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What you missed on Head for Points last week

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Hilton Honors debit cards

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:

Reviews:

We continue our articles from Rhys as he flies on Finnair to Japan:

Plus some hotel reviews:

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)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Clare says:

    I would like to swith from daily to thos one. Is there a form for that?

    • Rob says:

      You need to sign up for the Saturday one by clicking any of the ‘subscribe’ buttons on the site and then unsubscribe from the daily via the link at the bottom of any of the daily emails.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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