Wednesday 5th February 2020
Contents
Deals Diary
See these pages on TSTW for all the:
Hotel promos, and lounges cars & parking promos or buy points deals
- 25% off selected hotels and packages at Best Western ends 14th February
- Hilton 100% buy points promo ends 19th February
- IHG 75% buy points promo ends 27th February
- Plaza Premium 20% discount ends 29th February
- Hyatt 25% buy points discount ends 29th February
- Up to 3000 Avios or Accor ALL points on a car rental with Europcar ends 1st March
- Up to 6000 bonus Accor points from 3x 2 night stays ends 6th March
- 200 free bonus points with Plaza Premium lounges ends 31st March
- 250 extra Heathrow Rewards points with parking until 31st March
- Radisson Rewards new year promotion until 31st March
- 1400 Avios at Avis car rental through Aer Club until 31st march
- Hilton Points Unlimited runs until the 3rd of May
- IHG Spring 4x points promotion ends 15th May
Earn up to 6000 bonus Accor points from 3x 2 night stays
The latest Accor promo is worth up to 6000 Accor points, which is worth €120 of Accor hotel stays, or you could take 6000 Avios (credit them to Iberia, then use Combine my Avios), but that wouldn’t be a sensible choice.
Each stay must be for a minimum of 2 nights. Existing bookings do not qualify. Reward nights will not qualify.
The first stay will earn 500 bonus points. The second earns an additional 2500. The third would earn another 3000, making a total of 6000.
You have to register first and then book by 6th March, for stays from 14th February until 7th June.
Eurostar - Book direct to and from Amsterdam from 11th February
The Eurostar trains to Rotterdam and Amsterdam have been direct outbound but require a stop for customs clearance on the return journey.
From 11th February you will be able to book tickets for the new services which are direct in both directions.
The Amsterdam direct trains begin on 30th April. Rotterdam direct begins on 18th May.
IHG Spring Promo - up to 4x points
IHG have launched their spring promotion for 4x bonus points. On your first night you’ll get 1000 bonus points.
From nights 2-5 you get double points. From nights 6-14 you get triple points. From night 15 you get quadruple points.
This is valid for stays from 15th February until 15th May but you must register and book no later than 15th April.
You must register through this link before staying. Even if you have no current plans, register now and then you won’t forget.
Virgin Atlantic / Flying Blue: Earn and redeem from 13th February
13th February marks the start of full integration between Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Air France KLM Flying Blue. You will be able to earn and redeem Flying Club miles for Air France KLM flights, which opens up a whole load of new destinations.
You will also enjoy status benefits across all the airlines.
Lufthansa begins flights from Newcastle to Munich
Another boost for northern travellers. Lufthansa has begun direct flights daily except Saturdays. This is the first flight for Lufthansa from Newcastle.
The A319 will depart Newcastle at 13.40, arriving at 16.40.
The inbound departure is at 11.50 for arrival in Newcastle at 12.55.
Munich is one of Lufthansa’s two main hubs for connections worldwide. You can fly the A380 first class from Munich but you have to go to Frankfurt if you want to try one of the last remaining 747s with first class.
Get 1400 Avios on a 3 day car rental at Avis with Aer Lingus
Collect at least 1400 Avios with Avis through this Aer Lingus promo. Book a group C car for 3 or more days before 31st March for rentals until 31st May.
You get 700 bonus Avios on top of the standard 700 Avios. You need an Aer Club account number to use this offer. Aer Lingus Avios can be moved to BA with the “combine my Avios” function. Not valid on Prestige or Van rentals.
Get up to 3000 Avios or Accor points with Europcar
Europcar – Earn up to 3000 Accor ALL points and get a 25% discount. Book through this link until 1st march for rentals until 15th June. 3000 ALL points is worth €60 of hotel stays, or you can convert to 3000 Avios (convert to Iberia, then use Combine my Avios).
Jet2 adds direct flights to Iceland from Birmingham and Manchester
Adding to flights already available from Leeds and Newcastle, Jet2 will operate twice weekly flights from October through April.
LATAM will leave oneworld on 30th April
From 30th April you will no longer be able to earn or redeem Avios with LATAM. Originally this wasn’t due to happen until 30th September. There is talk of individual airlines such as BA maintaining a bi-lateral arrangement with LATAM but there are no details yet.
Until 30th April you can still redeem for tickets after 30th April, but will not earn BA tier points or have access to any oneworld status benefits after 30th April.
This is your last chance to get to Easter Island on LATAM with Avios.
Royal Air Maroc will join oneworld on 1st April
Royal Air Maroc will become a full oneworld member on 1st April. oneworld frequent flyers will enjoy the full range of oneworld benefits and services when travelling with Royal Air Maroc, and will be able to earn and redeem awards.
Finnair increases to 8 Heathrow flights
Finnair will operate 8 daily flights between LHR and HEL during summer.
Finnair is a oneworld partner and can be booked with Avios. The LHR-HEL flight falls into zone 2 of the BA partner airline pricing chart, so it would be 9000 Avios each way in economy or 16500 in business. This is actually slightly fewer Avios than with BA, but the taxes are about £60 higher.
(For those in the north, it’s perhaps more useful to know that you can use Avios to fly to Helsinki from Manchester on Finnair.)
Qatar begins flying Qsuite from Manchester on 14th February
By March, 2 out 3 daily flights from MAN to DOH will have the Qsuite business class studio.
From 14th February on flight QR027/028
From 1st March on flight QR021/022
Qatar Airways’ Qsuite won “Best Business Class Seat” in the 2019 World Airline Awards.
Doncaster Sheffield unveils £10m investment
There’s a definite surge in activity for norther airports recently, which seems positive for all the travellers not close to London. Last week, Eastern Airways announced new routes from Teesside.
After Leeds Bradford revealed a £150 million plan to build a new terminal (and hopefully make some improvements to their lounges), now DSA (formerly Robin Hood Airport, just off the A1 near Doncaster) have lined up £10m for improvements to the terminal.
There are also plans for a new station on the East Coast Mainline which would make DSA only the second UK airport with direct rail access.
Priority Pass adds a lounge at St Petersburg railway station
St Petersburg Moskovsky railway station lounge is now accessible through Priority Pass, for passengers with a valid train ticket for that day.
Air France introduces domestic business class
Air France is the only carrier to offer a business class service on flights within France. It looks set to follow the typical “blocked middle seat” arrangement. Fares will include lounge access, and catering will offer wine and Champagne.
IHG 75% Buy Points bonus
IHG is giving a 75% bonus on Buy Points until 27th February. The annual limit is increased to 150,000. Note that IHG regularly runs a 100% buy points bonus.
You’d be paying 0.5p per point here. My minimum valuation is 0.4p. It is possible to do much better than this, and I generally wouldn’t redeem for less than 0.8p.
Only go for this bonus if you have imminent plans, need the points, and have calculated the redemption value. Make sure you pay using a card with a 0% forex charge.
