What you missed on Head for Points last week
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Welcome to the Head for Points weekly newsletter, full of the latest Avios, travel loyalty and travel credit card news, hints and tips.
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Deal saga of the week:
On Wednesday, due to overwhelming demand, it was pulled.
HOWEVER …. if you have top-tier OR mid-tier status with any major hotel chain, you can still get Silver status with Royal Jordanian. This gets you the equivalent benefits of BA Bronze status when flying with British Airways – the key one being free seat selection from 7 days before travel.
Your status will last 12 months and there is a $49 handling fee to apply.
Further details, and the link to apply, are in this article.
Look at it this way …. if you would spend more than $49 on paying for British Airways seat selection over the next 12 months, and you have mid-tier hotel status or higher with any major chain, this is $49 well spent.
This week’s other top travel news stories:
British Airways pulls out of Beijing – we were first with the news
British Airways adds a third Cape Town flight this winter: Avios availability is wide open – or at least it was when this article went live
HSBC (temporarily?) pulls its Premier World Elite Mastercard
New Birmingham, Newcastle and Heathrow airport restaurants join Priority Pass
Don’t be taken in by BA’s incorrect OnBusiness email this week – your points ARE expiring!
A new Marriott hotel opens in Kensington
Travel deals of the week:
Heathrow Express is still offering £10 one-way tickets for August – and now with 10 Heathrow Rewards points per £1 on top!
Exclusive HfP offer: save 25% on a SeatSpy annual subscription
Get 5,000 Virgin Points by activating Tesco Clubcard auto-convert
Get a 20% discount buying World of Hyatt points – click here to buy
Cheap Canary Wharf hotel deal (Lincoln Plaza, a Hilton Curio) with Secret Escapes, image below. Book by Sunday.
Credit card news:
Finally: check progress towards your annual voucher in the Virgin credit card app
Reviews:
Looking for an alternative to the Maldives? Rhys explores the Seychelles to see how it compares and what it has to offer. Our introductory guide on how to get there and what you can do in the Seychelles is here.
- Review: Canopy by Hilton Seychelles
- Review: Waldorf Astoria Seychelles: paradise on Platte Island
- Review: Mango House Seychelles, part of Hilton’s LXR brand
Meanwhile, Katie heads to Mallorca to review another Hilton hotel – the Hilton Mallorca Galatzo resort.
Hotel news:
What are the best hotel promotions for August?
Got Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status? Get United Airlines status for free
Other travel news:
NEW: Earn Virgin Points with Virgin Wines
Receive between 2,500 and 300,000 Avios (or cash) with Nutmeg’s ISA transfer offer
Get 1,000 Virgin Points with your first booking with Virgin Trains Ticketing
Get a good deal with Groupon Travel – yes, Groupon is still alive and has a good selection of travel deals
How to add Head for Points to your smartphone homescreen like an app, to make it easy to check our stories every day
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.
That’s all, folks
Our latest round-up of miles and points offers closing soon is here. It will be updated on the site tomorrow.
Don’t forget to visit our forum if you have any questions relating to frequent flyer or hotel loyalty programmes or loyalty credit cards.
See you next Saturday,
Rob, Rhys and Katie @ Head for Points
