Bits: 20 Avios per £1 on Heathrow Express, a new ‘grown up’ Hilton in Ibiza

News in brief:

Earn 20 Avios per £1 on Heathrow Express tickets

It is kept very low key – and you need to book via a special website – but you can earn Avios points when booking Heathrow Express train tickets.

You need to book via heathrowexpress.com/avios and not the main Heathrow Express site.  The main site only gives you the option to collect Heathrow Rewards points.

The standard earning rate is 10 Avios per £1.  However, for tickets purchased before 31st October, this is doubled to 20 Avios per £1.  You would earn 1,080 Avios from a £54 return First Class ticket.

You cannot book cheaper Advanced Purchase tickets through the Avios site.  The only tickets available are fully flexible Standard and First Class.  Leisure travellers who have fixed travel plans and are booking over 14 days in advance will find better deals on the main site, even without any Avios.

PS.  You can credit Avios from Heathrow Express to BA, avios.com or Iberia Plus.  This is an easy way of activating a new Iberia Plus account, as you cannot transfer Avios in or out of Iberia until you have ‘earned’ 1 Avios point in the scheme.

A new ‘grown up’ Hilton hotel in Ibiza

If you enjoy the climate in Ibiza but don’t care much for the mass market hotels, Hilton has come to your rescue.

The Gran Hotel Montesol Ibiza has joined Hilton’s Curio Collection of luxury independent hotels who have formed a marketing alliance with Hilton.  This allows you to book your stays via the Hilton website – and earn Hilton HHonors points – as well as redeeming.

Built in 1933 – it was actually the first hotel on Ibiza, photo above – the Montesol is an official ‘Property of Cultural Interest’.  In the heart of Ibiza, next to the harbour, it is on the edge of the ‘upper town’ World Heritage Site.

Full details are here.  It doesn’t come cheap – for a random date in October I saw rates of over €400 per night, which makes the 95,000 Hilton HHonors points required look OK.

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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.)