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Bits: We won 3 BTJA awards!, BA drops three routes, 30000 Nectar points with their Amex card

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News in brief:

We won three Business Travel Journalism Awards

As you may have guessed from the picture we ran yesterday, or our social media feeds, we won three awards at the 2017 Business Travel Journalism Awards on Thursday night.

This saw us fighting it out with, depending on category, Business Traveller, the travel sections of the national press, the B2B business travel titles and in-flight magazines.

We won:

  • Business Travel Editor of the Year (Rob)
  • Best Newcomer to Business Travel or Meetings and Events Journalism (Anika)
  • Best Digital Strategy

We didn’t get Scoop of the Year, but 3/4 was way beyond our expectations.  Anika had to beat five other shortlisted writers in her category.

Here is Anika picking up ‘Best Newcomer’.  The judges said:

““The judges felt that the winner’s article was ‘interesting, engaging, on point and humorous.‘The author’s style was ‘really enjoyable’ with one judge claiming, ‘this was the one feature I remembered long after I’d read it’.”

…. and ‘Best Digital Strategy’.  The judges said:

“Of the winner, the judges were impressed with this website describing it as ‘refreshing’, ‘something I hadn’t seen before’ and ‘a website that I would use as a travel booker and as a traveller’.”

…. and ‘Editor of the Year’.  The judges said:

“Our panel of judges debated for a very, very long time about who should win this award. After much toing and froing, the winner was described as ‘a trailblazer’, someone who has ‘broken new ground’ and someone whose ‘leadership and entrepreneurship makes him a natural winner’.”

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on here or social media, we appreciate it.

British Airways cancels three short haul routes

British Airways has announced that three ‘Summer only’ routes will not be returning in 2018.

The routes impacted are:

  • Kos
  • Montpellier
  • Biarritz (photo above, the plans for Four Seasons to take over that hotel have recently collapsed)

If you are already booked to one of these cities for next summer, you should contact BA to discuss your options.

30,000 Nectar points with the Nectar American Express card

We normally leave Nectar points discussion to our sister site Shopper Points, but it is worth highlighting this limited time offer on their American Express card.

Until 1st November, the sign-up bonus is increased from 20,000 Nectar points to 30,000.  You need to apply via the Nectar website to get this deal.

30,000 Nectar points is worth at least £150 off your Sainsburys bill, and potentially £300 if you hold on to them until a ‘1p per point’ offer comes along, although they are getting rarer.

The card is FREE for the first year and you can get the bonus irrespective of what other Amex cards you currently hold.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (109)

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

  • Sal says:
    7 Oct7 October 17:20

    Just to double check. I cancelled my amex gold beginning of September awaiting 6 month to reapply. If i get the nectar is that classed as another amex and reset the clock?

    • Genghis says:
      7 Oct7 October 18:10

      No. Discrete product

    • Rob says:
      7 Oct7 October 18:18

      No. You can reapply for Gold after 6 months without a Gold or Platinum. Nectar Amex makes no difference either way.

  • Polly says:
    7 Oct7 October 17:35

    Hi Ronster,

    Any chance you could tell us which large tesco you saw that clubcard gift card offer for tesco gift card top ups? I tried in my two local large stores but no sign of the offer.
    Thanks in advance.

  • Mirp says:
    7 Oct7 October 19:25

    Congratulations on the awards!

  • Steve says:
    7 Oct7 October 20:42

    Congratulations. This site is awesome!

  • joelyp says:
    7 Oct7 October 22:42

    Much deserved! Congratulations to you both.

  • S879 says:
    7 Oct7 October 23:08

    Many congrats Rob and Anika, fab websites and posts.

    OT: I have paid my council tax using the council tax card in a few instalments as the Paypoint could only do it in £150 batches. Do the council contact re overpayment or will it just be there for future and be adjusted every month? Thank you.

    • Polly says:
      8 Oct8 October 06:02

      Lucky you ..your council using pay pint. Councils usually keep the credit in place unless you request a refund.by cheque etc at the end of the year. Our council absolutely refuse pp card..v annoying.

      • S879 says:
        8 Oct8 October 06:50

        Thanks Polly. Yes, am glad they accept it.

        • the real harry1 says:
          8 Oct8 October 11:07

          The PayPoint limit might be £150 but you can (say) do 3x £150 and just 1 card transaction for £450

          might save you a couple of journeys…

        • Genghis says:
          8 Oct8 October 12:41

          And essential for the 10% back in Co op Halifax offers to maximise the benefit as it’s one hit only

        • the real harry1 says:
          8 Oct8 October 17:57

          thanks for reminder Genghis – I think I’ve got that

          £1000?

        • the real harry1 says:
          8 Oct8 October 18:01

          max reward £30 – I’ll take it! 🙂

          = £300 CT

          nice rebate lol

        • Genghis says:
          8 Oct8 October 18:08

          Yeah it’s a decent little bunsen. I get it every few months.

        • Andy says:
          8 Oct8 October 19:03

          What’s this 10% back genius?

        • Andy says:
          8 Oct8 October 19:04

          Typo I meant Genghis

        • mark2 says:
          8 Oct8 October 19:06

          Freudian slip?

        • the real harry1 says:
          8 Oct8 October 19:08

          he won’t exactly mind 🙂

          (HUKD) here we go: £50 Mastercard for £45.86 instore @ Wilko
          In Wilko the banner is showing 15% off three different gift cards. One of them is this £50 Mastercard that can be used as a credit card.
          The full cost of the card is £53.95, but with 15% off total payable is £45.86, so overall an immediate 9% return on your investment of £45.86.

          ***

          so use an Amex and you’re quids in, manufactured spend etc, hit bonus targets blah blah blah

        • Andy says:
          8 Oct8 October 20:33

          Thanks Harry, how long this been going for? Thought he mentioned something to do with Halifax?

        • the real harry1 says:
          8 Oct8 October 21:05

          yep Halifax current & card a/cs get this

        • the real harry1 says:
          8 Oct8 October 21:14

          tbh I am happy to get free £30s like this – will come in good use!

          my son goes to an excellent state school – I believe in state education on principle plus there is the small matter that we probably couldn’t afford to pay for private without a lot of scrimping – they decided this year to migrate the GCSE textbooks online – I guess it cost them £2.50 as opposed to £20 for providing the real book

          of course, they suggested parents pay the £20 for the textbook by buying it instead

          eg Chemistry, Physics, Biology = £60, we’re paying for his state education books

          naturally easier to look up stuff in a real book as opposed to online so I bought them all – he’s going to get top marks

          must seem like chickenfeed to those of you with kids in independent schools 🙂

        • Genghis says:
          8 Oct8 October 21:49

          Yes, as TRH1 notes, Halifax offers though the current account get offers (akin to Amex) and I get a Co Op one every few months

        • Genghis says:
          8 Oct8 October 21:53

          Cheers TRH1. Now to find my nearest Wilko. They only seem to be in deprived areas in London…

          • Alan says:
            8 Oct8 October 22:12

            Never even heard of them! Not sure they exist up here.

          • Rob says:
            8 Oct8 October 23:40

            Very big in Yorkshire – I used to go to Wilkinson with my dad on a regular basis, that would have been about 1980.

        • Alan says:
          8 Oct8 October 22:49

          Ah, thanks 🙂

  • Matt says:
    8 Oct8 October 10:33

    I can still only see 20,000
    Nectar points on both the Amex and Nectar websites. Any ideas how I see the 30,000 offer? Thanks

  • Rosina says:
    8 Oct8 October 10:50

    I went through http://www.shopperpoints.co.uk/2017/10/04/get-30000-nectar-points-for-taking-out-the-first-year-free-amex-nectar-credit-card/ and there at the bottom of the page it says ” Remember you MUST sign up via the special promotional page ” and you click on the word “promotional” and it will come up

    • Rob says:
      8 Oct8 October 10:58

      I do often wonder whether the colouring of links is enough. I don’t really want to put ‘(click here)’ everywhere but perhaps it does help.

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