‘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.
#Flight100 special report:
…. and we made a visit to Rolls-Royce in Derby to find out more about SAF
The latest UK business travel news:
IAG is planning ‘consistent elite tiers’ across BA, Iberia and Aer Lingus – what does it mean?
What British Airways strategy news was revealed at IAG’s Capital Market Day?
MIAT Mongolian Airlines may apply to join the oneworld alliance
Eurowings adds flights from Manchester to Stuttgart
How to pre-order your meal on Virgin Atlantic using Pre-Select
W Edinburgh hotel (finally) opens
British Airways is interlining with Aurigny
Hotel Cafe Royal introduces free exclusive car use for suite guests, including Rolls-Royces
Heathrow Express drops its cheapest tickets – they are now £16.50, not £5.50
Get 75% off National Express coach tickets
Stories we recommend from other sites:
Air Malta successor carrier set for bookings launch after securing AOC (FlightGlobal)
Leeds Bradford to have CT scanners operational by February 2024 (Business Traveller)
Hainan Airlines will increase to daily Beijing to Manchester flights (UK Aviation News)
easyJet reaches new long-term base deal with Gatwick (FlightGlobal)
Ryanair to extend Cornwall-Stansted route into winter 2023 (Business Traveller)
Our latest reviews:
Rob reviews BA’s ‘The Bar’ for First Class passengers in the lounge in Dubai, image above
Rhys heads to Munich Airport to review two lounges:
Meanwhile, from his earlier visit to Shanghai:
Rob heads to Stratford, East London to review the Hyatt House London Stratford hotel and answer the question ‘What is a Hyatt House?’
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
NEW: Earn Avios at Heathrow Duty Free and get 250 bonus Avios with your first purchase, image above
Why the American Express Platinum Card gets you into more lounges than you think – and still comes with 100,000 Membership Rewards points
Avios collection at Bicester Village is now card-linked – can you double dip?
Which 19 UK airport lounges can be pre-booked by Priority Pass cardholders?
STILL RUNNING: Get a 30,000 points bonus (converts to 30,000 Avios) with ‘free for a year’ Amex Gold
American Express is running a special sign-up bonus on American Express Preferred Rewards Gold – apply here. The bonus is increased from 20,000 to 30,000 Membership Rewards points which converts to:
- 30,000 Avios
- 30,000 Virgin Points
- 30,000 Emirates, Etihad, Flying Blue, Asia Miles, Delta, Finnair, Qantas or SAS miles
- 20,000 Singapore Airlines miles
- 60,000 Hilton Honors points
- 45,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
- 90,000 Radisson Rewards points
- 2,000 Club Eurostar points
….. and many other non-travel rewards.
You receive 25,000 Membership Rewards points after spending £3,000 in three months. You will receive a further 5,000 points if you keep the card for 15 months.
Even better, you get:
- four passes for any airport lounge in the Priority Pass network
- 24 x £5 credits to spend at Deliveroo (max one per order and two per month)
- up to 12,500 bonus Membership Rewards points each year based on your spending (2,500 points per £5,000 spent)
The card is free for the first year. If you keep it beyond the first year there is an annual fee of £195. You receive a further four airport lounge passes and more Deliveroo credits on renewal.
Our main article on the 30,000 points bonus is here. Make sure you read the bit about whether or not you qualify for the bonus.
You can apply for American Express Preferred Rewards Gold with the special bonus on this page of the Amex website.
The representative APR is 87.3% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases, and in the first year which has no fee, is 30.0% variable.
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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