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Final HfP Christmas Party tickets sold at 10am – three new raffle prizes added

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The 2nd and final batch of tickets for the Head for Points reader Christmas party, sponsored by Qatar Airways, will go on sale at 10am today, Saturday.

The party will take place on Tuesday 12th December from 6pm to 8pm at the Dry Martini Bar at the Melia White House hotel, Regents Park (Great Portland Street tube).

The link to buy is here.

melia-white-house

The first 75 tickets sold out in a minute yesterday.  If you missed out, hopefully you can jump in today.

(It is quite clear now that not everyone who wants to come will be able to make it.  Sorry.  Last year it took us 8 hours to sell 150 tickets – and the price was cheaper – so we never expected such overwhelming demand this year.  It looks like around 1,000 people tried to get tickets yesterday.  Next year we will look at a different model, potentially a nominal entry fee with a cash bar and space for 300 instead of 150.  However, for 2017, we are where we are.)

Three new raffle prizes added

Every guest on the night will get a free raffle ticket.  We now have roughly £4,500 of prizes to give out.

Warning – the raffle could take a while, given how many prizes we now have!  The upside is that your chance of winning is better than 1 in 10.

Here are the three new prizes we are announcing today:

  • Avios Group – 20,000 Avios
  • Virgin Flying Club – 20,000 Virgin Flying Club miles
  • Vueling – a €500 flight voucher, which should be enough to get two people a return flight in ‘Excellence’ class (terms and conditions apply)

Thanks to Drew, Karen and Adam for these prizes.

As a reminder, here are the other raffle prizes that have generously been offered so far:

The main prize:

  • Qatar Airways:  1 Business Class return ticket from the UK to any Qatar Airways destination (some small print applies, but not much)

And:

And a goody bag

Every guest will take home a goody bag.  We have some decent items lined up to include.

If your company would like to contribute promotional material (150 sets needed) to the goody bags in return for a contribution towards the bar bill, please email me at anika at headforpoints.com.

How do I get my ticket?

Because we need to ensure that people who ask for tickets turn up, we are charging £20 per ticket.  This price includes VAT.

However, your £20 ticket covers unlimited house wine and beer between 6pm and 8pm.  Soft drinks will also be available.  Spirits etc can be purchased for cash.  We are not making a penny from this and indeed Qatar Airways is footing the bulk of the cost.  After 8pm, the bar will remain open for cash payments for anyone who wants to stay longer.

The 2nd and final batch of tickets will go on sale TODAY at 10am via this link.  Realistically I would not expect them to last beyond 10.05.

You can buy up to two tickets per person. American Express is accepted.

Thank you to Qatar Airways

We couldn’t have put the party together without generous financial support from Qatar Airways.

Regular readers will know that we rate the Qatar Airways business class product very highly – especially the new Qsuite currently being introduced (photo below) which comes with its own door.

The fact that you can earn Avios and British Airways tier points when you fly with Qatar Airways, due to their membership of the oneworld alliance, is an extra bonus.  If the prize winner books themselves onto a Boeing 777 service from London Heathrow they have an excellent chance of being able to try Qsuite!

There will be Qatar Airways staff at the party if you want to know more about what they have to offer.

Qatar Airways Qsuite

Comments (160)

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

  • Ian says:

    Let’s see who wins fastest finger first today! Good luck everyone

  • JamesB says:

    Rob, for next year you might want to consider the Royal Geographical Society. A very apt place for folks into travel, a good location and a nice venue. They have loads of experience with everything from conferences to weddings and can accommodate hundreds. They can also stream events live to the internet or other venues which could be fun for those who cannot attend in person or for those who have suggested parallel events in Manchester area or Scotland.

    I wish everybody with tickets an enjoyable evening and good luck in the raffle.

  • Disillusioned says:

    Having just arrived in Oz after Qatar business class on the 787 & a380 all I can say was wow. Amazing cabin, especially the 787 as it was smaller more personal.
    The Doha bus lounge was amazing. The staffing level there was actually over the top. They could not me more helpful.

    Made a trip to Australia easy!

    Well done Qatar.

    • Ian says:

      Nice. Welcome to Oz. I’m also here at the moment. In Brisbane for the cricket. Flying back with Qatar business class. Looking forward to it!

  • Felicity says:

    Well it’s very clear you and your team are light years ahead of Amex when it comes to organising this sort of event. Good on you, but if Amex come knocking with an employment offer please don’t take it. You are far more valuable to us all doing what your doing, and the ex Amex promotions incompetents might take over h.f.p. – aaaargh !!!!

  • Tony says:

    You want to be careful. You’ll have the touts targeting the ticket sales soon 🙂
    Good luck everyone in the raffle, some nice prizes there.

  • Michael says:

    One thought might be run more than 1 party, one somewhere in the North West and another in London? I assume there is a base of readership outside of London, ok the raffle might prove a bit tricky but guessing some companies would be happy to promote there offerings outside of London as well as inside!

  • the real harry1 says:

    worth repeating ee’s advice from yesterday – anybody reading this contributes to the discussion & should be given a leg up 🙂

    ‘I took a few minutes out at work before 10am and got a ticket. My tips for tomorrow:

    Just before 10am keep refreshing (F5) your browser every second.
    Have some key details written out in word or notepad ready to copy and paste:
    First name
    Last name
    Street
    Town
    Postcode
    Email address (there are two email field to complete, only one can be copied and pasted)
    Credit card number with no spaces.’

    • Genghis says:

      I’m on it

      • ee says:

        Good luck! Just watch for errors on the credit card number field. I originally included the spaces and it messed the page up and slowed me down for a few seconds. In the end I had to do that field manually rather than copy and paste.

      • Ian says:

        Got my fingers crossed I manage it today as already spent over £200 on my travel arrangements to get there and back. Had no idea it would sell out in a few seconds!

    • Alan says:

      Haha does this mean you snagged loadsa tickets and will be reselling them soon? 😉 We know you’re a fan of that for concerts 😀

      • the real harry1 says:

        no re-sale platform

        anyway, I got worried – some of the anti-re-sale artistes like Adele started insisting that there be an ID check at the entrance to the venue, with non compliance/ different name = refused entry & guess who loses the money?

        there are other ways to do MS and no need to take the risk of a big hit – was quite lucrative, though 🙂

      • ee says:

        I only bought the one I need, and it’s not for resale! 🙂

    • Paul C says:

      Once you have tickets in your basket you then have eight minutes to complete personal and payment information.

    • Lumma says:

      Once you’re in to purchasing the tickets I don’t think you need to worry about entering your details too quickly. You’ve got the tickets on hold for 8 minutes

    • Luke says:

      Any advice for those using mobile phone? I guess my chances
      to get the ticket hits rock bottom… 🙁

  • xcalx says:

    OT but no bits today.

    Does booking a Hilton points stay (to cancel later) reset the expiry date. Points expire in 18 days.

    Thanks.

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

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