SOLD OUT: Get your Head for Points Winter Party tickets

As we announced on Tuesday, we are pleased to say that we are holding our fourth Head for Points reader Winter Party on Monday 20th January.

The first batch of tickets will be sold at noon on Wednesday.  If you won’t be behind a computer at noon (although the Eventbrite app does the job too) the final batch will be sold at 9pm on Thursday.

Click here to be taken to the correct Eventbrite page to buy.

Where is the Head for Points Winter party?

We are taking over the Westminster Ballroom at the Marriott Grosvenor Square in Mayfair from 6pm to 9pm.

This is situated in the same square as the old American Embassy, now being turned into a Rosewood hotel, and the new Biltmore Hotel.  It is very close to Bond Street tube station, and also walkable from Green Park, Marble Arch etc.

Marriott Grosvenor Square is a great venue, with more indoor capacity than we had in the Summer at the Renaissance.

As this is a Marriott property, Marriott Bonvoy has very kindly stepped in to sponsor the event.

You will receive a free glass of wine, bottle of beer or soft drink courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy (thank you).  A full cash bar will be available for further drinks at usual London prices.

If you wish to stay on beyond 9pm, the bar will remain open for a little while, although at some point we may be asked to move to the hotel bar.

Introducing our charity partner, Orbis

A couple of months ago, Rob and I sat – by chance – next to a someone who worked for Orbis at a dinner.

Orbis works to prevent and treat avoidable blindness and visual impairment globally. They provide specialist training and equipment to doctors, nurses and eye care teams onboard the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital.  You can read more about Orbis and the Flying Eye Hospital on their website here.

We thought it was an excellent cause with a direct link to aviation and something that we would like to support.  We are doing this in two ways:

we are adding a £1 donation to Orbis to the ticket price, which means we are charging £11 instead of the usual £10

for the first time, it will be possible to buy additional raffle tickets on the night.  You will still get a free ticket on arrival, but additional tickets can be purchased for £1 each.  100% of the proceeds will go directly to Orbis.

This should allow us to raise over £1,000 from the event.

What can you win in the raffle?

We are putting together a selection of 25-30 prizes drawn from our travel industry contacts.

Marriott Bonvoy has generously offered to donate the main raffle prizes.  We don’t have the full details yet but it should be good.

Other prizes confirmed to date include:

2 sets of 20,000 Avios, donated by Avios.com

A pair of Business Premier tickets, donated by Club Eurostar 

A limited-edition hardback coffee table version of ‘British Airways: 100 Years of Aviation Posters’, donated by British Airways 

10,000 Avios, donated by Avios partner Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers 

20,000 IHG Rewards Club points, donated by IHG Rewards Club 

5,000 Heathrow Rewards points (x 4 sets!), donated by Heathrow Rewards 

2 passes for any Heathrow Plaza Premium lounge (x 2 sets), donated by Plaza Premium 

A weekend car rental, donated by Avis Budget 

4 passes for any Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse (must be flying Virgin Atlantic), donated by Virgin Atlantic 

A Signature ELITE Class Experience at Luton Airport (be driven to your plane!), donated by Signature (click for review) 

£100 of British Airways credit and three elite memberships, donated by Reward Flight Finder 

Three annual premium memberships to SeatSpy, donated by SeatSpy 

A return Mercedes airport transport to Heathrow or Gatwick from anywhere inside the M25, donated by REAL Transfers

£150 voucher from Aircraft Model Store 

A Dash Cam, donated by Enterprise Car Rental 

A Malaysia Airlines goody bag, donated by Malaysia Airlines 

A Vietnam Airlines model plane, donated by Vietnam Airlines 

An Aspinall passport cover, donated by Curve 

Email rhys [at] headforpoints.com if you’d like to donate something in return for some publicity, backlinks and free tickets.

All attendees will receive one raffle ticket for free, and the Orbis staff will be happy to sell you additional tickets on the night for £1 each.

How do I get my party ticket?

Because we need to ensure that people who ask for tickets turn up, we are charging £11 per ticket.  This price includes VAT and covers our ticketing fees, venue costs and the hotel fee for installing a PA system.  It also includes a £1 donation to Orbis.

We are selling the 500 tickets in two tranches:

The first batch will be sold at noon Wednesday

The second batch will be sold at 9pm Thursday

This is, we think, the fairest way of allowing everyone to participate, whether or not they sit behind a computer during a weekday.

We are using Eventbrite again.  Eventbrite has an excellent mobile app, so even if you are not behind a computer at noon on Wednesday you should still be able to purchase.  Set up an account with your credit card data before you head out.

Click here to buy tickets.

You can buy up to two tickets per person but please don’t be nervous about coming on your own.  Frequent flyers are a friendly bunch and always happy to share details of their recent trips and miles-earning tips.  We are also inviting our airline and hotel contacts so there will also be trade people milling around who are keen to chat.

Rob, Sinead and myself look forward to seeing you on Monday 20th January.  Here’s the link you need.