‘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.
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This newsletter is the successor to Malcolm Ginsberg’s Business Travel News. Malcolm’s new monthly forward-looking Travel News Update is available at travelnewsupdate.co.uk.
The latest UK business travel news:
Where does British Airways fly to from Gatwick? We run through your short-haul and long-haul options.
Vueling launches flights from Heathrow to Paris and Barcelona, bookable on Avios
Virgin Atlantic extends the closure of its Tel Aviv route
British Airways resumes Gatwick – Jersey flights
Fly business class to Australia from £1,700 with Etihad – the post-pandemic period of high flight prices seems to be over, thankfully
Accor launches a fully refundable hotel sale
Get free mycitizenM+ membership (worth £108) for a year
Sea Containers and 100 Shoreditch hotels join Global Hotel Alliance
Iberostar New York City joins IHG One Rewards
Get special benefits booking luxury Accor hotels via the STEP programme
Which nine airports can you fly to from the UK but not from London?
Stories we recommend from other sites:
TfL unveils new London Overground line names (Business Traveller)
Atlantic Airways to launch direct London to Faroe Islands service (UK Aviation News)
Ryanair suspends flights to Israel until June (Airways)
Club Med to open pop-up high street agency next week (TTG)
A321XLR service-entry delay will not significantly affect deliveries (FlightGlobal)
Our latest reviews:
In Bogota, Colombia, Rhys compares the two Four Seasons hotels:
Closer to home, Rhys reviews 100 Queen’s Gate – the last stop on his tour of Hilton’s six Curio hotels in London.
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Use Avios for Formula 1 Paddock Club tickets – and new O2 experiences added too
How to earn and spend Avios on Vueling flights
Do you know the expiry rules for your Avios and other airline miles?
Get £100 Amex cashback with Emirates and Mandarin Oriental
Got the free Virgin Atlantic credit card? You can now get the paid Reward+ version too – and pick up 15,000 bonus points
How to turn Etihad Guest miles into real cash using the Etihad Guest Reward Card
Virgin Flying Club changes its generous Hertz deal – are you a winner or a loser?
Is World of Hyatt the best hotel loyalty scheme? Our two part review takes an in-depth look
ENDS SOON: Get a free upgrade to top-tier World Duty Free / Red By Dufry status
Back in November 2023, the World Duty Free shops at Heathrow launched a new partnership with Avios.
You will now earn 1 Avios for every £1 you spend in World Duty Free and other shops at Heathrow run by the same parent company.
This is totally separate from the Heathrow Rewards loyalty scheme – which also earns Avios – and you can double up by earning in both programmes.
You can now get FREE top tier status in the World Duty Free / Red By Dufry loyalty programme as long as you have elite status with an airline or hotel programme. This DOUBLES your cash discount on every duty free purchase to 10% – and you still earn Avios on top. The form to complete is here.
Even better, you will receive 250 bonus Avios with your first transaction if you are a new member and link your Red By Dufry account to your Avios account. You can read more about this status match offer in our article here.
(This offer is also worth having if you don’t use Heathrow as your local airport. Red By Dufry discounts are available in virtually all UK airports with a duty free store.)
HfP receives a (very!) small commission if you successfully apply for a match.
Thank you for reading
Please drop me a note at rob@headforpoints.com with any feedback. See you next Monday.
Rob, Rhys and Katie @ Head for Points
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