Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

News: get FA Cup Final tickets with Emirates, Air Canada adds Manchester to Toronto flights

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

News in brief:

Emirates Skywards offering FA Cup Final tickets for miles

As expected, Emirates Skywards is offering FA Cup Final tickets to members with miles to burn.

Unfortunately, as you see on the Emirates ‘events’ page here, the tickets are being auctioned. This means that you cannot purchase them with a transfer of American Express Membership Rewards points to Emirates Skywards because you need to have the miles in your account in order to bid.

The auctions are being run on three day cycles, with the 2nd wave starting today. There are standard tickets, VIP tickets and mascot packages on offer.

The pricing in the first wave was ludicrous – the leading bid for two standard seats in the Liverpool end is 250,000 Skywards miles at the time of writing with a few hours still to go. I can’t imagine any scenario under which this offers value for money given that getting 1p per mile on a flight redemption isn’t difficult with Emirates.

Air Canada to resume Manchester to Toronto flights

Air Canada has announced that its seasonal service between Manchester and Toronto will return this Summer.

There will be five flights per week, operating from 1st June to 30th September.

Flights will use an A330-300 with three classes, including Premium Economy and lie-flat business class seats. Flights will depart on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Air Canada is also now flying:

  • London Heathrow to Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Calgary
  • Dublin to Toronto

You can search prices and timings on the Air Canada website here. You can learn how to earn Air Canada Aeroplan miles from UK credit cards by reading this guide.


How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (February 2025)

None of the Star Alliance airlines currently have a UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn Star Alliance miles from a UK credit card

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to over 40 airlines at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 airline miles per £1 spent on the card.

There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2 : 1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.

The Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

Comments (25)

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

  • Bill says:

    Does anyone know if Skywards will have FA Cup final tickets available via Buy It Now at some point or do they only do Auctions?

    • Zed says:

      I asked Emirates previously about Buy It Now and they replied it’d be auction for the FA Cup. I’m astounded at the level the auctions are reaching – they are crazy! I went to the final in 2018 and it was 20k for seat only. Skywards pricing post-pandemic is totally out of sync with normality.

      • Helen says:

        Yes, but Liverpool are in the final this year. They could probably sell out Wembley just to their own fans.

  • Graeme says:

    I know it’s nothing to do with this article, but fyi the new Hilton Maldives Amingiri opening in September has One Bedroom Overwater pool villas for 110,000 points per night, ‘standard room reward’. You are looking at least 335,000 for similar at the other 3 properties, 1,000,000 at the Waldorf. Ticking off the bucket list, ten nights for eight!

    • Fazzy Bear says:

      Fantastic price especially as you don’t have to pay the 10% tax extra that cash bookings have to pay.

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

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.