‘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.
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.
Special features:
The future of Heathrow Express: what happens when its track access expires in 2028?
This week’s top travel news stories:
Virgin Atlantic reveals its refurbished Heathrow Clubhouse in Terminal 3 – and there is more to come (image above)
Singapore Airlines is adding a second daily Gatwick flight for the summer
British Airways moves Tampa flights from Gatwick to Heathrow
beOnd, the ‘all business class’ airline, is launching London-Maldives flights
Dublin Airport’s ’51st & Green’ lounge, for US flights, is reopening this month
airBaltic launches flights from the UK to Kuusamo (click through to find out where that is!)
IHG’s Hotel Indigo opens in Gloucester and looks good
Eurostar extends its booking window to almost a year
World of Hyatt has integrated Bahia Principe resorts – points earning and burning is now available
Save £150 on Air France flights with the latest American Express cashback offer
Marriott brings its budget ‘Series’ brand to the UK
Hilton announces two new UK and Ireland hotels
Save £75-£100 on Marriott Bonvoy hotel stays in Europe with a new American Express cashback offer
Stories we recommend from other sites:
Bristol Airport sets out long-term expansion plans (UK Aviation News)
Hotel Gotham Manchester to rebrand next month (Boutique Hotelier)
First Jet2 flights and holidays take off from Gatwick airport (TTG)
Our latest reviews:
First look: the refurbished LNER First Class lounge at London’s Kings Cross station which opens tomorrow (Tuesday), image above
The Clubrooms lounge at London Gatwick’s South Terminal – is it truly ‘premium’? We take a look, image below.
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
Today is the last day to buy up to 1,000 British Airways Club tier points if you are still short
FOUND: the missing Avios seats on the new Barbados flight from Gatwick
Marriott and Ethiopian Airlines announce a two-way points transfer partnership
Transfer limits between Avios and Nectar have been removed
Your complete guide to the Radisson Rewards hotel loyalty scheme
Qatar Airways announces status extensions for Privilege Club members
How to earn Virgin Points via Tesco Clubcard when buying fuel or food at Esso
NEW: Earn and spend Avios on Duty Free at Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester airports
Get a big supplementary card bonus with the two Amex Business cards
Six reasons to keep your American Express Gold card after the free first year
Hilton relaunches (and improves) its two UK debit cards:
What are the benefits of the two improved Hilton Honors debit cards?
NEW: Get £250 travel credit AND a 75,000 points bonus (converts to 75,000 Avios) with Amex Platinum
American Express has launched a special sign-up bonus on the The Platinum Card from American Express – apply here.
The bonus is increased from 50,000 to 75,000 Membership Rewards points which converts to:
- 75,000 Avios
- 75,000 Virgin Points
- 75,000 Etihad, Flying Blue, Asia Miles, Delta, Qantas or SAS miles
- 37,500 Emirates Skywards miles
- 50,000 Singapore Airlines miles
- 150,000 Hilton Honors points
- 112,500 Marriott Bonvoy points
- 225,000 Radisson Rewards points
- 5,000 Club Eurostar points
…. and many other non-travel rewards.
You will also receive a £250 credit to spend at Amex Travel. To use it you must spend at least £250 in one transaction on a pre-paid hotel, flight or car hire.
You receive your £250 travel credit and 75,000 Membership Rewards points after spending £10,000 in six months. This is only £1,666 per month.
The card has an annual fee of £650. You will receive a pro-rata refund if you cancel the card mid-year, and remember that the card benefits include £400 per year of dining credit.
Our main article on the 75,000 points bonus is here. Make sure you read the bit about whether or not you qualify for the bonus.
You DO qualify for the bonus if you have a British Airways American Express card.
You can apply for the The Platinum Card with the special bonus on this page of the Amex website. You may even see a bonus higher than 75,000 points as Amex is targeting some people with a different offer.
PS. There is also a 40,000 points bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You cannot get this bonus if you’ve had any other Amex card in the last 24 months, unfortunately. You can find out more in our article here and apply here.
The representative APR is 685.3% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases is 29.1% variable.
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 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.