‘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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This week’s top travel news stories:
British Airways’ free, high-speed Starlink wi-fi service has launched, image above
British Airways has announced new routes to Melbourne and Colombo, whilst other popular services get additional flights
easyJet Plus is offering British Airways elite members a £125 discount to defect
British Airways cancels most Middle East flights to 31st May 2026
YOTEL joins Hilton – another independent hotel brand throws in the towel
London Stansted increases its drop-off charge to £10
Singapore Airlines adds a second Gatwick flight
Hilton to add a Plymouth hotel in 2027 under its Tapestry brand
Hyatt opens a resort in the Algarve, part of its Destinations by Hyatt brand
Singapore Airlines has added additional relief flights to London
Marriott’s new The Edinburgh Grand hotel opens its spa
Get top tier SkyTeam status for up to 23 months by matching your British Airways status!
Get a 15% British Airways discount on some Lloyds Banking Group credit cards
IHG’s Six Senses London hotel is now open …. in Bayswater and ….
…. the new Six Senses London hotel is running a ‘three for two’ promotion, image below
Stories we recommend from other sites:
Zedwell capsule hotel brand heads to Oxford for latest site (Boutique Hotelier)
Turkish Airlines launches flights from Stansted (UK Aviation News)
Loganair makes UK aviation history with first all-electric flight (UK Aviation News)
British Airways ordeal: Passengers spend 13 hours with deceased flier in heated galley (Simple Flying)
Our latest reviews:
Our reviews section will return next week.
The latest UK travel loyalty news:
British Airways clarifies Club changes due to long haul / short haul confusion, image above
Should BA’s domestic flight network be driven by potential Avios credit card sign-ups?
Get 10,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night in London
Your complete guide to the Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty scheme
NEW: Get £250 + 75,000 points (converts to 75,000 Avios) with American Express Platinum!
Get big bonuses for adding supplementary cards to Amex Gold and Amex Platinum cards
United Airlines launches a UK debit card:
It’s here: United Airlines launches its UK debit card, and why MileagePlus members might need it
How does the new United Airlines debit card work? Your questions answered
NEW: Get a 40,000 points bonus (converts to 40,000 Avios) with ‘free for a year’ Amex Gold
American Express has launched 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 doubled from 20,000 to 40,000 Membership Rewards points. This would convert to:
- 40,000 Avios
- 40,000 Virgin Points
- 40,000 Etihad, Flying Blue, Asia Miles, Delta, Qantas or SAS miles
- 20,000 Emirates Skywards miles
- 26,666 Singapore Airlines miles
- 80,000 Hilton Honors points
- 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
- 120,000 Radisson Rewards points
- 2,666 Club Eurostar points
…. and many other non-travel rewards.
You receive 40,000 Membership Rewards points after spending £5,000 within six months of approval. This is only £833 per month.
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 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points each year based on your spending
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 40,000 Membership Rewards points bonus is here. Make sure you read the bit about whether or not you qualify for the bonus.
You can apply for the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card with the special bonus on this page of the Amex website.
T&C apply, 18+ only.
The representative APR is 85.8% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases, and in the first year which has no fee, is 29.1% variable.
PS. There is also a huge 75,000 points + £250 Amex Travel credit offer on The Platinum Card which we will cover next week. You can find out more in our article here and apply here.
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 March 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.