‘Free champagne and upgrade’ promo with BA and Conrad / Waldorf-Astoria hotels

British Airways has launched a special promotion in conjunction with Hilton‘s two luxury brands – Conrad and Waldorf-Astoria.

On the face of it, it is not a bad deal:

Free bottle of champagne

Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability

Triple Avios points for your stay

If your Hilton HHonors account is set to ‘Points and Fixed Miles’, you would earn 1,500 Avios points per stay under this promotion. If it is set to ‘Points and Variable Miles’, you would earn 3 Avios per $1.

The conditions are modest:

Minimum two night stay

Valid between 1st April and 30th September

You need to book a specific package to qualify for this offer.

I looked at a couple of examples to see if this is a genuine deal or not.

The Waldorf-Astoria Berlin (see photo, it has just opened) over the weekend of June 7th-9th is €310 per night for a King Junior Deluxe room. The cheapest non-refundable rate is €263, so this is a package worth looking at. The €310 rate is equal to the Best Flexible Rate.

The new Conrad Algarve resort, for the same weekend, comes out at €414. This is the same as the Best Flexible Rate, but there are Advanced Purchase rates which undercut this substantially. €362 gets you breakfast and dinner included, for example, as long as you are happy to pre-pay.

As usual, therefore, ‘buyer beware’ would seen an appropriate motto for this promotion.

---

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)