Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Happy birthday to us – Head for Points is 1 today

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It was exactly a year ago that I launched Head for Points.   I had actually started writing it at the end of May, but no-one actually knew it existed at that point!  I wanted to run it for a few weeks in private to be sure that I could actually find enough to write about and enough time to write it.

It was July 2nd last year that I put a post on FlyerTalk announcing that it had launched.  Ironically, because there was five weeks of content for people to read on the first day, I got a huge number of page views on Day 1 – it then took me six months before I hit that level again!

HFP

The original version of the site looked like this, for readers who have joined since our relaunch in February 2013 and who never saw the old ‘yellow and black’ ad-free version.

There are probably about 50 people who are responsible for how Head for Points looks today.  You may even be one of them, without knowing it.

One person recommended the designer for the logo, another the hosting company.  Someone else pointed me towards the layout, someone else helped me tweak the coding.  Someone else helped with a key HTML problem, someone else helped me with a bit of Photoshop work.  Numerous people helped me find suitable affiliate partners, someone helped me find an iPad photo-editing app etc etc.  I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped with advice and ideas over the last 12 months, especially as my IT skills are very minimal indeed!

A lot of the most interesting posts were also triggered by reader emails, which I always enjoy receiving.  It was a reader email that persuaded me to look into the 3V cards seriously, for example.  If you have an idea for a future article, or if you receive news of an interesting promotion by email which you think is worth sharing, please do forward it on to rob at headforpoints.com.  This is genuinely a collaborative venture, since with the best will in the world I can’t keep up with every loyalty scheme.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the site and will continue to do so.  Thank you for your support so far.

Comments (80)

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

  • Susan says:

    Happy Birthday HFP! What an amazing first year – grateful thanks from Italy.

  • reds1981 says:

    Happy birthday HFP and thanks for all the hard work and dedication.
    Read your blogs everyday and the family is off to Milan on RFS (business) next week!

  • Richard says:

    Raffles, I’m not exaggerating when I say this – your blog is my favourite blog on the internet. Happy Birthday for today, I believe there will be many more celebrations to come.

  • trickster says:

    Congratulations on a great 1st year!

  • AndyGWP says:

    Happy Birthday HFP!

    I’m here every lunchtime, picking up on your articles as well as the comments and additional information posted by other readers of your blog.

    My achievements are a lot lower compared to others, but have to say that without the blog, I wouldn’t have got:
    Amex Preferred Rewards Gold (38k Avios) + 2 lounge passes
    AAdvantage Credit Card (50k’ish AAmiles – nearly there, not quite)
    Le Club Accor upgrade in Berlin
    A genuine interest in all the other hotel partner schemes that until now, I’ve ignored, but the realisation of being able to convert to things like Avios (even at a mediocre rate) means at least the points don’t go wasted!

    • AndyGWP says:

      Forgot to add that the main appeal of this blog, is that you make it so easy to understand, and the rate of postings per day is perfect.

      Flyertalk, although an exceptional and amazing amount of information (of varying quality admittedly!), can sometimes be a bit cumbersome and difficult to keep track of things. I appreciate that you, and other readers are able to keep track of things though, and break it down into simple categories for the likes of me 🙂

  • xcalx says:

    Congratulations Raffles on reaching the 1 year milestone. I hope for many more to come. Your timing for HFP could not have come at a better time, with the sad demise of the wonderful BMI FF programme along with it the equally special BMI forum you have filled the void.
    Thank you for your continued sharing of new information.

    xcalx

  • Michael says:

    Best wishes HFP!

  • Lady London says:

    Congratulations Raffles and thanks especially for the UK focus.

    • Linda says:

      Happy 1st birthday HFP like others I read your blog first thing. I never used to bother with credit cards. Now got Amex Gold and BA basic Amex, managed to get hubby to sign up for BAP.
      Got loads of Avios now and a 241 voucher. Couldn’t have done without your great advice so thank you.

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

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