‘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 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.
The latest UK business travel news:
British Airways to insist on photo ID for domestic flights from 1st September
Monarch is returning to the UK skies – but can it succeed?
ULEZ comes to Heathrow on 29th August – you may need to pay £12.50 to drive to the airport
The W Edinburgh hotel is finally taking bookings
IHG launches (another) new hotel brand – Garner
British Airways ‘First Dining Room’ in Terminal 3 seems to be admitting Gold Guest List
British Airways adds additional Faro flights for early 2024
Caviar House & Prunier launches take-away ‘Mile High Picnics’ at Heathrow and Gatwick
Save 30% in a new Radisson Hotels sale
Norse Atlantic drops Kingston flights before they even launch
easyJet adds another London Southend route
New RailAir route launched from Watford to Heathrow, whilst Woking gets a doubled frequency
Business travel stories we recommend from other sites:
British Airways to refresh lounges at Edinburgh, Seattle and Heathrow (Business Traveller)
P&O Ferries to shut Liverpool-Dublin route (Travel Weekly)
Dubai International Airport plans mega-expansion to reach maximum passenger capacity (Gulf News)
United Airlines reduces winter schedule to London Heathrow (Simple Flying)
Virgin Hotels Glasgow opens its doors (Business Traveller)
Our latest reviews:
Flights:
Rhys reviews Air Transat Club Class (premium economy) on an A321LR from London to Toronto
Hotels:
Whilst in Toronto, he checks out the Kimpton Saint George Toronto hotel, part of IHG One Rewards
He also popped over to San Francisco and reviewed the Canopy San Francisco SoMa hotel, part of Hilton Honors (ex Virgin Hotels)
Special feature:
Which airlines have lie-flat business class seats on intra-Europe flights? (Iberia A350 image above, used on some London to Madrid flights)
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
NEW: You now spend spend Virgin Points on LATAM flights
Get a big Virgin Points bonus on new Virgin Atlantic cash flights – and there is a sale on too!
Earn Flying Blue miles via a new UK airport parking partnership
What are the three ways of earning airline tier points from a package holiday?
Can you access airport lounges flying Aer Lingus with British Airways elite status?
Get a SIXT car rental status match from your Marriott Bonvoy or Virgin Atlantic status
We concluded our new 13-part series of articles looking at how you can redeem Virgin Points with Virgin Atlantic and its partners.
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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