The weekly Head for Points travel trade newsletter
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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.
The latest UK business travel news:
Virgin Atlantic launches flights to Sao Paulo and Bengaluru
Priority Pass and Plaza Premium broker a new deal, opening up Plaza Premium lounges to all Priority Pass cardholders
Air Belgium will operate flights to Chicago for British Airways from 1st July
Eurostar trains to Amsterdam and Rotterdam to be suspended for 11 months
Ambitious mega-carrier Riyadh Air unveils its livery (and a 72-aircraft order)
Cardiff Airport claims Qatar Airways will resume flights soon
IHG removes Mr & Mrs Smith boutique hotels from its website after Hyatt acquisition
British Airways to ‘refresh’ its lounge in the Heathrow Terminal 5B satellite
Belfast City Airport reveals details of its expanded airport lounge
Priority Pass adds a new non-lounge experience at Luton Airport
…. plus a spa experience at Heathrow Terminal 5
Business travel stories we recommend from other sites:
Heathrow security staff set for further 31 days of strike action (Business Traveller)
Schiphol airport ‘has no shame’: IATA chief (FlightGlobal)
New plane seat will let disabled passengers sit in their own wheelchairs on flights (The Independent)
Green light for £20m George hotel Huddersfield refurb as a Radisson RED (The Caterer)
Air France unveils new A350 business class seat (Business Traveller)
Our latest reviews:
Rhys heads to Belfast, where he reviews the Hilton Belfast hotel, refurbished during covid.
He gets there by taking the Stena Line ferry from Liverpool, and spending eight hours in the Stena Plus Lounge. Image above. Is it worth the £25 supplement?
Special feature:
How much smaller is British Airways long haul fleet post-pandemic? – and why this is a problem for you
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Get 25 Heathrow Rewards points per £1 with Heathrow Express – ENDS TODAY, MONDAY
Buy Avios for 0.84p with the new Avios Balance Boost. Is it worth it?
A new cashback offer for Pride of Britain hotels has appeared on Amex cards
Earn 3,000 bonus Avios if you don’t have a Marriott Bonvoy account
How to get the best deals on Gatwick Airport parking
How to earn Virgin Points with SquareMeal restaurant reservations
And finally …. ENDS TUESDAY: two huge credit card sign-up bonus offers
There are two big credit card offers ending on Tuesday 13th June so you’ll need to move quickly if you want to apply.
Get 30,000 Virgin Points with the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card
Tuesday is the last day you can get the increased 30,000 Virgin Points sign-up bonus on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card.
The £160 Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card earns 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 and comes with a 241 or upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 per year. The usual bonus is 15,000 points.
Importantly, the cards have no foreign exchange fees when used in the Eurozone.
Our main article on the card offer is here. You can apply for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ card with special bonus on the Virgin Money website here.
The representative APR is 69.7% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases is 26.9% variable.
Get a huge 60,000 points PLUS £200 travel credit, and great benefits, with American Express Platinum
American Express is currently running an exceptional deal on The Platinum Card. The bonus is doubled to 60,000 Membership Rewards points, but only until Tuesday.
60,000 Membership Rewards points converts to 60,000 Avios, Virgin Points, Emirates, Etihad, Flying Blue, Asia Miles, Delta, Finnair, Qantas or SAS miles. You could also turn them into 120,000 Hilton points, 90,000 Marriott points, 180,000 Radisson points, 4,000 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.
The representative APR is 464.4% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases is 29.7% variable.
Head for Points receives a commission if you are accepted for either of these cards via our links. Thank you for your support.
Thank you for reading
Please drop me a note at rob@headforpoints.com with any feedback. See you next Monday.
Rob, Rhys and Sinead @ Head for Points
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