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Bits: Concorde Room side door reopens, LATAM deals to Latin America, IHG 15-year bonus

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News in brief:

The Terminal 5 Concorde Room magic door reopens

When British Airways opened The First Wing at Terminal 5 earlier this year (review here), they simultaneously closed the direct entrance into The Concorde Room by the South security channel.

(The Concorde Room – reviewed here – is the lounge for ticketed First Class passengers, Gold Guest List members with 5,000 tier points and Premier Executive Club members only.)

The First Wing actually made life harder for Concorde Room visitors as they had to use the First Wing, walk through Galleries First, leave Galleries First and then walk down to the Concorde Room side entrance.  Staff have been saying that a group of senior BA executives, who have Concorde Room access, visited recently and were unhappy with the new arrangement, so the side door has returned.

LATAM 787

New LATAM business class deals to Latin America

LATAM has launched some attractive business class fare to Latin America.

Remember that LATAM in a oneworld member.  This means that you earn British Airways tier points and Avios when you fly with them as long as you add your BA number to the booking.

Headline prices are (all flights involve changing in Santiago or Sao Paulo):

  • London to Rio, £1560 return
  • London to Sao Paulo, £2020 return
  • London to Buenos Aires, £1650 return
  • London to Salvador Bahia, £1560 return
  • London to Curitiba, £1560 return
  • London to Porto Alegre, £1560 return
  • London to Santiago de Chile, £1620 return
  • London to Asuncion, £1630 return
  • London to Montevideo, £1630 return

Here is our review of LATAM’s Boeing 787 business class, when we flew it from Madrid to Frankfurt earlier this year.  You are likely to be on a 777 which has similar seats.

These deals can be booked here.  You must be 9th July, book at least 31 days before you travel and stay at least 5 nights or a Saturday night.  Blackout dates apply to each route.

 

IHG giving out bonuses on your 15th anniversary

Finally, a reader sent me an email he had received from IHG Rewards Club to thank him for being a member of the programe for 15 years.

It’s good to see this sort of data being tracked.  As a present, he was offered triple base points on a selected day during the next three months.

What was good about the offer was that it did not activate until the reader clicked a link.  This means that he can hold it back for a higher value stay rather than being stuffed if his next trip is a £39 overnighter at a Holiday Inn Express.


IHG One Rewards update – April 2024:

Get bonus points: IHG One Rewards is offering 2,000 bonus points for every two cash nights you stay (not necessarily consecutive) between 1st April and 31st May 2024. You can read our full article here and you can register here.

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.

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.

Comments (36)

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

  • JamesB says:

    OT: Just to confirm for others who may want to try, the HFP Iberia accor trick is still working well. Opened Iberia account following Mondays article, set up the accor autoconvert the same day, accor account zeroed overnight and my few hundred remaining points appeared in my Iberia acciunt this morning. All very easy, thanks again HFP 🙂

    • Mzungu says:

      I did the same on Monday when the article reminded me. The only difference from JamesB is that I have an existing, active, Iberia Plus account. My Accor account zeroed overnight, but points not arrived in Iberia account yet – fingers crossed!

      • the real harry1 says:

        Good to know it’s still working

        the reason many of us can’t do more than give links is because: when you’ve got it working, you don’t want to go back & fiddle with it 🙂

  • Walty says:

    OT….I am looking to get from NYC to Las Vegas one way in Feb next year. No direct avios seats available. Economy flight cash tickets are cheap but would like to try something new. Delta has availability in First class but requires 90K points and $12 for 2 people. I do not have any delta miles so looking to maybe use Virgin. That would be 45K points and ???.

    Anyone know from previous experience what Virgin charge when redeeming on Delta?

    • JamesB says:

      Sorry, don’t know but be sure to get the most up to date information, the Virgin Delta pricing changed just a few days ago.

      • Walty says:

        Thanks. Just phoned them. Minimal taxes. Interesting though that they do not have the same access to rewards seats as Delta does. Delta showing first class on the date I was looking but Virgin only showing economy. That’s a pain when trying to find flights!!

        • JamesB says:

          Just a thought, if you have to go economy anyway and if you are not too fussed when you arrive in Vegas you could book a cheap cash ticket on a major carrier in the hope you get overbooked. Just keep your fingers crossed you get cash and not security.

  • RussellH says:

    Wyndham Rewards

    I know that Wyndham is hardly a major player for most people here, but I have just received a targeted offer – stay once, get 3 000 points, which is enough for a points+cash stay – gets me a room for around £30 at the Ramada Dover which is find useful. Since I already have s stay booked at Burbank Airport that is easy points.

    For those who are Wyndham members, it may be worth keeping an eye out for the e-mail.

    • Wally1976 says:

      Thanks for the heads-up Russell. I’m an occasional Wyndham user…no email yet 🙁

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

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