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SOLD OUT: Get your Head for Points Winter Party tickets

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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.

Marriott Grosvenor Square

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.

Head for Points Christmas Party

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.

Comments (146)

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

  • Lady London says:

    Now that we’ve all signed up and I’ve seen the picture, that hotel has history.
    IIRC a few name changes ago it was known as the Europa hotel where a bus of of El Al crew got shot outside the hotel.

    And opposite, if anyone’s seen the recent reviews of the new amazing wonderful LXR Hilton Hotel recently opened on the opposite side of Grosvenor Square, isn’t that the hotel that has the restaurant where the Russian was poisoned with cyanide?

    cheerful soul, aren’t I ? 🙂

    • memesweeper says:

      I failed to get a ticket this time ! Was looking forward to seeing you again LL along with the other regulars … guess there’s always tomorrow…

    • Cat says:

      I think it was Professor Plum in the Pine Bar with the Polonium, wasn’t it?

      • Lady London says:

        IIRC the victim was called Alexander? how unfair to subject restaurant workers and others nearby. still being denied apparently.

        • Cat says:

          Of course it is, and Salisbury cathedral is undoubtedly still renowned the world over…

        • Polly says:

          And our medical colleagues at the hospital, until it was identified, all at risk.

          • Cat says:

            Not to mention his home, his family, the car he got in that evening, the fax machine he used… Literally everything he touched for the next 3 days was contaminated with radiation. His friend’s car had to be destroyed as it was so badly contaminated it was unusable, and his family couldn’t return to their home for 6 months.
            Aside from the rights and wrongs of assassinating your school friend, and the stupidity of using a substance that is so easily traceable that you might as well spray paint a line on the ground everywhere you go from the moment you acquire the radioactive substance, to the moment you leave the country, they could have used something that had a lower risk of causing slow and horribly painful collateral damage…

          • Polly says:

            And, the play they did last year in London was amazing. V g depiction of background, and where it all started to go wrong as a trusted aide.

          • Lady London says:

            Is it still playing Polly? What was it called?

          • KP says:

            A very old poison IIRC

  • Graham Walsh says:

    Pah, meetings got in the way. Will try on Thursday

    • Lady London says:

      Good luck Graham!

    • Cat says:

      Teaching long division with decimals to year 7 got in the way.
      I too will try again tomorrow!

      • Polly says:

        Cat, l got a spare, meet you at the door, save me sending bk for resale…

        • Cat says:

          I did not write this! Lady London – I have an imposter too! Make it stop Rob!
          Also, I’ll happily have the ticket Polly, if Rob doesn’t mind us bypassing the returns process and creating less work for everyone!

        • Shoestring says:

          someone thinks it’s funny, it was why I had to be the real harry1 a couple of years ago

          going out now so any post in my name in the next 25 mins is not the real me! 🙂

          • Cat says:

            I did wonder! When I first started reading the comments regularly, you were posting as therealharry1, which seemed oddly possessive of your name!
            I wonder if it’s the same fool who messed with Lady London, you and me.

        • Cat says:

          That would be lovely Polly, thanks! Did you get my number in the summer? I think I only got LL’s number!

          • Polly says:

            Yes got it..will see you near the entrance…btw, hope you framed that Harry Potter pose photo! Ha..

          • Cat says:

            The zig-a-zig-ah photos? They were wonderfully and appropriately blurry!
            Looking forward to seeing you and Lady London! X

  • Peter Flynn says:

    Thank you so much for top tip re using T3 Cathay lounge with BA business class. Wife silver I am bronze both in. Quiet luxurious and so much better than BA T3. Nice champagne too!

  • xcalx says:

    OT anyone having problems getting BA to answer the phone Have been trying every 20 mins since Monday morning. Keep getting the we are too busy message. Did manage to get through once, explained I wanted to use a Lloyds voucher. Was told they would put me through to the lloyds booking team (is there such a team) 5 seconds later the phone went dead.

    • Judge says:

      Phone 0344 493 3349 and stay on the line to use Lloyds voucher

      • Matthew says:

        I’ve been trying for weeks and got through for first time yesterday. Lady said open 9-5 daily and best calling on dot of 9am to get through. Don’t call BA just call the Avios number mentioned here. Good luck

        • DaveL says:

          Booked yesterday using lloyds voucher by calling avios number. Waiting 20 mins to get through but smooth process to book. Open till 8pm weekdays.

  • Judge says:

    OT – no third article today?

  • Sundar says:

    Got the ticket, see you all there.

  • mutley says:

    A toy plane in the raffle, brings back memories of my time working as a student in the plane spotters shop on the top of Queens Buildings.

    I love it. Embrace the geekery!

  • Noel says:

    A little geeky thrill at getting a ticket or my first HFP party attendance 🙂 excited! 🙂

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

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