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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REMINDER #1 – Get a huge 40,000 Avios with the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card
The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card relaunched this month. For a limited time, the sign-up bonus is doubled to 40,000 Avios.
Whilst the annual fee is £250, this is refundable pro-rata if you cancel once you’ve banked the bonus.
Our main article on the 40,000 points bonus is here. Make sure you read the bit about whether or not you qualify for the bonus.
You can apply for British Airways Premium Plus Amex with the special bonus on this page of the Amex website.
REMINDER #2 – Got any sort of small business? Get a 60,000 Avios with the British Airways Accelerating Business card
The British Airways Accelerating Business credit card also relaunched this month. The sign-up bonus has switched from On Business points to Avios, and for a limited time the bonus is a slightly crazy 60,000 Avios.
Whilst the annual fee is £250, this is refundable pro-rata if you cancel once you’ve banked the bonus.
Our main article on the 60,000 Avios points bonus is here.
It is easy to qualify for this bonus. As long as you have some sort of small business income and have not had an American Express Business card in the past 12 months, you qualify for the 60,000 Avios.
You can apply for British Airways Accelerating Business Amex with the special bonus on this page of the Amex website.
The latest travel and aviation news:
Rhys got a flat bed when he flew from London to Madrid recently. Here is how he did it, image above.
Rob appeared on the ‘Let’s Talk Loyalty’ podcast this week to discuss the growth of subscription or ‘paid loyalty’ programmes. Links to the podcast are here.
Talking of ‘paid loyalty’, here is our take on the new Emirates Skywards+ programme, which could cost you over £700 per year.
Credit card news:
American Express is offering £100 cashback if you spend £300 with Eastern Airways. Whilst handy for domestic flights they also fly to Gibraltar from Southampton and Birmingham.
Find out how a couple can earn 317,875 Avios if they are new to Amex by maximising the special sign-up bonuses currently available.
New spend bonuses for October have been launched for American Express Gold and Platinum cardholders. Some are decent, some are a bit crazy …..
It seems that new applicants for The Platinum Card from American Express ARE getting the £200 fine dining credit which was recently launched. This makes it a very handy little extra on top of the current 60,000 points sign-up bonus.
Considering getting a Virgin Atlantic credit card? Find out which of the two cards is most suitable for you.
If you get a refund onto your American Express card, how does it affect your progress towards your sign-up bonus or your next annual spend voucher or bonus? Click to find out.
British Airways news:
You can now convert your BPme Rewards points into Avios. This article explains how to do it. There is a bonus if you make your first conversion by 27th September.
BA is launching flights to The Azores next Summer.
British Airways has stopped offering lounge access at many European airports. Here is a list of the European airports where you CAN get into a lounge if flying British Airways.
Hotel news:
Domes of Corfu is now bookable via Marriott Bonvoy – a decent family sun redemption. Image above.
IHG launched its new double and triple points promotion as you can read here. Click here to register. It will run until the end of the year.
Hilton Honors has extended your status in 2022 and made qualification for status in 2023 easier – here are the details.
Rhys visited the Great Scotland Yard hotel in London, part of Hyatt. How did he find it?
Want hotel elite status without staying? This is our guide to getting hotel elite status from UK credit cards.
Here is our monthly overview of the best hotel promotions if you need to book a room this month.
Other interesting bits:
Tickets for the London NFL games are available for redemption if you have any Marriott Bonvoy points.
Learn how to get up to 10,000 Avios with household, business, medical or landlord insurance with a little-known Avios partner.
Emirates has halved the price of VIP seats in the Emirates Box at Arsenal – but it is still pricier than pre-covid.
A reader in a provincial UK hotel found a 3% service charge added to his room rate. Is this a disturbing new trend?
We published our extensive guide to redeeming Virgin Points for long-haul flights on Air France and KLM.
Offers you missed:
British Airways added extra Mauritius flights for November and December on Thursday. All of the business class Avios seating, including for Christmas, was snapped up within hours of our article appearing.
You can see a list of other offers closing soon here. An updated version runs on the site tomorrow.
See you next Saturday.
