Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

We’re nominated for some prizes

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

I’m pleased to say that Head for Points has been recognised with four nominations in the 2019 Business Travel Journalism Awards.

Each member of the team has received at least one nomination.

These are:

Best Newcomer to Business Travel or Meetings & Events Journalism (Rhys)

Best Use of Digital in Business Travel or Meetings & Events Journalism 

Editorial Team of the Year (Rob, Rhys, Anika)

Features Journalist of the Year – Accommodation (Rob, for this)

Winners will be announced in early October at a gala dinner at the Corinthia Hotel.

It could go either way – we won three in 2017, including ‘Editor of the Year’ and, for Anika, ‘Best Newcomer’, but last year came away with nowt …..

Category

General

Comments (148)

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

  • Matt says:
    11 Sep11 September 09:01

    A new BA call centre ‘rule’. I have an existing open jaw companion voucher booking – LHR to SYD, HKG to LHR. Availability from SIN to LHR has opened up so I called up to change the return flight. They said not possible if I wanted to use companion voucher as any changes to existing open jaw bookings must remain in the same zone they’re already booked in. Seems inflexible – I’m obviously ok with paying additional avios for change of zone!

    • TGLoyalty says:
      11 Sep11 September 10:26

      I think that one actually is a rule. Seen it posted here many times

    • pauldb says:
      11 Sep11 September 13:57

      That’s always been the rule.

    • Charlieface says:
      11 Sep11 September 14:23

      But the ticket already has an allocated zone to Sydney, so that doesn’t change does it?

      • Lady London says:
        11 Sep11 September 23:14

        Hkg and Sin are different zones.
        Can be handy sometimes as they are cheap to fly between but one costs less in Avios.

        Plus, for now HKG has same rule as Brazil no YQ “fuel surcharge” on tickets originating there.

  • MikeL says:
    11 Sep11 September 09:22

    As expected, these prices aren’t available from Edinburgh to Barcelona.

    • BJ says:
      11 Sep11 September 09:28

      Best avoid them anyway. I had a flight booked with them from Edinburgh to Rome a couple of years ago, after the fourth significant schedule change in a few months I gave up and took easyjet to Milan.

    • Andrew says:
      11 Sep11 September 13:12

      The Edinburgh fares aren’t that shocking though.

      Outbound from EUR 25.00 and inbound from EUR 18.00

  • Ian M says:
    11 Sep11 September 09:32

    Off Topic..

    My BA Tier point collection year ends 8th January 2020.. if I fly on 8th January, will the tier points fall into the current year or next year?

    • Matt says:
      11 Sep11 September 09:45

      If your flight takes off on the 8th (local time) the tier points will credit to the previous year. If it takes off on the 9th it will be the new year.

    • Rhys says:
      11 Sep11 September 10:10

      You can ask for a 2 week extension to credit flights in the new year to the old one – see here https://headforpoints.com/2019/01/02/can-i-get-an-extension-to-my-british-airways-membership-year/

    • AJA says:
      11 Sep11 September 10:12

      As Matt says above. But if the TPs fall into the new earning year you have the option of requesting a temporary two week extension of your year so that they will count against the old year. Best requested after you’ve flown and the TPs are credited.

      Another option to consider though is to drop a tier and then earn in the new year if you have a few flights early in the year as then an upgrade to the new tier e.g. blue to bronze or bronze to.silver your new tier statud will count for nearly 2 years.

      Also don’t forget that the card only expires at tge end of the following month so lounge access status with Silver would last to end of Feb with a TP earning year end date of 8 Jan.

  • Doug M says:
    11 Sep11 September 10:04

    Wahooo. Just got Amex email saying Hilton at 3:1 as special offer. Not sure if targeted or general.

    • Freddy says:
      11 Sep11 September 10:06

      Beat me to it haha

    • Lee says:
      11 Sep11 September 10:36

      Targeted, OH got it I don’t.

    • Roy says:
      11 Sep11 September 11:02

      In the small print: “Please allow up to eight weeks for the additional Hilton Honors Bonus Points to be awarded”.

    • Nick M says:
      11 Sep11 September 11:39

      Now to decide whether I’d prefer 40k Marriott or 80k Hilton…

      • Freddy says:
        11 Sep11 September 12:07

        I’d opt for Hilton purely for the increased value over Marriott once the points are converted. £200 Vs £264 on Rob’s valuation but course depends on location etc

        • fivebobbill says:
          11 Sep11 September 13:47

          Don’t necessarily agree, even though I have moved my stays mostly over to Hilton now since the Amex Plat Marriott Gold status devaluation. However I am staying in Sheraton Grand Dubai this coming Old Years Night & New Years Day, a Deluxe Suite, Club lounge access, 1 Bedroom King Suite, 1.5 Bathrooms, for 36,000 points per night (plus £4 taxes). The cash rate is almost £500 per night. My benefits from Gold status with Marriott become almost irrelevant.
          Somebody else can do the maths, but I thing Hilton would struggle to match that…

      • BJ says:
        11 Sep11 September 16:34

        A lot of better hotels for 80 at Hilton than for Marriott at 40. If you look for value at lower end hotels there are more options for 5 nights at 80k with Hilton.

  • Freddy says:
    11 Sep11 September 10:06

    Just received an amex email offering American express rewards to Hilton at 1:3 rather than 1:2 on my gold card. Valid until 31st Oct. Makes the conversion rate a bit more attractive

    • Spurs Debs says:
      11 Sep11 September 10:40

      We have email as well, in my quest for points this was my conversation yesterday with a family member “ you have a £6k bill to pay and no Amex card, I’ll pay it and pick up the cash” the things we do for points.

      • fivebobbill says:
        11 Sep11 September 14:08

        Just did the same for my mums knee replacement last week lol

        • Spurs Debs says:
          11 Sep11 September 14:28

          My Sons getting married next year, he’s already been primed all goes through BA Amex that should be the 241 voucher taken care off. And today’s transaction puts me £3k shy of gold card 10k bonus and 8 months left to hit that target.

  • Anna says:
    11 Sep11 September 10:09

    OT – availability for award nights at The Langley now open into July. I think you may need to book before Sep 14th to avoid peak pricing? Got it booked for both mine & my OH’s 50th, though one of them might get cancelled before then.

    • Anna says:
      11 Sep11 September 10:09

      The stay, not the birthday 😂

    • Nick M says:
      11 Sep11 September 11:41

      Thanks for the heads up… have a winter booking, may go for a summer one too!

      Do you know how to check if the points have been attached to a reservation or not? – I have 3 redemptions at the moment, and think they’ve taken the points for 2 of these but want to double check!

      • Benilyn says:
        11 Sep11 September 11:52

        We are a young couple, <30 yo, thoughts on this place? I don't have too many Marriott points to burn, so is 1 night enough? In my mind I was thinking I would rather go in the summer then the winter?

        • Rob says:
          11 Sep11 September 12:48

          We did one night. If you arrive punctually, have enough time to use the pool and spa, have dinner, do breakfast (if they’ve sorted it out!), have a walk through the park, head off home … yes, 1 night works.

          • New Card says:
            11 Sep11 September 13:14

            Presumably if you are Marriott Platinum you’d get a 4pm checkout the next day too, so plenty of time to visit the spa on both days?

          • Benilyn says:
            11 Sep11 September 16:29

            Ok booked 1 night in summer!

      • Anna says:
        11 Sep11 September 13:15

        It should say on your booking if the points have been taken (and your account). I think as long as you have enough points, they are taken at the time of booking, it’s only when you haven’t got enough to cover the full amount that “payment remains outstanding.

  • Shoestring says:
    11 Sep11 September 10:33

    O/T In addition to the £250 return flights on Virgin to San Francisco mentioned yesterday (£250 Economy return), Virgin have added in LHR-Miami (also about £250 Economy return) – date availability for October, November, December, February and March. Skyscanner but widely available similar price.

    • Andrew says:
      11 Sep11 September 11:17

      Booked at £260, but also got 12% back via my employer’s arrangement with Virgin, so net £230 when it triggers.

      It’s costing me less to fly Virgin to Miami for a long weekend than BA or Flybe to Edinburgh.

  • pablo says:
    11 Sep11 September 11:06

    Qatar sale: Belgrade-Doha-Hong Kong return in business for £847 through the app using discount code UPTO5OFF
    Availability wide open 12 months ahead. R class; 560 tier points in BAEC

    • Lee says:
      11 Sep11 September 11:37

      Re position to Belgrade is a bit of trouble as no BA RFS

      • Neil Donoghue says:
        11 Sep11 September 13:49

        Absolutely! Give me Stockholm any day for an extra £400 before I would consider Belgrade but still a great offer for anyone in the region

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? EARN POINTS WORTH 10,500 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!