For several weeks Qatar has been booking tickets for its cheapest business class fare sales in to R class. This is currently a non-Avios/Tier Points fare basis with BA.

But this changes for tickets purchased from 1 May when BA realigns its earning levels to accommodate the new R class. Looks like some other fare classes are being included too. Good news in a world where reductions in earnings seems to be the norm for flyers these days.

The example below – Cairo to Bangkok illustrates the difference between the two fare classes in terms of cost: