Bits: Virgin Atlantic and Flybe to codeshare, Business Traveller auction

News in brief:

Virgin Atlantic and Flybe to codeshare to Heathrow

As I covered a couple of weeks ago, Flybe is to launch flights to London Heathrow from Edinburgh and Aberdeen in March.  These will use the slots previously given to Virgin Atlantic for its Little Red services.

Virgin Atlantic and Flybe have announced an extension of their codeshare deal to cover these routes.  This will allow customers to book connecting flights under a VS flight number via the Virgin website and to check bags through to their final destination.  Passengers will need to change terminals from 2 to 3, or vice versa.

I am guessing that you will earn 25 Virgin tier points each way for Flybe bookings made under Virgin flight numbers but that has not yet been confirmed online.

You can find more details on the Flybe website here.

Business Traveller charity auction ends today

Our friends at Business Traveller have been running a charity auction over the Christmas and New Year period which ends at lunchtime today.

Here is a list of the lots – note they are priced in US$.  Most are fully priced but a few did seem to be good value, and all of the money goes to a good cause.

I’m looking for a Dutch-speaking HfP writer

One bit of feedback from my recent reader survey was a desire for more Flying Blue (Air France / KLM) coverage on Head for Points.

In my little London bubble it is easy to forget about Flying Blue.  If you live outside the M25, however, taking a KLM flight from your local airport to Amsterdam and then onwards is generally less trouble than connecting in Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

The problem with Flying Blue is that I don’t know much about it.  I am therefore interested in hearing from you if you would like to write the occasional Flying Blue article (no more than one per week) for the site.

These are the criteria:

• you can read Dutch, since there are deals posted on Dutch-language frequent flyer sites which will otherwise be missed by an English speaking audience.  This is non-negotiable.
• you have a good understanding of Flying Blue, as I will want a few introductory articles on the good and bad points of the scheme
• you can use WordPress
• you think you can write in the HfP ‘house style’
• you can dig out your own content – I won’t be telling you what to write, you need to tell me what is worth covering.  My plan is that your articles will arrive, unprompted, in our inbox whenever you find something interesting to write about.

The content you produce will need to be from a UK perspective.  I’m not bothered about earning miles from Dutch or French supermarkets, from Dutch or French credit cards or subscribing to Dutch or French newspapers.

I don’t mind if you already have your own blog or write for another one, although if you write for another site in English on Flying Blue it will be a problem.  You don’t need to be living in The Netherlands to apply.

Drop me a line at rob at headforpoints.com if you’re interested.  Payment would be per article and at a decent rate.

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How to earn Flying Blue miles from UK credit cards (April 2024)

Air France and KLM do not have a UK Flying Blue credit card.  However, you can earn Flying Blue miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

These cards earn Membership Rewards points:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 40,000 Flying Blue miles

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 10,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Flying Blue 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 Flying Blue mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.