What you missed on Head for Points last week
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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:
At last, Manchester Airport has opened the Terminal 2 extension – albeit the first day saw only three flights.
There were yet more changes to the Green, Amber and Red travel advisory lists.
WH Smith has rescued 18 Dixons Travel stores at UK airports, with plans to convert them into its US technology brand InMotion.
Credit card news:
We found a way of donating your £120 of annual Deliveroo credit from American Express Gold to charity, allowing you to fund £120 of meals for families in need.
American Express Membership Rewards transfers to Marriott Bonvoy are now instant, which is handy.
The American Express £200 cashback deal with select Four Seasons hotels (inc Hampshire below) finally launched after a false start.
British Airways news:
British Airways will be opening its Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow lounges on Monday. Here is a summary of which BA lounges in the UK are open and which are closed.
Didn’t like ordering a cup of coffee 24 hours in advance when flying British Airways in short haul? Neither did anyone else. In the face of terrible sales, BA is now allowing you to order drinks and long life snack on board again although fresh food must still be pre-ordered.
Hotel news:
Our series of Marriott Bonvoy hotel reviews in the Balearics started with the hugely impressive – and expensive – St Regis Mardavall hotel in Mallorca.
We also reviewed the Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf Hotel. There is more to come in this series next week.
What are Accor Live Limitless points worth? Not one of the toughest articles in this series to write, given the fixed value nature of their redemptions, but we highlight a few angles you might miss.
World of Hyatt has added another batch of UK Small Luxury Hotels to its website for earning and burning points.
Other interesting bits:
Our ‘day out’ for the week was a trip to Heathrow Terminal 3 to celebrate the reopening of the terminal and, in particular, the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse lounge (above). Here is our review.
Virgin Atlantic has handed over management of its Clubhouse lounges outside the UK to Plaza Premium Group. The deal goes live on Monday when the New York JFK lounge reopens.
Virgin Flying Club launched a huge bonus of up to 70% when you buy Virgin Points – is it worth it?
You can now book JetBlue business class with Emirates Skywards miles – very handy, given that the London flights are about to start. For smaller Emirates balances, Lancashire cricket tickets are also available.
We reviewed Mileage Maniac, a fantastic book by Steve Belkin which explains the many and varied schemes he used to rack up 40 million frequent flyer miles over the years.
Stansted Airport is reopening its Escape lounge next week and fast track passport control the week after.
Finnair is launching long-haul routes from Stockholm to compete with SAS – and you can redeem Avios on them.
Offers you missed:
On Monday we highlighted a crazy Hotels.com promotion for Tesco Bank credit card holders. You could book any room (even £3 hostels) and receive £7.50 of Clubcard points in return, worth 1,875 Virgin Points or £22.50 of Clubcard Boost deals, with no limit to the number of bookings allowed. Within the day the rules had been changed.
See you next Saturday.
