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Bits: US flights from Manchester for £1000, 100% bonus when you buy Hilton points

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News in brief:

Business class US flights from Manchester for £1,000

For reasons no-one quite understands, American Airlines is offering business class flights from Manchester to two US cities:

  • San Antonio
  • Little Rock (and possible other parts of Arkansas)

….. for almost exactly £1,000.

You must fly between April and September and book by 22nd March.

The flights involve a change of plane in Chicago which means you will receive 360 British Airways tier points return (140 + 40 + 40 + 140).  You will also earn Avios if you decide to credit the flights to a British Airways Executive Club account.

100% bonus when you buy Hilton Honors points

Hilton Honors is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points before 3rd May.  See here for details.

This is the first bonus promotion since the new Hilton redemption process kicked in.  Under this new offering – which applies to purchases of 5,000 points or more – the cheapest price you can pay is 0.40p based on $800 for 160,000 points.

Does this still make sense under the new structure?  In theory, yes.  Or, to put it another way, it makes as much sense as it ever did.

Whilst the redemption cost of Hilton properties is now more closely linked to the prevailing cash price, there is still a cap on the points required.  The best value will generally be at properties which are selling for a very high price but where the points ‘cap’ has kicked in.

If I look at the Conrad Tokyo for a night in April when I am there, for example, it is selling for 95,000 points or £517 including tax (this is peak tourist season pricing).  That gets me 0.54p per point.  My room at the Waldorf-Astoria in Beijing the following week works out at 0.48p per point.

At both of these hotels, buying points under this offer would have been somewhat cheaper than paying cash although you should net off any points you would earn back.

One upside of the new Hilton redemption structure is that your downside for buying points is limited.  You can now use points as part-payment for any hotel at any time and you should get back at least what you pay under this offer – and hopefully more.

The link to buy is here if you’re interested.

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards

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.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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:

and for small business owners:

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.)

Category

American Airlines and AAdvantage, Hilton Honors

Comments (81)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Paul says:
    17 Mar17 March 05:12

    Err … Arkansas is not a city, it’s a state. Little Rock is the state capital of Arkansas.

    Cheers

  • Dirtyneedebluesky says:
    17 Mar17 March 05:21

    Raffles

    Thanks for this. Could be an interesting option rather than the direct Singapore flight to Houston in.the summer.

    I find this quite funny. I almost sent you a review of a hotel just north of San An at the weekend. Only 15k on IHG points but ‘stunning’ in terms of size & quality of room (bar the actual shower & toiletries which are still typical of a lower end property albeit new).

    It’s the HI Express in New Braunfells (apologies if spelt slightly wrong). Nice DT area if you like a bar crawl / speaking to folk (also two very high end restaurants) plus also close to the oldest dancehall in Texas in Gruene. In addition a massive outlet mall is nearby in San Marcos (technically two) for some v.cheap to good value shopping even with the exchange rate (depending on store offers & how your luck is).

    If you would like more culture Hill Country is nearby where they have fabulous vineyards for tasting sessions.

    Don’t forget about the coast either – east from Galveston.

    • Rob says:
      17 Mar17 March 08:21

      I stayed at a HIX in The Hamptons years ago and it was similarly stunning – you would have thought it was a 4-star, and it more impressive than any regional UK Hilton etc.

    • Phil G says:
      17 Mar17 March 14:57

      Thanks for that – just booked to San An in August Saturday to Saturday £1049 each. Cattle class was £1286 !!

  • PGW says:
    17 Mar17 March 05:22

    Isn’t that 560 not 360 points?

    • TravellerFrequently says:
      17 Mar17 March 05:26

      I think the domestic flights are too short to qualify for 140 tier points.

      • James A says:
        17 Mar17 March 06:26

        You can get 640tp if you really try. MAN-PHL-PHX-SAT and back. Can also route via HEL for 620tp total. See flyertalk’s tier point run thread.

      • PGW says:
        17 Mar17 March 06:39

        Yes, you’re right. Sub 2,000 miles so just the 360.

  • Lumma says:
    17 Mar17 March 06:25

    Looked the first week in august and it prices up at £1050 with two stops (JFK and DFW). If anyone was looking through maximise the tier points collected

    • Mike says:
      17 Mar17 March 06:43

      Might be the last chance to fly an AA MD80 too, if that appeals to anyone!

      • David says:
        17 Mar17 March 11:05

        I flew DFW to SAT 2 weeks ago on an MD80. The take off was as always very impressive and as I was in row 8 it was very quiet. However, everything else was very poor. The lounge at DFW is awful compared to LHR, The gate personnel rude and unhelpful, the flight attendants surly and the on board service non existent. Such a disappointment having flown business from LHR with AA which was first rate in all aspects. There is a huge gap between AA short haul and long haul and don’t get me started on the amount of carry on and size people bring on!

  • JohnW says:
    17 Mar17 March 08:02

    Hi Rob,

    For these upcoming Hilton redemptions that you have in Tokyo and Beijing, how did you get a room big enough for your family?

    • Rob says:
      17 Mar17 March 08:16

      Two rooms. Which is a blinkin’ good job I’ve got the points given the top places in Kyoto are £1,000 per room per night during peak cherry blossom season, which clashes with Easter this year.

      • JohnW says:
        17 Mar17 March 09:43

        Oh right. Would it have been an option to book one ‘normal’ room and then email the hotel and ask to pay for a bigger room/suite?

        • Rob says:
          17 Mar17 March 10:04

          Potentially, but at £1000 per night for a standard room I wasn’t keen on the price tag that such an option would bring! We also don’t want the kids to be sleeping on rollaways for 17 nights.

          Of course, knowing my luck, we’ll get upgraded anyway. We were in the Crowne Plaza in Salzburg last month and booked 2 junior suites, prepaid. One was upgraded to a 2-bedroom suite, so we didn’t need the 2nd room. Hotel wouldn’t refund it though ….

      • Genghis says:
        17 Mar17 March 09:53

        What are your plans for Japan, Rob? Tokyo and Kyoto? Any onsen? Koyasan temple stay?

        • Rob says:
          17 Mar17 March 10:02

          Not much flexibility with a 5-year old in tow and certainly no ryokan or similar. Depends what sort of babysitting we can rustle up since the kids interest in temples does not extend much beyond Minecraft ones.

          • Genghis says:
            17 Mar17 March 10:11

            Good point. I want to take my wife to Japan but I think after South Africa in early 18 it’ll have to be a holiday for her – a beach holiday or even (god forbid) a Middle East resort stay. I’m looking forward to your review of the RC in RAK (non-airport acronym!)

          • Rob says:
            17 Mar17 March 10:32

            That may bite the dust unfortunately. It seems I got a little carried away with the holiday bookings this year and forgot that, unlike myself, my wife does actually have a contractual maximum number of days she can’t turn up at her office 🙂

            A week skiing at half-term and 17 days over Easter (which doesn’t include Easter Monday annoyingly) plus various summer jaunts to her family means that October is looking tight now.

          • James67 says:
            17 Mar17 March 12:10

            Go to the lakes, your kids might like the tour ships done like galleons. One time I was there I saw some tour kids getting quite impressive lessons in making suff with paper (proper name escapes me at the moment) but no idea where you organise that.

        • ankomonkey says:
          17 Mar17 March 11:06

          I stayed a night at Koya-san many years ago. The central park in Nara (near Kyoto) might be an option if feeding wild deer appeals.

          Rob, where are you planning to go for cherry blossom viewing? For Tokyo, the Imperial Palace gardens (not far from Conrad Tokyo) are good, and popular with company ‘hanami’ parties. I also remember Ueno Park being pretty good (also has a decent zoo). And Kamakura is a popular day trip from Tokyo (big Buddha, lots of temples/shrines, home of Kamakura Ham) and has nice blossom on the walk up to Tsurugaoka Hachimanguu (Kamakura’s main shrine).

          • Genghis says:
            17 Mar17 March 11:11

            How was your Koya-san stay? Recommended? I wish I’d done it when I lived there but never got round to it.

          • ankomonkey says:
            17 Mar17 March 12:33

            @Genghis – it was good and worth doing. But it was a much younger me in those days…

            I’m guessing you did a Kyushu sand bath at some point… I did one around Beppu.

          • Genghis says:
            17 Mar17 March 12:46

            Thanks, I think Koya-San would be on the cards for my next trip.

            Yes. I went to Ibusuki sand onsen. V different. I’d spend most of my time in Kyushu I think on a future trip.

      • Craig Strickland says:
        17 Mar17 March 14:19

        I’m there at a similar time Rob, 23 Mar to 10 Apr. I booked many of the Ryokans when they released at 6 months to go, if I hadn’t I’d be paying £600 a night plus. I booked the Granvia in Kyoto, 3 days later it was sold out and the Hilton in Shinjuku I lucked in with their sweet suite sale at only £280 a night!!! A week to go and friends are telling me CW is overbooked and as I’m using a 241 I’m just a little worried.

    • YL says:
      17 Mar17 March 09:41

      Btw, Conrad Tokyo’s room is big enough for a family with 2 small children. The beds in twin rooms are kind of double bed size.

      • Rob says:
        17 Mar17 March 10:05

        Technically the rooms don’t take four, and my 9-year old is the height of an 11-year old so it’s not something we’re keen on!

        • Anon says:
          17 Mar17 March 18:04

          Director of Ops at Rangali was telling about how much he liked CT when visiting it recently.

  • Anon says:
    17 Mar17 March 08:12

    If there’s anyone out there seriously considering the Conrad Rangali…

    160000 points for $800 would get you 2 nights of a 5 night stay on points (Total 380k HH pts).

    A full point redemption avoids the additional ++ of resort service charge and taxes totalling 23% payable on cash bookings.

    But again, I agree with Genghis only buy if you realise the immediate value.

  • Dominic says:
    17 Mar17 March 08:52

    OT but Hilton related.

    Stayed at the Hilton on Park Lane this weekend with my Barclays free night certificate and was upgraded to King executive on the 24th floor facing the city thanks to Gold from plat card. Received 2000 points for the recent promotion and after buying a beer and charging it to the room, and triggered the 3rd stay bonus of 2500 points from my Barclaycard. Felt almost like they gave me 4500 points to stay in a nice room and drink all their wine from the executive lounge for free.

    Sure there will be people on here with much better and lavish stories of upgrades and redemptions but for someone still in the first few years of miles and points I was pretty pleased with this. thought I’d share as a lot of posts recently have been angry ones towards BA.

    • Genghis says:
      17 Mar17 March 09:23

      It’s good that you had a great experience. The Hilton Barclaycard is a great card as you get an almost instant benefit for hardly any effort. Barclaycard still seem to be offering the card. Does anyone have any further update?

      • razvan says:
        17 Mar17 March 10:23

        I just applied for my wife :), and she has been accepted. She already had a barclaycard platinum.

    • Andrew* says:
      17 Mar17 March 19:37

      Sometimes it’s just what suits you at the time. Just had a bog-standard Marriott room booking in London (room choice and pre paid so it met corporate travel policy price limits) and got upgraded to Superior Executive based on Plat/SPG/Marriott status.

      It’s still nothing fancy really but it’s still nice to get… and a benefit of playing the game as I don’t do anywhere near enough stays to obtain status that way…

  • John says:
    17 Mar17 March 09:05

    AA flights sound expensive per TP.

    Lack of 2,000 miles+ on domestic reduces the points.

    • where2travel says:
      17 Mar17 March 10:08

      You can get 2,000 mile domestics included though, eg my routing outbound includes PHL-PHX, I saw some slightly higher fares with JFK-LAX etc.

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