‘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 the latest reviews and features from the Head for Points team.
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.
Interview of the week:
We speak to Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air: “we have to be better” than Emirates and Qatar Airways
The latest UK business travel news:
We try the new Qatar Airways caviar service in business class (photo above, no dodgy brunch service here!)
British Airways to suspend Bahrain and Kuwait “by the end of Q1 2025”
…. whilst Dallas and Miami flights also see cuts, with American Airlines taking over
Virgin Atlantic relaunches flights to Cancun
What’s it like flying British Airways from London City Airport, as it celebrates 25 years?
DragonPass now selling fast track security passes for 75 airports – no membership required
Eurostar announces date to restart direct trains from Amsterdam
IHG is bringing its voco conversion brand to London
Dublin Airport’s Radisson Blu hotel will rebrand next year
Marriott teams up with Nectar with a new partnership
Save 25% on British Airways flights from London City Airport as it celebrates 25 years of flying. Ends today, Monday.
Hyatt has launched a new sale for Europe and the Middle East
Virgin Hotels Shoreditch joins Preferred Hotels
Stories we recommend from other sites:
Oberoi to open hotel in London’s Mayfair (Business Traveller)
Jet2 retires the 757 marking the end of the type in the UK (UK Aviation News)
Airbnb to expand ‘beyond accommodations’ in 2025 (Travel Weekly)
Portuguese Government evaluating TAP Air Portugal sale despite pressure from IAG (Simple Flying)
Austrian Airlines to serve Edinburgh in 2025 (Business Traveller)
Our latest reviews:
Step inside Cathay Pacific’s First Class as Rhys flies from Hong Kong to London. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it.
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Buy Avios for just 0.88p via Finnair Plus! It is VERY easy to transfer them, instantly and free, to your British Airways Executive Club account afterwards as our article explains. Click here to buy.
Save 30% on the Avios price of ‘The Wine Flyer Essential Mixed Christmas Selection’
Get 80,000 points with Amex Platinum! A new offer just launched.
A secret tip for Marriott Bonvoy American Express cardholders potentially worth £150 per year
Is it worth converting Emirates Skywards points into Heathrow Rewards?
Get a 2025 soft landing from Marriott Bonvoy if you don’t requalify
New Marriott Bonvoy buy points offer launched – click here to buy
See Paul McCartney at The O2 using your Marriott Bonvoy points
When do your Marriott Bonvoy points expire? How can you stop it?
Do you have a Limited Company?
NEW: Get a 30,000 points bonus (converts to 30,000 Avios) with ‘free for a year’ Amex Gold
American Express has launched a special sign-up bonus on American Express Preferred Rewards Gold – apply here. The bonus is increased from 20,000 to 30,000 Membership Rewards points which converts to:
- 30,000 Avios
- 30,000 Virgin Points
- 30,000 Etihad, Flying Blue, Asia Miles, Delta, Qantas or SAS miles
- 22,500 Emirates Skywards miles
- 20,000 Singapore Airlines miles
- 60,000 Hilton Honors points
- 45,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
- 90,000 Radisson Rewards points
- 2,000 Club Eurostar points
….. and many other non-travel rewards.
You receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points after spending £3,000 in three months.
Even better, you get:
- four passes for any airport lounge in the Priority Pass network
- 24 x £5 credits to spend at Deliveroo (max one per order and two per month)
- up to 12,500 bonus Membership Rewards points each year based on your spending (2,500 points per £5,000 spent)
The card is free for the first year. If you keep it beyond the first year there is an annual fee of £195. You receive a further four airport lounge passes and more Deliveroo credits on renewal.
Our main article on the 30,000 points bonus is here. Make sure you read the bit about whether or not you qualify for the bonus.
You can apply for American Express Preferred Rewards Gold with the special bonus on this page of the Amex website.
The representative APR is 88.3% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases, and in the first year which has no fee, is 30.7% variable.
Head for Points receives a small 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 email subscription by filling in the form here
Ryan 
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