Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Bits: 40% bonus on Hyatt points, 2-4-1 at Jumeirah in London, Air France to Male

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News in brief:

40% bonus when you buy Hyatt Gold Passport points

The new ‘World of Hyatt’ loyalty programme is gearing up to launch and this might be the last mention of Hyatt Gold Passport on Head for Points.

Until 17th February, you can get a 40% bonus when you buy Hyatt Gold Passport points.  The deal is targeted but widely available as far as I can tell.

This is obviously worth a look if you need to top up your account.  It may also be worthwhile if considering a stay in a top tier Park Hyatt such as the ones in Tokyo, Paris or Sydney, where buying the points may be cheaper than paying cash.

The new Park Hyatt resort in Mallorca, photo below, is another possibility.   Prices are scary in August (rooms from Euro 680, or Euro 850 if you want a cancellable one) so a redemption at 20,000 points per night ($336 of bought points) would be a VERY good deal.

Importantly, Hyatt has ‘last room availability’ for reward nights so if the cheapest room category is available for cash, you can have it for points.

The Hyatt ‘buy points’ site is here.

Interesting 2-4-1 deal at the two London Jumeirah hotels

The Dubai-based hotel group Jumeirah operates two hotels in London.  Both are situated in Knightsbridge and are literally 30 seconds apart; I think you can even cross-charge.

Jumeirah Carlton Tower is just off Sloane Street and overlooks Cadogan Square.  It is a ’60’s tower which has been smartly refurbished – I had a night there a couple of years ago.  Jumeirah Lowndes is a contemporary boutique hotel just around the corner.   Both are very high-end properties.

Until 22nd March, you can book two nights for the price of one between Thursday and Monday.  The rate can only be booked via this page.

You need to be a member of the Jumeirah Sirius reward scheme to take advantage of this deal, but membership is free.

The 2-4-1 deal is priced off the Best Available Rate.  The good news is that these special rates are cancellable, the bad news is that it is not strictly 2-4-1 if you compare it with non-refundable rates on the same night.  That said, it is still excellent value.  Suites are included.

Conrad Maldives 2

Air France launches flights to The Maldives

Finally, Air France is launching flights to The Maldives from 1st November.

This is a toe in the water exercise with just two flights per week this winter.  If you have a stack of Flying Blue miles this might be an interesting redemption option, especially as the British Airways flights to Male are hard to get on Avios.

You can check times and pricing on the Air France site here.


How to earn Flying Blue miles from UK credit cards

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:

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.

Comments (33)

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

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    Thst Maldives photo looks like the over water treatment rooms at the Conrad. My best redemption ever.

  • Si says:

    Sorry for OT

    Been told you can book T5 concord lounge cabanas 28 days prior to F departure flight.

    Can anyone please tell me how to do this? I can’t find anything on website. Many thanks 🙂

  • chris says:

    OT Sorry

    how long does a first time Virgin Atlantic to Hilton points transfer take?

    Looking to make a booking for next tuesday Cash + points

    Thanks

    • Rob says:

      My IHG transfers tend to take just under a week. You might be OK.

    • Crafty says:

      Took mine over 2 weeks to credit.

    • CC says:

      When I asked live chat last week they said they were snowed under with redemptions so will definitely take 30 days, but when rang up on Friday they told me they were on top of it so should be sooner! That’s live chat for you!

      I’ve heard some have had them arrive in 7 days of redeeming in the past.

      • Mr(s) Entitled says:

        I’ve given up trying to call Virgin to transfer mile to Hilton due to the recent long hold times caused by their new login omni-shambles. Have wait times now returned to normal?

    • Beeks says:

      I transferred Virgin miles to Hilton points this month and they took 14 days to post (10 working days).

  • Roger says:

    OT- MBNA AAdvantage

    Rob,

    Do you have any insight on whether MBNA will increase sign-up bonus for new customers for any of their airline credit cards?
    I am particularly interested in AAdvantage card, currently a paltry 5000 Miles on offer, albeit no spending threshold attached to it.
    I am thinking of applying soon but if the bonus is increased to say 10K or 15K miles over next couple of months; I might just hold on for few more weeks.

    I remember someone mentioning that there is MBNA refer a friend bonus.
    Not sure how that works in practice.

    Cheers
    Roger

    • Rob says:

      The economics are not hugely attractive unfortunately. There has been no increased AA bonus since the interchange fee cap came in. That said, MBNA did Lufty and Etihad before Christmas. No Emirates or United deal since the interchange cap either.

  • Talay says:

    Another wise Hyatt move when looking at Tokyo is the upgrade to suite costs in points terms at Hyatt. When I last looked, it made outstanding sense to upgrade at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku versus using the points for another room stay.

    That said, the rooms at the Park Hyatt in Shunjuku are pretty good all round, though those of us who knew it from opening and well before the “Lost in Translation” fame sorely miss the somewhat understated lack of notoriety back then.

    • Rob says:

      It did. I really wanted to use points for Hyatt in Tokyo in April but the hotels are sold out of standard rooms, for cash or points, so Conrad Tokyo it is.

      • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

        I was very happy with Conrad Tokyo. Worth swinging by the pool after dark, it’s wonderfully atmospheric, overlooking a Tokyo cityscape with wraparound floor to ceiling windows. Right next to Tsukiji too.

    • Kevin says:

      We stayed at the Tokyo Park Hyatt a couple of years ago. And yes, it was partly because of Lost In Translation. Lovely hotel.

  • VT says:

    OT: did anyone get the 10% extra conversion point from converting Clubcard to Virgin? I received the normal points but not the bonus.

    • Genghis says:

      Wasn’t it de facto only for first time converters but there was some T&C breakdown?

    • leigh says:

      I was told by CS that the points would post at a later date as they as processed separately

  • James says:

    Does anyone have any tips for getting this 40% Hyatt bonus if you weren’t targeted? I have an account but have never had any activity and I didn’t receive any bonus when I logged in.

    I have also tried to set up an account for my wife but no luck with that account either.

  • Hingeless says:

    OT: I have just transferred Australian Membership Reward points to Avios the long way round (as you can’t do it directly) MR -> SPG -> MARRIOTT -> AVIOS using the travel voucher. All done the same day, but awaiting the Avios. (so 180K MR to 162k avios, but only taken 4 months of credit card spend as you get lots more MR in oz)

    The scary thing is when i called Marriott they asked me absolutely no security questions at all, not even my name, I just gave them my marriott account number and avios account number. The call took less than a minute.

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

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