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News: Virgin Atlantic boosts South African services, 100% bonus buying Hilton points

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News in brief:

Virgin Atlantic to increase services to South Africa

With South Africa now off the UK ‘Red List’, in time for the peak Winter tourist season, Virgin Atlantic is stepping up its flight schedule.

There is now a date for the resumption of Cape Town flights – 17th December. There will be three flights per week.

Johannesburg will see an increase in frequency, with the current 3x weekly service increasing to daily from 8th November.

All services will be on a Boeing 787-9. You are getting a new aircraft but, in Upper Class, you are getting the old-style herringbone layout rather than the new Upper Class Suite.

Our review of Upper Class on a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 is here.

You can find out more, and book, on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

Hilton Honors buy points 100% bonus worth it

Get a 100% bonus when you buy Hilton Honors points

Hilton has brought back its offer of a 100% bonus when you purchase 15,000+ points.

The Hilton ‘buy points’ page is here. 

What makes this offer different to the last one is that the annual purchase limit has been increased. You can now buy 160,000 points, which would double up to 320,000 points with the bonus.

EDIT: Looking at the comments below, it seems that the ability to buy 160,000 points is targeted. You may not see this. I have it but some others do not.

320,000 points is what you need to book a 5-night stay at an 80,000 points per night luxury hotel, given the ‘5 for 4’ deal given to all elite Hilton Honors members.

This is the deal I used to book 5 nights at the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah Dubai over Christmas 2020, saving over 60% on the cash price. I wrote about how I did that in this article.

The page to buy points is here if you are interested. The offer runs to 7th December.

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points and they come with generous sign-up bonuses. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Category

Hilton Honors, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (45)

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

  • Amid says:
    15 Oct15 October 04:24

    I have just logged into my Hilton account.
    It states that a maximum of 80000 points can be bought per calendar year.
    No note of the 160000 limit

  • James says:
    15 Oct15 October 05:33

    That Hilton offer is only letting me buy a maximum of 80,000 points at 50% discount ($400).

  • Fly1A says:
    15 Oct15 October 06:01

    Lets have the whole story again for the readers who are going to rush to ba.com and buy a ticket for a country we are not yet allowed in to!!! The voucher is for the money you handed to BA…..not for the actual holiday / flight. If you cant fly you get a voucher and BA keep your cash. When the US opens up again, the tinkers running it will sky rocket the prices and you will have your BA sale voucher worth £1500 per person against the new price of £5000 pp (St Lucia Xmas 2020).
    I believe that it is only Qatar that have a fully flexible trip voucher system (or did have).
    Caveat Emptor…..

  • Lee says:
    15 Oct15 October 06:14

    Anyone know how late you can cancel a BA holiday for a voucher?

    Have a USA booking for Christmas on BA Holidays.

    What happens if we fail the PCR test to fly? Do we lose the holiday cost, get a voucher or must we take out insurance (which might already not work as it is already booked).

    We do have Amex Platinum and HSBC Premier insurance – but doubt either would help.

    • Paul says:
      15 Oct15 October 06:34

      If you book when either the country is closed of FCO advise is don’t travel, Amex will not cover any covid related claims.
      They will cover other claims if you do get to travel such as accidents or lost bags etc.

    • Memesweeper says:
      15 Oct15 October 07:08

      3 weeks notice required for cancellation of a holiday. If you’re nervous book flight only, and refundable accommodation.

      • Lee says:
        15 Oct15 October 07:24

        okay – so I will lose the holiday cost. Not really a book with confidence policy is it for Holidays.

  • JM says:
    15 Oct15 October 06:57

    Does that 80k points a night at the Waldorf include breakfast?

    • Lee says:
      15 Oct15 October 07:26

      Only if you have status which covers it. i.e. Diamond

    • Lee says:
      15 Oct15 October 07:26

      No, but everyone here should have at least gold which includes free breakfast

      • Rob says:
        15 Oct15 October 07:33

        If you’re heading to the WA, get Amex Platinum for a month (£50 for 1 month), get your Hilton account upgraded to Gold and then cancel Plat. You’ll save a fortune on breakfast.

  • Dave Wood says:
    15 Oct15 October 07:20

    As per the other post, I am also only able to buy up to 80,000 Hhonors points with a 50% discount, making it $400. Unfortunately, that makes the deal useless

    • Rob says:
      15 Oct15 October 07:34

      Just me who’s special then!

      • MD says:
        15 Oct15 October 08:30

        Don’t worry Rob, you’re not imagining it! I can buy the full 160000 (with 160000 bonus). I’m diamond, if that makes a difference.

      • Andrew says:
        15 Oct15 October 09:06

        Nope, not the only one, I’ve got the same offer. “You buy up to 160,000 points, we match up to 160,000 points, you get up to 320,000 points.”

        It’s not bad, and there may be some good opportunties there, but looking at my next trip even if I were to buy at this bogof offer, I’d be paying $50 more for the points than I would booking at a flexible rate – and I wouldn’t be earning points on the stay either. I’ll pass.

    • James says:
      15 Oct15 October 07:35

      I would have for sure taken up the offer as describe above. Maybe the article needs an edit, Rob?

    • Sandgrounder says:
      15 Oct15 October 08:22

      I can buy 150k with a 150k bonus, presumably because I have already bought 10k this year.

  • Lee says:
    15 Oct15 October 07:27

    All flights taken as part of a BA Holidays package will earn double Executive Club tier points, as long as:

    you travel by 22nd March 2022, and
    you book at least five nights of hotel accommodation

    Car hire is also included, but with both the hotel and the car hire it must be for the entire period of the holiday – even picking the car up the following morning will rule out double tier points I understand.

    • Tim1 says:
      15 Oct15 October 08:10

      That was my understanding as well, though I can’t see exactly where it is in the Ts&Cs at the moment. It would be good to get some clarification as if only 5 nights accommodation on a longer trip count I will probably make use of it.

  • Graham C says:
    15 Oct15 October 07:34

    Slight correction on the double tier points deal. You must book by 22nd March 2022 but it includes holidays up to 31st March 2022.

    I had a slight panic there as I shifted my NYC trip from this month to March 23rd – 28th and made sure I complied with the offer. Not taking the risk in November.

    • Peter Taysum says:
      15 Oct15 October 09:41

      Is that outbound flight or must return by 31st March?!?

      • Graham says:
        15 Oct15 October 09:57

        T&C 2d. Travel is for outbound departures between 9 June 2021 and 31 March 2022 inclusive (final outbound departure date is 31 March 2022).

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