News in brief:
New cushions and blankets on British Airways economy flights
British Airways is bringing genuine improvements to its World Traveller economy cabin in the form of a new cushion and blanket design for passengers (photo below).
After the World Traveller Plus (premium economy) overhaul last year, World Traveller was up next for an upgrade.
The new soft product is now being rolled out across the fleet starting with Heathrow as of yesterday. Gatwick flights will get the new items from 1st March.
The new cushion and blankets replace the rather uninspiring existing ones: a brown fleece blanket and a thin square cushion in a plasticky single-use case. Apart from being really, really ugly (!) the old cushion and blanket bore no resemblance to the rest of BA’s design language.
The cushion features a similar herringbone design to the pillow and blanket in World Traveller Plus, albeit in all blue.
You can learn more about what you get from British Airways World Traveller on this page of ba.com.
American Express cashback offer on Malaysia Airlines
American Express is currently offering £100 cashback on purchases of £1,000 or more with Malaysia Airlines.
It appears to be highly targetted and does not seem to be on any of the British Airways American Express cards (unsurprisingly!). Rob has it on his Platinum card but it does not appear to be on any of the others in the office. Assuming that it does show under the ‘Offers’ tab on your online Amex statement page, it is available to the first 5,000 people who register.
I found Malaysia Airlines to be an excellent airline and flies a new A350 between London and Kuala Lumpur. I reviewed their Business Suite (formerly First Class) offering last year as well as their Business Class (review). The Malaysia Airlines business and first class lounges in Heathrow Terminal 4 (review) are also very good.
You can find out more about their services on the Malaysia Airlines site here. You need to book via their site to trigger the cashback.
Lufthansa launches daily flights to Newcastle
Last year we reported that Lufthansa was preparing to launch flights from its hub in Munich to Newcastle. The first flight was yesterday, and it looks like passengers got to have a bit of cake looking at the photo above.
Flight timings are as follows:
Outbound: departing Newcastle at 13:40, arriving in Munich at 16:40
Inbound: departing Munich at 11:50, arriving in Newcastle at 12:55
These times are not the most convenient but they do open up redemption and connection opportunities on Star Alliance from the North East of England.
You can book the flight on the Lufthansa website here.
About Head for Points
OT: 4th night free at IHG through September at many brabds/markets. Use code MEMBERS STAY MORE
Thank you for highlighting this tariff. I couldn’t find that one but I did find “Stay Longer Pay Less”. Booking with Intercontinental this way has saved me €12000 on an 11 night stay.
You have to pay a non-refundable deposit for the first night. However you can cancel the rest of the booking without charge.
Good morning,
I have the Malaysia offer on my gold amex card and so does my wife………
Lucky you!