The weekly Head for Points travel trade newsletter
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
Welcome to your weekly trade round-up of UK business travel and travel loyalty news as well as our latest reviews and features.
You are receiving this as a previous subscriber to Malcolm Ginsberg’s Business Travel News, which Head for Points has acquired. If you are not a subscriber, you can sign up here to receive this free newsletter in your inbox every Monday.
Malcolm’s new monthly forward-looking Travel News Update is available at travelnewsupdate.co.uk.
HfP reader exclusive:
Earn up to 30,000 Avios with Capital on Tap’s exclusive HfP credit card offer for SMEs. You need a Limited Company or LLP to apply.
The latest UK business travel news:
British Airways has, finally, revealed its new Ozwald Boateng uniforms. Image above.
New Norwegian airline Flyr is launching flights from Gatwick to Oslo. Image below.
JetBlue is adding a day flight from New York to London Heathrow. One of the Gatwick flights will be dropped.
British Airways announces five new European routes from Gatwick.
British Airways launches Heathrow to Florence. Find out why this route never existed before.
Hilton Glasgow has decided to start charging for pool use in a growing trend.
Hampton by Hilton Exeter Airport hotel has closed for a year to house asylum seekers.
Flybe is launching a new route from Birmingham to Bergerac.
InterContinental has opened a ‘new’ hotel in Bucharest, a year after pulling out.
New 2023 hotel openings – here is a round-up for Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt, written from a UK perspective:
- 10 new Marriott Bonvoy hotels opening in 2023
- 10 new Hilton Honors hotels opening in 2023
- 10 new World of Hyatt hotels opening in 2023
Business travel stories we recommend from other sites:
Lufthansa to bring back aging A340 jets to add more First Class seats (Bloomberg)
Luton DART system “expected to be operational by Easter” (Business Traveller)
Virgin Orbit plans its 1st UK Boeing 747 satellite launch for Monday (Simple Flying)
Record breaking: London Heathrow To New York City now has 32 daily flights (Simple Flying)
Star Alliance names interim chief as Goh steps down (FlightGlobal)
Our latest travel reviews:
There are no fresh reviews this week but we have put together an index of all of our flight and hotel reviews from 2022.
To avoid breaking up the newsletter, you’ll find the list at the bottom of this email. We’ve grouped the hotel reviews by geography to make it easier to search.
If your airline / hotel has not been featured and you would like some coverage in 2023, get in touch.
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
You can now convert Reward Gateway points into Avios.
Marriott Bonvoy appears to be offering soft landings for anyone with status. With business travel still down, it may keep some customers loyal.
What tier matches can you get from your existing status cards? Status Matcher is a useful website telling you how and where you can convert status in one programme to another.
Is Virgin Atlantic’s ‘Points Plus Money’ feature a good deal? Part pay a cash flight with points – a great option if you don’t have enough for a redemption.
Thank you for reading
Thank you for reading. Please drop me a note at rob@headforpoints.com with any feedback.
Head for Points is the UK’s largest business travel and frequent flyer website with 2.3 million page views per month. The majority of readers are London-based professionals who travel heavily for business and leisure. We have won five Business Travel Journalism Awards including ‘Editor of the Year’.
Want to work with us? We can offer you unrivalled audience engagement and a range of bespoke advertising opportunities including sponsored content, product reviews and tenancy placements. Please contact sinead@headforpoints.com for more information.
See you next Monday.
Rob, Rhys and Sinead @ Head for Points
PS. If you were forwarded this email by a colleague, you can sign up for a free subscription by filling in the form here
PPS. Here is an index of our flight and hotel reviews from 2022. For hotels, we have grouped them geographically and indicated where a property is in one of the ‘big six’ chains.
Flight reviews:
Blade helicopter transfers from Manhattan to New York JFK review
Aer Lingus A321LR business class review
Aer Lingus A330 business class review
Air France Boeing 777-300ER business class review
American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER business class review
Ethiopian Airlines A350 business class review
Finnair A350 Premium Economy review
Finnair A350 business class review
Malaysia Airlines A350 business class review
Norse Atlantic Boeing 787 Premium review
Qatar Airways Boeing 777 Qsuite business class review
Qatar Airways Boeing 787 business class review
Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 Premium Economy review
Virgin Atlantic A330neo Upper Class review
Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 Upper Class review
Hotel reviews:
UK airport hotels:
Courtyard London Heathrow Airport review (Marriott) – image above
Crowne Plaza London Heathrow Terminal 4 review (IHG)
Hilton London Heathrow Terminal 4 review (Hilton)
Holiday Inn Express London Heathrow Terminal 4 review (IHG)
Courtyard London Gatwick Airport review (Marriott)
Hampton Stansted Airport review (Hilton)
Courtyard Glasgow Airport review (Marriott)
UK:
BIRMINGHAM: Cube Hotel (ex Hotel Indigo) review
EDINBURGH: Sheraton Grand Edinburgh review (Marriott)
LONDON: Andaz London Liverpool Street review (Hyatt)
LONDON: citizenM Shoreditch review
LONDON: citizenM London Victoria Station review
LONDON: Hyatt Regency Stratford review (Hyatt)
LONDON: One Hundred Shoreditch review
LONDON: Westin London City review (Marriott)
MANCHESTER: Moxy Manchester City review (Marriott)
OXFORD: The Randolph Hotel review
Europe:
AUSTRIA: Park Hyatt Vienna review (Hyatt) – image above
ESTONIA: Radisson Collection Tallinn review (Radisson)
FRANCE: Le Meridien Etoile, Paris review (Marriott)
GERMANY: Grand Hyatt Berlin review (Hyatt)
GERMANY: Sheraton Frankfurt Airport review (Marriott)
GERMANY: Le Meridien Hamburg review (Marriott)
GIBRALTAR: The Rock Hotel review
IRELAND: The Shelbourne, Dublin review (Marriott)
ITALY: The St Regis Venice review (Marriott)
NETHERLANDS: Andaz Amsterdam Prinzengracht review (Hyatt)
NETHERLANDS: Hyatt Regency Amsterdam review (Hyatt)
NETHERLANDS: InterContinental Amstel review (IHG)
NETHERLANDS: Sheraton Amsterdam Airport review (Marriott)
NETHERLANDS: W Amsterdam review (Marriott)
NORWAY: Moxy Bergen review (Marriott)
NORWAY: The Thief, Oslo review
SPAIN: The Ritz Carlton Abama, Tenerife review (Marriott)
SPAIN: Thompson Madrid review (Hyatt)
SPAIN: Wyndham Grand Residences Costa Del Sol review
SWEDEN: Hotel Reisen, Stockholm review (Hyatt)
SWITZERLAND: Marriott Geneva review (Marriott)
USA:
FLORIDA: The Tampa EDITION review (Marriott) – image above
NEW YORK: Marriott Marquis Times Square review (Marriott)
NEW YORK: Moxy NYC Chelsea review (Marriott)
NEW YORK: Park Hyatt New York review (Hyatt)
NEW YORK: Thompson Central Park review (Hyatt)
NEW YORK: TWA Hotel, New York JFK Airport review
TEXAS: Canopy Austin Downtown review (Hilton)
TEXAS: Fairmont Austin review (Accor)
Middle East:
QATAR: Sheraton Grand Doha review (Marriott)
Asia:
MALAYSIA: W Kuala Lumpur review (Marriott) – image above
MALAYSIA: Shangri-La Rasa Ria, Sabah review
SINGAPORE: Aerotel Changi Airport review
THAILAND: Grand Hyatt Erawan, Bangkok review (Hyatt)
THAILAND: The St Regis Bangkok review (Marriott)
THAILAND: The Athenee, Bangkok review (Marriott)
THAILAND: Le Meridien Chiang Mai review (Marriott)
THAILAND: Hyatt Regency Hua Hin review (Hyatt)
THAILAND: Phulay Bay, A Ritz Carlton Reserve Resort review (Marriott)
VIETNAM: Regent Phu Quoc review (IHG)
Island resorts:
THE BAHAMAS: Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, Nassau review (Hyatt)
THE BAHAMAS: The Cove, Atlantis review (Marriott)
THE BAHAMAS: The Royal, Atlantis review (Marriott)
BARBADOS: The House review (Marriott)
BARBADOS: Sandals Royal Barbados review
MALDIVES: Conrad Rangali review (Hilton)
MAURITIUS: Le Meridien Ile Maurice review (Marriott)
