News: Gulf Air at Gatwick, Firmdale Amex cashback, Hyatt category changes

News in brief:

Gulf Air launches flights from London Gatwick

Gulf Air has announced a new route from London Gatwick to Bahrain.

There will be three flights per week (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) starting from 30th March.

The airline will be using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the route, with 26 seats in business class.

There is no change to the existing two daily flights from London Heathrow. The five weekly Manchester flights will also continue.

Gulf Air is not in any airline alliance so there is no easy way to redeem miles for these flights.

If you taking a Gulf Air flight for cash, you can credit it to Air Canada or Etihad if you don’t want to end up with orphan miles in Gulf Air’s own programme. The partnership with Cathay Pacific has just ended.

New Amex cashback deal for Firmdale Hotels

American Express has launched a decent cashback deal with Firmdale Hotels, operator of some of London’s most high profile boutique properties.

You need to opt in to this deal via the ‘Offers’ tab of your American Express account, assuming that you are targetted.

You will receive £100 cashback when you spend £400 in a SINGLE transaction by 30th April.

Online pre-paid rooms DO count.

The hotels taking part are Charlotte Street, Covent Garden, Dorset Square, Ham Yard, Haymarket, Knightsbridge, Number 16 and The Soho Hotel (image below).

The New York properties are not included.

Hyatt unveils its annual category changes

Hyatt has announced its annual list of changes to its award categories.

151 hotels will be changing category. 118 will require more World of Hyatt points and 33 will require fewer.

In terms of UK changes, Hyatt Regency Blackfriars (the old Crowne Plaza) and Hyatt Regency The Churchill will both go up a category and become 5,000 points per night more expensive.

There is no real logic to the changes, although there seem to be a number of hotels in the Middle East (Doha, Muscat, Amman) and in California getting cheaper. Because Hyatt pays more to a hotel for a reward night when it is close to selling out, changes can often be linked more to occupancy rates than cash prices.

As usual, Hyatt has been very good about giving advance notice. You have until 24th March to book at the current rates.

Even better, Hyatt will automatically refund the difference if you are booked at a hotel which is getting cheaper. You don’t need to waste time cancelling and rebooking.

You can find the full list of hotels moving up and down here.

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World of Hyatt update – March 2025:

Get bonus points: Hyatt is offering double base points (triple at Hyatt Place and Hyatt House) between 27th January and 28th March 2025. You must register here by 10th March. Click here for our full article.

New to World of Hyatt?  Read our overview of World of Hyatt here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on what we think World of Hyatt points are worth is here.

Buy points: If you need additional World of Hyatt points, you can buy them here.

You will get a 25% discount (equivalent to a 33% bonus) when you buy World of Hyatt points by 14th April 2025. Click here to buy.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from Hyatt and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.