This just keeps getting better. A couple of months ago I wrote about some great Qatar Airways business class fares from Montreal to Bangkok, and now the fares are even lower!
Qatar Airways Qsuites is my favorite business class product in the world. Historically the airline has also had exceptional business class fares, though we’re seeing fewer sales than we’ve seen in the past.
Qatar Airways Qsuites
In general I’d say we still see a good number of attractive business class fares for travel originating in Europe, though for travel originating in North America we don’t see nearly as many good business class fares as we used to.
At the moment Qatar Airways has excellent business class fares for travel between Montreal and Bangkok. Obviously this is great for those in Canada, but it’s also good for those in the US who don’t mind positioning to Montreal, given all the nonstop flights available to there (many people would have to position to a Qatar Airways gateway anyway).
There’s availability for this fare for travel between September and the end of the schedule.
You can fly roundtrip business class on Qatar Airways from Montreal to Bangkok for ~2,000USD. As a point of comparison, the last time I wrote about this fare the cheapest cost was ~2,180USD, which was still excellent.
You can easily search these fares either on Google Flights or ITA Matrix.
Note that on most dates the Montreal to Doha route features Qsuites, though on some dates it doesn’t. So if booking you’ll ideally want to make sure that the seatmap looks like this…
And not like this…
This is obviously still subject to change, but I’d expect that over time the odds of a flight featuring Qsuites increases, as more planes are configured with these seats. Given that these tickets are for travel in fall and winter, I’d feel pretty confident about getting Qsuites.
Montreal to Bangkok roundtrip in business class via Doha covers a distance of ~19,500 flown miles, so if you were crediting to American AAdvantage (for example) you’d earn 29,250 elite qualifying miles, 3,900 elite qualifying dollars, and 19,500 redeemable miles (though if you’re Executive Platinum you’d earn a 120% bonus, for a total of 42,900 redeemable miles).
This is an exceptional fare, and I’m personally considering taking advantage of this. Not because I want to earn American AAdvantage miles, but rather because a trip to Thailand sounds fun at some point, and this seems like a really nice way to get there.
Like I said, cheap Qatar Airways business class fares from North America are rare nowadays, so…
If you’re looking for a Qatar Airways business class fare from North America with another city pair, Qatar Airways is also offering a business class fare sale for travel between the US and select cities. Fares start at $2,450 roundtrip.
Obviously that’s not quite as good, but depending on where you’re originating and where you’re going, it could be a better option.
If you take advantage of one of these fares, make sure you use a card offering bonus points for airfare purchases. You can earn up to 5x points, which I value at up to 1.7 cents each, for an additional return of 8.5%.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
American Express® Gold Card
Anyone considering taking advantage of these fares?
(Tip of the hat to j2simpso)
I was intrigued by this sale and while checking the prices with Qatar, I noticed that Turkish Airlines had low airfares as well - this afternoon, I moved quickly and snatched 2 return tickets in business class from YUL to BKK for only US$1,815 (C$2,487)!
Go to Phuket and review some hotels and resorts!
Sitting on the beach in Phuket right now thanks to this fare!
Lucky - thanks for this heads up. You are always looking out for your fans.
I just booked the LAX-DOH-SIN for October through AmEx IAP and the $2949 r/t fare was further reduced to $2715 with the IAP discount. This is a fantastic deal, even without all the AA EQM/EQD accrual. Thanks Lucky!
A lot of the cashback portals offer cashback for Qatar bookings. TopCashback for example has 2% back right now. Says only valid on Qatar's US site, so not 100% sure it would work on this route but doesn't hurt to click thru the portal to try.
Just checked in for YUL-DOH-BKK Busn at the 'sale' from weeks ago. Got QSuites RT. Note: play around with the routing -- return is BKK-DOH-IAD-YUL (IAD-YUL on AC!) so I could have not flown the IAD-YUL last seg (but turns out last minute plans... I'll use it).
Unfortunately... QR uses the one and only Lounge that every other airline uses (except AC/STAR); 30 minutes to check in. QR could do better.
PS I...
Just checked in for YUL-DOH-BKK Busn at the 'sale' from weeks ago. Got QSuites RT. Note: play around with the routing -- return is BKK-DOH-IAD-YUL (IAD-YUL on AC!) so I could have not flown the IAD-YUL last seg (but turns out last minute plans... I'll use it).
Unfortunately... QR uses the one and only Lounge that every other airline uses (except AC/STAR); 30 minutes to check in. QR could do better.
PS I too would like to see what other Asia destinations are now on sale.
Is the Qatar stopover promo still available? I think there was a post about it being extended through to end of April, but has it been discontinued since?
@ David -- It has been discontinued, unfortunately. Now you can just get a discounted stay.
For an extra $400 USD, you can do YUL-DOH-CPT. Fare comes in at $3250 CAD (about $2400USD). 22,188 miles earns you 4,437 EQD's. There's also LAX-DOH-SIN out there for $2,949USD. Clocks in at 24,325 miles and 4,865 EQD's.
Canadian Amex IAP lowers the fare by all of about 35 CAD.
@DanStvns
www.expertflyer.com (you will need to create a free account).
I flew this route earlier this month when the fare was around $ 2,300 RT. I took advantage of QR’s cheap layover option each way which was only $30 per night at the Marriott and Westin. Heck of a deal.
I must be the odd man out because I did not like the QSuite. Shoulder room was great but the overall length seemed short and the footwell was very constraining. I prefer the reverse...
I flew this route earlier this month when the fare was around $ 2,300 RT. I took advantage of QR’s cheap layover option each way which was only $30 per night at the Marriott and Westin. Heck of a deal.
I must be the odd man out because I did not like the QSuite. Shoulder room was great but the overall length seemed short and the footwell was very constraining. I prefer the reverse herringbone configuration over the QSuite. Of course the soft product and service on all 4 flights was phenomenal, as usual.
Where would I find the seatmap like it is listed in this article? Thank you.
@Izz - strictly speaking, one earns Qantas Frequent Flyer points (not miles) and Status Credits (not flight credits), but that's only one part of the equation.
Both of the Australian loyalty programs (the other being Velocity) have a sector requirement. In the case of Qantas's program, at least 4 sectors must be flown on flights ticketed by Qantas or one of their subsidiaries. The way that their status duration is calculated is suboptimal for many as well.
Is it possible to route via BOS or JFK? I believe in the previous deals, you were able to. Makes it much more convenient for US based travelers on the return
When I was recently searching award travel I found good QR Business availability to Montreal and nothing to other US East Coast destinations. If $2,000 sounds expensive keep awards in mind.
Any intel if Amex plat travel offers a discount on this fare?
Anyway to know what the select cities are? Ideally I’d fly out of IAD.
Great fare.
Worth noting that it is also possible to credit this to QF which can be a great option.
For this routing, you would earn redeemable 22,750 QF miles.
On the status level, this routing would earn 480 flight credits. OneWorld Ruby requires just 300 credits, while OneWorld Gold requires 700 credits. This puts you somewhere in between.
Not bad at all, as QF does have some nice sweet spots.
I was able to get JFK-DPS for $2.9k 6/27-7/15. Not as cheap, but as this route typically go for more than $5k I consider this a good deal and got 2 tix for hubby and myself. So excited to finally get to try QSuites!
Great fare but wouldn’t call this fare spectacular. Two years ago they sold $1600-1700 biz fare from the US to Asia and last year I paid $1100 to fly CMB-PHL r/t.
YMMV of course.
Does this work in the other direction?
@ Jonathan -- It doesn't, unfortunately (almost always the case for international fares).
Anyone check if Amex Plt IAP can lower this even further?
@ Matt -- I checked and unfortunately not.