‘The Travel Brief’, 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.
This newsletter is the successor 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. Please forward it to any colleagues who you think may be interested.
Malcolm’s new monthly forward-looking Travel News Update is available at travelnewsupdate.co.uk.
Interview:
We interview Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, as it celebrates 50 years of flights to the UK.
Special feature:
What could the new British Airways First Class seat look like?
The latest UK business travel news:
Qatar Airways returns to Birmingham Airport with daily services. Image above. We were there to welcome it back.
Eight days of strikes announced at Gatwick Airport for July and August
Amex is ending the sale of Membership Rewards points – should you jump in?
Ultra-budget Super8 hotels are coming to the UK
Mandarin Oriental will open its third London hotel on the South Bank
InterContinental Edinburgh The George adds a club lounge
See inside the new £1.2m Belfast City Airport Aspire lounge. Image below.
Business travel stories we recommend from other sites:
British Airways opens Whispering Angel bar at Heathrow T5 (Business Traveller)
W Hotels debuts in Hungary (Boutique Hotel News)
easyJet expands its winter schedule with new Lapland route (TTG)
Walsh calls on politicians to address ‘unacceptable’ ATC issues as traffic peaks (FlightGlobal)
London City Airport to appeal council’s decision to halt passenger growth (Simple Flying)
Our latest reviews:
Rhys reviews the impressive Neptuno VIP Lounge in Madrid Terminal 4S, part of Priority Pass. Image below.
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Save £10 on a £150 World Duty Free spend at Heathrow
What happened at Hilton Garden Inn Silverstone’s rooftop F1 party?
Why “earn and burn” is not always the best hotel points strategy
Is British Airways Executive Club Gold worth having?
Redeem Virgin Points for train tickets
Which 30 airlines can you book with Avios points?
Take a look inside the Accor Live Limitless suite at BST Hyde Park
ENDS TUESDAY: Get 40,000 points and a special £100 statement credit with Amex Business Platinum
If you apply for American Express Business Platinum before Tuesday night, you can receive an extra £100 statement credit on top of the usual bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points as a sign-up bonus. This converts into, amongst other things, 40,000 Avios or 40,000 Virgin Points.
You need to spend £12,000 within three months to trigger the sign-up bonus.
Full T&C can be found in this HfP article.
Sole traders are welcome to apply as well as Limited Companies. Remember that Amex added an extra permanent annual benefit to Business Platinum last year – £200 to spend at Amex Travel.
The application form for Business Platinum is here.
Head for Points receives a commission if you apply via our link. Thank you.
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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