The Travel Brief, your weekly business travel and loyalty round-up - 7th October

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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The latest UK business travel news:

Our deep dive into the Virgin Flying Club changes:

Uh oh: Virgin Atlantic makes sweeping changes to Flying Club, including a move to dynamic pricing

Talking through the Flying Club changes with Virgin's VP of Loyalty

.... and is THIS the strategy behind the changes?

Other business travel news:

Aer Lingus launches Nashville as its first A321XLR route

JAL's new A350 is scheduled to come to London this month

Plaza Premium opens a new lounge at Heathrow T4 - we now have photos

A new Escape lounge is opening at Edinburgh Airport

MICHELIN Guide unveils its first 'Keys' hotels in the UK and Ireland

2025 will be the year of free, unlimited inflight wifi - read our special report

InterContinental's Ambassador fee rose to $225

Stories we recommend from other sites:

Virgin Atlantic signs codeshare agreement with SAS (Business Traveller)

SAS reinforces domestic network under new Braathens pact (FlightGlobal)

Amex GBT and CWT challenge CMA's merger investigation findings (BTN Europe)

Virgin Australia gets Qatar Airways investment (Business Traveller)

Our latest reviews:

We conclude our articles from Rhys as he flies on Finnair to Japan:

• Review: Finnair's AirLounge no-recline business class seat is innovative, but is it comfortable?
• Review: How does Finnair's premium economy experience compare?

Plus a hotel review from Osaka:

• Review: Conrad Osaka, where moody rooms open to sweeping views

Totally separately, we take a look inside the refurbished Aer Lingus lounge at Heathrow T2. It was always a smart and comfortable lounge, but now has food to match. Image below.

The latest UK travel loyalty news:

Get double Hyatt points at Mr & Mrs Smith

Redeem Virgin Points for new events at The O2

Visit the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking with Hilton Honors points

Get a 25% bonus when you convert Nectar points to Avios - is it worth it?

What are the best hotel promos for October 2024?

Get up to 40,000 points - and no fee in year 1 - with Amex Business Gold

Get 250 Avios for joining Marriott Bonvoy – no hotel stay required!

New deal launched for buying Hilton Honors points

Dive into the world of Virgin Points redemptions as our introductory series continues:

Is Virgin Atlantic's 'Points Plus Money' feature a good deal?

What's the best non-flying use of Virgin Points?

REMINDER: Get immediate Hilton elite status with its two new UK payment cards!

Hilton Honors launched two new debit cards in the UK last week.

They effectively let you buy Hilton Honors elite status, even if you never use the debit card itself. Silver status will 'cost' you ￡60 per year whilst Gold status - which gets you free breakfast - will 'cost' you ￡150.

Early reader reports suggest that your status is upgraded as soon as you activate your new debit card.

As a reminder, this is what you get (full details are on the application website here):

Hilton Honors Plus debit card:

• ￡150 annual fee
• Gold status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card
• 0% FX fees when spending in foreign currency
• 1.5 Hilton Honors points per ￡1 spent in the UK
• 3 Hilton Honors points per ￡1 spent in Hilton properties in the UK
• 3 Hilton Honors points per ￡1 spent in foreign currency
• 4.5 Hilton Honors points per ￡1 spent in Hilton properties outside the UK

There is a sign-up bonus of 12,000 Hilton Honors points if you apply by 30th November 2024. You need to spend ￡2,500 in foreign currency in your first six months to receive the bonus.

Hilton Honors debit card:

• ￡60 annual fee
• Silver status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card
• 0.5% FX fees when spending in foreign currency
• 1 Hilton Honors point per ￡1 spent in the UK
• 2 Hilton Honors points per ￡1 spent in Hilton properties in the UK
• 2 Hilton Honors points per ￡1 spent in foreign currency
• 3 Hilton Honors points per ￡1 spent in Hilton properties outside the UK

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,500 Hilton Honors points if you apply by 30th November 2024. You need to spend ￡1,000 in foreign currency in your first six months to receive the bonus.

Our full article on the launch, and a Q&A about which card is best for you, is here.

You can apply for the Hilton Honors debit cards here.

We receive a small commission from Hilton if you apply via our links - thank you.

Thank you for reading

Please drop me a note at [email protected] with any feedback. See you next Monday - or potentially at World Aviation Festival in Amsterdam this week.

Rob, Rhys and Katie @ Head for Points

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