What you missed on Head for Points last week
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
Welcome to the Head for Points weekly newsletter, full of the latest Avios, travel loyalty and travel credit card news, hints and tips.
If you are not a subscriber, you can sign up to this free Saturday newsletter by filling in the form here. Please forward it to any friends or family who you think may want to join our 39,000 subscribers and improve how they travel. The newsletter also runs on the Head for Points website every Saturday.
(We also offer daily emails. You would receive each article in full on the day of release, so you won’t miss any short-notice deals or offers. If you want to switch, create a fresh subscription to the daily emails via this form. You will then need to unsubscribe from the weekly email by clicking the ‘Unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of this newsletter.)
REMINDER: Get immediate Hilton elite status with its two new UK payment cards!
Hilton Honors launched two new debit cards in the UK last week.
They effectively let you buy Hilton Honors elite status, even if you never use the debit card itself. Silver status will ‘cost’ you £60 per year whilst Gold status – which gets you free breakfast – will ‘cost’ you £150.
Early reader reports suggest that your status is upgraded as soon as you activate your new debit card.
As a reminder, this is what you get (full details are on the application website here):
Hilton Honors Plus debit card:
- £150 annual fee
- Gold status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card
- 0% FX fees when spending in foreign currency
- 1.5 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in the UK
- 3 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in Hilton properties in the UK
- 3 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in foreign currency
- 4.5 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in Hilton properties outside the UK
There is a sign-up bonus of 12,000 Hilton Honors points if you apply by 30th November 2024. You need to spend £2,500 in foreign currency in your first six months to receive the bonus.
Hilton Honors debit card:
- £60 annual fee
- Silver status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card
- 0.5% FX fees when spending in foreign currency
- 1 Hilton Honors point per £1 spent in the UK
- 2 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in Hilton properties in the UK
- 2 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in foreign currency
- 3 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in Hilton properties outside the UK
There is a sign-up bonus of 3,500 Hilton Honors points if you apply by 30th November 2024. You need to spend £1,000 in foreign currency in your first six months to receive the bonus.
Our full article on the launch, and a Q&A about which card is best for you, is here.
You can apply for the Hilton Honors debit cards here.
Our deep dive into the Virgin Flying Club changes:
Uh oh: Virgin Atlantic makes sweeping changes to Flying Club, including a move to dynamic pricing
Talking through the Flying Club changes with Virgin’s VP of Loyalty
…. and is THIS the strategy behind the changes?
This week’s other top travel news stories:
JAL’s new A350 is scheduled to come to London this month, photo above
Plaza Premium opens a new lounge at Heathrow T4 – we now have photos, see below
A new Escape lounge is opening at Edinburgh Airport
MICHELIN Guide unveils its first ‘Keys’ hotels in the UK and Ireland
2025 will be the year of free unlimited inflight wifi
InterContinental’s Ambassador fee rose to $225
Redeem Virgin Points for new events at The O2
Top travel deals this week:
Get double Hyatt points at Mr & Mrs Smith
Get a 25% bonus when you convert Nectar points to Avios – is it worth it?
What are the best hotel promos for October 2024?
Credit card news:
Get up to 40,000 points – and no fee in year 1 – with Amex Business Gold
Virgin Redemption University:
Our series on how to spend Virgin Points continues:
- How to redeem Virgin Points for hotel rooms via Kaligo
- Is Virgin Atlantic’s ‘Points Plus Money’ feature a good deal?
- What’s the best non-flying use of Virgin Points?
Reviews:
We continue our articles from Rhys as he flies on Finnair to Japan:
- Review: Finnair’s AirLounge no-recline business class seat is innovative, but is it comfortable? (image above)
- Review: How does Finnair’s premium economy experience compare?
Plus some hotel reviews:
- Review: Conrad Osaka, where moody rooms open to sweeping views
- Review: TIAD Nagoya, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection
Totally separately, we take a look inside the refurbished Aer Lingus lounge at Heathrow T2. It was always a smart and comfortable lounge but now has food to match.
That’s all, folks
Our latest round-up of miles and points offers closing soon is here.
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
Comments (2)