What you missed on Head for Points last week
Welcome to the Head for Points weekly newsletter, full of the latest Avios, travel loyalty and travel credit card news, hints and tips.
If you are not a subscriber, you can sign up to this free Saturday newsletter by filling in the form here. Please forward it to any friends or family who you think may want to join our 55,000 subscribers and improve how they travel. The newsletter also runs on the Head for Points website every Saturday.
(We also offer daily emails. You would receive each article in full on the day of release, so you won’t miss any short-notice deals or offers. If you want to switch, create a fresh subscription to the daily emails via this form. You will then need to unsubscribe from the weekly email by clicking the ‘Unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of this newsletter.)
NEW: Special bonuses and new permanent benefits on the Hilton Honors Debit Cards
Hilton Honors has launched special offers on its two UK debit cards and unveiled permanent improvements to the card benefits.
Full details are in our article here. You can apply for either card here.
This is what is new:
Special sign-up offers to 28th May:
- Standard card: Pay half price (now £30) for your first year, and receive the new permanent sign-up bonus of 5,000 Hilton Honors points for spending £1,000 in FX in your first year
- Plus card: Get 30,000 Hilton Honors points with the Plus card (£150 annual fee) for spending £2,500 in FX in your first six months
NEW: Earn Elite Qualifying Nights with your spending
- Standard card: Earn 5 Elite Qualifying Nights for every £5,000 you spend on the card, up to a maximum of 15 per calendar year
- Plus card: Earn 5 Elite Qualifying Nights for every £5,000 you spend on the card, up to a maximum of 30 per calendar year
NEW: Get an annual bonus when you renew your card for another year
- Standard card: Get 5,000 bonus Hilton Honors points if you spent £5,000 in ANY currency in the previous year
- Plus card: Get 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points if you spent £10,000 in ANY currency in the previous year
UNCHANGED: Get Hilton Honors elite status for as long as you hold the card
- Standard card: Get Silver status in Hilton Honors upon activation of your card
- Plus card: Get Gold status in Hilton Honors upon activation of your card, which gets you and a +1 free breakfast on most stays or, in the US, a cash credit towards any food and drink purchase
UNCHANGED: Earn Hilton Honors points on all eligible spending
- Standard card: 1 point per £1 for UK spend, 2 points per £1 for FX spend, 2 points per £1 for UK Hilton spend, 3 points per £1 for non-UK Hilton spend
- Plus card: 1.5 points per £1 for UK spend, 3 points per £1 for FX spend, 3 points per £1 for UK Hilton spend, 4.5 points per £1 for non-UK Hilton spend
I know it’s a bit complex, but it is explained in more detail in our article here. You can apply for either card here.
In other news ….
Earning tier points from American Express:
2026 OFFER: How to earn tier points from your British Airways American Express Premium Plus card – we look at the small print of the new 2026/27 scheme
Special report:
What are my favourite travel gadgets for flying with small kids? Sinead shares her lessons from the last five years
This week’s top travel news stories:
Get a 10%-20% bonus when you transfer Nectar points to Avios (and vice versa) – worth it?
Virgin Atlantic increases charges on Saver rewards by up to £400 for UK departures
Italy’s ITA Airways joins Star Alliance
Virgin Atlantic axes Riyadh, permanently
GWR adds new early morning and late evening trains to Gatwick
Aer Lingus launches its first aircraft with Starlink wi-fi
easyJet launches Gatwick to Newquay flights
Special offer on No1 Lounges with a Virgin Atlantic offer
Ex-BA CEO Willie Walsh appointed CEO of India’s IndiGo
UK passport fees increasing this week
Would you pay £70 for Manchester Airport’s new premium lounge?
Sofia airport gets an impressive new lounge
Our latest reviews:
Rhys heads to Hong Kong to try Cathay Pacific’s new premium economy on a Boeing 777 from London to Hong Kong. Image above.
Meanwhile, at Gatwick, he reviews the Clubrooms lounge at London Gatwick’s South Terminal – is it truly ‘premium’? Image below.
Top travel deals this week:
Match your travel credit card to GHA DISCOVERY status, inc top tier Titanium! Offer ends on Monday.
FROM £1,000: Etihad business class flight deals available across Asia, Maldives, Australia
Save 25% on easyJet Plus membership
Hotel news:
What are the best hotel promos for April 2026?
Get 3,000 ALL Accor points with one stay – but there’s odd small print
Get 10,000 bonus Radisson Rewards points with just one stay, however short, at selected hotels
Save 15% on reward nights at new IHG hotels
Your complete guide to the Radisson Rewards hotel loyalty scheme
IMPROVED RATE: How to transfer Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles into Marriott Bonvoy points
Credit and debit card news:
How to get free hotel elite status from UK credit and debit cards – we update our article for the improved Hilton Honors debit card package
Six reasons to keep your American Express Gold card after the free first year
That’s all, folks
Our latest round-up of miles and points offers closing soon is here.
If you are booking a hotel this weekend, click here to read our summary of the best bonus points offers for April from the big chains.
Don’t forget to visit our forum if you have any questions relating to frequent flyer or hotel loyalty programmes or loyalty credit cards.
See you next Saturday,
Rob, Rhys, Sinead and Katie @ Head for Points
PS. If you’ve got a friend interested in miles and points, why not do them (and us, of course) a favour and forward this email to them? Thank you.