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Bits: new low tax Toronto Avios redemptions on airberlin, Pine Cliffs with SPG Moments

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News in brief:

airberlin launches new Toronto service

As I wrote in this long article, airberlin offers an excellent way to fly to North America with Avios without paying much in the way of taxes and charges.

When Anika flew from New York to Berlin in Business Class last year, the taxes for the one-way flight were just £4.  Her review of airberlin Business Class is here – it isn’t bad at all.  You will pay well under £100 for a return flight starting in Germany.

airberlin has just announced a new route from Dusseldorf to Toronto.

Flights will start on 1st May and operate four times a week.

airberlin is also adding Dusseldorf to Chicago five times per week, on top of the existing Berlin service.

Tickets for these new routes will be bookable with Avios on ba.com from 1st August, so don’t start checking today.

There are usually two business class seats available per flight but you will struggle to find more as it is a small cabin.  Remember that, as a BA partner airline, you cannot use a BA Amex 241 voucher and all dates are ‘peak dates’ – there is no off-peak Avios pricing.

Good SPG Moments deal at Pine Cliffs in Portugal

If you can get down to Albufeira in Portugal on 4th August, SPG Moments has a very attractive event at the famous Pine Cliffs resort available.

This resort is painfully expensive at the best of times, but you can visit during the resort’s summer gala.  The auction package includes:

  • Two-night stay at Pine Cliffs, a Luxury Collection Resort, checking in Friday, 4 August 2017, and checking out Sunday, 6 August 2017
  • Diamond package for two to the summer gala on Saturday, 5 August 2017, including welcome cocktail, gala dinner, UB40 concert and after party with open bar
  • Meet Ali, Astro and Mickey from UB40 before the performance

There is only one bid so far, probably because of the short notice, at the reserve price of 25,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points.  The auction ends at 7am EDT tomorrow, so you’d realistically need to bid tonight.

The full auction listing is here.  You can find out more about the hotel here.

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. 

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

Category

Marriott Bonvoy, oneworld alliance partners

Comments (33)

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

  • Sanjay says:
    29 Jul29 July 05:05

    Given how anti-competitive the Canadian travel market is, let’s see what the tax fees will be. Doubt it will be anything like the GBP 4 from NY. Canada is notorious for being expensive to fly from/to due to taxes. Soooo much cheaper to fly from the US. Cheaper to fly to Europe than within Canada!

    • Peter K says:
      29 Jul29 July 06:39

      A friend of mine just booked Canada for £700 for two in economy. That seems cheap to me…

      • Matt says:
        29 Jul29 July 08:18

        Flights within Canada can be ridiculous – I paid £300 per person for Toronto to Halifax, a flight of about 2.5 hours. Flights to Canada can be pretty good value, especially in winter. This AirBerlin option is great news for those with family in the Great White North!

        • Canuck says:
          31 Jul31 July 15:11

          I’ll second that. Just paid C$450 Calgary – Vancouver return. Imagine paying that for London Edinburgh… no chance.

  • TT says:
    29 Jul29 July 05:17

    So how many Avios is the flight to Toronto? low tax plus………..?

  • Simon says:
    29 Jul29 July 07:40

    I flew back from San Fransisco on Air Berlin booked via Avios earlier this month and was impressed, much better than Club World in my opinion.

    I’d recommend getting a window seat where your seat is nearest the window, the ones where the seat is aisle side seemed a bit exposed. It was probably me being thick but I couldn’t work out how to change my seat using the BA or Air Berlin sites, ended up using the Royal Jordanian site.

    • the real harry1 says:
      29 Jul29 July 08:03

      can you change seats using the RJ site (or Finnair, istr is often cited) without being a member of their points progs?

      • Simon says:
        29 Jul29 July 09:07

        I’m 99.9% certain you don’t need to be for RJ, just click manage my booking and put in your booking number and surname.

      • The_real_a says:
        29 Jul29 July 10:58

        Yes you can. Just need the book code and last name. RJ works well, but you can use Finnair too.

  • the real harry1 says:
    29 Jul29 July 07:54

    O/T school hols 2018 – most state schools will break up on Friday 20/7/2018 so, parents: T-355 for BA is coming up fast – in 2/3 days depending on whether you plan to travel on that Friday or the next day Saturday etc

    • Anna says:
      29 Jul29 July 08:13

      Hoping to get redemption seats to the Eastern USA for August 2018 – even with the taxes on a CW redemption, the cost of a holiday in Western Europe in the summer is so outrageous now, you can go to America for roughly the same price!

      • Rob says:
        29 Jul29 July 10:13

        Oh I agree, it’s crazy. I only began to see why people go to Dubai in August (45 degrees!) when we went to Mallorca last year and realised that – if we’d gone for one of the top 5-star options – we’d be paying £2,000 per night for 2 rooms for the 4 of us. And none of the top properties even have a decent beach.

        Hence our choice of Hilton Sa Torre, which was actually very pleasant but a shuttle ride from a (poor) beach.

        This year we are abandoning beaches, almost. 1 week in the Dolomites at a ‘family hotel’, 3 nights in Venice (will do a day at the Lido on the beach, which I like) and 3 nights in Croatia (ferry from Venice). Coming back on the new BA service from Pula to Heathrow.

        • Alan says:
          29 Jul29 July 12:14

          That sounds like a much better option! I enjoy the odd beach visit, but not for a whole week – all sounds vastly better than Dubai too, esp at that time of year!

        • Lev441 says:
          29 Jul29 July 16:09

          Just returned from Croatia.. fabulous place!

          • the real harry1 says:
            29 Jul29 July 19:07

            big fan of Croatia, myself

            still lots of relatively unspoilt bits full of charm

  • Cate says:
    29 Jul29 July 09:58

    The SPG event is very attractive. Up to 26,000 at the moment – a steal at this price…..

    Thanks Rob.

  • Jason says:
    29 Jul29 July 11:10

    OTT does anyone know any points options to get a trip on the orient express?

    Thanks
    Jason

  • Tony says:
    29 Jul29 July 12:47

    OT but just received notification that Tesco are closing Clubcard Plus legacy credit card accounts as of Oct 17. Means no more 1 point per litre of fuel 🙁

    • Alex W says:
      29 Jul29 July 12:57

      You can still get 1 cc point per litre of fuel with the debit card.

      • Dynamo says:
        29 Jul29 July 15:26

        You can’t even use the new clubcard fobs at the Esso garage near me

        • Johnny_c-l says:
          29 Jul29 July 19:57

          Nor at the self service tills in my Tesco. Thankfully managed to rescue my old one with the bar code from the bin!

          • Genghis says:
            29 Jul29 July 21:12

            I complained to them at Monument the other day. How can they roll out new club cards when they’re not recognised by all systems. Fell on deaf ears.

          • the real harry1 says:
            29 Jul29 July 21:30

            presumably you were not exactly making your points to the UK Marketing team

  • Alan C says:
    29 Jul29 July 21:29

    We were going EDI to AUH on Monday with Qatar. They cancelled the DOH to AUH leg. Re-booked us on to KLM tomorrow and get there at 8pm gaining an extra days hols. KLM OLCI offering Biz class upgrades AMS to AUH for £258. I would but there are 4 of us.
    Could be a hassle doing the 72 HR re-booking next weekend from the UAE as the QR office is closed.

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