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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BONUS DOUBLED – Get a huge 60,000 points PLUS £200 travel credit, and great benefits, with American Express Platinum

American Express has launched an exceptional deal on The Platinum Card. The bonus is doubled to 60,000 Membership Rewards points which converts to:

• 60,000 Avios
• 60,000 Virgin Points
• 60,000 Emirates, Etihad, Flying Blue, Alitalia, Asia Miles, Delta, Finnair, Qantas or SAS miles
• 40,000 Singapore Airlines miles
• 120,000 Hilton Honors points
• 90,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
• 180,000 Radisson Rewards points
• 4,000 Club Eurostar points

….. and many other non-travel rewards.

Even better, American Express is throwing in a £200 travel credit too. Once you have triggered the 60,000 points (£6,000 spend in six months required) you will also be given £200 to spend at Amex Travel.

Whilst the annual fee is £575, this is refundable pro-rata if you cancel once you’ve banked the bonus.

Our main article on the ‘60,000 points plus £200 travel credit’ bonus is here. Make sure you read the bit about whether or not you qualify for the bonus.

You can apply for The Platinum Card with the special bonus on this page of the Amex website.

In other news …..

The latest travel and aviation news:

After allegedly breaching Heathrow’s passenger cap over the past weekend, British Airways has pulled all short haul flights from sale until 15th August.

Virgin Atlantic has now scheduled its brand new A330neo flights this Autumn – here are all the routes you’ll find it flying, bookable now.

Credit card news:

As we mentioned above, the American Express Platinum Card now has an all-time high bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards points. But you may not have noticed that at the same time Amex Platinum has switched to a credit (rather than charge) card. Should existing cardholders switch? There are reasons why you might, and reasons why you might stay put.

American Express has retired its iconic ‘Green’ card. Rob has written a little obituary looking back on the card’s history and influence.

A new British Airways Avios offer has dropped on the British Airways American Express cards, letting you earn up to 2,000 bonus Avios when spending with BA.

Although not credit-card related, you can get 20,000 Virgin Points by opening a new Virgin Money current account.

Good news – the Amex / PayPal cashback offer definitely works with gift cards bought via the PayPal gift card shop.

Hotel news:

Our round-up of the best hotel promotions in August is here.

Here is a list of which hotel loyalty schemes let you earn points and night credit when booking multiple rooms.

The Cape Grace Hotel in Cape Town, pictured above, has joined Accor.

Other interesting articles:

Virgin Red has brought back its fantastic Virgin Voyages redemptions. You can sail in the Med for a week or from Miami for 4-5 days from just 115,000 Virgin Points for two. This is exceptional value given the cash price is £2,000+. Remember that these are full board prices with even crew tips included.

Rhys starts a little lounge safari at Heathrow Terminal 2, kicking off with a review of the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge.

Meanwhile, Rob reviews the British Airways Newark lounge, also used by Aer Lingus and – at times when BA is not flying – Priority Pass.

Surprise! Iberia quietly announces a new business class seat during the IAG First Half results!

Plaza Premium’s Edinburgh lounge will open on 1st September – here’s how you can save 15% on entry.

Fed up of not getting into Priority Pass lounges at UK airports? You can now pay £6 to reserve your spot at the Heathrow Terminal 5 Club Aspire lounge.

Priority Pass has also added two more restaurants to its lounge portfolio at Heathrow. Frustratingly, anyone with access via Amex Platinum or Gold is not included. People with Lounge Key access via HSBC or Santander can use it.

Here’s how to get 7x Avios on eBay purchases! You’ll have to hurry – the offer ends tomorrow (Sunday).

Deals you missed:

Our roundup of important offers closing soon is here.

See you next Saturday!