‘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.
HfP editor Rob Burgess will be speaking at The Advantage Travel Partnership / Business Travel Association’s Corporate Travel Summit in Hammersmith on Thursday if you are attending. The HfP team will also be at ITB in Berlin from Monday to Wednesday.
The latest UK business travel news:
Response to the British Airways changes continues:
British Airways Silver and Gold members can get a rare Lufthansa status match
easyJet offers British Airways elite members a special deal to defect
CNN publishes an excellent article on the BA changes
In other news:
EXCLUSIVE: Use Avios to book Airlink flights across Africa
Miles & More ends flexible flight redemptions as it goes revenue based
Virgin Active joins Virgin Red – redeem your points for gym passes
Gulf Air launches flights from London Gatwick
Good Avios and cash deals to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines from Paris
Wizz Air to launch the first UK direct flights to Medina
Stories we recommend from other sites:
New Hyatt Select upper-midscale brand unveiled (Business Traveller)
Jet2 tops Which? survey while British Airways hits the bottom (UK Aviation News)
The Athenaeum Hotel begins staff consultation amid restructuring (Boutique Hotelier)
Air France CEO says ready to bid for Portugal’s TAP (Reuters)
Our latest reviews:
Conny heads to Germany and to Koenigshof Munich, a real gem in Marriott’s Luxury Collection. Image above.
Meanwhile, Sinead heads to, erm, Leicester Square to review The Londoner, the new 5* hotel. Image below.
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Avios facts and figures from the 2024 IAG results
What is the cheapest way to buy Avios points?
Get a 25% discount when you buy World of Hyatt hotel points – click here to buy
American Express launches a good cashback deal with Firmdale Hotels
REGISTER NOW: Radisson launches a new hotel bonus points promotion
World of Hyatt announces its annual category changes – which hotels are getting pricier for points?
Which hotel chains offer lifetime status?
See Teenage Cancer Trust concerts from a box at the Royal Albert Hall with Accor
How to earn status tier points on Virgin Atlantic redemption flights
NEW: Get 60,000 or 120,000 points with Amex Business Gold or Platinum – & no bonus rules
American Express has brought back the biggest sign-up bonus ever seen in the UK for a payment card.
This 120,000 Membership Rewards points deal on Business Platinum, which closes on 8th April 2025, matches the biggest we’ve ever seen. If you only sign up for one payment card mileage promotion all year, this should be it (assuming you have a small business, buy to let etc).
There is also a 60,000 points option on ‘free for a year’ American Express Business Gold.
All restrictions on receiving a sign-up bonus have been removed as long as you hit the spending target. If your application is successful and you spend the required sum, you qualify for the bonus. Full stop.
American Express Business Platinum now offers up to 120,000 Membership Rewards points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points when you make a single transaction between Month 14 and Month 17.
American Express Business Gold – which is free for your first year – now offers up to 60,000 Membership Rewards points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points when you make a single transaction between Month 14 and Month 17.
To find out more, read this article which runs through the deals in detail.
You can apply for Business Platinum here.
You can apply for Business Gold (first year free) here.
Head for Points receives a commission if you apply via our links – thank you.
Thank you for reading
Please drop me a note at rob@headforpoints.com with any feedback. See you next Monday.
Rob, Rhys, Sinead and Katie @ Head for Points
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