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Bits: Hilton losing four car rental partners, get another 500 free Miles & More miles

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News in brief:

Hilton Honors losing four car rental partners

I’m not sure how many people credit car rentals to a hotel loyalty programme but – now that Avios is working exclusively with Avis and Budget – it is an OK route if you find yourself using a different company.

Hilton Honors is now working exclusively with Alamo, Enterprise and National.  This means:

Sixt rentals no longer earn Hilton points, although bookings prior to 31st July for completion by 31st December will be honoured

Europcar rentals no longer earn Hilton points, although bookings prior to 31st July for completion by 31st December will be honoured

Avis and Budget rentals no longer earn Hilton points from 31st August, although bookings made by that date for completion by 31st December will be honoured

Details of these changes can be found on the Hilton website here.

Get another 500 free Miles & More miles

Last week we explained how to get 500 free Lufthansa Miles & More miles simply for downloading their app.  These miles post INSTANTLY.

There is another way of earning 500 free Miles & More miles, if you’ve never done it before.  If you sign up for the Miles & More newsletter via this page, you’ll earn another 500.  Feel free to unsubscribe once the miles arrive, although the newsletter usually has some decent deals in it.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 70,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (July 2025)

None of the Star Alliance airlines currently have a UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn Star Alliance miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to over 40 airlines at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 airline miles per £1 spent on the card.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 15th July 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is TRIPLED to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. This would convert into 25,000 Avios or into 40 other airline schemes. It would also get you at least £300 of Marriott hotel stays based on our 0.5p per point low-end valuation. Other T&C apply and remain unchanged. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2 : 1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.

The Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card

60,000 points (to 15th July) and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

Category

Avis and Avis Preferred, Hilton Honors, Lufthansa and Miles & More

Comments (33)

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

  • ee says:
    8 Aug8 August 07:15

    O/T currently have an Amex BA blue card with an anniversary of December. If I upgrade to the black card prior to triggering £10k spend, when do I get charged the annual fee? Now and then on the original anniversary or now and in a year from now? Thanks!

    • David says:
      8 Aug8 August 07:39

      Now(ish) and in a year from now

    • Gareth says:
      8 Aug8 August 08:27

      Would this get you the companion voucher? And can you get a pro rata refund on the fee?

      • ee says:
        8 Aug8 August 19:22

        Thanks so if I upgrade now and pay fee now I could trigger the voucher by December and if I spend £10k by between Dec and next July I could get a second voucher from a single annual fee?

  • planesailing38 says:
    8 Aug8 August 07:49

    What’s with the Oman Air image, got me excited!

    • vlcnc says:
      8 Aug8 August 10:20

      Me too! Haha…

    • Rob says:
      8 Aug8 August 20:57

      Sorry! There was an Oman Air story in this article but I dropped it at the last minute – but forgot to remove the plane from the thumbnail image.

  • Alex W says:
    8 Aug8 August 08:27

    OT. Transferred Clubcard points from 3 different accounts to 2 different virgin accounts. All 3 have just posted with a 20% bonus.

    • Dorset says:
      8 Aug8 August 11:44

      Yep – just had the same. I transferred Tesco to Virgin manually and did receive the Summer Bonus. For clarity I also transferred in the last window and received the bonus for a first time transfer. So doesn’t seem limited to those transferring to the first time either.

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
    8 Aug8 August 09:37

    Hilton-Enterprise worked well for me recently. Their rate was significantly cheaper and earned 1000 points.

  • Graeme says:
    8 Aug8 August 10:17

    The 500 points for installing the app didn’t work for me, annoyingly.

  • Roger says:
    8 Aug8 August 10:27

    OT
    Has anyone tried Heathrow Rewards sign up bonus for new account for currency collection.
    I am flying out of LHR T2 and happy to give it a go if there are any pointers. Will be buying EUR.

  • Roger says:
    8 Aug8 August 10:28

    Is there any signup bonus for new Miles and More account?

  • David Gardiner says:
    8 Aug8 August 14:11

    Hi, currently i have auto-convert from tesco to virgin turned on, should i turn it off and hold off converting until offers are running in future ?

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

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