‘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.
The HfP Summer Party returns!
Save the date for our famous summer party, and join 500 fellow readers and trade partners to discuss miles, points and all things travel! More details – including a new venue for 2025 and the date – are here.
If you’d like to be involved in sponsoring the party – which is, by a huge margin, the UK’s biggest frequent flyer event – please get in touch with Sinead Archer at sinead [at] headforpoints.com.
Advance warning to our industry friends that Sinead and Katie will be on the hunt for raffle prizes soon!
The latest UK business travel news:
Virgin Atlantic finally announces fights to Seoul …. but why?
Great Western Railway trials its new rewards scheme …. and it’s far too generous!
United Airlines to makes its Edinburgh to Washington service year-round
IHG launches a European hotel sale
Hotels.com launches a sale, as well as 1% extra OneKeyCash on all bookings
London Southend airport unveils its refurbished SKYLIFE lounge
How to avoid the Heathrow Hotel Hoppa fee by using local buses instead
Hotels.com’s One Key loyalty scheme gets even worse
Travelodge buys nine Hotel Campanile sites
Our China Airlines competition winner takes his trip!
Stories we recommend from other sites:
AviAlliance announces £350 million investment in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports (Business Traveller)
British Airways selects Birchall as new tea partner (Travel & Tour World)
Trade reacts to ‘heartbreaking’ Balkan Holidays closure (Travel Weekly)
United Airlines adds 2nd daytime flight on Newark – London Heathrow this winter (Simple Flying)
Our latest reviews:
We review the impressive new Clubrooms lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 – a fantastic new premium lounge option, and accessible via Priority Pass for a small fee. Photo above.
In Hamburg, Rhys reviews the new(ish) Courtyard Hamburg City hotel, image below
Plus a roundup of all 37 of our Central London hotel reviews from recent years
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Still running: Amex’s bumper 80,000 points sign-up offer for the American Express Platinum card
Is Aer Lingus blocking Avios redemption flights within 60 days of departure (again)?
How do IHG ‘Confirmable Suite Upgrade’ vouchers work?
What’s the difference between Amex Business Platinum and personal Platinum?
Help us update our crowdsourced list of Amex Membership Rewards points transfer times
What is an Avios point worth? We update our annual analysis
How to check InterContinental Ambassador free weekend night availability before joining
What are Club Eurostar points worth? We do the maths
How does the Hertz car rental benefit for Amex Gold cardholders work?
ENDS WEDNESDAY: Get a 50% discount and improved bonus terms on the Hilton Debit Card
Last year Hilton Honors launched two UK debit cards (yes, debit and not credit).
One costs £150 per year and gives you Hilton Honors Gold status (free breakfast!) for as long as you keep it.
The other costs £60 per year and gives you Hilton Honors Silver status for as long as you hold it.
Both cards earn Hilton Honors points on your spending with an extra bonus for spending in Hilton properties. These are also the only travel rewards cards with 0% or 0.5% FX fees, instead of the usual 3%.
Hilton has launched a special offer on the £60 card. This is the one which gives you Hilton Honors Silver Elite status for as long as you keep the card.
Until Wednesday 30th April:
- the annual fee is halved from £60 to £30 for your first year
- you can trigger the 2,500 Hilton Honors points sign-up bonus with £1,000 of spending either in the UK or abroad – the requirement to do all of the spending abroad has been removed
There is no change to the £150 Debit Plus card. You may still find this attractive, despite the annual fee, because it comes with Hilton Honors Gold Elite status (free breakfast) as well as 0% FX fees, a higher sign-up bonus and a higher points earning rate.
You can find out more about the deal here. You can apply here. Remember that the offer ends on Wednesday.
Head for Points receives a 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.
If you are booking a hotel this week, click here to read our summary of the best bonus points offers for April and May from the big chains.
See you next Monday,
Rob, Rhys, Sinead 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.
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