In this post:
New QSuites Routes and flight discount
Qatar has announced an additional route for its latest business class product the QSuite. I was very impressed when I flew these enclosed suites with doors in May. You can read my A350-900 QSuite review here. The QSuite is currently available on select Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777-300ER, Airbus A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft.
There will now be QSuites be available on flights to and from Canberra, its newest Australian destination, via Sydney, from 1 July 2018 on the QR906/QR907 services. The route will be initially be served by Qsuite up to four times a week, with daily Qsuite service to start on 1 August 2018.
QSuites are available or soon will be available on Doha to
- London
- Frankfurt
- Munich
- Berlin
- Seoul
- Washington
- New York
- Chicago
- Shanghai
- Houston
There is also currently 10% off if you book your Qatar economy or business class flights via their app before 19 June for travel until 31 March 2019.
How to save money on duty free worldwide 
Not so long ago you could easily get vouchers for £5 – £10 off your duty free shopping at World Duty Free. I used to make good use of these vouchers as I combined them with the points on Heathrow Rewards. It made shopping at World Duty Free very reasonable for the bottle of Champagne that Roving Reporter and I usually treat ourselves to for our travels together. Then the vouchers seemed to suddenly disappear. The good news is that there is again a way to save money on your duty free purchases with the RED by Dufry app which now offers UK discounts.
Dufry are a global duty-free company that own World Duty Free and Hudson (US) stores amongst many others. You will find them in most major airports in the UK and worldwide (plus some cruise ships and ports) which makes the app worth using. There are 3 levels of status with the app. Each one gives a slightly better discount on purchases although the higher tiers have a higher minimum spend to get the discount. Airports give a set percentage at 5%, 7% and 10% for the silver, gold and platinum tier respectively. You get gold after spending €400 and platinum after spending €1000. The discount is not available on promotions but you will still get the points towards the next status level.
There are currently two global benefits that RED by Dufry offers: discounts on hotels.com and discounts on Avis car rental. There are many local benefits available dependant on location. To find out what is available you will have to look at Dufry’s website. For the UK this is currently £5 off when you spend £75-99 for the silver entry level. There are also other gift with purchase type offers. Some Spanish airports are even offering lounge access. If you are likely to use the app in Spain it may be worth adding your Iberia Plus number when you join as you can also earn Avios with the app in Spain.
Another useful benefit is that you can use the app discounts in conjunction with collecting and spending Heathrow Rewards points. Plus you can use reserve and collect for UK airports to save time via their website. The app is available for iOS and Android. To use it simply present the QR code in the app to be scanned at the till.
IHG & InterContinental 100% points bonus – another way to get cheaper stays?
IHG have a flash bonus on buying points which ends tomorrow, Friday 15 June. If you buy at least 5000 points you can get a 100% bonus on your purchase. Assuming you want to stay in an InterContinental property you will need around 60,000 points to get a free stay. With the current offer you can get 60,000 for $300 (about £225). Although this sounds like quite a bit, many IC hotels cost more than this so if you are considering one of the more pricey ones it may be worth comparing against buying the points. However, if you missed yesterdays article and would be staying at a weekend it may be better to buy Ambassador membership instead at $200 which gives you a free weekend night on a 2 night stay at an InterContinental hotel as well as many other benefits.
