‘The Travel Brief’, the weekly Head for Points travel trade newsletter
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Welcome to The Travel Brief, your weekly trade round-up of UK business travel and travel loyalty news as well as our latest reviews and features.
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.
The Travel Brief 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.
Special report:
Our Airbus factory tour: we see the first Malaysia Airlines’ A330neo being built in Toulouse
The latest UK business travel news:
British Airways launches direct flights to Finnish Lapland, image above
Government brings back 100ml liquids rule at airports with new security scanners
Take a look at Iberia’s new A321XLR business class seat
Virgin Atlantic’s celebrates its 40th anniversary
Air Canada launches flights from Heathrow to Delhi
BA’s first Boeing 787-8 with Club Suite starts flying this month – we show you where
Fiji Airways announces it will become a full member of oneworld
See inside the new My Lounge at Luton Airport – it’s open now
British Airways is now using the Aer Lingus lounge in Dublin as it moves to Terminal 2
Virgin Atlantic and EL AL announce a codeshare arrangement
Hilton gains a new hotel in York
Priority Pass drops two restaurant partners at Heathrow
BrewDog in Gatwick North joins Priority Pass – but not for Amex cardholders
Get £50 Amex cashback credit with Hilton hotels in Asia Pacific
Stories we recommend from other sites:
London’s Imperial Hotel to undergo “once-in-a-generation” refurb (Business Traveller)
Air India names Bengaluru its fifth direct route from Gatwick airport (TTG)
Virgin and BA call for ‘radical collaboration’ on sustainable aviation (UK Aviation News)
Aer Lingus finally refurbishes its 2 ex-Qatar Airways Airbus A330-300s (Simple Flying)
British Airways introduces discounted Thames Clippers fares to London City Airport (Business Traveller)
Our latest reviews:
Rob reviews the Holiday Inn Manchester Airport and calls it “surprisingly accomplished”, image above
What happened when Rob’s son joined the Hilton Honors training day at Chelsea FC?
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Book Virgin Voyages new UK cruises from 85,000 points, image above
Avios launches a new ‘buy points’ bonus
Lufthansa launches a status match for SAS EuroBonus members
Get 200 bonus Avios with your first conversion from BPme Rewards
Virgin Atlantic devalues ANA business class redemptions to Japan
Earn double Nectar Points this month after you make a conversion to Avios
Our round-up of the best hotel promotions in June is here
New: get a 25% bonus on HSBC Premier credit card points conversions to Avios
Our series of UK travel rewards credit cards continues:
Review: the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Review: the free British Airways American Express card
STILL RUNNING: Get 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points sign-up bonus with the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card
You can currently get a huge sign-up bonus of 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. You can apply here.
This is the biggest bonus ever offered on this credit card, and is TRIPLE the standard amount.
This is worth roughly £300 of free Marriott stays, based on our 0.5p per point valuation, or 25,000 Avios or other airline miles if converted.
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. Please read the bit about whether you qualify for the sign-up bonus.
You can apply here.
The representative APR is 53.7% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases is 30.0% variable.
Head for Points receives a commission if you are accepted 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 Katie @ Head for Points
PS. If you were forwarded ‘The Travel Brief’ by a colleague, you can sign up for a free subscription by filling in the form here
