The weekly Head for Points business travel newsletter - 20th March

Welcome to?your weekly round-up of UK business travel and travel loyalty news?as well as?links to the latest reviews and features from?headforpoints.com .

We are now publishing our weekly trade newsletter on LinkedIn to allow more people to access it. This is the 16th edition available here. If you would prefer to receive it by email every Monday,?you can sign up here . It's free, obviously! You can also subscribe via LinkedIn and get new editions in your feed.

The latest UK business travel news:

Emirates unveils a new livery. Image above.

Aer Lingus CEO says she wants to increase direct US flights from Manchester.

Passport Office staff will walk out for five weeks from 3rd April .

How did Lufthansa became the first airline to introduce heated seats onboard? We talk to the key players.

Qatar drops its stringent insurance requirements for entering Doha.

Air Passenger Duty will increase again in 2024 .

Air Canada launches flights from Montreal to Amsterdam.

Marriott has announced the opening of the St Regis Kanai Riviera Maya. Image below.

.... and Marriott opened a Seychelles report, part of its Tribute Portfolio .

The British Airways On Business portal is offline and has been for almost a month.

Business travel stories we recommend from other sites:

YOTELPAD to open in London Stratford (Business Traveller)

Travel delivers lukewarm verdict on the Budget (TTG)

Man sent bailiffs to Luton Airport for Wizz Air refund (BBC)

Norse Atlantic plans pivot to sun destinations next winter (FlightGlobal)

easyJet returns to Istanbul - from Manchester (Business Traveller)

Southend Airport for sale (Travel News Update)

Media news:

The Points Guy UK has been closed down by its US owner . Head for Points (ie us!) is now the only option for reaching UK business and premium leisure travellers at scale.

Our latest reviews:

Mexico

Rhys continues his Mexico trip on the Riviera Maya:

• Review: the Conrad Riviera Maya Tulum resort - an unexpected gem
• Review: the Papaya Playa Project, a boho back-to-nature resort in Tulum which is part of Marriott

Berlin

Meanwhile Rob headed to Berlin for ITB:

• Review: the Templehof Lounge at Berlin Airport used by British Airways and DragonPass
• Review: revisiting the excellent Marriott Berlin

The latest UK travel loyalty news:

You'll now earn fewer British Airways tier points when flying to Cape Town. Image above.

The BA and Priority Pass lounge in Amsterdam is temporarily closed.

The Priority Pass option at Berlin Brandenburg, the Moevenpick Cafe, is now available to Amex Platinum and Amex Gold cardholders .

What is the best Virgin Atlantic credit card for you? Now that you can redeem across SkyTeam, they are a lot more interesting.

What SkyTeam benefits do you get as Virgin Flying Club Silver?

Thank you for reading

Thank you for reading. Please drop me a note at [email protected] with any feedback.

If you were previously working with The Points Guy UK before it was shut down and want to talk about commercial opportunities with Head for Points - which has 3x the readership in terms of monthly page views - please email sinead [at] headforpoints.com.

See you next Monday.

Rob, Rhys and Sinead @ Head for Points

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