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Bits: Monarch Vantage Club, Hilton tweaks ‘fifth night free’, Miles & More app bonus extended

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News in brief:

The end of Monarch Vantage Club

I have purposely avoided writing anything on the collapse of Monarch.  The mainstream press can cover it better than we can and, since they stopped being an Avios redemption partner, we have hardly covered them.

Monarch did have its own frequent flyer scheme of sorts, Vantage Club, although it was so unexciting that I never wrote about it.  Ever.

This is a little odd, since the Monarch CEO since April 2014 has been Andrew Swaffield who was previously CEO of Avios Group.

The status benefits were actually OK.  Eight return flights got you Gold status which let you have free date changes, subject to paying any fare difference, and even free name changes on your tickets.

As a scheme for earning free flights it was pretty useless, primarily due to the high levels of taxes you still had to pay.  British Airways remains the only European airline to make short-haul redemptions attractive, via Reward Flight Saver.

Oh well.  That’s Monarch and airberlin gone within a month of each other.  Some City analysts are also questioning whether Norwegian can survive the quiet winter period.

Hilton Honors tweaks the ‘fifth night free’ rule

Hilton Honors has a pleasant bonus when you make a long redemption booking.  If you book a five night reward stay, the fifth night is free.

You need to have Hilton Honors status to take advantage of this deal but – unless you have transferred all your points from American Express Membership Rewards or Virgin Flying Club – you are likely to have it anyway if you can afford a five night redemption.  And if you don’t, Silver status is free with the UK Hilton credit card or you can get a status match from another hotel scheme.

Previously, the value of the free night was calculated by averaging the points needed for first five nights of your stay and deducting 20%. Ever since the Hilton scheme changed earlier this year to a variable pricing model – where each night could be priced differently – customers have been getting confused because it wasn’t clear how the discount was applied.

The deal has now changed.  The fifth night of your stay is now the free one, irrespective of what it costs.

If you have complete flexibility over when you stay, you can reduce the cost of your trip by ensuring that your fifth night falls on a more expensive night.  If you can’t do that, you will have to accept the fact that you will do better on some trips and worse on others.

Let’s assume a hotel is priced:

  • Monday – Friday 50,000 Hilton Honors points
  • Saturday 80,000 Hilton Honors points
  • Sunday 40,000 Hilton Honors points

….. and you are staying for five nights.  The best deal is to stay Tuesday to Sunday, since Saturday is the fifth night and at 80,000 points the most expensive one.  The worst deal would be to arrive on a Wednesday, since your fifth night would be Sunday which would only save you 40,000 points.

In general, however, this is a positive change for those with flexibility to plan their stays around Hilton’s variable points pricing.

Lufthansa ‘500 miles for an app download’ bonus extended

Miles & More – the Lufthansa, SWISS etc programme – is still giving out 500 bonus miles for everyone who downloads their app and logs in for the first time.

This offer was meant to expire on 30th September but has been extended to 30th November.  Even better, the miles post instantly.

500 Miles & More miles won’t get you a ticket in Lufthansa First Class, but they will get you a tiny bit closer.

Open the App Store or Google Play, search for Miles & More and download the app.  Once downloaded, enter your login details and the 500 bonus miles will show immediately in your account.  That’s all there is to it.

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How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (January 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.

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

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

Category

Hilton Honors, Lufthansa and Miles & More

Comments (89)

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

  • meta says:
    3 Oct3 October 09:09

    O/T It does concern Miles&More though. I just noticed that I got an extra 1000 miles in August, but posted on Friday. It just says “Top Secret – Did you know”. Not that I’m complaining, but does anyone know what’s this for?

  • Richard says:
    3 Oct3 October 09:23

    >>British Airways remains the only European airline to make short-haul redemptions attractive

    Lufthansa also has an attractive short haul scheme since you can pay the taxes with additional miles. so the redemptions cost nothing at all, only miles. if you have lots of miles that seems quite attractive.

    • RussellH says:
      3 Oct3 October 10:43

      It is also reasonably attractive if you only have a fairly small amount of miles, and unlike BA there is no additional charge for a two leg flight when setting out from MAN. You can combine one of their mileage bargains (15 000) with a further 15 000 for taxes and charges and get a completely free journey for 30 000 miles. It is not marvellous value if you compare getting 1 avio per £1 on a BA Amex with 1 LH mile per £1 on an MBNA Visa, but if you have 32 000 LH miles and little prospect of getting many more it is a lot better than nothing!

  • Max says:
    3 Oct3 October 10:01

    I’m a bit concerned about the claim that “some City analysts are questioning whether Norwegian can survive the quiet winter period”. Is this based on anything concrete, or is it a case of malicious rumour-spreading? Once rumours like this start to spread, they can perpetuate and lead to market worries. Of course, if there really is some well-founded doubt about Norwegian’s ability to survive the next few months, then fair enough. But otherwise, this seems like rather an irresponsible claim to make.

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:
      3 Oct3 October 10:10

      Besides which, having spent a few decades in the City most talk complete B/S and confuse opinion with fact. Pick an analyst and look at their record. The successes are publicised, the numerous times they are way off the mark with ratings are routinely forgotten. It’s a crap shoot.

      * Caveat, watch Norwegian fold like a deck of cards within minutes of my post.

    • Andrew says:
      3 Oct3 October 11:19

      It’s how the city works. When a number of companies in a sector fail, the market starts paying close attention to the next weakest.

      Still, looks like Monarch’s failure will be a blessing for Ryanair. There’s suddenly a large pool of unemployed pilots to choose from…

      • Michael Jennings says:
        3 Oct3 October 13:57

        >Still, looks like Monarch’s failure will be a blessing for Ryanair.
        >There’s suddenly a large pool of unemployed pilots to choose from…

        All of who are qualified for Airbus A320s/A321s rather than Boeing 737s, alas. So they won’t be any immediate help. Along with Monarch’s Gatwick slots, this might be an opportunity for Easyjet, though.

  • pommy ray says:
    3 Oct3 October 10:13

    hi
    the MasterCard ihg link 30 per cent partner rate off (upto 30 per cent off flexible rate) would not get cash back but does usually qualify for accelerate offers. I’m assuming company or partner rate don’t get cash back. sometimes the cash back can be as good as the mc discount plus you have the full access of rates. need to compare both situations separately.

  • David says:
    3 Oct3 October 11:10

    *Vantage Club obviously, not Flying Club. (Sorry thinking about something Virgin related at present).

  • lev441 says:
    3 Oct3 October 11:22

    O/T – flying virgin upper class today for the first time – anything I should look at doing at the clubhouse?

    • Mark says:
      3 Oct3 October 12:59

      drinking a red head 🙂

      • Rob says:
        3 Oct3 October 13:19

        Get a free haircut – but you need to put your name down when you go in. Take your trunks for the in-lounge jacuzzi (if it survived the recent refurb). Have a meal, the restaurant is very good.

        • Neil says:
          3 Oct3 October 15:09

          Also don’t forget to “Borrow” the Salt & Pepper when on board. I use mine every day at home and I still love them.

          • Alan says:
            3 Oct3 October 15:13

            Haha agreed – also love how they assume that you’re going to do that in advance (see bottom of the shakers for those that haven’t!)

        • Lev441 says:
          3 Oct3 October 16:03

          Thanks rob. Thanks to you/hfp I’ve been able to travel premium classes since I started my own business a few years ago and getting clued in to the many ways to collect points.. Had a great meal and trim at the clubhouse and now I’m on board the newly configured a330. Last night the seat map at check in looked like it was swapped to the more dense cabin but it seems like it swapped back today! Unfortunately the jacuzzi is no longer!

        • Lev441 says:
          3 Oct3 October 22:17

          @neil and @alan – love the salt and pepper shakers!

    • Alan says:
      3 Oct3 October 14:33

      Make sure you head up to the roof – nice viewing platform 🙂

  • Andrew says:
    3 Oct3 October 11:38

    500 Bonus Avios on BA Amex with £10 spend at Tesco

    (Apologies if already posted)

  • xcalx says:
    3 Oct3 October 12:39

    OT.. Has anyone got a link to the Amex Plat insurance policy. have tried google but just getting the buy insurance page. I would like to check over the small print.

    Reason, Just off the phone to Amex/Axa and it appears I am not covered if I cancel the flights to and from MIA-SXM or the cost of the now closed hotel in SXM because I am not flying direct to SXM from the UK. I fly from the UK to BCN then a cruise to MIA. I was the due to have a week in SXM (have now extended the cruise a further 6 days) before flying back to the UK from MIA.

    • Anna says:
      3 Oct3 October 13:59

      That’s rather worrying if that’s the case, as many people, including myself, arrange their own holidays involving multiple flights. Does any kind of stop over in another country mean that you wouldn’t be covered as you wouldn’t be flying direct from the UK? Please keep us updated xcalx.

      • Alan says:
        3 Oct3 October 14:43

        Hmm I’ve not had a problem with that before – holiday to NZ with stopovers in Singapore and Oz, made a claim under baggage delay and it was paid out fine (this was a couple of years ago)

        • Drav says:
          3 Oct3 October 17:31

          could it be anything to do with xcalx taking a cruise to mia then sxm? rather than paying for a flight

    • xcalx says:
      4 Oct4 October 07:11

      Thanks Genghis

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