Bits: £250 Virgin Holidays cashback, DoubleTree Sheffield Park leaving, new Radisson in The City

News in brief:

Get £250 Virgin Atlantic Holidays cashback with American Express

Virgin Atlantic Holidays has launched a new cashback deal with American Express.

You need to look under the ‘Offers’ tab in the app or on the Amex website for each card you have, although you are unlikely to find this on British Airways or Marriott Bonvoy cards.

You will receive £250 back when you spend £5,000 by 19th August.

The small print has a couple of gotchas if you’re not careful:

• cumulative spend counts

• only website bookings count, not transactions completed in Virgin Atlantic Holidays stores

• bookings made on the Virgin Atlantic Holidays mobile app do NOT count – it must be on the website

• ‘flight only’ bookings do not count

• part payments or deposits do not count (although how Amex would know this I have no idea)

• purchases made on finance or ‘buy now pay later’ do not count

• gift card and voucher purchases do not count

The bottom line is that you need to visit the website (and ONLY the website) and spend £5,000 in one or more transactions in full payment for a holiday (not just a flight) to get the £250.

Remember that you can earn bonus tier points in Virgin Flying Club when booking with Virgin Atlantic Holidays, as well as earning additional Virgin Points.

The Virgin Atlantic Holidays website is here.

DoubleTree Sheffield Park leaving Hilton

The DoubleTree Sheffield Park hotel has put a message on its website saying that it is leaving Hilton at the end of July.

The hotel is expected to undergo a refurbishment before reopening under a new brand in 2026.

This is NOT the DoubleTree hotel in Sheffield city centre. It is on Chesterfield Road, slightly nearer to Sheffield than Chesterfield.

Thanks to Rookie for flagging.

Radisson RED to open in The City

Whilst we usually don’t cover hotel openings which are not due for many years – because experience shows that many never happen or end up rebranding before opening – it’s worth flagging a Radisson project in The City.

A new Radisson RED hotel will be built on Leman Street, near Aldgate East station. It will be part of a large mixed use development on the site of two existing office blocks.

It is being developed by PPHE which owns the Park Plaza brand, although it appears to feel that Radisson RED is more appropriate for this site.

Radisson RED seems to have lost its way a little in the UK. The first couple of sites looked promising – Rhys was very positive about Radisson RED Liverpool – but converting an ugly Travelodge on the outkirts of Gatwick was possibly a step too far. The site in Greenwich is also a little remote. Let’s see if this property can put it back on the map.