Overnight, with no advance notice, American Express has withdrawn the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold charge card. The good news – with sighs of relief all round – is that it has been replaced by the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card. You can […]
Why you should swap your (now closed) Amex Gold charge card for the new Amex Gold credit card
26 April 2018 By 251 Comments
Alex Cruz speaks about the new Club World and First Class seats
26 April 2018 By 40 Comments
Alex Cruz, the Chairman and CEO of British Airways, gave a speech at a UK Israel Business event yesterday morning. I went along and I know a few other readers were there too. The main speech itself did not contain any surprises in terms of […]
Bits: more Santiago and Washington Avios seats, Radisson sale, Conrad Maldives new underwater room
26 April 2018 By 37 Comments
News in brief: Additional BA services to Santiago and Washington launched British Airways has launched new services to Santiago (pictured below) and Washington for the Winter. From 28th October, a fifth weekly Santiago, Chile flight will be launched. This will operate on a Sunday. From […]
Should I do a Marriott Platinum Challenge to lock in the new benefits?
25 April 2018 By 66 Comments
Marriott Rewards has an unpublished ‘Platinum Challenge’. It is not written down anywhere but, if you call or email them, you can sign up. There are only two caveats: You must already be a Marriott Gold member (comps from Starwood Preferred Guest Golds status are […]
Shock BA announcements – some priority baggage WILL now receive priority, and a First Class bus!
25 April 2018 By 107 Comments
You know the yellow ‘Priority’ tags that British Airways puts on your suitcases when you travel in First Class, Club World or Club Europe? They don’t do anything. Nothing. British Airways has at least now come clean about this, with the launch of a new […]
Bits: 50% ‘buy Avios’ bonus – good deal?, Marriott points with London house rentals, £264 Virgin fares to Dubai
25 April 2018 By 103 Comments
News in brief: 50% bonus when you buy Avios British Airways has launched a generous ‘buy Avios’ bonus promotion. Until 8th May you get 50% bonus Avios when you buy points. As well as being the highest bonus we have seen for quite a while, […]
An exceptional new Middle East beach redemption using Marriott Rewards or SPG points
24 April 2018 By 32 Comments
Long-term readers of Head for Points will remember that last year I visited The Ritz-Carlton Al Wadi desert resort in Ras Al-Khaimah about 60 minutes drive from Dubai International Airport. The standard ‘room’ at Al Wadi Desert is the 1,700 square foot Al Rimal villa. This […]
Bits: Virgin’s new afternoon tea in pictures, new Oman Air First Class suite, £20 off Opodo flights
24 April 2018 By 99 Comments
News in brief: Virgin’s new Afternoon Tea in the Clubhouse As I wrote last week, Virgin Atlantic has launched a new afternoon tea service in the Heathrow Clubhouse in Terminal 3. You will receive a stand of sandwiches and cakes plus tea or a glass […]
REMINDER: Get exclusive benefits on luxury hotel bookings via Head for Points
24 April 2018 By 11 Comments
I wanted to give our luxury hotel booking service another mention today, in case you are finalising your holiday plans for the Summer. Since I launched this service a year ago with Emyr Thomas of Bon Vivant, the feedback from Head for Points readers has […]
Why NO-ONE should spend £20,000 for a 2-4-1 on the free British Airways American Express card
23 April 2018 By 176 Comments
It is almost two years since I last ran a version of this article. I thought it was worth updating it and giving it another outing because it makes a few interesting points which you might never have considered. The bottom line is this – which […]
Bits: Good Etihad fare to Oz for Christmas, 100% bonus buying Hilton points, F1 and tennis with SPG/Marriott
23 April 2018 By 69 Comments
News in brief: Good Etihad fare to Australia for Christmas I’ve had a few emails recently asking about cheap cash flights to Australia over Christmas. As this is a non-starter for Avios – and anyway is terrible value given the taxes – you need to […]
My review of the new(ish) INNSIDE Hamburg Hafen
23 April 2018 By 28 Comments
INNSIDE is the four-star chain of business focused hotels run by Melia. Long-term Head for Points readers might remember my review of the new INNSIDE New York NoMad and Rob also reviewed the INNSIDE Manchester when it opened. We do quite a bit with Melia Hotels […]
Bits: Heathrow exhibition opens, new Holiday Inn Dubai Festival City opens (20k points), 35% off SPG points
22 April 2018 By 15 Comments
News in brief: New exhibition on Heathrow Airport launched “Heathrow: The Journey”, a new free exhibition focusing on the history of the airport, has opened at the University of West London’s campus in St Mary’s Road, Ealing. It features a wealth of never-before-seen items from […]
Bits: Get double or triple Accor points on UK stays, 75% bonus buying Radisson points, Peakpoints closing
22 April 2018 By 22 Comments
News in brief: Earn double or triple Le Club AccorHotels points on UK stays! Accor has launched a good new promotion for stays at their hotels in the UK and Ireland. Classic (base level), Silver and Gold members of Le Club AccorHotels will receive double […]
What is the best hotel scheme? – Starwood Preferred Guest – The Facts
22 April 2018 By 11 Comments
This is the sixth of our overview series of the main hotel loyalty schemes. Each scheme will be covered over two posts on consecutive days. One will list the basic facts of the scheme, the other will be my subjective view of what is of […]
What is the best hotel scheme? – Starwood Preferred Guest – The Opinion
22 April 2018 By 4 Comments
In my other article today, I outlined ‘the facts’ of the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty scheme. This article is my personal opinion, highlighting areas where I think you might want to focus. This article now has little long-term value given that the programme will cease […]
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