Bits: £25 Virgin East Coast sale, Hilton launches a ‘lowest rate’ guarantee
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News in brief:
Virgin East Coast Edinburgh sale – all seats £25
Virgin East Coast is running a special promotion to push its new ’23 trains per weekday’ timetable to Edinburgh from Kings Cross.
Until 4th March, it is selling 25,000 Standard Advance one way tickets from London to Edinburgh for just £25 each. This are only valid for weekday travel between 16th May and 15th July.
Remember that you will also earn Nectar points or Virgin Flying Club miles on your purchase. The Virgin miles are worth more (you get 2 per £1 whichever you take) but obviously you need to be an active Virgin collector to get value from them.
Hilton launches a ‘lowest rate’ guarantee
Hilton has launched a new ‘lowest rate’ guarantee, promising that you will pay less on hilton.com than you will pay on Expedia, Hotels.com etc.
The power of Expedia / hotels.com is so strong these days that they are able to force hotel chains not to undercut them. Hilton has worked around this by restricting the discount to Hilton HHonors members (free to join, of course) which means that technically the general public is excluded.
Weekend stays booked 15+ days in advance will now be 10% cheaper for Hilton HHonors members (3% midweek). From 1 – 14 days in advance the discount is just 2%. The discounts clearly show on hilton.com during a search, whether or not you are logged in.
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How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (February 2025)
There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit and debit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.
You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.
We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.
You can apply for either card here.

NEW: Hilton Honors Plus Debit
10,000 bonus points, Hilton Gold status and NO FX fees Read our full review

NEW: Hilton Honors Debit
2,500 bonus points, Hilton Silver status and 0.5% FX fees Read our full review
There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.
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
50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:
- American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
- American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)
and for small business owners:
- American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
- American Express Business Platinum (50,000 bonus Amex points)
The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.
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