts seems to have gone. But its still free, its still fantastic and I'm thrilled the guys behind it invested the time to rebuild it so it can continue to be available. I started scripting a video about it and did some gentle testing, particularly of the results depth (fewer results as I suspected that the processing power devoted to each query may have been throttled back) but the video was threatening to be extremely boring (even compared to my other videos!!!) so I shelved it. But I think a Matrix 2022 video is probably in order...
@@MattsPlanet The results changes really got me - I'm hoping they don't depreciate the old site.
p.s. I'm doing an Aegean points run to get SA status as the off-peak flight prices are very reasonable!
Nice one Matt, flew with Qatar recently and all four flights were excellent. Traveled in business as part of a tier point run to get up to BA silver. Fares from Oslo at the time I booked were very competitive compared with travelling from the UK, the saving more than paid for a few days in Norway.
Thanks Colin. Oslo was my go-to starting point for Qatar trips before the you-know-what. The salmon in the Oslo lounge was always a highlight... Good to see they're back on the radar!
PROFESSIONAL JOB ❤❤❤❤
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Matt. Yet another informative video.
Can you book directly with Qatar Airways using a Ba Amex Premium plus card companion voucher and Avios or do you have to book directly through BA to use it. I was thinking of a trip to Melbourne to experience the Q Suite and like you said BA is basically Sydney IF you can get it.
Steve. YNWA
Hi Steve. You can link accounts between BA and Qatar and move avios between the accounts instantly. Any vouchers (Amex or Barclays) have to be used on BA flights though...
@@MattsPlanet I figured that but was just hoping you'd say yes. :)) I did scout BA, LHR to Sing a year in advance and what I found was, if I go through BA looking to book a reward flight (Amex Companion voucher) and Avios for two a year in advance, if I select business class it showed no seats, but if I selected economy it showed me all available seats including business class and Qatar Airways metal. I could book on a Qatar Airways flight if there was availability, which when I Looked there was but do you know how I can check if it would be a plane that has the Q class. I'm looking more at the DOHA to Sing leg for that. It shows the flight details, flight number etc on the BA website but doesn't say what plane it is.
THanks
Steve. YNWA
@@stevecraven3502 LHR - SIN is the holy grail as you're competing against people looking for SIN and those continuing on to SYD. If BA resurrects KUL or BKK then some options might pop up that make the twofer worthwhile... Otherwise I am starting to really question the benefits... Although as they have recently converted the twofer so it is also a half-off for single travellers, and as I am fairly agnostic about where I go, the BA voucher has gotten a second wind for me... I have been looking at SE Asia on Qatar and found (and booked!) Dublin to Phuket in Qatar in business. Not Qsuites but the 787 product is still very decent. As for seeing the equipment, Qatar is renowned for changing equipment at the last minute so even if you book a Qsuite there is still a risk... But if you make a shadow booking of a route you like through Qatar's site you should be able to see whether the plane had a suite or just a reclining seat...
Excellent, as ever.
Thanks!
Hi Matt. Thank you for the great video. I want to start a One World program. I fly around 60k miles a year from Germany. Would you consider Qatar’s Privilege Club a good option compared to BA.
Hi there. I had a brief look at Qatar a year back - I was contemplating giving up on BA! Didn't analyse it in detail but it looked like Qatar's qualification threhholds were higher than BA's... What I'd do is list out the next half dozen trips you're likely to take and see what they would earn in BA and Qatar's schemes. Then see how far that would get you to the status you'd like.
Has anyone managed to link accounts? My Qatar account has my middle name but BA doesn't so the link process fails and they couldn't fix it for me. I've had to request a change via their support. Big faff.
I linked relatively quickly but the name thing would be an issue. It's a faff but your avios balance is like a bank account so you probably do want to be confident there's stringent security in place over linkages and access... Hopefully its a simple fix.
matt, could you do a short video about the new BA Avios Reward Flight Saver, where you pay less fees by using ore Avios.. I'm confused about how it works.
I'm a bit confused too!!! Its relatively simple to calculate the effect - for a New York flight is was 100,000 avios return plus £853. With a RFS its 160,000 plus £350. So the £503 you save in cash is costing 60,000 avios, so 0.84p each. Which is respectable, but not outstanding. And I think you can do this for any routing, although I've not had time to do much digging myself... It does get a bit more complicated but that's the gist of it... Headforpoints.com has some articles on it for a more immediate reaction - they'll always be quicker than I can be!
Yes, great option I was able to book award seats on QA a month before the world cup taht weren't available through BA, 70k miles round trip from the usa to Doha, and 134usd for taxes durin the world cup, you can't beat that
That's excellent - I saw reports that there was surprisingly good availability to Qatar during the world cup, although you needed to have tickets to matches to get int the country?
Quite good ❤❤❤❤❤❤
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Great video as usual Matt
Got a question mate
Just booked business class with Avios with companion voucher from LHR to Dalaman Turkey. Will I get business lounge access? It doesn't say anything about lounge but I'm guessing it does. BA
G'day Moaner... That might sound rude but I think I'm safe... You will get lounge access for both of you. Have a great trip!
Excellent video, Question, if I join the Q privilege club, can I still collect tier points with BA? , I have started to fly to Tokyo in business which will be frequent, the privilege club I think will get me top status quicker than tier points as my BA year ends in August meaning I will need less flights with Qatar, many thanks
Absolutely. You make sure your ba number is attached to the bookings so the Tps and avios accumulate with ba. You can then link to Qatar and move to those avios across as required.
Hello watching from Saudia Arabia Riyadh much from Sharon
Riyadh is high on my list of places to visit! Might wait until the Summer heat has subsided a little though!
Would agree that Qatar are great ( also Bangkok Airways) This will be good for Dad as he can move some points over to Qatar from BA.
I'll have to check expiry rules as our BA accounts are normally kept alive with partner / nectar activity if not flying. Where Qatar may still have fixed duration expiry (I'll have to check the wording again). Was frequent until March 2020, but not much since then....
Thanks John. I like Bangkok airways too! You raise an interesting point, which might actually be an opportunity... It's simple to move avios back and forth so you don't really need to commit to holding them in either account. So whichever one has the most sympathetic expiry rules would be the happiest home... Unless moving them back and forth counts as activity and extends their life! That would be good, wouldn't it... Might have to do some testing of that.... Thanks!
Matt, excellent videos! I switched 95% of my business from BA to QR as long as nine years ago - and have never looked back. BTW - Cebu is pronounced Si Boo (I should know, as that’s where my wife is from, and where I’m currently spending Christmas / New Year).
Thanks P D - you were 9 years ahead of most of the rest of us!!! The Cebu thing is a bit embarrassing as I've been there! I usually get the names of places I've been right (eg Saaaaahmoa rather than Samoa) but missed this one! Apologies and have a great stay - it was a beautiful place!
Goog lucky
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Do you have any advise for the best way to use Avios to fly from USA to London? I will be flying from a regional airport to an international one then on to London. Flying BA with Avios to London seems to incur a lot of surplus fees that all but wipe out the benefit of redeming Avios.
Thanks Sarah. The fees are punishing when departing the US... It will depend on the class of travel you want and how many avios you have... And how much messing about you're prepared to put up with!
3 thoughts - its usually good value to use avios to get to the international port even if you travel on separate tickets... Take a look at getting to JFK then buying the day flight from JFK to LHR in economy which, as its not overnight, is quite tolerable. Doing it myself in January so will make a video about it...
2 would be to look at AA options to the near continent then hop a cheapo flight (or a Eurostar) to get to London - taxes may be lower.
3 - Look at two one ways... That's actually good advice anyway as it can be cheaper to buy the ticket in two halves... Then perhaps come back from Dublin connecting in London to avoid the Air Passenger Duty (which is £180) and hey, you get to see Dublin!
Hope there's something in there that's handy... I recommend a spreadsheet!
I've collected 140k Avios (not easy for a Brit) and want to use them to get to Singapore and back in Feb next year
That's a fair haul... Have a close look and see what you can find. Didn't mention it in the video but there's a cash plus avios option too if you need a little top up. Happy hunting!
You can also upgrade Qatar flight booked on cash by favourable avios. Something next to impossible in BA.
I am sure as the relationship settles I'd be able to make a video about another 6 great things from the deal... Upgrades and part pay options....
Class video as always Matt, keep up the great work sir
Thank's very much!
Worth a watch for Qatar redemptions, but also the BA household 'trick' is very useful to know. Thanks again Matt.
You're welcome!
Neat tricks as always Matt. Gonna try book up some Qatar flights as alternatives to a booking I have flying club world (not suites) with insane avios and taxes. :)
Good luck booking and I hope you enjoy the experience!
Some great tips there Matt. The household trick was one in particular I’d not even thought about. Look forward to your videos on Qatar, enjoy the trip 👍🏻
Thanks Geezer! Less than a month to the start of that Qatar trip...
Nice one Matt. For this works since Qatar is my 2nd loyalty programme.
Interestingly you can earn SAA Voyager miles, tier miles included on all Emirates flights🙂
Cheers Peet. That's interesting - I know you can get avios (and TPs?) flying Emirates metal on a QF flight number but the SAA trick is a new one to me.
What methods do you use to collect most of your points ? Just general buying / shopping ?
Good question! Everything possible goes through my BA/Amex card. I travel a bit and earn avios from flying but I have a referral code for Amex cards which I mention in the occasional video and always feature in the description. I get a decent flow of referral bonuses from that which accumulate nicely...
Hi Matt.. if i may pick your brain in something here since you are well versed in points and frequent flyer programs. I have 190,000 Qantas miles, and still earning.. however i hate Qantas, and it is way too expensive to fly with my partner and 4 children. I prefer flying Qatar, Emirates and Etihad (in such order).. How can i make use of my Qantas points, or if there is a way to transfer those points to those airlines.. I was told to transfer Qantas to Marriott points, then from Marriott points to Qatar or Emirates (not sure if it works).. but do you have any ideas?
FYI, i already have 50,000+ AVIOS on Qatar membership
Thanks RK. I was in the Qantas scheme when I lived down under but my recollections of how the scheme worked are dim... I'd say a double hop via a hotel scheme is the best bet - do some googling and look closely at the t's and c's... You may also benefit from doing that as there are occasional bonuses paid for transfers. If that doesn't work, is there a way to spend the Qantas points on something you would buy ordinarily (you can spend BA avios in supermarkets here) which kinda frees up money you can reinvest in travel plans? There are occasional bonus avios offers to buy them that you could redirect the freed up cash on... You may not get top value for what you spend the Qantas points on but it would achieve your goal... Sorry I don't have a slam dunk answer...
Back home now, that was a very well put together video Matt, you must have spent hours going through all the different permutations to get these Avios points but as you say getting flights with BA is getting harder although the new Boss said he is putting more options on to get flights.
The flights we had were with a companion voucher in business class, but were hard to get at the time, Antigua was the only island we could get to in the Caribbean.
We have another flight with a voucher for next year to St lucia which was a lot easier to get but now all the Avios are nearly used up so will have to start paying for flights to build up points, and going by thus video will have to study it a little more.
Cheers Peter - hope you can cope with being back! Antigua's by no means a bad option - I've never told the story in a video but I nearly got a job in Antigua a few years back so spent a little time there. It's got a bit of edginess to it, which is by no means a bad thing. An independent spirit, which is to be admired!
Good example of not letting the avios pile build too high so they are at risk of devaluation. Even if it is a little depressing when the number in the account is so low!
I used to have over 160,000 Avios points. Every time I am trying to use Avios points it shows me I have zero balance. I tried to call customer support and waited in hours on hold and no one can help. Do you have any advice Matt?
Can you not follow the history of the avios through the website? Perhaps try their twitter team, who are reportedly more responsive?
@@MattsPlanet Yes I can't see the history of my Avios points on the website.
Very informative video! Thanks a lot for all the tips and tricks 😊👍
Hope it was helpful
Great video ! I transfered a million avios from BA to Qatar . When I tried to book with qatar , it says you don't have enough avios . Why is that ? It shows I have available 1milon avios on their website when I login
Hard to say - the site can be a bit buggy so perhaps clear out the cache and try again?
@@MattsPlanet thank you! That worked!
Great video thank you for creating this.
Thanks Zach - hope its something you can use yourself.
Thanks Matt, another great post. 😀😀😀
Thanks for watching Oliver!
You can move avios from BA now - There is a link on the store now to do so.. I noticed
From the BA end I mean
Well spotted. Push or pull - you decide!
Fascinating stuff, very interesting 👍
Thanks David. Hope it was helpful!
Do you know if a companion voucher can be used with Qatar?
I do know, and it cannot. Which is a bummer... As Head For Points recently pointed out, getting to and from Australia for 2 on Qatar costs 360,000 avios, and even with a 2-fer on BA it costs 300,000 for 2 on a peak date (if you can find availability). And Qatar charges less taxes, plus you can really reduce the cash cost by starting from somewhere like Dublin. I may have enough material for an episode 2 of this Qatar/Avios story, and the fact that BA's 2-fer has been substantially devalued by this development will feature!
@@MattsPlanet great response. Thanks for the tip. I’ve flown Q Suites to Vietnam via Doha. We are planning a trip to Australia next year and I hadn’t considered using Qatar. I will definitely be using this option.
@@leejames9422 Not to mention of course that Qatar will probably be a better flying experience than BA can offer as their Club Suite planes aren't (currently) offered on routes down under
Hi Matt
Yes great to have Qatar as an option with Avios especially in the premium cabins.
Can I ask have you heard anything about them tweeking their offer for Avios bookings. I refer specifically to lounge access for First Class at their new Premium lounge at LHR T4. I’m travelling with them in First in a couple of weeks and want to check the full experience at LHR and AUH is available to those using Avios.
Much appreciated
Iain
Hi Iain - I believe an avios booking gives all the benefits of a cash booking, including F lounge access if you have an F booking? They introduced a basic business fare without lounge access a but redemption has always brought all the trappings of the class bought?
@@MattsPlanet Hi Matt Head for Points have a 17/6/22 article saying Premium Lounge is only available to those traveling on revenue tickets and not Avios. Don’t know if this has been confirmed but article says
“It is still early days and we need to see what happens in practice. However, based on the wording on the oneworld website, it looks like anyone flying on Qatar Airways on an Avios ticket, even if flying First Class, will be relegated to the Frequent Flyer lounge. This means no ‘at table’ food service, no fine wines or top end champagne etc.
@@iainmac7755 Ah - the London lounge had some weird rules before the pandemic - I recently flew through Doha on an avios ticket and had no problems accessing the lounge... I'd trust Headforpoints on this one sadly...
@@MattsPlanet Hi Matt sorry to be a pain but is this not setting an unwelcome precedent in making Avios passengers 2nd class citizens especially when there is no communication telling you what you will or won’t get and in principle why can’t they do the same at DOH. I have a F connection to AUH on Avios so I can visit the Al Safwa lounge. I just hope they don’t start restricting what you do or don’t get hot towels next?
@@iainmac7755 Qatar is a little odd about some things - I think they want to retain the premium experience for people buying a ticket rather than the riff raff redeeming... Which is short sighted and does make avios users second class travellers...
A somehow unrelated question but I thought you would be the man with the knowledge...is there a simple way to check which BA routes have the new Club Suites installed? I want to make sure I get the full benefit of my companion voucher!
If there is, I'd love to know too!! Exactly what I am trying to do myself right now... A couple of blog sites did publish lists of which flights are club suites, but when I've searched they now seem to be out of date - BOM for example... BA also doesn't share the specific type of plane with booking engines, so you may see 787 as the equipment, but you don't know if that's the 787-10 (which do have club suites I think) or the 787-8 or -9. I know BUE and BLR regularly have club suites, and while the availability is good to Bangalore its not a place I necessarily want to go on holiday.... And there's no availability for BUE. Club suites are quite common to the US - all NYC flights are suites now I believe - so its quite hard work... Seatguru does have an idea of the equipment if you know the flight number and the date,
Another item on the list of "Ways BA really annoys me"
Oh great! Spill all the t matt!
I'm English! Spill the tea??? Heresy! As is ice tea but that's another story...
Love it
Thanks!
Hi Matt,
Remind me how to freely book Avios flights with Qatar - Is it best to search with availability on American and then book with Qatar (after transferring my BA Avios)?
For earning purposes; unless one js on a Qatar flight or one of their partners such as Bangkok; is it best to credit my OneWorld bookings to my BAEC account (not to mention for the tier points) as Avios earning on BA is most efficient on flights when flying BA / IB and AA.
Potential Redemption Idea:
My partner and I want to go to Tokyo next year.
Since Qatar offer flat Avios pricing all year (so we can fly just before Easter) and I like to use the BA 2 for 1 voucher - would a good way to use the 241 voucher be to use Qatar to redemption to Tokyo and then use the BAPP 241 voucher to return to London as APD isn’t required on flights to the UK.
For instance, (for 2) the taxes and charges for a BA Business flight from Tokyo to London is £291. BA may offer an inferior business class product the 241 redemption voucher is too good to ignore for efficiency (We managed to get 1 leg of the LHR-SYD route in Club World!)
Thanks G G. I think searching through American is the best way to isolate opportunities. The book through Qatar - the avios are pooled so moving them for a redemption is simple. And I think earning into BA is the best but I would now look at wheretocredit to double check. BA's multipliers for status complicate the results of wheretocredit a little which is why I say "I think" BA is going to be the best if you have status.
The redemption question is a little more complicated... It will depend on how you value avios as the "value" you use by only using the 2-fer for a one way flight is significant. What I would do is have a quick spreadsheet of the total cost of the options. Use 0.8p as the value for avios as that's what you'll get for them at Sainsbury.
Qatar out and BA back with a 2-fer - you'll still pay the APD on the flight out of London on Qatar don't forget so the taxes saved may not be as big as you expect. The BA out and back - higher taxes but you get free avios from using the 2-fer both ways. Or option 3 - if you have flexibility and if you have the "new" 2-fer which allows you to start outside the UK. A BA redemption from Dublin to Tokyo via London will swerve the APD (provided you're in the UK for less than 24 hours) and may be the best option - relatively low taxes and you use the 2-fer both ways so maximise the value of the "free" avios. Also look at AMS, OSL and other close places. May not be viable given your circumstances but it would probably the best option overall when the analysis is complete. Good luck!
@@MattsPlanet hi Matt.
As you explained; unless one is in Qatar for regular business or personal reasons to the middle east or further afield (so Qatar is probably better) - for OneWorld Status as a UK resident; BA is the best bet for ‘allocating’ oneworld status in paid flights.
What is the best way of getting to Dublin / Amsterdam on yhe cheap; my initial thoughts are Ryanair (low fare) or Aer Lingus (for some avios) and Eurostar for amsterdam. CDG is a nightmare and Oslo and Copenhagen will require flights of their own.
Flying from LHR is so convenient for me though as I can grab a return bus from T2/3 or T5 for just £18.50.
That said, using a 241 Voucher back from Tokyo is the best bet for me - sources from BA have suggested that First to Haneda is returning from around October next year…. And an off peak for two from Haneda to London is ‘just’ 102,000 avios and £300 using the 241.
Also, I’m given to understand that for some flights on BA - when it comes to redeeming long haul - the price of certain feeder flights are free when it comes to Avios: Does that include Dublin? I know Manchester is free but that would attract APD.
@@GG-hi5if I'm actually doing both in the next few months - Ryanair to Dublin for c. £17 and then Eurostar to Amsterdam for about £100 - that's Standard Premier - I think Standard will be even cheaper. I recently also booked a DUB-LHR-BOS itinerary and it did add avios to the cost versus LHR-BOS although the reduction in the taxes and fees was significant and it only added c.8k avios which made it an easy choice. That flight from Haneda probably does make sense to use with a 2-fer...
Very useful
Thanks - I hope you can take advantage!
@@MattsPlanet lack of companion voucher is the killer for us
Well done for creating this channel fellow traveller 🧳
Thanks! Sausages for dinner for me tonight...