‘The Travel Brief’, the weekly Head for Points travel trade newsletter
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
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:
We talk to Uganda Airlines CEO Jenifer Bamuturaki about its new service to Gatwick and what the new airline has planned.
Special feature:
How to beat jet lag: my advice after 130+ long haul flights
This week’s top travel news stories:
British Airways extends Tel Aviv cancellations, allows EL AL rebooking, image above
Should an airline reimburse your miles if your account gets hacked? Etihad Guest says no
Aer Lingus launches flights to Cancun, its first route to Mexico
Where can you fly in Lufthansa’s new Allegris business class this winter?
The Renaissance St Pancras hotel is changing brands and closing its lounge
Marriott launches its 37th hotel brand ….
easyJet opens its 11th UK base in Newcastle
You can now book IndiGo’s flights from Manchester to Mumbai
Iberia removes checked baggage and refunds from the cheapest economy Avios redemptions
Virgin Atlantic launches a reward seat sale on select US routes, ends Tuesday
Good Etihad sale deals from Manchester
TAP Portugal and Etihad are now ‘earn and burn’ mileage partners
South Western Railway rolls out ‘Rail-5G’ for better onboard wifi
ITA opens its refurbished Milan lounge, image below (yes, that’s a dummy plane you see!)
Save up to £300 at Virgin Atlantic Holidays until Tuesday
Save up to £200 on Cathay Pacific flights for travel between September and early December
Stories we recommend from other sites:
JetBlue launches Boston-Edinburgh service (Business Traveller)
CAA accepts Gatwick airline price cap commitments (Travel Weekly)
Five Guys moves into UK airports with Heathrow restaurant (Restaurant)
‘I flew on the hyped Global Airlines A380 from Manchester to New York and it was extremely bizarre’ (Manchester Evening News)
Southampton Airport completes installation of next generation scanners (Business Traveller)
Our latest reviews:
What does Aer Lingus AerSpace offer you on short haul? We find out on a trip from London to Dublin.
Need a hotel in Malta? Try the Malta Marriott Resort St Julians which we reviewed here following a major refurbishment. Image (from our window) below.
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Hilton Honors devalues redemptions at top hotels. Which ones are still a good deal?
IT’S BACK: Redeem Hilton Honors hotel points for a rooftop British Grand Prix party
Finnair launches Avios Subscription – how does the pricing compare to BA?
Get a 30% to 50% bonus buying Marriott Bonvoy points – click here to buy
Get up to 7,500 Avios with new Qatar Airways bookings
What are the most valuable UK credit card sign-up bonuses? We do our annual update.
How to transfer Emirates Skywards miles to Marriott Bonvoy points – a new option
See Lynyrd Skynyrd at OVO Wembley Arena with your Accor points
Confused by all the acronyms? Our revised frequent flyer glossary should help
Our annual series of travel credit card reviews continues:
ENDS TUESDAY: Get a 30,000 points bonus (converts to 30,000 Avios) with ‘free for a year’ Amex Gold
Until Tuesday, American Express has brought back a special sign-up bonus on the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card – apply here.
Remember that this card is free for your first year!
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 credit card with the special bonus on this page of the Amex website.
The offer ends this Tuesday, 27th May 2025.
The representative APR is 87.3% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases, and in the first year which has no fee, is 30.0% variable.
PS. If you have a British Airways American Express card, and so can’t get the Gold bonus, remember that you WILL qualify for the 80,000 points (=80,000 Avios) bonus on The Platinum Card. Click here to read more. Click here to apply.
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 May and June 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.
daveinitalia 
Comments (1)