Qatar Airways seem to have a permanent sale on at the moment, which I expect will continue until the political uncertainty ends. Generally the ex UK sales aren’t that great. However, given the current BA strikes, these may be a better bet than using a BA positioning flight in some cases. The best bargains, as usual, are to be found by starting your trip outside the EU.
In this post:
Qatar ‘World’s best business class’ sale
If you are willing to take the risk that tensions in the Gulf don’t escalate further, you can, of course, get BAEC tier points and Avios on Qatar. In fact, one return flight in business class to Asia on Qatar would almost get you to BAEC Silver, with 560 tier points. Add in one way of you positioning flight in Club Europe and you are Silver if you have the 4 BA flights.
If you have never done an Ex EU flight you can read my guide here. If you have never flown Qatar the following reviews will give you an idea of the great experience you can expect:
Business class B787 and A350 Ex EU
Business class A319 regional
Business class A319 and B777 to Auckland
The sale details
- Travel period: from 31 July 2017 to 31 March 2018. All travel must be completed by 31 March 2018.
- Blackout dates: from 15 December 2017 to 10 January 2018.
- Minimum and maximum stay rules apply for Business Class – Minimum stay is 2 days and maximum stay is 3 months. The following exceptions apply: minimum stay for Australia and New Zealand is 7 days and maximum stay is 12 months
UK sale fares
The fares in the UK sale aren’t as good as some of the previous offers. However, it does mean that you don’t have to worry about positioning, especially given the ongoing BA strike. It also means you can use the rather luxurious Qatar lounge if you are travelling from Heathrow. As they don’t have a separate First class lounge, the standard is above what you would normally get in a business class lounge. You can also now experience the new Qsuite to and from London on the QR 8/9. All this means that I view the prices as reasonable value for money, with a low hassle factor.
Remember, you may be able to get a lower price by including 1 nights’s accommodation, as I discussed in this article.
- Goa £1555
- Bali £2209
- Bangkok £1911
- Ho Chi Minh City £2114
- Muscat £1909
The UK sale page is here
Ex EU sale
Here is where to get the best fares by destination. Most of the prices are not great compared to the usual bargains, although the dip in the pound against the Euro is not helping. However, Sydney is a decent deal particularly out of Paris which is cheap and easy to get to. Be careful on the aircraft types, as some of the starting points use regional aircraft rather than long haul. Paris and Tokyo are due to have the Qsuites next but there is no definite launch date.
| Destination | Price | From | Other cheap options |
| Bali/Denpasar (DPS) | £1,610.00 | Croatia | |
| Bangkok (BKK) | £1,189.00 | Venice | Finland, Macedonia, Croatia |
| Beijing (PEK) | £1,645.00 | Sofia | |
| Cape Town (CPT) | £2,052.00 | Finland | |
| Delhi | £1,468.00 | Belgium | |
| Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) | £1,521.00 | Croatia | |
| Hong Kong (HKG) | £1,521.00 | Croatia | Hungary |
| Johannesburg (JNB) | £1,789.00 | Sofia | Italy |
| Krabi (KBV) | £1,341.00 | Finland, Croatia | |
| Maldives (MLE) | £1,431.00 | Croatia | |
| Melbourne (MEL) | £1,914.00 | Macedonia | |
| Perth (PER) | £2,308.00 | Macedonia | |
| Phuket (HKT) | £1,341.00 | Croatia | |
| Seychelles | £1,521.00 | Croatia | |
| Shanghai (PVG) | £1,429.00 | Belgrade | |
| Singapore (SIN) | £1,443.00 | Sofia | |
| Sydney (SYD) | £1,918.00 | Macedonia | Paris |
| Tokyo (NRT) | £1,610.00 | Croatia | |
| Windhoek | £1,637.00 | Germany | |
The best deals can be found on the following Qatar offer pages. Help support running this website by using the links below if you are making a booking.
Czech Republic
Belgium
Bulgaria
Hungary
Finland
Italy
Norway
Romania
Sweden
Serbia
France
Germany
Denmark
Spain
Macedonia
Croatia
