The acquisition of the Starwood hotel group – owner of W, Westin, Sheraton, St Regis, The Luxury Collection, aloft etc – by Marriott is running late. The cause is Chinese competition .....

The acquisition of the Starwood hotel group – owner of W, Westin, Sheraton, St Regis, The Luxury .....

21 Aug 201621 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 3 comments

News in brief: Pay your car tax with American Express Long-term readers of HfP will know that the ability to pay your road tax with an American Express card has come and gone over the last couple of .....

News in brief: Pay your car tax with American Express Long-term readers of HfP will know that the ability to .....

21 Aug 201621 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 93 comments

Here is the latest edition of our regular feature which summarises offers that are ending soon. It pulls together the different deals mentioned on our Top Avios Points Earning Offers, Top Hotel Bonus .....

Here is the latest edition of our regular feature which summarises offers that are ending soon. It pulls .....

21 Aug 201621 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 5 comments

News in brief: New British Airways route from Stansted announced Over the summer, British Airways has been running a series of routes from Stansted at the weekend.  These use aircraft which would .....

News in brief: New British Airways route from Stansted announced Over the summer, British Airways has been .....

20 Aug 201620 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 38 comments

This is my review of the newly refurbished Virgin East Coast trains First Class Lounge at London Kings Cross Until this month I had never been to a lounge at a train station – and now I’ve .....

This is my review of the newly refurbished Virgin East Coast trains First Class Lounge at London Kings Cross .....

20 Aug 201620 August 2016 by Anika Burnett • 25 comments

IHG Rewards Club, the Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc loyalty scheme, has launched a website for its Autumn 2016 promotion – IHG Accelerate. Yes, it is repeating .....

IHG Rewards Club, the Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc loyalty scheme, has launched .....

19 Aug 201619 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 168 comments

Regular readers will have seen my various articles recently on the major cuts to British Airways in-flight service, eg here and here and here. Long-haul travellers in World Traveller (economy) have .....

Regular readers will have seen my various articles recently on the major cuts to British Airways in-flight .....

19 Aug 201619 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 116 comments

American Express has – yet again – increased the sign-up bonuses on the two British Airways American Express cards. The Premium Plus version, with the £195 annual fee, now offers 25,000 .....

American Express has – yet again – increased the sign-up bonuses on the two British Airways .....

19 Aug 201619 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 86 comments

This is my review of airberlin business class on the New York to Berlin service. As I did have to leave New York eventually, despite my best attempts to avoid it, I decided to try out .....

This is my review of airberlin business class on the New York to Berlin service. As I did have to leave New .....

18 Aug 201618 August 2016 by Anika Burnett • 70 comments

News in brief: Edinburgh gains a new Hilton The Carlton Hotel in Edinburgh, previously a Barcelo, reopened as the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton hotel last week after a £17 million renovation.  It becomes .....

News in brief: Edinburgh gains a new Hilton The Carlton Hotel in Edinburgh, previously a Barcelo, reopened as .....

18 Aug 201618 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 56 comments

News in brief: Virgin Atlantic launches an economy sale Virgin Atlantic has launched an economy seat sale running until 21st September.  Headline prices to the US start at £398, presumably aimed to .....

News in brief: Virgin Atlantic launches an economy sale Virgin Atlantic has launched an economy seat .....

17 Aug 201617 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 80 comments

And the award for worst lounge goes to …… I was heading back to Europe on airberlin, flying business class from New York JFK to Berlin Tegel for the attractive price of 60,000 Avios and .....

And the award for worst lounge goes to …… I was heading back to Europe on airberlin, flying .....

17 Aug 201617 August 2016 by Anika Burnett • 52 comments

News in brief: Emirates to make Manchester ‘all A380’ whilst Birmingham gets a switch Emirates announced last week that all three of its daily Manchester services will be operated by A380 .....

News in brief: Emirates to make Manchester ‘all A380’ whilst Birmingham gets a switch Emirates .....

16 Aug 201616 August 2016 by Rob Burgess • 83 comments

This is my review of the new Holiday Inn Brooklyn Downtown hotel, New York. What do you do when Manhattan gets too busy and chaotic? Move to Brooklyn. After having spent 3 nights in Midtown Manhattan .....

This is my review of the new Holiday Inn Brooklyn Downtown hotel, New York. What do you do when Manhattan gets .....

16 Aug 201616 August 2016 by Anika Burnett • 61 comments