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Bits: Virgin and BA sales ends today, airberlin bidding, 50% off mytaxi in London

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News in brief:

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways sales end today

Today, Tuesday, is the final day for the current Virgin Atlantic and British Airways sales.

I won’t go through the deals again in detail.

The Virgin Atlantic pricing – which is more aggressive than BA for Upper Class in most cases – is discussed here and the sale site is here

My discussion of the best BA deals is here and the BA sale website is here.  As usual, booking a ‘flight and hotel’ or ‘flight and car’ Club World package can be cheaper than just booking a flight.

British Airways sale

airberlin sale process nears completion

airberlin announced yesterday that Lufthansa and easyJet have been chosen to enter into final negotiations to acquire the various parts of the airline.

The two airlines have until 12th October to reach a final agreement.  It isn’t entirely clear who wants what, but the company stated that 80% of jobs should be saved.

The easyJet bid appears to be for planes and crew – and potentially landing slots – rather than specific routes.  Lufthansa appears to be taking Niki, the Austrian subsidiary, as well as other unspecified short-haul assets.

All long-haul flights will end of 15th October with the aircraft returning to the leasing companies.  If Lufthansa wants to continue long-haul operations from Berlin or Dusseldorf it will either need to use its own aircraft or to enter into new leasing deals.  I still find it bizarre that the ‘national’ airline of Germany does not offer long-haul flights from the national capital.

IAG, parent of British Airways, has failed to make the final round of bidding.  It is now 100% certain that airberlin will cease to exist as a member of the oneworld alliance even if the brand does live on in some form.

50% off London taxi rides with mytaxi

mytaxi – previously known as Hailo – is putting the boot into the demise of Uber in London by offering 50% off all London taxi rides taken before the end of September.

There is no small print, except that you must pay with a credit card stored in the app instead of paying the driver directly.

Full details of the mytaxi 50% offer are here.

PS. Before anyone asks, no, I have no idea when mytaxi will start awarding Avios again to new customers.  All old Hailo customers who migrated to mytaxi ARE still receiving Avios points when they ride.  mytaxi has also said that it will start offering Avios to new customers ‘soon’.  It isn’t clear how long ‘soon’ is, however …..

Category

British Airways and Avios, Lufthansa and Miles & More, oneworld alliance partners, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (70)

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

  • lee says:
    26 Sep26 September 06:32

    Im trying to book some IHG reward nights at the Bora Bora Resort Thalasso Spa.
    Had no luck in trying to work out what time of day they release the Rooms .

    Been looking on Flyertalk without any joy for any Tips.

    Any help would be much appreciated I realise this is a very sort after redemption.

    • Rob says:
      26 Sep26 September 08:43

      There is no rule on when IHG release rooms except that a hotel MUST release 5% of rooms (whether that is 5% of all rooms or 5% of standard rooms is unclear) for rewards.

      As IHG pays almost the cash price when a hotel is 95% full there is no reason for a hotel to restrict redemptions at peak times unless they believe such guests spend less on food, spa etc.

  • the real harry1 says:
    26 Sep26 September 06:38

    O/T £5 off £20 @ Superdrug – they sell Amazon giftcards (and many others)

  • Ben says:
    26 Sep26 September 06:52

    Morning all – quick question. I am 10 tier points away from silver is there anyway (apart from taking a flight) to get the extra 10 needed? I am going away at Christmas and wanted to get into the lounge. Thanks.

  • JamesB says:
    26 Sep26 September 07:09

    OT Hilton: I was of the impression that all reward nights at Hilton are flexible but the cancellation notice can vary between properties. For the first time yesterday I encountered a reward stay that could not be changed or cancelled without losing all the points. Always worth checking the terms carefullh before confirming a reservation, especially when using tbe app where they can be less obvious.

    • Mr Dee says:
      26 Sep26 September 16:27

      Yes I noticed this with a Conrad booking being around 7 days to cancel without losing points.

  • darrenf says:
    26 Sep26 September 07:21

    Even after a 50% discount, MyTaxi are more expensive than Uber or a mini cab to Heathrow for me. They quote £71 full price for the ~10 mile trip. No thanks!

  • Anna says:
    26 Sep26 September 07:50

    I’m fed up with the Lego offers, all the family children are past the age for it and I haven’t got time to re-sell it!

    • the real harry1 says:
      26 Sep26 September 08:06

      same here tbh but there must be people who need toys for Xmas or fancy a bit of fun trying to sell them & get their money back = [nearly] free points

      Lego the corporation is having a rotten time this year – gone out of fashion & sales are down – so I don’t reckon these offers are going away anytime soon

      • Wally1976 says:
        26 Sep26 September 09:30

        I dipped my toe in for the first time with the last Lego Friends offer. Already dreading the hassle of eBaying them in a few weeks – really haven’t got time – and wishing I hadn’t bothered! Hopefully it’ll be worth it. Went for it mainly because I kicked myself for missing the great inkjet cartridge offer a bit back.

  • Frenzie says:
    26 Sep26 September 07:52

    MyTaxi charges £10 minimum most of the tkme so that 50% off is not such a good deal unless you wanted to take a long ride.

    • Drav says:
      26 Sep26 September 08:05

      yep myTaxi is terrible… but that’s the black cabs’ fault really.

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:
      29 Sep29 September 17:54

      Actually the 50% off is taken off after the minimum fare is applied. So for example my usual route is between £16 and £18 and so I’ve been paying between £8 and £9 with the discount.

      So if you take a really short trip you could be paying £5.

  • Nick says:
    26 Sep26 September 08:53

    OT

    Anyone been to muscat? Views? Looks beautiful. I’m after sun somewhere quiet but we have a 4 year old aswell. Don’t intend to go anywhere as such happy to potter about a nice hotel/pool.

    • rams1981 says:
      26 Sep26 September 09:22

      Yes and it is lovely. We stayed at the crowne plaza which was decent and has its own beach area too.

    • roberto says:
      26 Sep26 September 09:26

      Not been – but booked in the last WTP ex-eu sale for peanuts.. My kids have kids now so staying in adult only Al Husn but maybe you should have a look at the shangri la al wadi resort as it well suited for smaller cost centres.

      I used Rob’s contact Emyr at bonvivant for a stand out booking with a free room upgrade and $100 resort voucher.

    • Rob says:
      26 Sep26 September 10:38

      Check out our review of the Hilton Salalah resort (not Muscat, elsewhere in Oman) which is only 5,000 Hilton points per night!

      • John says:
        26 Sep26 September 12:44

        Unfortunately it’s very difficult to get to SLL if you take the BA flight and don’t have time to spend a night or 2 in muscat as well.

      • Alan Young says:
        26 Sep26 September 13:59

        Staying there for 7 nights in November and using Qatar miles to get there. Not sure if there is a Duty Free shop on Arrival though like Muscat. Anyone know? QR has now reduced the connecting time to just 45 mins, so a possibility of missing the connection now.

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