What you missed on Head for Points last week

Welcome to the Head for Points weekly newsletter, full of the latest Avios, travel loyalty and travel credit card news, hints and tips.

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The latest travel and aviation news:

No1 Lounges, picture of a Clubrooms lounge above, has been taken over by a joint venture of Swissport (Aspire Lounges) and Collinson (Priority Pass). This means that No1 Lounges will be rejoining Priority Pass in the Autumn.

Vodafone has scrapped free wi-fi for its customers on the London Underground.

We try the Singapore Airlines Feast Box as we cook up an Asian meal at home.

Credit card news:

The big news of the week is that the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card has doubled its sign up bonus for two months. You will now receive 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. Even better, Marriott will throw in Gold Elite status until February 2023. You can apply here.

Do you have self-assessment payments due on 31st July, or VAT due in early August? Billhop is a company which lets you recharge your tax bill to a credit card, even an American Express card, for a fee. It could make sense if you need to trigger a credit card voucher or sign-up bonus. Our article explains more.

American Express has refreshed Business Gold. The good news is that you will get 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points each time you spend £20,000 in a calendar quarter. The bad news is that the annual fee is rising to £175 although it remains free for a year. Full details are here.

American Express has a lounge at Wimbledon for cardmembers this year – and has an exclusive daily ticket allocation for cardholders too. Here is how to get in.

British Airways news:

You can earn 10,000 Avios when you buy household, business, landlord or medical insurance from Avios partner Alan Boswell Group. Our article explains what they have to offer. HfP reader feedback has historically been very positive.

Avios and Nectar have launched a huge competition to encourage you to link your accounts and transfer your Nectar points across to British Airways. You can win a share of 3 million Nectar points and 2 million Avios. You can still take part even if your accounts are already linked.

This Sunday is your last chance to get a 50% bonus when you buy Avios. This article explains whether the maths makes sense or not.

Hotel news:

We started a new series on hotel point valuations by asking the question “What are Hilton Honors points worth?“

Gibraltar 1 – as we mentioned last week, Rob spent two nights in the 5-star Sunborn Yacht Hotel. This is how he found it.

Gibraltar 2 – Rob also checked out The Eliott, The Rock (pictured above) and the Holiday Inn Express whilst in Gibraltar to see how they compared to Sunborn.

Other interesting bits:

Virgin Atlantic is offering up to £200 off flights to the Caribbean in a short sale – remember it is on the Green List now. Click through for details.

Etihad Guest is offering a bonus of 20% to 40% if you transfer in points from HSBC, American Express, Accor Live Limitless or Marriott Bonvoy THIS WEEKEND ONLY. We look at whether it makes sense.

Virgin Red has launched a huge competition to coincide with its public launch (you may have seen the TV ads this week). Our article explains how to enter. If you haven’t joined Virgin Red yet, you can register here – it’s free and you can easily link your Flying Club account.

Has Finnair lost the plot with its new ‘business light’ tickets? For a tiny saving you lose virtually ALL your benefits, from priority check-in to lounge access.

Offers you missed:

London’s Hard Rock Hotel was selling rooms for just £71 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hard Rock brand, founded in 1971. You might find a few left if you use the promo code in the article although the majority have been booked.

There was a 2-day flash sale with a 100% bonus for buying IHG Rewards points. The offer is still running but with a lower bonus – you can buy here.

We ran an exclusive Avios-earning offer for 5 days with foreign currency transfer specialist Midpoint.

See you next Saturday!