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Bits: British Airways schedule changes for Winter, free Etihad Gold with a £500,000 deposit

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News in brief:

British Airways announces more Winter schedule changes

British Airways has announced a new batch of schedule changes for the Winter season.  These kick in from 30th October and are, in terms of the cancellations, pretty short notice.

These are the changes, all from Heathrow:

Stockholm – increase from 34 to 41 flights per week

Nice – increase from 35 to 41 flights per week

Berlin Tegel – increase from 47 to 52 flights per week

Bergen –  decrease from 13 to 7 flights per week

Stavanger – decrease from from 13 to 7 flights per week

The Bergen change, photo below, does not surprise me.  It is a lovely city but Norway is very, very expensive for tourists.  There is a pleasant Radisson by the harbour which would make a good Club Carlson redemption.

The route was incredibly cheap in the last British Airways sale – although anyone who booked it may now find their flight cancelled.  BA is unlikely to have emailed you yet if you have booked Bergen or Stavanger so I would double check any booking.

On the upside, if you had been looking for Avios seats on a particular date to Stockholm, Nice or Berlin then you should check again. The new services will have the usual four Euro Traveller and two Club Europe seats available.

Get free Etihad Gold status with £500,000 deposit

I have covered the new HSBC Premier World Elite credit card on Head for Points recently.  At 1 Avios or other airline mile per £1 spent, it is the most generous Visa or Mastercard currently available.  It also comes with access to a few hundred airport lounges via LoungeKey.

All in all, it is not a bad deal for the £195 fee – especially as you will receive 40,000 Avios points for signing up and spending £12,000 in your first year.  You do need to be a HSBC Premier customer which has strict income or savings criteria.

Reader Jonathan got in touch to point out that there is a way of getting the £195 fee waived.  You will also receive free Etihad Gold status as well.  All you need to do is sign up for HSBC Jade.

What’s the catch?  Well …. you must “maintain a relationship balance of £500,000 in cash savings and / or investments; and pay your annual income into your HSBC Premier Bank Account.”

Oddly enough, with interest rates so low, this is not a terrible deal if you have £500,000 sitting around (as you do ….).  HSBC’s interest rates are not the best but they are not appalling either.  You save £195 on the credit card fee.  You get Etihad Gold status which leaves you well placed for any status matches to other airlines.  You also get a number of other benefits on top.

How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards (April 2024)

Etihad Guest does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Etihad Guest miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Etihad Guest miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Etihad Guest mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.

Category

British Airways and Avios, Etihad and Etihad Guest, HSBC Premier Mastercard

Comments (48)

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

  • Genghis says:
    27 Jul27 July 06:06

    OT. 30% off Virgin ECML on Virgin Red until month end.

  • Shelly says:
    27 Jul27 July 06:53

    I just asked HSBC to waive the fee and they agreed for the first year

    • John says:
      27 Jul27 July 07:01

      Probably unrelated to UK HSBC, but in Hong Kong it’s basically a given that the HSBC Premier credit card is “free” as long as you remember to get the fee waived yearly.

    • Tom H says:
      27 Jul27 July 07:05

      Hi Shelley who did you call? Premier services? I have received this card a couple of weeks ago and would be keen to get the fee removed, any tips would be appreciated!

      • Tom H says:
        27 Jul27 July 07:05

        *Shelly

        • Shelly says:
          27 Jul27 July 20:21

          I called the number on the credit card and asked. They did say no to begin with but I pointed out that they’re offering £200 to a new customer taking out the premier account which I didn’t benefit from. They then agreed for the first year only which gives me time to see if it’s the best card for me

    • Jason says:
      27 Jul27 July 07:54

      I asked and got told under no circumstances would it be refunded,

    • Doug says:
      27 Jul27 July 10:23

      Called them, but no luck… even when complaining about some stuff.

  • John says:
    27 Jul27 July 07:05

    Mate please stick to points and miles. Nobody should use Windows 10 if they have Windows 7 and can help it.

    • Danksy says:
      27 Jul27 July 07:37

      keep ’em coming harry!

    • Billy Buzzjet says:
      27 Jul27 July 08:43

      What’s windows ? 0/T but does anyone know what the price of fish is today ?

      • Fenny says:
        27 Jul27 July 14:51

        Fresh, frozen or tinned. Cheaper and better at Aldi than other horriblemarkets!

    • bob bob Ricard says:
      27 Jul27 July 08:59

      Sorry, you’re wrong about Windows 10 – much better than its predecessors and if you’ve been using a tablet (Android or the fascist church of Appleology) then the new interface is what you’ve been waiting for. Much slicker to use and better all round.

      • guesswho2000 says:
        27 Jul27 July 13:44

        Obviously completely OT, but I’ll get involved anyway – my work laptop has just been upgraded to Windows 10. At home I use Mac/iPad. I hate it, but then I hated Windows 7 when we got shunted from XP!

        Anyway…

      • Nick Haley says:
        28 Jul28 July 19:45

        Are you actually bob bob ricard?

    • Tom H says:
      27 Jul27 July 14:03

      Sorry John but an OT for Harry (or anyone else), any tips on getting some good value Disney passes with or without using points (MR, Avios, SPG’s ethiad, VFC, TCC etc have them all)?

  • Andrew Stock says:
    27 Jul27 July 07:47

    Berlin now 52 flights a week plus the new route from LCY with has 3 flights a day.

  • Alba says:
    27 Jul27 July 07:48

    Not surprised about SVG, my last few flights there have been very quiet.

    • Lee says:
      27 Jul27 July 08:55

      Unlike the returns which are always full.

    • idrive says:
      27 Jul27 July 11:35

      what to do in SVG a part starting an ExEU? I would like to go for a weekend

      • Yan says:
        27 Jul27 July 14:30

        easy hiking trip to Preikestolen, very doable as a day trip
        or drive down to visit the beaches along national tourist route Jæren

  • Will says:
    27 Jul27 July 07:51

    There are two Raddison hotels in Bergen. The Raddison BLu Royal being the better of the two. Therefore two hotels to use Club Carlson points at.

    • Raffles says:
      27 Jul27 July 08:03

      Thanks. Only ever been in the one on the harbour.

    • pauldb says:
      27 Jul27 July 10:31

      BGO and SVG are still twice a day for the summer, when most of us would try to visit. Had a good trip there last summer and actually didn’t find the costs too bad though hotels and food were nothing special. Car hire very expensive; actually think we might have managed without, even round the fjords, were it not for travelling with an infant.

  • Lee says:
    27 Jul27 July 08:53

    Shame that you can’t do more than 50. My year has not run out yet.

  • David2910 says:
    27 Jul27 July 10:20

    Re the 500k. If you have that lying around in cash with no current investment plan, then yes rates wise not much foregone by putting in HSBC. But I’d note FSCS limit, so risk/reward take a bit more thought-that’s a big exposure.

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