‘The Travel Brief’, the weekly Head for Points travel trade newsletter

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.

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Work in loyalty? Join us at Airline Information’s Mega Event in Dublin on 21st May. Head for Points is Media Partner for the event.

This week’s top travel news stories:

British Airways orders 44 long haul Airbus and Boeing aircraft

Virgin Voyages joins Virgin Red for earning and burning …. but is it good value?

The new Virgin Atlantic Los Angeles Clubhouse lounge is now open to Priority Pass customers – for a fee

British Airways extends Tel Aviv cancellations into June

Soft landings to stay at The British Airways Club, as 30th April proved

Radisson launches a new hotel sale including bonus points

Very generous £300 United Airlines cashback deal launched for American Express cardholders

Good airport parking and hotel deals from a secret IHG link

The Standard hotels join World of Hyatt – here are the redemption rates

Stories we recommend from other sites:

Korean Air and Delta acquire stake in Canadian carrier WestJet (Business Traveller)

Capsule hotel with ‘crawl-in’ rooms to open in Edinburgh next summer (Boutique Hotelier)

Air New Zealand shows off its 1st Boeing 787 with First Class suites (Simple Flying)

Belfast International unveils terminal extension (Business Traveller)

Our latest reviews:

Carrying on from our trip to Doha two weeks ago, we published a review of the Qatar Airways Premium Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 4. Image above.

We also visited the new-ish Qatar Airways Platinum and Gold Lounge North in Doha which is where elite BA cardholders will go when flying Qatar Airways or British Airways in economy.

Closer to home in Spain, Conny heads to Hotel Palacio de Santa Paula in Granada, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. Image below.

The latest UK travel loyalty news:

IHG One Rewards launches its new summer bonus points offer – click here to register

Get a 50% bonus when transferring Avios to Accor Live Limitless hotel points – but should you?

Win 500,000 Avios with Flora at Sainsbury’s!

Get 1,000 Etihad Guest miles on every Hyatt stay – which you can turn into cash!

What are the best hotel promos for May? Find out where to stay this month for the best bonuses.

Club Eurostar launches a big reward seat sale with 20% off everything – worth a look (and an Amex points transfer)?

Why you shouldn’t use Avios on Club Europe redemptions from London City Airport, in our opinion!

Get 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points with a ‘Homes & Villas’ booking

Our annual series of travel rewards credit card reviews continues:

• The Platinum Card from American Express review
• Barclaycard Avios Mastercard review
• Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard review
• The American Express Rewards Credit Card review

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 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.