Bits: KLM business class sale, Corinthia sale, Luxury Travel Diary auction ending

News in brief:

KLM launches more business class deals

Dutch airline KLM may be feeling the heat from the aggressive business class fare deals that Qatar Airways has been running from the UK, with Qatar siphoning off traffic from passengers who are happy to fly indirect in order to save a large amount of money.  Historically that was the job of KLM.

The latest KLM business class sale has some good deals to the Middle East (£1,249) and fairly good deals to Asia (£1,690 for Tokyo, Singapore) given that you get to start in the UK.  Forget the US prices which are too high at £2,000+ – these are routes where the Middle East airlines cannot compete from the UK.

Check out the current status of the new fully flat business class seat (below) before booking – I think the Boeing 747 fleet has been done whilst the Boeing 777’s are ongoing?

You need to book by March 30th, travel dates vary by route.  KLM is a member of SkyTeam so you do not earn Avios – you would need to credit your flights to the KLM Flying Blue scheme or to a partner airline such as Delta.

Full sale details can be found on the KLM website here.

Corinthia Hotels sale into its final week

You may remember I profiled the Corinthia Hotel in London back in January.  This may well be the most impressive luxury hotel in London at the moment.

The Corinthia spring sale is still running for a few more days until next Tuesday.  There is a 3-4-2 deal for the London property and ‘up to 50% off’ available at their other European hotels – two in Malta, Budapest, St Petersburg, Prague and Lisbon.  None of these match the grandeur of the London hotel but are still worth a look, especially at a decent discount.

Luxury Travel Diary auctions starting to close

Finally, you may remember that I wrote about the various hotel stays, amongst other travel deals, available in the Luxury Travel Diary charity auction.

Because this is a niche site, some of the lots have (unfairly) struggled to find their value.  At the time of writing, a 2-night stay in Buenos Aires, compete with dinner, sits at £165 vs a value of £1795.  Seven nights at a Melia in Cuba sits at £600 vs a valuation of £1,800.  2 nights at The Marbella Club – with champagne buffet breakfast – sits at just £326 vs a value of £1,100.  2 nights at a Maldives resort sits at £15.

If you are going to St Kitts, there are passes for the new VIP lounge available for £5 – and this is an exceptionally swanky facility looking at the pictures.