Bits: £1000 business class AA fares from Paris, InterContinental London The O2 now 45000 points

News in brief:

Excellent American Airlines fares from Paris to North America

It is pure coincidence that I am reviewing the Cathay Pacific lounge at Paris today and then this offer pops up as well!

American Airlines is selling business class flights to most of North America from Paris for £1,000 to £1,100 return.

Hawaii (Honolulu) from Paris is £1,107 but the fare also works fine for Paris to New York and pretty much everywhere else in the US served by AA.

Tickets must be booked by Tuesday 3rd May but travel dates are wide open.  You cannot route back via London so you will be flying American Airlines transatlantic direct from Paris or on the British Airways run OpenSkies service.  Stopovers will add €600 so I would forget about that.

You need to be careful about seating with AA so look at which planes are being used and then use one of the seating websites such as SeatPlans to make sure you are getting a fully flat seat.  Remember that AA flights earn Avios and British Airways Executive Club tier points.

You can book on the AA website or Expedia – see which throws up the best routings.

You must book 28 days before departure and stay away a Saturday night.

InterContinental The O2 reduced to just 45,000 IHG Rewards Club points

The InterContinental The O2 in London, which has only been open for four months, has been reduced in price from 50,000 IHG Rewards Club points per night to just 45,000 points.

I am hoping this does not reflect trading and the optimistic view that a 400+ room luxury hotel would work in North Greenwich.  I looked at pricing for a random weekday in August and saw rooms at £156 compared to £450 for InterContinental Park Lane.

At this price it is an EXCELLENT value redemption.  This is not just in comparison to Park Lane (60,000 points) but in comparison to the many pathetic Holiday Inn Express etc options in London which can be 35,000 points or more!

I am still hoping that IHG can arrange a review night here as I am keep to get a full tour.

If you have a reward night at The O2 booked, remember that you can cancel and rebook it to save 5,000 points as long as reward rooms are still showing.

The InterContinental The O2 website is here if you want to find out more or book a reward night.

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IHG One Rewards update – October 2024:

Get bonus points:

You will earn 3,000 bonus points for every two cash nights you stay between 19th September and 31st December 2024.

Nights to do not need to be consecutive. Read more in our article here and click here to register.

IHG is running a second promotion for stays at five of its smaller brands. You will receive triple base points between 1st October and 31st December 2024 on stays at voco, avid hotels, EVEN Hotels, Atwell Suites and Garner Hotels. Read more in our article here and click here to register.

New to IHG One Rewards?  Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG One Rewards points, you can buy them here.

IHG One Rewards is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 5th October 2024. Click here to buy.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.