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.
We are attending the Airlines 2023 conference next Monday, 20th November – please say Hi if you see us.
FINAL WEEK: Win two Business Class flights with United Airlines and Head for Points!
We have teamed up with United Airlines to give one lucky reader a great prize – TWO Business Class tickets from Heathrow or Edinburgh to any United Airlines destination in the USA. You can fly at any time in 2024.
Click here to read all about the prize and complete the entry form.
You must be 18+ and a UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man resident. See the entry form for the full rules.
The latest UK business travel news:
Virgin Atlantic gets approval for its 100% sustainable aviation fuel-powered trial flight across the Atlantic – and we will be on board. Image above.
Finnair launches flights to Nagoya, Japan
British Airways cuts Avios seats offered to partner airlines
easyJet’s £695 Advent calendar is back – and it’s probably worth the money
Hilton is opening in Monte Carlo later this month as a hotel joins its Curio Collection
Fly TAP to New York and Cancun in business class for £1,300
Save 30% at No1 Lounges and Club Aspire lounges for visits this month
Get extra £20 to £50 savings on Virgin Atlantic flights to New York and Los Angeles
Got a small business? The British Airways American Express Accelerating Business credit card is accepting applications again with a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus. You can apply here.
Macdonald’s ex-Edinburgh and ex-Manchester hotels now appear on marriott.com as unbranded hotels
Virgin Atlantic launched a brief Upper Class sale – ends TODAY (Monday)
We find an airport lounge with an open-air swimming pool overlooking the runway
Business travel stories we recommend from other sites:
Robert Sinclair has resigned as CEO of London City Airport (Evening Standard)
Virgin Group rumoured to be planning rail services through the Channel Tunnel (Kent Online)
Revamped Gatwick airport station to open on 21 November (Business Traveller)
Collectors offered parts of BA 747-400 which carried BOAC heritage livery (FlightGlobal)
Finnair increases capacity to Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin (UK Aviation News)
Our latest reviews:
Rhys heads to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific, reviewing their business class on a Boeing 777.
On the way home, he popped into the excellent The Wing First Class lounge (review here)
…. and the lounge he called ‘the best lounge I’ve ever visited’ – The Pier First Class lounge (review here)
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
After we revealed that Aer Lingus had blocked all Avios redemptions within 60 days of travel, it swiftly back-tracked. The new limit is six days before travel.
Cathay Pacific ‘P’ class tickets now finally earn Avios and tier points
New bonuses for buying Hyatt and Marriott points
Buy Mr & Mrs Smith giftcards via Hyatt and earn points PLUS elite night credits
Why Fine Hotels & Resorts is one of the best Amex Platinum benefits – and get 100,000 bonus points in the current sign-up promotion
Our overview of the best hotel bonus point promotions for November is here
Get 1,000 Virgin Points with your first Virgin Trains Ticketing app booking
Redeem Virgin Points for a gin Advent calendar
Use Avios to part-pay ANY flight on Qatar Airways – but is the ‘pence per Avios’ rate any good?
ENDS TUESDAY: Get 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points sign-up bonus with the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card
Until tomorrow, Tuesday 14th, you can get a sign-up bonus of 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. You can apply here.
This is worth roughly £200 of free Marriott stays, based on our 0.5p per point valuation, or 13,333 Avios based on the 3:1 conversion rate.
There are four good reasons to hold this card long term, and not just for the sign-up bonus:
- you get 15 elite night credits EVERY YEAR in Marriott Bonvoy – this means, for example, that Platinum only requres 35 nights instead of the usual 50. Even better, these nights count towards Lifetime Status.
- you get Silver Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy every year, because it is triggered automatically by the 15 elite night credits
- you get Gold Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy if you spend £15,000 on the card in a membership year
- you get a free night voucher worth up to 25,000 Bonvoy points if you spend £25,000 on the card in a membership year
There is an annual fee of £95 per year. The on-going earning rate is 2 Bonvoy points per £1 spent.
To learn more, click here for our full article on the offer. You can apply here.
Head for Points receives a commission if you are accepted via our link. Thank you.
The representative APR is 54.8% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases is 31.0% variable.
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
PS. If you were forwarded this email by a colleague, you can sign up for a free subscription by filling in the form here
David Starkie 
Rhys 
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