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Hey everyone, welcome back to Smart With Points. I'm Jack, and today we're talking about something that hits inboxes every November like clockwork: the Qatar Airways Black Friday sale. Is it genuinely worth booking, or just marketing hype with a discount sticker slapped on? Let's dig into it.
So Qatar Airways has launched their Black Friday twenty twenty-five sale for UK travellers, offering up to twenty percent off flights in both Economy and Business Class. If you've been eyeing a trip to Asia, Australia, or the Middle East, this could be a decent opportunity to lock in lower fares for twenty twenty-six.
The sale runs until the second of December twenty twenty-five and covers travel for up to a full year from your booking date. But before you rush to book, let's break down what's actually on offer, what the catch is, and whether this sale is genuinely worth your time and money.
First up, what's actually included? The headline discount is up to twenty percent off base fares on Qatar Airways flights departing from the UK. That's London Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, and Edinburgh, to destinations across their network.
In Economy Class, you'll get up to twenty percent off on Q, T, and O booking classes, which Qatar calls their Classic fares. In Business Class, it's up to twenty percent off on I, R, and P booking classes, covering Comfort, Classic, and Lite fares respectively.
Destinations from the UK include Auckland, Bahrain, Cebu, Chengdu, Chongqing, Clark, Hong Kong, Maputo, Muscat, Neom Bay, Osaka, Salalah, and The Red Sea. Essentially covering popular routes to Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Oceania.
Now here's the important bit: discounts apply to the base fare only. Taxes and surcharges remain unchanged. So whilst twenty percent off sounds impressive, the actual saving on your total ticket price will be less dramatic than the headline suggests.
Let's talk dates. The booking period runs from the twenty-first of November through the second of December twenty twenty-five. Travel period is from the second of December twenty twenty-five, up to three hundred and sixty-five days from your booking date. This extended travel window is genuinely useful because you can book flights well into late twenty twenty-six, making it suitable for summer holidays, autumn getaways, or even winter sun trips next year.
But here's where things get a bit less generous. Economy Class passengers face blackout periods when the discount doesn't apply. For London, Birmingham, and Manchester departures, outbound blackouts are the tenth through twenty-third of December twenty twenty-five, twelfth through fourteenth of February twenty twenty-six, twenty-fourth of March through third of April twenty twenty-six, twenty-first through twenty-fourth of May twenty twenty-six, and fourteenth of July through sixteenth of August twenty twenty-six.
Inbound blackouts are first through thirteenth of January twenty twenty-six, twentieth through twenty-third of February twenty twenty-six, ninth through nineteenth of April twenty twenty-six, twenty-eighth of May through first of June twenty twenty-six, and twenty-first of August through ninth of September twenty twenty-six.
The good news? Business Class has no blackout dates whatsoever. So if you're flying up front, the discount applies across the board.
Now, if you're not already a Qatar Airways Privilege Club member, now's actually a good time to join. New members who sign up using the code P C E U R twenty-five can earn up to four thousand bonus Avios after their first flight.
On top of that, there's a booking bonus. Earn two thousand bonus Avios on your first online booking, then five hundred bonus Avios for each subsequent booking during the promotion period. Stack these together and you could earn up to six thousand bonus Avios when joining and making your first booking.
These Avios can be used for future award flights, upgrades, or even spent at Qatar Duty Free in Doha during your layover. You can also transfer Avios for free between British Airways Executive Club and Qatar Privilege Club at a one to one ratio, which makes them useful for BA redemptions too.
Now, what about Avios redemptions? Unfortunately, this Black Friday sale is focused purely on cash fares rather than award discounts. There's no Avios sale or reduced redemption rates for UK-based travellers this time around.
However, Qatar Airways does offer Cash plus Avios as a payment option, allowing you to use Avios to cover fifty percent or more of your fare and pay the rest in cash. This can be a decent way to reduce your out-of-pocket costs if you've got Avios sitting around.
If you're looking to top up your Avios balance, keep an eye out for buy Avios promotions. Qatar typically runs these every few months with bonuses of up to sixty percent. The last sale ended in August twenty twenty-five, so another could be around the corner. Our Avios Balance Booster calculator can help you compare whether buying through Qatar, BA, or Finnair offers the best value.
Qatar Airways Holidays is also running deals during Black Friday. Twenty-five percent off Flight plus Hotel packages, and up to forty percent off cruises. These packages include Avios and Qpoints earning on your flights, which can help build status or add to your redemption balance for future trips.
So here's the big question: is it actually worth booking? I'll be honest with you. Qatar Airways sales have developed something of a reputation in the points community for being less impressive than the marketing suggests. The airline runs twenty percent off promotions fairly regularly throughout the year, so this isn't necessarily a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
That said, if you've been tracking a specific route and the sale genuinely brings the price down, it could still be worth jumping on. The key is to compare against what you'd normally pay, not just assume the sale price is a good deal.
What makes Qatar Airways worth considering regardless of sales? The QSuite Business Class product remains one of the best in the sky. Free Starlink WiFi is now available across their entire Boeing seven-seventy-seven fleet. Doha's Hamad International Airport consistently wins awards for its lounge and shopping offerings. And you earn Avios on every flight, which can be used across the oneworld alliance.
I've flown Qatar Airways several times, and their Business Class product is genuinely excellent. Doha is a pleasant airport to transit through. Those lounges are hard to beat. If you're planning a trip to Asia or Australia anyway, this sale removes some friction from booking.
For points collectors specifically, the real value here isn't necessarily the cash discount. It's the bonus Avios for new Privilege Club members. If you haven't joined yet, using code P C E U R twenty-five and booking during this sale could net you up to six thousand bonus Avios, which is a nice addition on top of whatever you'd earn from the flight itself.
If you're flexible on dates and can avoid the blackout periods, the Economy discount becomes more useful. Business Class travellers have no such restrictions, making it a cleaner proposition for those flying up front.
How do you book? The sale is only available when booking directly through qatarairways dot com or the Qatar Airways mobile app. You won't find these discounted fares through third-party booking sites or travel agents.
To maximise your Avios earnings, join Privilege Club first using code P C E U R twenty-five. Book your flights on the Qatar Airways website or app. Add your Privilege Club number to the booking. Then collect your bonus Avios after your first flight.
The sale ends on the second of December, so if you're interested, don't leave it until the last minute.
If you'd rather use your existing Avios for a Qatar Airways flight, check our Award Travel Finder tool to search for available award seats. Qatar restricts a lot of their Qsuite availability to Avios redemptions, so using Privilege Club Avios directly often gives you better access than redeeming through British Airways.
And that's the Qatar Airways Black Friday sale in a nutshell. Not the most exciting sale we've ever seen, but if the dates work for you and the price is genuinely lower than normal, it could be worth considering. Just don't assume twenty percent off automatically means it's a bargain.
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of Smart With Points. If you enjoyed it, please subscribe on your favourite podcast platform or head over to smartwithpoints dot co dot uk to stay up to date with all the latest miles and points news.
Looking for the best award flights? Use AwardTravelFinder dot com to search availability across Qatar Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and more. Try it for free with our link in the shownotes.