‘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.
Special feature:
How do airlines choose which champagne and wine to serve? We investigate
The latest UK business travel news:
Singapore Airlines unveils its refurbished SilverKris lounge at Heathrow, image above
…. and the First Class lounge has had a makeover, too
BA owner IAG scraps plans to acquire Spanish airline Air Europa and will pay a €50m break fee
Virgin Atlantic kills two more routes on top of Shanghai – what’s going on?
Plaza Premium launches a new ‘Plaza Express’ budget lounge concept at Gatwick – will it work?
Is easyJet Plus worth the £249 membership fee? We do the maths
New Marriott hotel opens in London’s Kensington due to a conversion, with a major refurbishment planned
What is the best Star Alliance frequent flyer programme for you?
Rare 10% British Airways cashback offer showing on some Amex cards
Take a look inside Air India’s ex-Aeroflot A350s, flying to London soon
The super-cheap Aloft Birmingham hotel deal is back
Stories we recommend from other sites:
EU joins UK in reintroducing 100ml liquids restrictions at airports (Business Traveller)
Leonardo acquires Dublin’s Hard Rock Hotel and will rebrand (Boutique Hotelier)
CAA outlines plans to modernise UK airspace (Business Traveller)
Our latest reviews:
We visit Hilton Mallorca Galatzo – how is the ex-Maritim hotel after an art deco-inspired refurbishment? Image above
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Virgin Red releasees VIP tickets for its box at The O2 for concerts in November, image above
Which 32 airlines can you book with Avios?
FINALLY: Check progress towards your annual voucher in the Virgin credit card app
Get 350 bonus Avios when you turn on auto-convert from Nectar
You can now earn Virgin Points on all Virgin Wines purchases
Which sort of IHG One Rewards points count towards elite status, and which don’t?
What is the best way to spend your Nectar points? Only three options get you above 0.5p per point
Student? Get BA Bronze equivalent status (Qatar Silver) on graduation with Qatar Student Club
Amex launches a 30% bonus when transferring points to Marriott Bonvoy – is it worth it? We do the maths.
Why Amex Platinum gets you into more airport lounges than you think – don’t forget you currently get a £400 travel credit and 40,000 points for signing up (see below)
STILL RUNNING: Get 40,000 points (converts to 40,000 Avios) PLUS £400 of travel credit with American Express Platinum!
American Express has launched an exceptional deal on The Platinum Card – apply here. You will receive £400 to spend at American Express Travel on top of the standard bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points.
40,000 Membership Rewards points convert to:
- 40,000 Avios
- 40,000 Virgin Points
- 40,000 Emirates, Etihad, Flying Blue, Asia Miles, Delta, Finnair, Qantas or SAS miles
- 26,666 Singapore Airlines miles
- 80,000 Hilton Honors points
- 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
- 180,000 Radisson Rewards points
- 2,666 Club Eurostar points
….. and many other non-travel rewards.
You receive your £400 Amex Travel credit and 40,000 points after spending £6,000 in three months.
Whilst the annual fee is £650, this is currently refundable pro-rata if you cancel. Amex is planning to end pro-rata refunds in ‘late’ 2024 but we don’t know exactly when.
Our main article on the ‘£400 + 40,000 points’ bonus is here. Make sure you read the bit about whether or not you qualify for the bonus.
Don’t forget the other benefits of The Platinum Card:
- £300 of annual dining credit
- £100 of annual Harvey Nichols credit
- two ‘unlimited use’ Priority Pass airport lounge cards which admit four people between them
- travel and car hire insurance
- elite status with Hilton, Marriott, Radisson and Melia
- Eurostar lounge access
…. and much more.
You can apply for The Platinum Card with the special bonus on this page of the Amex website.
The representative APR is 704.6% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases is 31.0% 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 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
