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Bits: We won 3 BTJA awards!, BA drops three routes, 30000 Nectar points with their Amex card

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News in brief:

We won three Business Travel Journalism Awards

As you may have guessed from the picture we ran yesterday, or our social media feeds, we won three awards at the 2017 Business Travel Journalism Awards on Thursday night.

This saw us fighting it out with, depending on category, Business Traveller, the travel sections of the national press, the B2B business travel titles and in-flight magazines.

We won:

  • Business Travel Editor of the Year (Rob)
  • Best Newcomer to Business Travel or Meetings and Events Journalism (Anika)
  • Best Digital Strategy

We didn’t get Scoop of the Year, but 3/4 was way beyond our expectations.  Anika had to beat five other shortlisted writers in her category.

Here is Anika picking up ‘Best Newcomer’.  The judges said:

“The judges felt that the winner’s article was ‘interesting, engaging, on point and humorous.‘The author’s style was ‘really enjoyable’ with one judge claiming, ‘this was the one feature I remembered long after I’d read it’.”

…. and ‘Best Digital Strategy’.  The judges said:

“Of the winner, the judges were impressed with this website describing it as ‘refreshing’, ‘something I hadn’t seen before’ and ‘a website that I would use as a travel booker and as a traveller’.”

…. and ‘Editor of the Year’.  The judges said:

“Our panel of judges debated for a very, very long time about who should win this award. After much toing and froing, the winner was described as ‘a trailblazer’, someone who has ‘broken new ground’ and someone whose ‘leadership and entrepreneurship makes him a natural winner’.”

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on here or social media, we appreciate it.

British Airways cancels three short haul routes

British Airways has announced that three ‘Summer only’ routes will not be returning in 2018.

The routes impacted are:

  • Kos
  • Montpellier
  • Biarritz (photo above, the plans for Four Seasons to take over that hotel have recently collapsed)

If you are already booked to one of these cities for next summer, you should contact BA to discuss your options.

30,000 Nectar points with the Nectar American Express card

We normally leave Nectar points discussion to our sister site Shopper Points, but it is worth highlighting this limited time offer on their American Express card.

Until 1st November, the sign-up bonus is increased from 20,000 Nectar points to 30,000.  You need to apply via the Nectar website to get this deal.

30,000 Nectar points is worth at least £150 off your Sainsburys bill, and potentially £300 if you hold on to them until a ‘1p per point’ offer comes along, although they are getting rarer.

The card is FREE for the first year and you can get the bonus irrespective of what other Amex cards you currently hold.


Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Comments (109)

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

  • the real harry1 says:

    Did you grab the chance to tell Calder he’s missing a trick or 2 on buying those full-price Avios? 🙂

  • Gin and Tonic Please says:

    Massive congrats!

  • Steve-B says:

    Well done Rob and Anika!

    Data point (as there were a couple of posts about this recently) – I’ve just received my 3000 MR points for PRGC supplementary card holder – 42 days from application acceptance..

    • TripRep says:

      How did you get the link to apply for this, can’t see it offered on my PRGC account.

      • Steve-B says:

        TripRep – it was a bonus offer that Amex were running back in the summer – it expired end of August if I recall correctly. I posted this as there has been some confusion over the timing for the posts to point – some folks now being told by Amex reps that it could be up to 90 days.

        • TripRep says:

          thanks, also chatted with them to check, no longer running, sure it’ll come back in a few months…

        • EwanG says:

          They have been running it again recently but on email rather than promoted when you log into your account.
          Mrs G had an email last Monday and she/I applied on Thursday.

        • Anna says:

          Yes I’ve been told 60 and 90, and then 60 again. It’s been 46 days now. I saw the offer on Facebook, not on my account.

    • EwanG says:

      To follow up on my post above.
      Sups ordered Thursday.
      Points credited Friday.
      It’s a nonsense if others are waiting 42 days and more!

  • Fenny says:

    Congrats to you both.

  • Matt says:

    OT: does anyone have a working American Express Gold -> Platinum upgrade offer link? Thanks!

  • razvan says:

    Has anyone heard of a new Avios offer for The Sunday Times Travel Magazine? The last year subscription just run out.

  • Nick says:

    When I go the Nectar website (through either Rob’s link or direct myself) I only see the standard 20k offer. Does this mean the offer is targeted (and not to me?) or am I doing something wrong?

  • wayne sam says:

    Damn shame about the Biarritz route, we visit that fantastic coast often, and was always an option

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

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