✈️ Smart With Points

• • 💳 Transfer News: Amex Membership Rewards adds ALL Accor as a transfer partner - unlocking 5,700+ hotels including Raffles, Fairmont and Lucknam Park

• • 🏨 Hyatt Alert: Award price hikes go live Tuesday 20th May - 112 hotels move to higher categories, some jumping by tens of thousands of points

• • ✈️ Status Match: Flying Blue re-opens paid status matches to UK members via Statusmatch - tiers available across AF/KLM network

• • 🚨 Accor Summer Sale: Up to 35% off stays July 3 - September 7, 2026 at Accor and Ennismore properties - book by Sunday 17th May

Three Membership Rewards points into one ALL Accor Reward Point. That's the conversion rate that just quietly unlocked Raffles London, Fairmont Windsor Park, and over 5,700 other hotels for UK Amex holders - and most collectors haven't noticed yet.

🤓 UK Points Trivia

Quick question before we dive in - how many hotel brands sit under the ALL Accor umbrella?

• 🟡 25 brands

• 🔵 35 brands

• 🟣 45 brands

• ⚫ 55 brands

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

💳 Amex Just Quietly Unlocked 5,700 Accor Hotels for UK MR Points

Why Transferring to ALL Accor Beats Sitting on MR Points This Summer

This is genuinely one of the more interesting developments in UK hotel redemptions this year. American Express has added ALL Accor as a transfer partner in its UK Membership Rewards programme - and the timing, with Accor's summer sale running right now, makes this more immediately useful than most new partnerships.

The conversion rate is 3 Membership Rewards points = 1 ALL Accor Reward Point. Each ALL Accor Reward Point is worth 2 Euro cents off a stay, and you convert in blocks of 1,000 ALL Accor points = €20 of hotel credit. Minimum transfer is 300 MR points (= 100 ALL Accor points), and it should process immediately - though can take up to 24 hours.

Let's do the maths on a real UK example. Lucknam Park - the 42-room luxury hotel and spa just outside Bath - has just joined Accor as the launch property for the new Emblems brand. If a night costs, say, €400, you'd need 20,000 ALL Accor points to cover it fully - which would cost you 60,000 Membership Rewards points. That's around 1.5p per MR point if you value the night at £340 - roughly in line with transferring to Avios, but with zero airline restrictions.

What makes ALL Accor genuinely different from other hotel programmes is its fully revenue-based redemption model. You can book any room, on any date, in any participating hotel - no blackout dates, no reward chart. If the room is available for cash, it's available for points. That's a meaningful advantage over programmes like Marriott Bonvoy where peak availability can be brutal.

The UK is genuinely well-served here. Beyond Lucknam Park, there's Fairmont Windsor Park (a newly built luxury property, excellent for a London weekend escape), Sofitel London Heathrow T5 and Sofitel London Gatwick (both walkable from their respective terminals), and Raffles London at The OWO, which is one of the most talked-about hotel openings in London in years.

Heads up: you need to be an ALL Accor member first before you can transfer. Join via the Accor website, then link your MR and ALL accounts on the UK Membership Rewards portal - a one-time step. Transfers are available immediately after linking.

Not an Amex cardholder yet? The Amex Gold currently carries a doubled welcome bonus - worth checking your eligibility before you apply.

🏨 Hyatt Award Prices Jump This Tuesday - The Hotels to Book Before Monday Night

112 Properties Move to Pricier Categories at 8am US Central on 20th May

If you've got World of Hyatt points sitting around, Tuesday 20th May is a hard deadline you cannot miss. That's when Hyatt's new award pricing structure goes live - 136 hotels are changing categories, with 112 moving upwards. Some are jumping by tens of thousands of points per night.

The changes also introduce a new five-tier award chart with steeper peak pricing. In some cases, peak-date award nights will cost significantly more than the current off-peak rates. If you've been eyeing a specific Hyatt property and have the points, booking before Monday 19th May locks in the current category price.

The smart play here: Hyatt allows speculative bookings with free cancellation on many rates. If you have a trip vaguely in mind - even if dates aren't confirmed - booking now and cancelling later is a legitimate strategy to lock in today's pricing. Just double-check the cancellation policy on each specific property before committing.

Heads up: there are reports that changes have occasionally gone live slightly before the stated time in previous years. To be safe, treat Sunday evening as your real deadline.

✈️ Flying Blue Re-Opens Paid Status Match to UK Members

Air France and KLM Will Sell You Silver, Gold or Platinum - If You've Got Status Elsewhere

UK travellers briefly lost access to the Flying Blue paid status match, but it's back. Air France and KLM's Flying Blue programme has updated its paid status match via Statusmatch, and the UK is once again an eligible country.

The match is available to holders of elite status with other airlines, and Flying Blue will assess which tier you qualify for based on your existing status. There is a fee involved - this isn't a free match - but for frequent travellers to France, the Netherlands, or wider Europe on AF/KLM, buying your way into Flying Blue status could unlock meaningful benefits including lounge access at CDG and AMS, priority boarding, and bonus miles earning.

Eligible countries include the UK, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and several others. You can apply via the Statusmatch website directly. Worth noting: this is a paid match, so do your sums on whether the fee is justified by the benefits before proceeding.

🚨 Deal Alert: Accor Summer Sale - Up to 35% Off, But Book by Sunday

Accor has launched a summer sale covering participating hotels across Europe and North Africa - up to 35% off stays between 3 July and 7 September 2026. Ennismore (the group behind Hoxton, Gleneagles and other lifestyle brands) is running a parallel 'Escape Days' sale for worldwide stays in the same travel window.

The catch: both sales require booking by Sunday 17th May. That's tomorrow. If you've got summer European travel on the cards and an Accor property in mind - especially now that you can top up your ALL Accor balance with Amex MR points - it's worth checking the sale before it closes.

Search directly on Accor's website for the Summer Offer tag on your chosen property.

🚨 Deal Alert: Buy Flying Blue Miles at 80% Bonus Until 31st May

Air France-KLM's Flying Blue is currently offering an 80% bonus when you buy miles - one of the stronger buy-miles promotions running right now. The effective rate works out at approximately 1.69 cents (around 1.3p) per mile when you factor in the bonus.

Flying Blue miles can be genuinely useful for UK collectors - redemptions on Air France business class from London or UK regional airports can offer solid value, and the programme prices routes on a zone-based chart rather than distance. Redemptions to the US, West Africa, and within Europe can be competitive.

This offer runs until 31st May. Warning: buying miles only makes sense if you have a specific redemption in mind - don't stockpile without a plan.

🌎 Trivia Reveal

The answer is 🟣 45 brands. ALL Accor covers 45 brands globally - from ibis and Mercure at the budget and midscale end, all the way up to Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel, Orient Express and the new Emblems collection. That's why this transfer partnership is actually more interesting than most hotel programme additions: the sheer range means almost every type of traveller can find a use for it.

💬 Quick Question

With ALL Accor now live as an Amex MR transfer partner, do you actually have an ALL Accor account set up - or is this the nudge you needed to finally join? Hit reply and let me know. I'm also curious: which Accor brand are you most likely to target first with your points?

That's it for today - but don't forget: the Accor summer sale closes tomorrow, Sunday 17th May. If you're planning a European summer trip and want to stack that discount with fresh ALL Accor points transferred from your Amex MR balance, you'll need to move before midnight. Check Accor's website now - the window is tight.

💳 Best UK Card Signup Offers Right Now

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

2. Business Platinum Card: 40,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. Business Gold Card: 20,000 points after spending £3,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

✈️ Award Deals This Week

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

• Renaissance Boston Seaport District - 1.6cpp value

• Zemi Beach House, LXR Hotels & Resorts - 2.0cpp value

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

Buy Points & Miles Deals:

• Air France–KLM (Flying Blue): 80% bonus at 1.69¢ (ends May 31, 2026)

• Etihad (Guest): 35% discount at 2.08¢ (ends May 24, 2026)

• Hilton (Honors): 100% bonus at 0.5¢ (ends May 29, 2026)

• Marriott (Bonvoy): 40% bonus at 0.89¢ (ends June 23, 2026)

Browse every award deal we track at AwardTravelFinder.com →

🎯 Award Deals We're Tracking

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

After years of being one of Seats.aero's most-cited gaps, British Airways Club has finally landed on the popular award search platform. The team rolled out beta support for both BA Club and Iberia Club this week, going live at seats.aero/british and seats.aero/iberia.

It's a meaningful addition. BA's absence has been called out as a notable weakness by everyone from The Points Guy to AwardWallet over the past 18 months. Whether it actually changes anything for UK collectors, though, is a more nuanced question.

What's actually launched

Both programmes are live in beta, with searches available across economy, premium economy, business and first class. Frontier Airlines was also quietly added to Seats.aero's beta line-up around the same time, though that's of less interest to most readers here.

Beta means what it usually means: search results may be unstable, coverage gaps are likely, and certain features that work for fully integrated programmes may be limited at first. Seats.aero hasn't published a timeline for full rollout.

If you're a Seats.aero Pro subscriber (around £8/month), the new programmes plug straight into the rest of the platform - alerts, regional search, route-level monitoring and the cross-programme comparison features that Seats.aero is best known for. The free tier still works but with the usual restrictions on date range and filters.

Why this matters more for some people than others

For US-based Avios collectors, this is genuinely a big deal. Anyone with Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One Venture or Bilt Rewards can transfer points to multiple Avios programmes - BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar - and the ability to compare pricing across all of them in one search is properly useful. Until now, BA pricing in particular was a manual exercise.

For UK collectors, the picture is more incremental. We already have several mature tools that handle BA award search, often better than Seats.aero will at beta launch. SeatSpy and Reward Flight Finder are both polished BA-focused products with WhatsApp/email alerts and year-ahead visibility. I covered the head-to-head between them in my SeatSpy vs Reward Flight Finder review.

Where Seats.aero actually adds something for UK readers

The genuine value of this update for UK Avios collectors isn't single-programme BA search. It's cross-programme comparison.

Take a transatlantic route. The same physical flight - say American Airlines from London to JFK - might be priced very differently depending on which Avios programme you're booking through. BA Club, Iberia Club, Aer Lingus AerClub and Qatar Privilege Club all use different award charts, and after the December 2025 BA Avios devaluation, partner programmes are often the better value for the same seat.

Seats.aero is one of the few tools that lets you see all of those options side by side. Pull up a route, filter by which Avios pool you actually have points in, and book through whichever programme charges fewest Avios plus lowest carrier surcharges. That's where the tool earns its keep.

It's also useful for partner Avios bookings. Want to fly Qatar Qsuite? You can compare Qatar Privilege Club pricing against BA Avios pricing for the same flight in a single search. With BA's transfer rates, carrier surcharges and seat selection fees in mind, the cheapest Avios route is rarely obvious - and Seats.aero now puts those side by side rather than asking you to flip between three tabs.

The honest caveats

A few things to flag before you sign up.

It’s still in beta. Expect missing routes, occasional false positives, and pricing that doesn't quite match what you see on ba.com. This is normal for new programme launches on Seats.aero - the Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific betas had similar teething issues - but it does mean you'll want to verify availability on the actual airline before transferring points across.

For BA-only searches, the existing UK tools are still better in 2026. SeatSpy in particular has had years to refine its BA alerts and live availability. If your award search is exclusively about getting BA Club Suite from London to wherever, you don't need Seats.aero on top of what you already have.

Pro pricing adds up. At $9.99/month, Seats.aero Pro isn't expensive on its own, but if you're already paying for SeatSpy or Reward Flight Finder you're stacking subscriptions. The free tier works fine for casual searching, but the more useful features (longer date ranges, route-level alerts, full filter set) are paywalled.

How I'd actually use it

If you're collecting Avios across multiple programmes - BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar - this is worth bookmarking immediately. The cross-programme comparison is the killer feature.

If you're a BA-only collector who's happy with SeatSpy or Reward Flight Finder, give the beta a few months to mature before you change anything. There's nothing here that'll meaningfully improve your BA Avios redemptions today versus what you already use.

I'll be watching to see how the beta develops over the next couple of months. If Seats.aero closes the gap on BA-specific data quality, the cross-programme advantage could make it a genuinely strong proposition for UK readers. For now, it's a welcome addition to the toolkit rather than a replacement.

Bottom line

You can try Seats.aero here. Enjoy!

Virgin Red has just launched a 30% bonus on manual Tesco Clubcard voucher exchanges, running from today (12 May) through to 30 June 2026. The official offer page is here, and it's a notable shift from the usual Tesco x Virgin promotional format. The bonus quietly rewards people who keep manual control of their points balance rather than letting it auto-convert in the background.

The basics

Under the offer, £4 worth of Clubcard vouchers (400 Clubcard points) will convert into 1,040 Virgin Points instead of the usual 800. That's a 30% top-up on Tesco's already-doubled exchange rate, and there's no cap on the number of manual conversions you can do during the six-week window.

The minimum exchange is £1.50 in Clubcard vouchers (150 Clubcard points), which becomes 390 Virgin Points after the bonus is applied. Virgin says points will be credited within 28 days, but in practice they usually arrive far faster.

The catch (or the feature, depending on how you look at it)

The interesting bit is the word "manual". This bonus does not apply to auto-exchange conversions.

Most past Virgin Red x Tesco promos have done the opposite. The standard format has been a flat 5,000 Virgin Points sweetener for first-time auto-exchange sign-ups, which then quietly trickles your Clubcard balance into Virgin Points every quarter. That format ran most recently through to 10 May 2026, so the timing of this new offer is deliberate: Virgin closed the auto-exchange door on Saturday and opened the manual one on Monday.

Auto-exchange suits Virgin and Tesco for obvious reasons. It locks the partnership in. The customer doesn't have to think about it and the points keep flowing. The downside, for the customer, is that you give up the ability to time your conversions around bonus offers like this one. Which is exactly what's just happened. Anyone with auto-exchange on who took the May statement conversion will have moved their balance at the standard 2x rate, missing the 30% bump by a matter of days.

If you've had auto-exchange running, your move is to log into your Tesco Clubcard account (Clubcard management, then voucher schemes) and either turn it off temporarily, or push any leftover voucher balance through manually during the window.

The maths

At the boosted rate, every £1 of Clubcard voucher becomes 260 Virgin Points.

To put a value on that: Virgin Points realistically sit at around 0.8p to 1.2p each for most redemptions following October 2024's dynamic pricing overhaul, with the upper end reserved for sweet-spot premium cabin redemptions on partners like Delta, Air France/KLM or ANA. At those values, your £1 Clubcard voucher converts into £2.08 to £3.12 of Virgin Points value.

That comfortably beats the 1p in-store face value of using vouchers at the till, and it edges out most of Tesco's 2x reward partner exchanges (Pizza Express, Cineworld, Zizzi). What it doesn't beat are Tesco's last remaining 3x boost partners, where vouchers triple their face value on specific experiences or family days out. For pure cash-equivalent value extraction, those still win. But Virgin Points have one thing the experience codes don't: they're liquid, they pool with your Flying Club balance, and they never expire.

What to actually do with the Virgin Points

This is where I'd be a bit measured. Virgin Atlantic's dynamic pricing has eroded the bread-and-butter LHR-JFK Upper Class redemption that used to anchor most UK Flying Club strategies. Off-peak dates can still come in at reasonable numbers, but peak season pricing now regularly runs in the 80,000 to 95,000 point range one-way. That's territory where you need to be sure the cash alternative is genuinely expensive to justify it.

Where Virgin Points still genuinely shine is on partner redemptions. ANA business class from Europe to Japan, Delta within the US, and KLM/Air France around Europe and to Africa all remain compelling at the right dates. You can find available partner award space through Award Travel Finder, and Roame.Travel also indexes Virgin Atlantic availability if you'd rather work backwards from a route.

If you're building a Flying Club balance from scratch and Tesco isn't your only avenue, our Virgin Atlantic credit cards guide walks through every UK option, including the cobranded Virgin Money cards and the recently launched referral programme.

The verdict

I think this is a smart, slightly stingy move from Virgin. A 30% bonus on manual exchanges costs them far less than a 5,000-point flat sign-up bonus paid to every new auto-exchanger, and it neatly targets the segment of customers who are already engaged enough to manage their own balance. The cost-per-point of incentivising the auto-exchange crowd just keeps climbing for Virgin; for the active loyalty crowd, this is the cheaper hook.

For the average Clubcard household with a few quid in vouchers lying dormant, this is a no-brainer top-up. For active points collectors, it's a genuine reason to break out of an auto-exchange habit if you have one and take manual control for the next six weeks.

My own approach is to keep auto-exchange off across most loyalty currencies for exactly this reason. It leaves the door open for bonuses like this one. They don't come around often, but when they do, the difference between 800 and 1,040 Virgin Points per £4 voucher adds up quickly if you have a meaningful balance sat in Tesco.

The offer runs to 23:59 BST on 30 June 2026. No cap on the number of exchanges, minimum £1.50 voucher value per transaction. If you've got vouchers sitting in your Tesco account, now is the time to move them.

Virgin Atlantic has announced a significant boardroom change. Peter Norris will step down as Chair on 31 May 2026 after 14 years in the role, with Virgin Group CEO Josh Bayliss taking over from 1 June. It is the airline's first chair change since 2012, and it lands in a period where Virgin Atlantic has been moving more pieces around than at any time since the pandemic, from a Starlink rollout and bigger premium cabins to a brand new Phuket route and a refreshed loyalty programme.

The transition in brief

The headline facts, straight from the announcement:

• Peter Norris steps down as Chair of Virgin Atlantic on 31 May 2026

• Josh Bayliss, Virgin Group CEO since 2011, takes over as Chair from 1 June 2026

• Norris remains Chair of Virgin Group and Virgin Hotels

• CEO Corneel Koster continues to lead day-to-day operations

Worth flagging: this is a Chair transition, not a CEO one. Corneel Koster is not going anywhere, which matters because most of the strategic and customer-facing decisions of the past few years (loyalty changes, fleet refresh, route launches) sit with the executive team rather than the board. Continuity at CEO level usually means continuity of direction.

What Peter Norris leaves behind

Norris has had a hand in almost every structural change to Virgin Atlantic over the last decade and a bit. Several of these are the reason Flying Club has the shape it does today:

• The transatlantic Joint Venture with Delta Air Lines, the engine of Virgin Atlantic's North America network

• The expanded Joint Venture with Air France-KLM and Delta, launched in February 2020

• Entry into the SkyTeam alliance in March 2023, the alliance's first and only UK member

• Development of the partnership with Virgin Red, the Virgin rewards club that now sits behind Flying Club integrations

• Pandemic-era restructuring and recapitalisation that kept the airline flying

If you have ever earned or burned Flying Club points on a Delta or Air France-KLM flight, used Virgin Red to redeem on partner experiences, or benefited from the SkyTeam lounge access Virgin Gold opens up, those are all downstream of decisions taken during Norris's tenure as Chair.

Who is Josh Bayliss?

Bayliss is not exactly an outsider. He has been Virgin Group CEO since 2011, with day-to-day responsibility for group strategy, the Virgin brand and the investment portfolio that sits underneath it. He already sat on the Virgin Group board alongside Norris, so he is stepping into the Chair seat with a working knowledge of how the airline plugs into the wider Virgin ecosystem.

In CEO Corneel Koster's words, Norris's leadership provided "clarity, calm conviction and deep commitment to our people, our brand and our business." Bayliss's pitch in the release leans on momentum: "Virgin Atlantic enters its next chapter with real momentum, powered by an excellent team and an exceptional brand." Read between the lines and this looks like a continuity appointment rather than a reset.

What this could mean for Flying Club members

Honest answer first: probably not very much in the short term. Chair changes rarely cause immediate, visible shifts to a loyalty programme. The day-to-day stuff (Reward Seat availability, transfer ratios, status thresholds) is set by the commercial and loyalty teams, not the board.

Where I think it could matter over a longer horizon is in how tightly Virgin Atlantic gets woven into the wider Virgin brand and the Virgin Red ecosystem. Bayliss has spent 15 years running the group whose entire job is making the Virgin brand more valuable across hotels, drinks, fitness, finance and travel. A Chair who already thinks in those terms is more likely to back deeper cross-brand integration. That could be good news for members who like collecting Virgin Points across the ecosystem, and slightly less interesting news if you only care about the airline metal.

The other angle worth watching is the SkyTeam relationship. Virgin Atlantic remains the alliance's only UK member, and the Delta/Air France-KLM Joint Venture is the airline's biggest single commercial relationship. Both were Norris-era projects. A new Chair coming in just as the alliance and JV mature is the moment where strategic priorities can quietly shift, even if no one announces it.

My take

As a Flying Club Gold member (status matched from BA Gold, I will admit), I am not losing sleep over this. Bayliss is a known quantity, the CEO is unchanged, and the press release is full of the kind of "continuity" language that signals the board does not want to spook anyone. If you have an ongoing tier point chase or a stash of Virgin Points sitting in your account, none of that changes on 1 June.

Where I would pay attention is the next 12 months of announcements. Chair transitions are often followed by a quiet strategic refresh: route reviews, partnership tweaks, sometimes new loyalty mechanics. The recent High Five loyalty reward and the broader product overhaul suggest the airline is in an active phase already. A new Chair often accelerates that, rather than reverses it.

If you collect Virgin Points and you have not run the numbers recently, our Virgin Atlantic points calculator and Virgin Atlantic reward seat finder are both worth a look. For the card side of things, the ultimate guide to Virgin Atlantic credit cards is still the best place to start.

The bottom line

Peter Norris's 14 years as Chair shaped the modern Virgin Atlantic: the Delta JV, the expanded Air France-KLM partnership, SkyTeam membership and the survival path through the pandemic. Handing over to Josh Bayliss, a Virgin Group lifer, looks like a continuity move on paper. The interesting question is whether "continuity" turns out to mean steady-as-she-goes, or accelerated integration into the wider Virgin brand. Worth keeping an eye on, but nothing here that should change how you collect or burn points this summer.

British Airways Holidays has just launched a fresh Avios part-payment promotion, and on paper it looks like the most generous version of this offer we have seen so far. From today (13 May) until 18 May 2026, Avios will stretch 33% further when used towards eligible holiday package bookings, with the travel window running all the way through to 27 March 2027. You can see the full offer at ba.com/aviosoffer.

This is a clear step up from BA's previous run at the same promo in January 2026, which capped out at 25% extra value and ended travel on 31 December 2026. So we have got a bigger bonus and a longer travel window, which is a rare combination of "actually better than last time" in the loyalty world.

What is on offer

If you are a member of The British Airways Club, you can use Avios to part-pay for any eligible holiday package - flight + hotel, flight + car, or flight + hotel + car - and during this six-day window, those Avios will deliver around a third more cash value than they normally would.

BA's worked example: a four-night economy holiday to New York that would usually need around 56,275 Avios to save £242 will need just 42,206 Avios for the same £242 saving during the promo. That is roughly 14,000 fewer Avios out of your balance for the same outcome.

Let us run the maths

This is where things get interesting, and where I would urge a bit of caution before getting carried away.

Normal Avios part-payment value: £242 / 56,275 = around 0.43p per Avios.

Promotional value (this week only): £242 / 42,206 = around 0.57p per Avios.

A 0.57p-per-Avios redemption is solid for cash-equivalent value, but it is still a fair way below what you would typically expect from a flight redemption, particularly in premium cabins. As a rough yardstick, a return Club World seat to New York at 160,000 Avios off-peak plus around £375 in taxes, set against cash fares that frequently sit in the £3,000-£4,000 range, lands you somewhere around 1.5-2p per Avios. Even economy reward redemptions on the right routes can comfortably beat 0.7p per Avios. We have got a wider piece on what an Avios point is actually worth if you want to dig deeper into the benchmarks.

In other words: this offer does not change the underlying rule that flight redemptions, particularly in premium cabins, are still typically a better use of Avios than holiday packages. The recent December 2025 BA devaluation nudged that bar a touch lower, but premium award flights still win on paper for most routes.

When the BA Holidays route makes sense

Despite the maths, there are still scenarios where I would genuinely consider this offer.

The first is when you simply cannot find award availability. BA reward seat availability for families or peak dates can be brutal, and that has only got worse after the latest devaluation. Booking via BA Holidays means any seat on any flight is fair game, and you can pay the lot in cash + Avios if you want. No frantic refreshing of Award Travel Finder at midnight to grab the two business class seats that just opened up.

The second is when you would be booking the holiday in cash anyway. If you have already decided on a flight + hotel package and want to chip away at the cash cost, this offer is essentially a 33%-boosted discount voucher on something you are buying regardless. That is harder to argue against.

The third is the tier points angle. Award redemptions earn no Avios and no tier points. BA Holidays bookings still earn both, which is meaningful if you are chasing or maintaining BA status. You can plug your fare class into our British Airways tier point calculator to see exactly how much you would bank.

The fourth is balance management. After two BA devaluations in eighteen months, sitting on a huge Avios stockpile is genuinely risky. Cashing some out into a holiday at 0.57p per Avios is a defensible way of locking in value rather than waiting for the next devaluation to chip away at it.

When to give it a miss

If you have a healthy Avios balance and your travel plans are flexible enough to chase reward availability, you will almost always extract more value from a straight redemption, particularly in Club World. Sanity-check what your route would cost first using our how many Avios for a flight tool before you commit any Avios to a holiday package.

Likewise, if you are considering topping up your Avios balance specifically to take advantage of this offer, the maths almost never works. Buying Avios at around 1p each only to spend them at 0.57p is a guaranteed loss. Our Avios Balance Booster calculator will quickly show you whether buying Avios from BA, Qatar Airways or Finnair makes sense for any other goal you have in mind.

My verdict

This is the best version of BA's Avios part-payment offer we have seen to date: a bigger bonus than January's 25%, a longer travel window, and you keep earning Avios and tier points on the trip. But the underlying truth has not changed. Avios are still worth more on a Club World seat than on a holiday package.

If you have already got a BA Holidays booking in mind and a balance you actively want to deploy, six days at 33% extra value is a fair window to act on it. Just do not let the headline number convince you to use Avios for a holiday when a flight redemption is sitting there as a meaningfully better option.

The offer runs until 23:59 on 18 May 2026, with travel to be completed by 27 March 2027.

Until next time, keep reaching for those redemption sweet spots.

Jack

Aspire Pre-Flight Hospitality has confirmed it is bringing its three-tier lounge concept to Birmingham Airport from Summer 2026, expanding well beyond what we usually see in a regional UK lounge refurbishment. The announcement, made on 12 May 2026, takes the format Aspire pioneered at Newcastle in 2024 and applies it to BHX, with three distinct products under one roof: the refurbished Aspire Lounge at £42.99, the new Luxe by Aspire at £52.99, and the Suite by Aspire at £62.99 for those wanting a "first-class style" experience.

For a regional UK airport that handled over 13 million passengers last year, this is a notable bit of investment. Aspire's parent Swissport welcomed 1.2 million guests across its UK and Ireland lounges in 2025, and the company is clearly pushing for that growth to accelerate by giving travellers a meaningful reason to spend more on the pre-flight experience.

But the more interesting question for points and miles readers is not whether the lounges look nice - they will - but what this means if you already hold Priority Pass, DragonPass or oneworld status. Let's get into the detail.

What's actually opening at BHX

Three products, three different audiences. The refurbished main Aspire Lounge will have 135 seats and remain the volume product - all travellers, all airlines, with hot food, drinks and runway views. Luxe by Aspire bumps capacity down to 104 seats and adds an enhanced food and beverage offering aimed at business and "upscale leisure" travellers. The Suite by Aspire takes the top tier with just 52 seats, à la carte menus and personal table-side service, which Aspire is explicitly comparing to first-class air travel.

The £10 gap between each tier is small enough to be tempting. Going from £42.99 to £52.99 to £62.99 doesn't feel like a meaningful financial commitment for someone already splashing out on a lounge visit, particularly on a family or special-occasion trip. That's almost certainly intentional - Aspire wants you to look at the Suite price and think "well, it's only ten quid more". These are pre-booking prices, by the way, so walk-up rates will likely be higher.

All three spaces will sit within Birmingham's wider commercial concourse development, with design cues borrowed from Birmingham's canal network and industrial heritage. Suite and Luxe guests get their own dedicated toilets, which sounds like a minor detail but is genuinely material - the current Aspire South lounge at Birmingham famously doesn't have its own bathroom facilities, and that has been a long-standing complaint on the lounge review sites.

Newcastle as the blueprint

Aspire didn't dream this concept up for Birmingham. Newcastle Airport got the world's first three-tier Aspire setup in May 2024, and that lounge has since picked up the World Luxury Awards' Best International Airport Lounge in the UK, so the formula clearly works in practice.

But there's a critical difference between Newcastle and Birmingham, and it's the most important detail in this announcement. Aspire has confirmed that Suite by Aspire at Newcastle is open to all travellers. Birmingham appears to be the first Aspire location anywhere where the Suite is openly available as a paid product to any traveller at £62.99. That makes it considerably more interesting for those of us who don't tend to fly Emirates out of regional UK airports.

It also suggests Aspire is testing whether the Suite concept can stand on its own commercially without being tied to an airline contract. If Birmingham works, expect to see the same playbook rolled out at Manchester (which is already on Aspire's 2026 opening list) and beyond.

Priority Pass and DragonPass holders: read the fine print

Here is where the analysis matters for our audience. Aspire's existing Birmingham lounges accept both Priority Pass and DragonPass for the standard product, and there's nothing in the announcement to suggest that will change for the refurbished Aspire Lounge in 2026. If you hold an American Express Platinum Business card (or the personal Platinum) and get Priority Pass through it, you should still walk into the new Aspire lounge for free.

The question is what happens at Luxe and Suite. The press release is silent on this, and Aspire hasn't published the formal access rules for the new tiers yet. Aspire has confirmed that Priority Pass and DragonPass users will be able to upgrade on the day to access both Luxe and Suite, with pricing currently being finalised.

I'd expect Birmingham to follow a similar model. So if you're a regular Priority Pass user, plan on the standard Aspire lounge being your free option, with a probable £10-£15 upgrade fee to step into Luxe. The Suite is likely to be a full cash booking, with no card-scheme entry route. That's not a criticism - it's the only way the maths works for Aspire on a 52-seat à la carte product - but it does mean Priority Pass holders should temper their expectations.

One useful place to keep an eye on this is our Airport Lounge Access Finder, which we'll update with the formal Birmingham access rules once Aspire publishes them ahead of the Summer 2026 opening.

Is the Suite worth £62.99?

This is the genuine question. Birmingham already has a perfectly capable premium option in the No1 Clubrooms, which currently runs at around £42 to £48 with waiter service, an adults-only environment and a credible à la carte menu. That's almost certainly going to remain the cheapest way to get table service at BHX.

So Aspire's Suite at £62.99 needs to deliver something noticeably better than Clubrooms to justify the £15-£20 premium. Based on the Newcastle Suite, what you're paying for is a more curated environment, restaurant-quality dishes prepared to order, dedicated meet-and-greet staff, and a genuine sense of separation from the busy main lounge. Whether that gap is worth it depends entirely on what mood you're in - and how much that pre-flight feeling matters to you.

For business travellers on tight expense margins, I struggle to see the maths working out over Clubrooms. For leisure travellers heading off on a big trip who want the experience to feel special from the start, it could land nicely. And for one-off occasions - a honeymoon, a milestone family holiday, a long-haul Emirates redemption out of BHX - £62.99 is genuinely not much money for what's effectively a private pre-flight restaurant experience. That's the segment Aspire is clearly targeting.

What I'd still like to know

Aspire has confirmed it is currently in advanced discussions with a number of airlines and partners regarding access across all three spaces in Birmingham. While there is still no formal confirmation on specific eligibility, this potentially opens the door for oneworld Emerald, Star Alliance Gold and SkyTeam Elite Plus passengers to receive access benefits depending on future airline agreements.

Aspire has confirmed the initial launch opening hours will be 03:30–20:30 for Luxe by Aspire and Suite by Aspire, and 04:00–20:30 for the Aspire Lounge. The company says opening hours will continue to be reviewed in line with partner airline schedules and passenger demand at Birmingham Airport.

Final thoughts

The arrival of the three-tier model at Birmingham is good news for travellers, even if you never pay the Suite price. The standard Aspire Lounge gets a full refurbishment with 135 seats and proper amenities, which addresses both the toilet problem and the dated feel of the current product. Luxe gives Priority Pass holders a tempting upgrade path. And the Suite gives Birmingham a genuine, openly-bookable, first-class-style lounge for the first time.

What I'd like to see before Summer 2026 is Aspire publishing the formal access rules for Priority Pass, DragonPass, Dreamfolks and partner airlines so that we can plan properly. The £10 gap between tiers is the kind of detail that makes this announcement interesting; the access rules are the kind of detail that determines whether we actually use any of it.

If you're flying out of BHX in the meantime and want to check current security wait times before deciding how early to arrive, Flight Queue's Birmingham page will tell you whether you've got time for a leisurely Suite breakfast or whether you're racing for the gate. Either way, Birmingham's lounge scene just got a lot more interesting.

✈️ Smart With Points

• • 🏨 Hotel News: Marriott Bonvoy Amex sign-up bonus tripled to 60,000 points - only the third time ever, ends 26th May

• • ✈️ Airline News: Qatar Airways offering up to 15% off flights plus 10,000 bonus Avios for Privilege Club members - but you must book by today

• • 💳 Credit Card News: GHA Discovery Dollars on sale at 15% discount until 2nd June - up to D$5,000 per member

• • 🚨 Urgent: Etihad Global Sale on Economy and Business fares up to 30% off - booking window closes tomorrow

60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points is sitting on the table right now - and this exact offer has only appeared twice before. If you've been waiting for the right moment to (re)start your Amex relationship, this might be it.

🤓 UK Points Trivia

Here's a quick one before we get into today's main story...

How many Marriott Bonvoy points does the standard (non-promotional) sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card offer?

• 🟡 10,000 points

• 🔵 20,000 points

• 🟣 40,000 points

• ⚫ 60,000 points

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

🏨 Marriott Bonvoy Amex Just Tripled Its Sign-Up Bonus to 60,000 Points

Why 60,000 Points Beats the Usual Offer by a Country Mile - and Converts Into 25,000 Avios

Until Tuesday 26th May, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is offering a sign-up bonus of 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points - three times the standard 20,000 points. This is only the third time this offer has ever appeared, and it typically lands once a year at best.

To qualify, you need to spend £3,000 within your first three months of card membership. That's it. No complex categories, no hoops to jump through.

So what's 60,000 Bonvoy points actually worth? Let's do the maths.

• £300 in hotel stays at roughly 0.5p per Bonvoy point - a solid baseline

• 25,000 Avios (or miles with 40+ other airlines) via the 3:1 conversion - with a 5,000-mile bonus when converting a full 60,000 points

• Potentially more if you redeem strategically - one reader reportedly got 1.7p per point at a luxury property with cash rates over £1,000 per night

The 25,000 Avios angle is worth pausing on. At our standard estimate of 1p per Avios, that's £250 in flight value - which actually beats the straight hotel redemption. Use our Avios Value Calculator to see what 25,000 Avios could get you on a specific route.

Heads up: you cannot have held a personal Amex card in the previous 24 months to qualify for the bonus. That does knock out a chunk of regular collectors. But - and this is key - if you've only held an Amex Business card in the last 24 months, you still qualify. Same if you've only been a supplementary cardholder on someone else's account.

And here's the strategic play: getting this card now doesn't burn your eligibility for the BA Amex Premium Plus or the Amex Platinum bonus later. So if you haven't had a personal Amex for two years, the Marriott Bonvoy card is a great way to restart the clock - collect 60,000 Bonvoy points, then come back for the big Amex bonuses.

The card costs £95 per year and comes with 15 Elite Night Credits annually, which lands you Silver Elite status automatically - and puts you just 10 actual hotel nights away from Gold Elite in 2026. If you can do 35 nights a year at Marriott properties, the 15 free elite nights make Platinum Elite (with suite upgrades, lounge access, and guaranteed 4pm check-out) genuinely achievable. There's also a path to Gold Elite via £15,000 spend on the card, and a free night voucher at the £25,000 spend mark.

One more thing worth knowing: Marriott allows you to transfer up to 100,000 points per year to another member for free. So if your partner or a family member qualifies and you don't, it's worth a conversation.

✈️ Qatar Airways Slashes Fares 15% and Hands Out 10,000 Bonus Avios - But Only Until Tonight

The Privilege Club Perk That Turns a Fare Discount Into Double Value

Qatar Airways is running a promotion that's genuinely worth acting on quickly - and we mean quickly, because the booking window closes today, Wednesday 13th May.

Privilege Club members can get up to 15% off eligible paid fares for travel through October 2026, plus earn up to 10,000 bonus Avios depending on the cabin you fly. The travel window is generous - it's the booking deadline that's the knife-edge.

The math is compelling: a return Business Class fare to Doha from London Heathrow can easily run to £2,000+. A 15% discount saves you £300+ on that booking alone - and you'd still bank 10,000 bonus Avios on top of your standard earning. At 1p per Avios, those bonus points are worth another £100 in future redemptions.

Use our Qatar Avios Award Flight Finder if you want to compare the points route alongside the discounted cash fare - sometimes the award option still wins, especially in Business.

Warning: you need to book by the end of today. The travel period runs through October 2026, but that booking window is not moving. If you have a Qatar flight in mind, don't sleep on this one.

💳 Avios for Champions League and World Cup Tickets Via Qatar Privilege Club

The Sporting Events Angle That BA Could Never Offer Its Members

One of the more unusual benefits of Qatar Airways using Avios as its loyalty currency has quietly surfaced again: you can bid Avios for Champions League and World Cup tickets through the Privilege Club programme.

This is the kind of benefit British Airways simply could never justify investing in - it makes commercial sense for a hub airline with global brand exposure, but not a point-to-point carrier. For UK collectors who earn Avios via BA and then transfer them to Qatar's Privilege Club, this opens up a genuinely different redemption avenue.

Honestly? For most readers the flight redemptions will still dominate. But if you're sitting on a large Avios balance and have no near-term travel plans, it's worth knowing this option exists. Avios earned on the BA Amex or through Tesco Clubcard transfers can all flow into Privilege Club and be used for these bids.

In my opinion, the real story here is that the Avios ecosystem keeps getting wider - and the Qatar connection is a big part of that. Use the Points Converter to see how your current balances could flow across programmes.

🚨 Deal Alert: GHA Discovery Dollars at 15% Off - Boutique Hotel Value for Points Collectors

Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) is running a 15% discount on Discovery Dollars (D$) until Monday 2nd June. Members can buy up to D$5,000 at the discounted rate, regardless of tier. GHA covers independent luxury and boutique properties worldwide - a different universe from the big chains, and often better value in destinations like Greece, Asia, and the Middle East. Discovery Dollars can be used toward most rates at participating hotels. Worth a look if you have upcoming stays planned at GHA properties or want to stock up at a discount.

🚨 Deal Alert: Etihad Sale on Economy and Business - Up to 30% Off, Book by Tomorrow

Etihad has launched a Global Sale with up to 30% off Economy and Business Class base fares for travel through October 2026. The booking window closes tomorrow, Thursday 14th May. This is worth flagging because Etihad no longer has a UK credit card, making cash fares with this kind of discount genuinely the best entry point for the programme. Pair with Etihad's current 35% discount on buying Etihad Guest miles (ends 24th May) if you want to top up your balance before redeeming for the return leg. Business Class fares from London to Abu Dhabi or beyond are frequently well over £1,500, so a 30% saving here is material - we're talking £450+ back in your pocket.

🌎 Trivia Reveal

The answer was 🔵 20,000 points - that's the standard (non-promotional) sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card. Right now, that's been tripled to 60,000 points until 26th May. Only the third time that's happened. If you qualify, the case for applying before the deadline is pretty hard to argue against.

💬 Quick Question

Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors - which hotel programme do you get more value from in the UK and Europe? I've hit Titanium with Marriott (a large chunk of those nights came from card credits, not actual hotel stays) but I'd love to know where our readers are placing their bets. Hit reply - I read every single response.

That's it for today - but remember: the Qatar Airways deal offering 15% off fares and up to 10,000 bonus Avios ends tonight. If you have a Qatar booking in mind, today is the day to make it happen - don't let this one slide to tomorrow.

💳 Best UK Card Signup Offers Right Now

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

2. Business Platinum Card: 40,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. Business Gold Card: 20,000 points after spending £3,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

✈️ Award Deals This Week

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

• The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands - 3.4cpp value

• Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique - 2.5cpp value

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

Buy Points & Miles Deals:

• Air France–KLM (Flying Blue): 80% bonus at 1.69¢ (ends May 31, 2026)

• Etihad (Guest): 35% discount at 2.08¢ (ends May 24, 2026)

• Hilton (Honors): 100% bonus at 0.5¢ (ends May 29, 2026)

• Marriott (Bonvoy): 40% bonus at 0.89¢ (ends June 23, 2026)

Browse every award deal we track at AwardTravelFinder.com →

🎯 Award Deals We're Tracking

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

✈️ Smart With Points

• • 💳 Credit Card News: BA Amex cardholders can earn up to 10,000 bonus Avios for adding a free supplementary card - offer ends 30 June 2026

• • ✈️ Airline News: Italy ATC strike today (Monday 11 May) has cancelled 38% of ITA Airways flights - check your connections

• • 🏨 Hotel News: Marriott Bonvoy 20% off Escapes promotion for stays May 15-31 must be booked by this Sunday

• • ✈️ Airline News: Emirates Skywards is offering 20% bonus tier and award miles plus 20% reduced tier qualification requirements through 31 August 2026

Most BA Amex cardholders are sitting on a points earn machine they're only half-using - and right now, Amex is handing out up to 10,000 bonus Avios just for flipping the switch on a feature many people don't even know exists on their card.

🤓 UK Points Trivia

Which BA American Express card earns the MOST bonus Avios for adding a supplementary card under the current Amex promotion?

• 🔵 BA Amex (the free card)

• 🟡 BA Amex Premium Plus

• 🟣 Both cards offer the same bonus

• ⚫ Neither card is included in the promotion

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

💳 Your BA Amex Just Unlocked 10,000 Free Avios - You Just Need to Share It

The Supplementary Card Trick Most BA Cardholders Haven't Tried Yet

Until 30 June 2026, American Express is running a bonus Avios promotion on the British Airways Amex cards - and it's one of the easiest wins in UK points collecting right now.

The mechanic is simple: add your first supplementary card to your existing BA Amex account, and Amex will reward you with bonus Avios. A supplementary card is essentially an extra card issued on your account for someone else to use - typically a partner, spouse, or family member. They get their own card with their own name on it, but their spending feeds directly into your Avios balance.

The bonus tiers out depending on which BA Amex you hold. The free BA Amex card offers a bonus at the lower end, whilst the BA Amex Premium Plus - the £300/year card - unlocks up to 10,000 bonus Avios. At our standard estimate of 1p per Avios, that's £100 of value for doing almost nothing.

The supplementary card itself is free to add. That's the part worth emphasising - you're not paying anything extra. You add a card for your partner, they tap it at Sainsbury's, and the Avios roll into your account. They also benefit from Amex purchase protection and the card's travel perks.

Worth noting: this same bonus already ran on Amex Gold and Platinum cards a few weeks ago, and now it's been extended to the BA co-branded range. If you missed the Gold or Platinum version, you can't double-dip on those - but if you hold a BA Amex and haven't added a supplementary card yet, this is a clean separate opportunity.

To put the math in context: 10,000 Avios could cover a return short-haul Reward Flight Saver fare to cities like Amsterdam, Paris, or Dublin (off-peak from around 8,000 Avios return plus taxes). Use our BA Avios Flight Calculator to see exactly what 10,000 Avios could unlock for your next trip.

Bottom line: if you or your partner holds a BA Amex and you've never added a supplementary card, this is genuinely one of the lowest-effort Avios earns available right now. The deadline is 30 June 2026 - not urgent yet, but don't let it drift.

✈️ Italy Flights Are a Mess Today - Here's What You Need to Act On

ATC Strike Plus EasyJet Crew Action Means Serious Disruption Through This Evening

If you or anyone you know has flights through Italy today (Monday 11 May), this is worth flagging urgently. An Italian Air Traffic Controller strike is running alongside separate industrial action by EasyJet pilots and cabin crew, creating a double-hit of disruption.

ITA Airways has cancelled 38% of its scheduled flights for the day, predominantly on short-haul routes. Strikes in Italy typically protect certain windows: flights between 7am-10am and 6pm-9pm are supposed to be guaranteed operational, but outside those windows, disruption is significant.

If you're transiting through Rome Fiumicino or Milan Malpensa to pick up a connecting long-haul flight today, check your booking now. EC261/2004 protections apply for EU-regulated flights, meaning if you're denied boarding or your flight is cancelled, you're entitled to re-routing and potentially compensation.

For points travellers specifically: if your award booking is affected, call the relevant airline's executive club or loyalty line rather than sitting in an online queue. Direct calls to BA, Virgin, or whatever carrier issued the ticket will get you rebooked faster than most online tools right now.

🏅 Emirates Skywards Just Made Summer 2026 Status Runs Significantly Cheaper

20% More Miles Earned AND 20% Less Required to Hit the Next Tier - Both Running to August

Emirates Skywards has launched a genuinely compelling double-sided promotion running 8 May through 31 August 2026. Members earn a 20% bonus on both Tier Miles and Award Miles for flights flown during the period, AND the tier qualification requirements are reduced by 20%. Both sides of the deal stack together.

In practical terms: if you were hovering near a status threshold with Emirates - say, eyeing Silver or Gold - you now need 20% fewer Tier Miles to qualify, while simultaneously earning 20% more miles per flight. That's a meaningful swing if you have Dubai, Heathrow, or any Emirates itinerary planned this summer.

Heads up: this applies to flights flown during the promo window, not just booked. So a flight booked today but operating in September won't count. Check fares now using our Emirates Miles Calculator to model what your summer itinerary could earn.

And honestly? If you've been on the fence about a long-haul Emirates booking this summer, the reduced qualification bar combined with the bonus earn makes this one of the better arguments for just going ahead and booking it.

🚨 Deal Alert: Marriott Bonvoy 20% Off - Book By This Sunday

Marriott is running a 20% Escapes discount for stays between 15-31 May 2026 across select properties in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. The booking deadline is this Sunday - so you need to act before the week is out. Bonvoy members get the full 20% off; non-members are capped at 15%. The rates are flexible, meaning no prepayment required - you can cancel if plans change. Some select members have also been emailed a 25% off version, so check your inbox before booking at the standard rate.

🚨 Deal Alert: Hilton Buy Points at 100% Bonus - Ends 29 May

Hilton Honors is currently offering a 100% bonus on purchased points, meaning you effectively buy points at 0.5¢ each (roughly 0.4p per point). This runs until Thursday 29 May. Buying points only makes sense if you have a specific redemption in mind - use this if you're a few thousand short of a specific free night and the award value beats what you'd pay in cash. Heads up: Hilton points purchased outright rarely beat top-tier cash rates at aspirational properties, so run the numbers on your target hotel before pulling the trigger.

🌎 Trivia Reveal

The answer is 🟣 Both cards offer the same bonus structure - BUT the BA Amex Premium Plus unlocks the higher end of the bonus, up to 10,000 Avios, while the free BA Amex sits at the lower tier. So if you hold the Premium Plus, this is where the bonus is most lucrative. Either way, both BA Amex cards are included in the promotion - it's just the ceiling that differs.

💬 Quick Question

Have you ever added a supplementary card on your Amex (BA or otherwise) and actually tracked how much it added to your Avios balance? I'd love to know whether anyone's done the maths on their household earn vs solo. Hit reply - I read every response!

That's it for today - but one final nudge: the Marriott Bonvoy 20% Escapes offer disappears this Sunday. If you've got a UK staycation or European break in mind for the second half of May, booking today costs you nothing extra (flexible rates, no prepayment) but saves you 20% off the bill. Don't leave it until Monday morning.

💳 Best UK Card Signup Offers Right Now

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Business Gold Card: 60,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

2. Business Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

✈️ Award Deals This Week

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

• W Osaka - 1.4cpp value

• Waldorf Astoria Park City - 2.6cpp value

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

Buy Points & Miles Deals:

• Etihad (Guest): 35% discount at 2.08¢ (ends May 24, 2026)

• Hilton (Honors): 100% bonus at 0.5¢ (ends May 29, 2026)

• Marriott (Bonvoy): 40% bonus at 0.89¢ (ends June 23, 2026)

Browse every award deal we track at AwardTravelFinder.com →

🎯 Award Deals We're Tracking

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

✈️ Smart With Points

• ✈️ Prize Draw: BA and Amex launch a 1,000,000 Avios giveaway to mark 25 years of their partnership - plus 25 runner-up prizes of 100,000 Avios each

• ✈️ Route News: Virgin Atlantic scraps Dubai for the entire Winter 2026/27 season - no resumption planned until at least Summer 2027

• 🏨 Hotel Bonus: IHG One Rewards launches its summer Pick Your Points promotion - earn up to 8,000 bonus points every 4 nights (registration required)

• 💳 Transfer Bonus: Convert Avios into ALL Accor hotel points with a 50% bonus - but this ends Monday 19th May

One million Avios. Not a flash sale, not a credit card sign-up target - just a straight-up prize draw with the biggest single Avios giveaway we've seen from BA and Amex in years.

🤓 UK Points Trivia

BA and Amex are celebrating how many years of their co-branded card partnership with this prize draw?

• 🟡 20 years

• 🔵 25 years

• 🟣 30 years

• ⚫ 15 years

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

🎉 BA and Amex Just Put 1,000,000 Avios Up for Grabs

The One Prize That Could Fund Two Long-Haul Business Class Returns - In One Draw

British Airways and American Express are marking 25 years of their co-branded card partnership with a prize draw that's genuinely worth your attention. The top prize is 1,000,000 Avios - and beyond that, there are 25 further prizes of 100,000 Avios each. That's 26 separate winners in total.

To put that top prize in context: 1,000,000 Avios is enough to fly two people return to Tokyo in Club World multiple times over. Using our BA Avios flight calculator, a return Club World flight to Tokyo costs around 160,000 Avios plus taxes. So the top prize alone could theoretically cover six of those.

Even the runner-up prizes are serious. 100,000 Avios is enough for a return Business Class flight to the US or a long-haul redemption to parts of Africa or Asia - comfortably worth £1,000+ in redemption value at our standard estimate of 1p per Avios.

The draw is open to holders of either of the British Airways American Express cards - that's the BA Amex (free) or the BA Premium Plus card. If you hold one, you're eligible to enter.

Heads up: full terms and conditions aren't yet widely published, so it's worth checking your card app or the BA Executive Club website directly to confirm entry details and any closing date. This is a genuine promotion tied to the partnership anniversary - not a points earning offer, just a free-to-enter draw.

Don't hold either card? The BA Premium Plus Amex currently comes with a substantial welcome bonus and earns 3 Avios per £1 on BA spend, 1.5 Avios per £1 everywhere else. The annual fee is £295, but the companion voucher (a 2-4-1 on Reward Flights when you spend £10,000 in a year) can easily justify the cost on a single long-haul redemption.

✈️ Virgin Atlantic Just Pulled Dubai for the Whole Winter Season

Not a Temporary Gap - Dubai Disappears from the VS Schedule Until at Least Summer 2027

Virgin Atlantic has confirmed it will not operate any flights to Dubai during the entire Winter 2026/27 season. This isn't a temporary scheduling gap - flights were expected to resume in late October as normal, but that's now off the table entirely.

This follows Virgin's earlier cancellation of its Riyadh route. The airline is also boosting capacity on South Africa routes to compensate, but for anyone who had Virgin Points earmarked for a Dubai redemption this winter, you'll need to rethink.

The practical implication: if you want to reach Dubai using points from the UK this winter, you're looking at BA via Avios (which remains an option), Emirates, or transferring to a Middle East carrier. Worth checking available Virgin Points redemption alternatives using our Virgin Atlantic reward seat finder to see what's still open.

Warning: if you have existing bookings on VS to Dubai in the Winter 2026/27 period, contact Virgin Atlantic directly about rebooking or refund options. Don't wait for them to contact you first.

🏨 50% Bonus Converting Avios to ALL Accor Hotel Points - Ends Monday

Novotel, Pullman, Sofitel, Raffles: Your Avios Are Worth More as Hotel Nights Right Now

Until Monday 19th May, you can convert Avios into ALL Accor loyalty points with a 50% bonus via Finnair Plus. The mechanics: you send Avios to Finnair Plus first, then convert into ALL points - and during this window, every 750 Avios you convert becomes 750 ALL points (instead of the standard 500).

ALL Accor covers Novotel, Pullman, Mercure, Sofitel, Raffles, ibis and many more - so there's genuine breadth here for UK travellers. If you've been sitting on Avios but can't find a flight redemption you love, this is a decent alternative route to hotel nights.

The maths: at our standard estimate of 1p per Avios, you'd want to make sure the hotel nights you're unlocking are genuinely worth the conversion. ALL points typically yield around 2 euro cents per point on redemptions - so run the numbers before you transfer. It's not always better than just holding Avios, but for Accor loyalists with surplus points, the 50% boost changes the equation meaningfully.

Heads up: the transfer route goes Avios - Finnair Plus - ALL Accor, so you'll need a Finnair Plus account set up. Allow time for the transfer to process before the deadline.

🚨 Deal Alert: IHG Summer Bonus - 8,000 Points Every 4 Nights

IHG One Rewards has launched its summer Pick Your Points promotion for stays between 20th May and 31st August 2026. You choose between earning 2,000 bonus points every 2 nights, or 8,000 bonus points every 4 nights. The maths on the second option is better if you tend to stay for longer stretches - 8,000 points for 4 nights versus 8,000 points for 4x2 night stretches are effectively equivalent, but the 4-night option concentrates the earning.

You must register before your first eligible stay. IHG covers Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, Kimpton, and more. Registration is required - the bonus won't apply automatically. Head to the IHG One Rewards website to sign up. Eligible for members outside Greater China.

🚨 Deal Alert: Which BA Avios Routes Actually Have Award Seats Available?

Not all BA long-haul routes behave the same when Avios seats drop at midnight, 355 days out. Some routes release eight economy, two premium economy, and four business class seats on day one - and those business class seats on popular routes (think New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo) can be gone in minutes. On quieter routes, those same seats sit untouched for weeks.

If you're planning an Avios redemption this summer or beyond, use our BA Reward Avios Flight Finder to check what's actually available on your route before you set your alarm for midnight. Knowing whether your route is 'competitive' or 'relaxed' changes how aggressively you need to hunt for seats - and could save you a very early morning.

🌎 Trivia Reveal

The answer is 🔵 25 years. BA and Amex have been co-branded card partners since 2001, and to mark the occasion they've put up a 1,000,000 Avios top prize - plus 25 runner-up prizes of 100,000 Avios each, one for each year of the partnership. A neat bit of symmetry.

💬 Quick Question

If you won 1,000,000 Avios tomorrow, what's the first redemption you'd make? Business Class to Japan? A cluster of short-haul returns for the family? Or something more creative? Hit reply - genuinely curious what our readers would do with a million points.

That's it for today - but don't forget the Avios-to-ALL Accor 50% transfer bonus closes this Monday 19th May. If you've been meaning to check whether your Avios are worth more as hotel nights right now, that window is closing fast. Run the numbers this weekend before it's gone.

🗺️ Wallpaper of the day: Singapore (SIN)

Singapore (SIN) — from the World Hubs pack

Frequent flyer? Make every device look the part. 5+ hand-designed airport maps, formatted for iPhone, iPad, Mac and desktop.

💳 Best UK Card Signup Offers Right Now

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Business Gold Card: 60,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

2. Business Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

✈️ Award Deals This Week

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

• JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa - 1.8cpp value

• Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi - 2.7cpp value

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

Buy Points & Miles Deals:

• Etihad (Guest): 35% discount at 2.08¢ (ends May 24, 2026)

• Hilton (Honors): 100% bonus at 0.5¢ (ends May 29, 2026)

• Marriott (Bonvoy): 40% bonus at 0.89¢ (ends June 23, 2026)

Browse every award deal we track at AwardTravelFinder.com →

🎯 Award Deals We're Tracking

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

Singapore Airlines has just dropped one of the most interesting European network announcements we've seen all year. From 26 October 2026, the carrier will return to Madrid for the first time since 2004, operating five-times-weekly via Barcelona. That's the headline - but there's plenty more here for UK readers, including Manchester and London Gatwick both going daily for the first time, plus a brand-new Munich frequency and Milan going daily. The full press release is on the Singapore Airlines newsroom.

Madrid joins the network after a 22-year gap

SIA last served Madrid in 2003-04 before pulling out during the SARS outbreak (and even then, the Spanish capital had only ever been an intermediate point on a longer routing). The new SQ388/SQ387 service will route Singapore-Barcelona-Madrid five times per week, restructuring the existing twice-weekly Singapore-Barcelona direct services. That makes Madrid SIA's 14th European destination and its second in Spain. The aircraft will be the long-haul variant of the Airbus A350-900, configured with 253 seats across all four cabins.

Routing via Barcelona is a sensible commercial compromise. Madrid is a serious business hub, but a Singapore-Madrid nonstop would have been a stretch outside peak season. The Barcelona stop adds a meaningful local market and mirrors what works for Cathay Pacific, which has run a strong Madrid operation off the back of Iberia's hub for years. For points collectors, the new Barcelona-Madrid leg should also create some interesting fifth-freedom intra-Europe opportunities once seats load.

Big news for UK travellers

The Manchester upgrade is the most consequential UK change in this announcement. From 13 July 2026, Singapore-Manchester (SQ302/SQ301) goes from five-times weekly to daily. This has been telegraphed for a while - back in late 2024, SIA secured slots for up to 15 weekly Manchester flights, and we've now got our answer about how they'd use them. For Northern UK travellers wanting to reach Singapore or onwards across Asia and Australia without trekking to Heathrow, this is a genuinely meaningful frequency boost.

London Gatwick gets the same treatment. From 25 October 2026, the three-times-weekly Singapore-Gatwick service (SQ314/SQ313) goes daily. Add that to the four daily Heathrow flights, and SIA will be running six daily services between Singapore and London. The Gatwick service only launched in June 2024, so going from launch to daily inside 28 months is a strong signal of how it has performed.

Milan goes daily, Munich gets a third frequency

Singapore-Milan (SQ356/SQ355) increases from four-times weekly to daily from 25 October 2026. The current three-times-weekly Singapore-Milan-Barcelona tag service is being scrapped from 27 October 2026, with that capacity redirected into the new Madrid extension. Munich gains a brand-new three-times-weekly SQ340/SQ339 service from 26 October 2026, taking the city to 10 weekly services overall - a notable rebound considering Munich was cut to just five weekly flights during February 2026.

What does this mean for points collectors?

Singapore Airlines is a Star Alliance carrier, which means UK Avios collectors don't get a direct path here - Avios are oneworld currency. But there are still several relevant points routes worth knowing about:

• KrisFlyer - direct redemption with the operating carrier, and SIA tends to release reasonable Saver award space well in advance for new routes

• Air Canada Aeroplan - often the sweet spot for SIA Star Alliance redemptions, particularly in premium cabins

• Lufthansa Miles & More - useful for European stopovers and tag-on bookings

• ANA Mileage Club - historically one of the cheapest ways to redeem on Singapore Suites and First Class

American Express Membership Rewards in the UK transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer, giving Amex Platinum and Gold cardholders a direct route to redeem on these new services. SIA also runs monthly Spontaneous Escapes promotions offering up to 30% off Saver awards - well worth watching for once Madrid loads into the schedule. To scout availability when seats release, Smart Redemptions is great for browsing alongside Google Flights, and Award Travel Finder covers a growing list of programmes for direct award searches.

My take

What I find most striking about this announcement isn't actually Madrid - it's the message it sends about SIA's UK strategy. Going daily from Manchester and Gatwick simultaneously, on top of an already-massive Heathrow operation, is a confident bet. SIA was making real cuts to European capacity over winter 2025-26 (Heathrow dropped from four to three daily for stretches; Munich went down to five weekly), so seeing the airline turn around and add this much UK and European capacity heading into the next winter is striking. Either UK demand has been performing very well, or SIA wants to lock in market share before competitors close the gap.

Madrid via Barcelona is the right commercial call. A nonstop would have grabbed bigger headlines, but would likely have struggled in shoulder seasons. By tagging Madrid onto Barcelona, SIA captures both markets while only marginally extending the route. The bigger question is what happens to overall award availability on the Barcelona service once Madrid demand kicks in - if Spain proves strong end-to-end, Saver seats out of BCN may become noticeably tougher to grab.

All the new and expanded services remain subject to regulatory approvals, so exact dates could shift slightly - but with the press release out, the new schedules should load into SIA's booking engine over the next few weeks. If you've been sitting on KrisFlyer miles, Membership Rewards, or Aeroplan points waiting for a 2027 Spain or Asia trip, this is a good moment to start watching the calendar.

Have you been planning a KrisFlyer redemption or are these new UK frequencies on your radar? Hit reply and let me know - I always enjoy hearing how readers are using these new options.

✈️ Smart With Points

• • 💳 Credit Card News: Amex Business Gold triple bonus (60,000 MR points, free Year 1) closed yesterday - here's what the offer delivered and what to do if you missed it

• • ✈️ Airline News: BA Avios seats on certain long-haul routes vanish within seconds of midnight - a guide to which routes need a 355-day alarm

• • 🏨 Hotel News: World of Hyatt is quietly making suites the best-value redemption in the programme ahead of its pricing shake-up

• • 🏨 Hotel News: Emirates Skywards is running bonus Tier Miles and reduced tier requirements through August 31, 2026 - easier status just became real

The Amex Business Gold triple bonus closed at midnight - and if you got it in time, you're sitting on 60,000 Membership Rewards points worth roughly £600 at 1p per point. If you didn't, there's still a lot to work with this week - from BA's midnight availability secrets to a Hyatt suite trick that most collectors haven't clocked yet.

🤓 UK Points Trivia

The Amex Business Gold 60,000 MR bonus required hitting a spend target within 3 months. But what was the standard (non-elevated) sign-up bonus on the same card before the promotion ran?

• 🟡 10,000 MR points

• 🔵 20,000 MR points

• 🟣 30,000 MR points

• ⚫ 40,000 MR points

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

💳 Amex Business Gold Just Closed Its Triple Bonus - What 60,000 MR Points Was Actually Worth

The Conversions That Made This Offer Genuinely Exceptional

The elevated offer on the Amex Business Gold closed yesterday (Tuesday 5th May). If you applied in time and hit the £6,000 spend within 3 months, you qualified for 60,000 Membership Rewards points - triple the standard 20,000-point bonus. That's a meaningful gap.

So what could you do with 60,000 MR points? The headline conversion is 60,000 Avios at a 1:1 ratio - or equally 60,000 Virgin Points. At 1p per Avios, that's £600 in value before you've even thought about a premium cabin redemption, where you can often stretch it further.

Beyond Avios, those same 60,000 points could also convert to:

• 120,000 Hilton Honors points (useful for free nights at UK and European properties)

• 90,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (roughly 1-2 free nights at mid-tier properties)

• 60,000 Flying Blue miles (handy for Air France/KLM redemptions to Europe and beyond)

• 30,000 Emirates Skywards miles

Worth noting: in the absolute worst case, you could redeem 60,000 MR points for £300 in high street gift cards - but you'd be leaving significant value on the table. If you transferred to Avios and used them on a short-haul redemption, the same points could cover a return to Rome, Barcelona or Athens in economy for two people.

Use our Avios Value Calculator to work out what your Avios are actually worth before you decide where to send them.

One important update from earlier this year: sole traders can no longer apply for Amex Business Gold or Business Platinum. You must be a Director of a Limited Company or a Member of a Limited Liability Partnership. The only Amex small business card now open to sole traders is the BA Amex Accelerating Business Card.

The good news for those who did apply: all restrictions on who qualifies for the bonus were removed in 2024. Even if you've had Business Platinum or personal Amex Gold before, you could still get the full 60,000-point bonus - as long as your application was approved and you hit the spend target.

✈️ The BA Avios Routes That Vanish at Midnight (and the Ones That Don't)

Why Setting a 355-Day Alarm Only Matters for Certain Destinations

BA releases Avios reward seats at midnight GMT, 355 days before departure. The guaranteed allocation on day one is eight seats in economy, two in premium economy, and four in business class. But here's the thing - on some routes, those four business class seats are gone before most people have even opened their laptop. On others, they sit there for weeks.

The key variable is demand relative to the route. Long-haul routes to popular leisure destinations - think the Maldives, Bali, New York in peak season, or Tokyo in cherry blossom season - tend to see seats evaporate within minutes of midnight. If you want business class Avios on those routes, a 355-day alarm is essentially non-negotiable.

Contrast that with routes where award demand is lower or where BA operates multiple daily frequencies. Some long-haul business class seats on quieter routes sit available for weeks, giving you time to plan properly rather than scrambling at midnight.

The practical implication: not all Avios searches need to happen at midnight. If you're targeting a competitive route, the 355-day window matters enormously. If you're flexible on destination, checking regularly can surface seats that appear throughout the booking window as BA manages its inventory.

Our BA Reward Avios Flight Finder can help you spot which routes have availability right now - useful if you missed the 355-day window or want to check what's sitting unclaimed.

🏨 World of Hyatt Just Made Suites the Programme's Best-Value Redemption

Book Suites Before the Five-Band Pricing Overhaul Lands

World of Hyatt is undergoing a significant structural change this year. The existing three pricing bands per category are being expanded to five - which means more granularity, but also more scope for points requirements to creep upwards at popular properties.

The silver lining is that Hyatt has confirmed it will retain a reward chart - genuinely rare in today's loyalty landscape where variable pricing is increasingly the norm. But the insight worth paying attention to right now is this: suites have quietly become the sweet spot inside the programme.

The reason is simple: suite redemptions are still priced at a relatively modest premium over standard room rates in many categories. Given that the new pricing structure could shift where suites land across categories, the current pricing window represents good value for anyone sitting on Hyatt points and considering a more luxurious stay.

If you're transferring Amex MR points to World of Hyatt (at 1:1 ratio), this is worth factoring into your planning now - before the new bands take effect and the best suite redemptions potentially cost more points.

🚨 Deal Alert: Hilton Points at Half Price - 100% Bonus Ends May 29th

Hilton Honors is currently running a 100% bonus on purchased points, meaning you effectively pay 0.5¢ per Hilton point. Remember, 60,000 Amex MR points convert to 120,000 Hilton Honors points at a 1:2 ratio - so buying points directly at this rate could top up your balance meaningfully ahead of a summer stay.

Heads up: buying points is rarely the most efficient strategy on its own - but if you're just short for a specific free night, this promotion closes the gap cheaply. The deal runs until Thursday 29th May. Check the Hilton Honors website directly to purchase.

🚨 Deal Alert: Emirates Skywards Running Bonus Tier Miles Through August 31st

Emirates Skywards has quietly launched a promotion running from 1st May to 31st August 2026 offering accelerated access to programme tiers via bonus Tier Miles and reduced tier requirements. If you're within striking distance of Silver, Gold, or Platinum status with Emirates, this is worth running the numbers on.

Warning: Emirates hasn't made this promotion particularly visible on its website - so you may need to log in and check your account for the specific targets. The promotion applies to travel booked and flown within the window, and the deadline is Sunday 31st August. Use our Emirates Miles Calculator to check what redemptions make sense before chasing status.

🌎 Trivia Reveal

The answer is 🔵 20,000 MR points. The standard (non-elevated) sign-up bonus on the Amex Business Gold is 20,000 Membership Rewards points. The promotion that just closed was offering triple that - 60,000 points - making it an exceptionally strong offer by comparison. At the standard rate, the card still earns 1 MR point per £1 spent plus the £100 Dell credit and Amex Travel spend bonuses.

💬 Quick Question

BA's midnight Avios seat release is a bit of a ritual for serious collectors - but do you actually set alarms for the 355-day window? Or do you find availability through other means? Hit reply and let me know your approach - genuinely curious how many of you are midnight booking veterans versus those who've never set a 355-day alert in your life. No judgement either way! 😄

Also - if you're new here and want a full breakdown of how to find and book BA Avios seats, follow us on Instagram @smartwithpoints where we post availability alerts and tips regularly.

That's it for today - but one last nudge: the Hilton 100% points bonus ends Thursday 29th May and if you're planning a summer stay and sitting just short of a free night threshold, now is the cheapest moment to top up. Don't leave it until the last week.

“AI is Going to Fundamentally Change…Everything”

That’s what NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang just said about the AI boom, even calling it “the largest infrastructure buildout in human history.”

NVIDIA’s chips made this real-time revolution possible, but now it’s collaborating with Miso to unlock amazing new advances in robotics.

Already a first-mover in the $1T fast-food industry, Miso’s AI-powered Flippy Fry Station robots have worked 200K+ hours for leading brands like White Castle, just surpassing 5M+ baskets of fried food.

And this latest NVIDIA collaboration unlocks up to 35% faster performance for Miso’s robots, which can cook perfect fried foods 24/7. In an industry experiencing 144% labor turnover, where speed is key, those gains can be game-changing.

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🗺️ Wallpaper of the day: Amsterdam (AMS)

Amsterdam (AMS) — from the UK & Europe Hubs pack

Frequent flyer? Make every device look the part. 5+ hand-designed airport maps, formatted for iPhone, iPad, Mac and desktop.

💳 Best UK Card Signup Offers Right Now

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Business Gold Card: 60,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

2. Business Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

✈️ Award Deals This Week

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

• Prince de Galles, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Paris - 11.6cpp value

• Calala Island, an SLH Hotel - 2.2cpp value

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

Buy Points & Miles Deals:

• Etihad (Guest): 35% discount at 2.08¢ (ends May 24, 2026)

• Hilton (Honors): 100% bonus at 0.5¢ (ends May 29, 2026)

• Marriott (Bonvoy): 40% bonus at 0.89¢ (ends June 23, 2026)

Browse every award deal we track at AwardTravelFinder.com →

🎯 Award Deals We're Tracking

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

Virgin Atlantic has just announced a refresh of its onboard menu for Spring/Summer 2026, with new dishes rolling out across the network from tomorrow (6 May). It is a seasonal refresh on paper, but a few things stood out to me as a Flying Club Gold member: the much-loved Upper Class sticky toffee pudding is back, the new Seoul route gets a completely bespoke menu, and the drinks trolley is leaning hard into 'Best of British' with two English wines headlining the Upper Class wine list.

Here is the breakdown of what is new across each cabin, the Heathrow Clubhouse update, and a few thoughts on whether the Virgin soft product is keeping pace with the cabin and connectivity upgrades the airline has been rolling out this year.

Upper Class: sticky toffee pudding is back

For Upper Class regulars, the headline is the return of the sticky toffee pudding. It is one of those dishes Virgin reviewers and forum regulars consistently rate as the best dessert in the cabin, so I am glad it is back rather than being quietly retired.

Beyond that, the new Upper Class mains are:

• Truffle and garlic-stuffed chicken with a panko coating and summer greens

• Chilli and lime roasted salmon with potato gratin

• Pea tortellini with pistachio and mint pesto cream

• A buttermilk chicken burger in a brioche bun with pickles, sriracha ketchup and Cajun-spiced wedges

• Crispy tofu with XO sauce, jasmine rice and pineapple salsa for vegan travellers

For dessert there is a new white chocolate and passion fruit bavarois alongside the returning sticky toffee.

The chicken burger is the addition I am most curious about. It is the kind of dish that often sounds better on paper than it tastes at 38,000 feet, but Virgin has form for getting the simpler comfort options right.

Premium: truffle mac and cheese arrives

Premium gets what reads like the most pub-friendly menu of the three cabins:

• Truffle macaroni cheese with wild mushrooms and garlic crumb

• Dill-roasted salmon with smashed minted peas and crushed parsley potatoes

• Herb chicken mini pie with mash, broccoli and rosemary jus

Premium continues to punch above its weight on Virgin in my opinion. The cabin pricing and the catering both feel closer to a hybrid of business and economy than a simple bigger seat, and a herb chicken pie is exactly the kind of dish that would not feel out of place a cabin up.

Economy: pizza stays, Mile High Tea refreshed

Economy customers get two new mains:

• Chicken with lemon and herb crème fraiche, served with potatoes, peas and beans

• Mafaldine pasta in a rich tomato sauce with a golden cheese crumb

Crucially, the mid-flight pizza stays. That is the right call. It became a defining touch of the Virgin economy experience, and removing it would have been a mistake. The Mile High Tea also gets a refresh later this season with a new cake.

Seoul gets its own menu

This is the bit I find most interesting from a route strategy perspective. Virgin only recently launched its Seoul route, and rather than slot it into the standard Asia menu, the airline has built a bespoke set of dishes designed around the destination.

Outbound highlights:

• Jjim-spiced seabass in Upper Class and Premium

• Korean barbecue chicken rice bowl with stir-fried Asian greens in Economy

• A mid-flight dumpling and tofu roll snack

On the return, vegetable bibimbap features in the entrée selection.

The drinks side gets two route-specific cocktails: the Seoul Highball (Aberfeldy whisky, ginger ale, lime) and a Soju Mojito made with Fever-Tree Mojito Mixer. Soju is available exclusively in Upper Class, alongside jasmine green tea across all cabins.

This is a smart move. New routes often live or die in their first 18 months, and small touches like a regional menu help reinforce the airline's commitment to the destination, which matters if you are weighing up using Virgin Points to fly there.

Best of British: English wine, English brandy, English cider

The drinks trolley has had a noticeable lean towards British producers this season. The standout additions are two English wines from West Sussex headlining the Upper Class list, plus a single-estate British apple cider and a Walthamstow-distilled brandy.

• NV High Weald Bacchus and Pinot Gris Blend (Upper Class, May to July)

• 2025 Bolney Estate Bacchus (Upper Class, August to October)

• Gravity Theory Cider, a 100% single-estate British apple cider, from June

• Burnt Faith British Brandy, distilled in Walthamstow, returns to the lineup

• Bacardi Spiced is added across all cabins

• Trip Cherry Lemon and Pentire Coastal Spritz join the alcohol-free 'Mindful Sips' range

• Twinings adds the viral 'Glow' tea in Upper Class and Premium

If you have ever flown a competitor and found the wine list dominated by cheap French and Australian options, this lineup is a meaningful step up. The two English wines in particular are the kind of thing you cannot just pour at home, which makes them feel like more of an event.

Heathrow Clubhouse refresh

The recently refurbished Heathrow Clubhouse also gets a seasonal update with à la carte dishes including chicken makhani, roast bream with spring greens and champagne lemon sauce, a Thai green chickpea curry, and a sourdough flatbread topped with mozzarella, prosciutto and sunblushed tomatoes. Small plates include Korean chicken wings, hoisin duck lettuce wraps and prawn tacos.

If you are flying Upper Class out of Heathrow, allow yourself the extra 30 minutes. The Clubhouse has been on form lately and the new menu reads well. If you are unsure how long to budget for the airport itself, Flight Queue has live security and immigration wait times for Heathrow.

My take

I have been moderately critical of Virgin Atlantic on a few points this year, particularly around Flying Club dynamic pricing on Upper Class redemptions. But the soft product genuinely is one of the things keeping Virgin competitive on transatlantic and Asia routes.

A refreshed menu on its own does not move the needle for Flying Club members weighing up where to spend their points. But it is part of a wider pattern. Virgin has rolled out Starlink wifi across the fleet, expanded its Asia network with the new Phuket route, launched Seoul, and is quietly investing in the catering. Stack those together and the Upper Class redemption case looks better than it did 18 months ago.

If you are still building Virgin Points, our guide to the Virgin Atlantic credit cards covers the main UK earning options.

The new menu rolls out across the network from tomorrow. Let me know what you make of the chicken burger.

Quick one tonight - if you've been weighing up The American Express Business Platinum or Business Gold Card, the elevated welcome bonuses on both end at midnight tonight (Tuesday 5 May 2026). Applications received after that revert to the standard offers, which are roughly half (Platinum) or a third (Gold) of what's currently on the table.

I won't pad this out - it's a deadline post and you've got better things to do than read 1,500 words of preamble.

What's on offer

The American Express Business Platinum Card: 120,000 Membership Rewards points after spending £12,000 in your first three months. £650 annual fee. Standard offer is 50,000 points, so this is a 70,000-point uplift purely for applying tonight rather than tomorrow.

The American Express Business Gold Card: 60,000 Membership Rewards points after spending £6,000 in your first three months. Free for the first year. Standard offer is 20,000 points, so this elevated version is tripled.

Both convert 1:1 into Avios or Virgin Points, plus 30+ other airline and hotel partners (Hilton Honors at 1:2, Marriott Bonvoy at 2:3). For most UK readers, the Avios route is the one that matters.

What 120,000 Avios actually books

The point of a welcome bonus is what it gets you on the back end. 120,000 Avios isn't unlimited, but it's enough to do something genuinely useful:

• One World Traveller Plus return to New York or Boston (85,000 Avios off-peak), with around 35,000 Avios left over

• One World Traveller Plus return to Tokyo or Hong Kong (100,000 Avios off-peak), with 20,000 left over

• Four Club Europe returns to Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin or similar (30,000 Avios each off-peak)

• Two Club Europe returns to Tel Aviv (48,500 Avios each off-peak), with around 23,000 left over

If you want to plug specific routes in and see exactly what they cost, our Avios pricing tool covers every BA destination, and Award Travel Finder will show you live award seat availability before you commit any points.

One thing worth flagging: 120,000 Avios is not enough for a Club World long-haul return (London-New York is 160,000 off-peak each way, and Tokyo is 200,000). If a business class long-haul redemption is the goal, you'll either want to apply for the Platinum AND the Gold, or pair this with a partner's bonus.

The eligibility catch

Both Business cards are restricted to Directors of Limited Companies and Members of Limited Liability Partnerships. Sole traders are no longer accepted - that changed a couple of years ago and trips a lot of people up. The Business Platinum also requires £35,000 personal income; the Business Gold requires £20,000.

If you do qualify, here's the genuinely useful piece: there's no lifetime bonus restriction on either Business card. You can apply for the bonus even if you've held the card before, as long as you hit the spend target. That's the opposite of how the personal Amex cards work, and it makes the Business cards meaningfully easier to recommend.

Should you actually rush?

Honest answer: only if you're already certain on three things.

One, that you can comfortably hit the spend (£12,000 in three months for Platinum, £6,000 for Gold). If you can't, you don't get the bonus.

Two, that you actually qualify (Ltd Co or LLP, income threshold met).

Three, that you've thought about the £650 Platinum annual fee against the benefits you'd genuinely use - rather than the benefits Amex's marketing page tells you about.

This 120k/60k cycle has run more than once in the past 18 months, so it's reasonable to assume something similar will return at some point. But the standard offer is meaningfully worse, and rushed applications under deadline pressure are how people end up with cards they don't need. If you're not certain on any of the three points above, the right answer is to wait.

What I use them for

Full disclosure: I hold both. The Business Gold is genuinely hard to argue with in year one given there's no fee. The Business Platinum is a more considered call - the £650 fee is steep, and I'd urge anyone weighing it up to look at the ongoing benefits properly (the £200 Amex Travel credit, lounge access and the monthly spend bonuses) and ask whether they'd actually use them. If you're not flying enough to lean on the lounge access, the Gold is the smarter pick.

Apply before midnight

If you've decided you want one or both, application links below. Don't leave it to 11:55pm - Amex's site has a habit of creaking under deadline traffic.

• American Express UK Business cards

If you're after the personal cards instead, the Platinum Card and Preferred Rewards Gold are running their own elevated offers until 26 May 2026, so there's no rush there. Personal Amex cards here.

Good luck if you go for it. And if you'd rather see what else is worth holding right now before committing to anything, our UK business credit card recommendations are kept up to date.

Jack

✈️ Smart With Points

• • ✈️ Avios News: Iberia offers up to 30% off Avios reward flights - book by 10th May, travel until 15th September

• • ✈️ Airline Policy: BA updates Conditions of Carriage to ban filming or photographing cabin crew without consent

• • 🏨 Hotel Cashback: New Amex offer gives £75 back on £300 spend at IHG hotels including InterContinental, Kimpton and Hotel Indigo

• • 💳 Holiday Deal: Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members can claim up to £300 off holidays with code FLYINGCLUB - book by 26th May

Thirty percent off the Avios price of a Milan or Rome flight doesn't come around often - and right now, Iberia is running exactly that. The catch? You've got until this Saturday 10th May to book. There's a lot in this issue, so let's get into it.

🤓 UK Points Trivia

Iberia is one of several airlines where you can spend your Avios balance - but how many Avios does a return Economy reward flight from London to Madrid typically cost (without the current 30% discount)?

• 🟡 9,000 Avios

• 🔵 17,000 Avios

• 🟣 26,000 Avios

• ⚫ 34,000 Avios

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

✈️ Iberia Just Cut Avios Flights by Up to 30% - And the Route List Is Massive

Why Flying Madrid Routes With Avios Right Now Beats Sitting on Your Balance

Iberia has launched a promotion offering up to 30% off Avios redemptions on reward tickets across its network, covering flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express and Iberia Regional Air Nostrum. You need to book by this Saturday 10th May and travel by 15th September 2026.

The most important thing to understand here: Avios are fully interoperable. If you've been collecting with British Airways Executive Club, you can transfer those Avios to Iberia Plus and book directly. It's a great way to squeeze more value out of a balance that might be sitting idle.

The discount tiers break down like this:

• 30% off: Milan, Rome, Oslo, Athens, London, Porto, Bordeaux, Split, Zagreb, Turin, Casablanca, Lyon, Manchester, Seville and more (Business & Economy both apply)

• 20% off: Budapest, Prague, Dubrovnik, Brussels, Lisbon, Marrakech, Amsterdam, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Lanzarote and more - plus Orlando in Business

• 10% off: Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Venice, Nice, Cairo, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Miami, Chicago and many more

Let's run the numbers on a popular example. A standard Iberia Economy redemption from London to Rome typically runs around 13,500 Avios one-way. With 30% off, you're looking at closer to 9,450 Avios - saving roughly 4,000 Avios per leg, or ~£40 in value at 1p per Avios. On a Business class redemption, those savings scale up considerably.

Heads up: Taxes and fees are not included in the discount - these are paid separately on top of the Avios price. Also, the promotion doesn't cover Vueling, LEVEL, or the Iberia Air Shuttle. All discounted flights operate from Madrid, so factor in your positioning costs from the UK.

If you want to check what your Avios are actually worth before booking, our Avios Value Calculator can help you decide whether to spend now or hold. And if you want to compare Iberia pricing against BA routes, the BA Avios Flight Calculator is useful for a quick side-by-side.

Bottom line: If you've got Avios burning a hole in your account and a summer trip in mind, this is one of the better reasons to book via Iberia rather than BA. Milan and Rome at 30% off in Business and Economy is genuinely good value. Don't sit on it - the booking window closes this Saturday.

📸 BA Quietly Bans Filming Cabin Crew - And the Penalty Is Harsher Than You'd Think

The One Announcement Change That Most Passengers Missed on Their Last Flight

British Airways has updated its General Conditions of Carriage to explicitly ban passengers from filming, photographing, or livestreaming cabin crew and other staff without their express consent. The rule now sits under the "unacceptable behaviour" section of BA's policy, and the consequences are real: removal from the aircraft, cancellation of onward flights, or even criminal prosecution.

The policy was quietly flagged via a change to the onboard announcement - something many passengers would have missed entirely. It covers everything from smartphones to wearable tech like Meta AI glasses and GoPros, and applies to fellow passengers too, not just crew.

It's worth noting this isn't particularly unusual - Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic have had similar rules for some time. The context here is a broader crackdown on secret recordings being used on social media. Photos of your meal, seat, or the view out the window are still completely fine.

The key detail: an aircraft isn't legally considered a public place, so technically you've never had the right to photograph crew without asking. BA formalising it just removes any grey area. Honestly, asking permission first has always been the polite approach anyway.

🏨 New Amex Offer: £75 Back on £300 at IHG Hotels - Including the US and Canada

The IHG Brands Worth Targeting to Hit That £300 Threshold in One Stay

There's a new Amex cashback offer worth adding to your card: £75 back when you spend £300 at IHG hotels, and crucially the spend is cumulative - so you don't need to hit £300 in a single transaction. The offer runs until 27th July 2026.

What makes this one stand out from most Amex hotel offers is that it includes the US and Canada - not just European properties. Participating brands include InterContinental, Hotel Indigo, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Regent, Staybridge Suites, Voco and Garner.

One catch worth flagging: the cashback is for checkout spend only, meaning pre-paid bookings are technically excluded. That said, it's always worth loading the offer and trying - anecdotally it sometimes triggers on pre-paid stays too.

At £75 back on a £300 stay, that's effectively 25% cashback - a very solid return on a hotel bill you'd likely be spending anyway. Check your Amex account now as this is a targeted offer and not everyone will see it. If you hold multiple Amex cards, check them all. For more stories on Amex offers and promotions, see our American Express UK coverage.

🚨 Deal Alert: Virgin Atlantic Holidays - Up to £300 Off With FLYINGCLUB

Virgin Flying Club members can claim up to £300 off Virgin Atlantic Holidays using code FLYINGCLUB. The tiered discount kicks in at £75 off a £200 booking, scaling up to £300 off on spend of £10,000+. You need to book by Tuesday 26th May, with travel available from 5th May 2026 through to 31st December 2027.

There's also a low-deposit option running alongside this: you can secure your holiday with just a £75 deposit on departures from 24th July 2026 onwards. And separately, qualifying 2026 bookings over £4,000 can earn 300 bonus Tier Points. These can all be stacked, which is a solid combination if you're booking a big trip. For all our Virgin Atlantic stories and deals, see our

For all our Virgin Atlantic stories and deals, see our Virgin Points coverage hub.

🌎 Trivia Reveal

The answer is 🟡 9,000 Avios - a return Economy reward flight from London to Madrid with Iberia typically costs around 9,000 Avios (plus taxes). At 1p per Avios, that's roughly £90 of value for what can be a £150-200 cash fare. With the current 20% discount tier applying to London routes in Economy, you'd be looking at around 7,200 Avios - making the maths even more compelling. Use our Avios Value Calculator to work out if your specific redemption stacks up before you commit.

💬 Quick Question

Have you ever booked an Avios flight through Iberia instead of BA - and did it work out better value? I'm always curious whether people are making use of the interoperability between the two programmes. Hit reply and let me know - I read every response!

That's it for today's issue - but don't forget: the Iberia 30% Avios discount requires you to book by this Saturday 10th May. If Milan, Rome, Oslo or Athens are on your radar this summer, this is the moment to pull the trigger. Once Saturday passes, those Avios prices go straight back up.

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💳 Best UK Card Signup Offers Right Now

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Platinum Card: 75,000 points after spending £10,000 in 6 months (£450/yr)

2. Business Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. Gold Card: 20,000 points after spending £2,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

4. Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card: 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points when you sign up and spend £3,000 within the first... (£95/yr)

✈️ Award Deals This Week

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

• HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO, a Luxury Collection Hotel & Spa - 1.4cpp value

• Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach - 2.1cpp value

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

See all award deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

💳 Today's Best Points & Miles Opportunities

Before we wrap up, I wanted to share some timely opportunities I've been tracking (courtesy of our friends at AwardTravelFinder). These deals won't last long, so let's dive in.

Buy Points & Miles Deals

Hotel programs:

• Hilton (Honors): 100% bonus at 0.5¢ (expires May 29, 2026)

• Marriott (Bonvoy): 40% bonus at 0.89¢ (expires June 23, 2026)

🎯 Award Deals We're Tracking

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

✈️ Smart With Points

• 💳 Credit Card News: Amex has tripled the Gold supplementary card bonus to 9,000 Membership Rewards points - but only until tonight, 30th April

• ✈️ Airline News: Qatar Airways scraps free ticket changes for all bookings made from 1st May 2026 onwards - the flexibility window is closing

• 🏨 Hotel News: Hilton launches targeted 'Stay More Earn More' promo worth up to 15,000 bonus points across five stays - check your account now

• 🚨 Urgent Deal: Wyndham Rewards is offering a 100% buy points bonus at 0.65¢ per point - but it expires tomorrow, 1st May

There are 12,000 Membership Rewards points sitting on the table for Amex Platinum holders right now - and all it takes is adding a free supplementary cardholder before midnight tonight. No spend target. No annual fee for the extra card. Just free points, if you act before the clock runs out.

🤓 UK Points Trivia

The standard bonus for adding your first supplementary card to an Amex Platinum is 5,000 Membership Rewards points. But tonight's special offer increases that. By how much?

• 🟡 To 8,000 points

• 🔵 To 10,000 points

• 🟣 To 12,000 points

• ⚫ To 15,000 points

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

💳 Amex Just Tripled the Gold Supplementary Bonus - And Doubled the Platinum One

9,000 Points for Free on Gold, 12,000 on Platinum - No Spend Required, Ends Tonight

American Express has brought back one of the simplest points opportunities of the year, and tonight - Thursday 30th April - is the final night to grab it.

If you hold the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold and have never added a supplementary cardholder, the bonus has been tripled from the standard 3,000 to 9,000 Membership Rewards points. That's an extra 9,000 MR points just for adding a partner, family member, or anyone you trust to your account.

For Amex Platinum holders, the uplift is even more striking - the standard 5,000-point bonus jumps to 12,000 Membership Rewards points, a 140% increase on the usual offer. Again, no spend target on the supplementary card is required.

The maths here is straightforward. At our estimate of 1p per Membership Rewards point, that's £90 in value from the Gold bonus and £120 from the Platinum bonus - entirely from adding a free card.

Heads up: If you already have a supplementary card on the account, you cannot earn the bonus by adding another one. This is strictly for the first supplementary card ever issued on your current account. You must use the specific Amex supplementary card page to ensure the bonus tracks correctly - applying via other routes may not register.

The enhanced bonuses on Gold and Platinum end tonight. Other Amex cards also carry standard supplementary bonuses - the BA Amex Premium Plus gives 5,000 Avios, the standard BA Amex gives 1,000 Avios, and the Marriott Bonvoy Amex gives 3,000 Bonvoy points. Those are available year-round (via the correct link) but tonight's Gold and Platinum bonuses are the special, limited-time versions.

Worth checking your Membership Rewards balance and how these points can be transferred to Avios, Virgin Points, or Flying Blue - that's where the real value unlocks.

✈️ Qatar Airways Ends Free Ticket Changes - What This Means for Your Bookings

Tickets Issued From 1st May Get No Fee-Free Changes - Even for Middle East Routes

Qatar Airways has been offering flexible, fee-free ticket changes since the start of the Iran conflict - but that window is now closing. From 1st May 2026, Qatar will no longer offer fee-free changes on newly issued tickets.

If your ticket was issued on or before 30th April, you can still change it fee-free for travel up to 31st October 2026. But anything booked from tomorrow onwards loses that flexibility - and this is the first of the three Gulf carriers (Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar) to tighten its policy.

There's also a separate change worth flagging: Qatar had announced Bahrain, Kozhikode, and Goa restarts have been brought forward, while the Damascus relaunch has been pushed back to 16th June 2026. If you're looking at award space on Qatar routes, use our Qatar Avios Award Flight Finder to check what's available.

Bottom line: if you were sitting on the fence about a Qatar booking and wanted flexibility baked in, any ticket issued from tomorrow will be subject to standard change fees. Book accordingly - or check your existing bookings if they were made before April 30th.

🏨 Hilton's 'Stay More Earn More' Promo Lands - Up to 15,000 Bonus Points Over 5 Stays

Targeted But Widely Received - Register First, Then Stack It On Top of Other Offers

Hilton Honors has quietly rolled out a targeted promotion that rewards members for consecutive stays - and based on reports so far, it's going out to a lot of people. The 'Stay More Earn More 2026' offer gives up to 15,000 bonus points across five qualifying stays within six months of registration.

Here's how the points stack up per stay:

• Stay 1: 1,000 bonus points

• Stay 2: 2,000 bonus points

• Stay 3: 3,000 bonus points

• Stay 4: 4,000 bonus points

• Stay 5: 5,000 bonus points - Total: 15,000 bonus points

At Hilton's typical value of around 0.5p per point, that's roughly £75 in free Hilton nights - not bad if you have a handful of stays already planned. The registration deadline is 31st December 2026, which gives plenty of runway, but you need to register before your first qualifying stay counts.

The key thing: this is labelled as targeted, but reports suggest widespread distribution overnight. Worth logging into your Hilton Honors account to check if the offer is showing under your promotions tab. It can also stack with other active Hilton promotions, which makes it worth registering even if your stays are a few months away.

🚨 Deal Alert: Virgin Atlantic Holidays Saving Up to £300 This Bank Holiday Weekend

Virgin Atlantic Holidays is running a Bank Holiday 'spend and save' promotion. As long as the lead booker is a Virgin Flying Club member and adds their membership number at booking, the savings are:

• Save £75 per booking (minimum spend threshold applies)

• Save £150 per booking (higher spend tier)

• Save up to £300 per booking (top spend tier)

Separately, there are some standout cash fares worth flagging: return Upper Class fares from Heathrow to Montego Bay, Jamaica are available from £1,867 return - against the usual £3,500+ price tag, that's a serious saving on a 10+ hour flight. Virgin will run daily flights to Montego Bay from 1st June. Availability is limited, so if the dates work for you, move quickly. You can browse all our Virgin Atlantic coverage for more on maximising Virgin Points on bookings like this.

🚨 Deal Alert: Wyndham 100% Buy Points Bonus - Expires Tomorrow

Wyndham Rewards is currently offering a 100% bonus when you buy points at 0.65¢ per point - and this one expires tomorrow, Saturday 1st May. Wyndham points can be used across thousands of properties worldwide including UK properties, and the 100% bonus effectively halves your cost per point.

This isn't a programme most UK collectors focus on, but if you have upcoming Wyndham stays or want to top up for a specific redemption, the maths is decent at a 100% bonus. Use our Wyndham coverage for context on where Wyndham points go furthest. Don't hang around - this expires at midnight tonight (UK time).

🌎 Trivia Reveal

The answer is 🟣 12,000 points. The standard Amex Platinum supplementary card bonus is 5,000 Membership Rewards points, but tonight's special offer increases it to 12,000 - a 140% uplift. The Gold card bonus has also been tripled from 3,000 to 9,000 points. Both offers end tonight at midnight.

💬 Quick Question

Do you have a supplementary card on your Amex? And if so - who did you add? A partner, a parent, or someone else entirely? Hit reply and let me know - I read every response and you'd be surprised how many people haven't thought about this one!

That's it for today - but one final nudge: the Amex Gold and Platinum supplementary card bonuses expire tonight at midnight. If you haven't added a supplementary card to your Amex Gold or Platinum yet, you have until the end of Thursday to pick up 9,000 or 12,000 Membership Rewards points for free. Don't let it slip past you.

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💳 Best UK Card Signup Offers Right Now

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Platinum Card: 75,000 points after spending £10,000 in 6 months (£450/yr)

2. Business Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. Gold Card: 20,000 points after spending £2,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

4. Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card: 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points when you sign up and spend £3,000 within the first... (£95/yr)

✈️ Award Deals This Week

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

• The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort - 1.6cpp value

• Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel - 1.5cpp value

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

See all award deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

💳 Today's Best Points & Miles Opportunities

Before we wrap up, I wanted to share some timely opportunities I've been tracking (courtesy of our friends at AwardTravelFinder). These deals won't last long, so let's dive in.

Current Transfer Bonuses

• Amex Membership Rewards to Hilton: +20% bonus - ends May 30, 2026

Buy Points & Miles Deals

Hotel programs:

• Hilton (Honors): 100% bonus at 0.5¢ (expires May 29, 2026)

• IHG (One Rewards): 80% bonus at 0.56¢ (expires April 30, 2026)

• Marriott (Bonvoy): 40% bonus at 0.89¢ (expires June 23, 2026)

• Wyndham (Rewards): 100% bonus at 0.65¢ (expires May 01, 2026)

🎯 Award Deals We're Tracking

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

✈️ Smart With Points

• • ✈️ BA News: Up to 1% of Silver The Club members silently downgraded overnight after BA mistakenly renewed their status

• • 💳 Transfer Bonus: Bilt Rent Day on 1st May unlocks a 40%-100% transfer bonus to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus Avios programmes

• • 🏨 Hotel Deal: BA Holidays Spring Sale offers up to £300 off bookings - but you must book by 23:59 this Wednesday

• • 🚨 Urgent Deal: IHG Iberostar Beachfront Resort flash sale up to 40% off ends tomorrow - book by Wednesday 29th April

BA sent thousands of members a renewal email last week - and then silently reversed every single one of those renewals overnight, with no follow-up communication whatsoever.

🤓 UK Points Trivia

How many members does British Airways The Club currently have (approximately)?

• 🔵 5 million

• 🟡 9 million

• 🟣 13 million

• ⚫ 20 million

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

✈️ BA Silently Boots Members Back to Lower Status After Sending Renewal Confirmations

The Overnight Downgrade Nobody Was Warned About - And Why It's Worse Than the Original Error

Here's the short version: BA's loyalty system apparently ran an incorrect file last week that extended status for members who hadn't re-qualified under The Club's new revenue-based rules. Members received confirmation emails and saw the renewals reflected in their online accounts. Celebrations followed. Then BA took its loyalty system down overnight and reversed every those renewals.

According to statements BA and IAG Loyalty made to the Financial Times, they initially claimed to be unaware of any issue and believed the extensions were legitimate. It was only after what they described as "forensic" analysis that they concluded fewer than 1% of The Club's 13 million members - had been incorrectly extended.

The problem isn't just the original error - software bugs happen. The problem is the communication. Or rather, the complete lack of it. Members who received written confirmation of their renewal woke up to find themselves downgraded with only an email explaining the downgrade from BA.

And this is happening against a backdrop of the most chaotic loyalty programme relaunch in recent UK aviation history. The Club launched on April 1st 2025 (yes, genuinely), moved to a revenue-based tier points system, introduced new tier point bonuses after initially promising a purely revenue model, and has had persistent website and app issues throughout. If you want to track the damage, our BA Tier Point Calculator can at least help you understand where you actually stand right now.

Bottom line: if you received a renewal email last week and have now been downgraded, check your account. If your status has changed, contact BA's customer service directly and reference the original renewal email as evidence. You have a paper trail - use it. And honestly? The fact that BA can't execute a clean loyalty system without this level of chaos should give every serious points collector pause before building their entire strategy around Avios alone.

For all our ongoing British Airways coverage as this story develops, we're tracking it closely.

💳 You Can Now Earn BA Bronze Without Ever Boarding a Plane

The Amex + SAF Route to Status That Skips the Airport Entirely

Buried beneath the Extension-Gate chaos is actually a genuinely interesting structural change to The Club for 2026/27: it is now possible to earn Bronze status purely through Amex spend and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) contributions, without setting foot on a single flight.

The two key 2026/27 changes work together. First, Amex spend on eligible American Express UK cards now earns tier points. Second, SAF contributions also generate tier points. Taken together, for what could be argued is a reasonable cost, Bronze is theoretically achievable without any flying activity at all.

Is it worth it? That depends heavily on what Bronze actually gets you and whether you'd be spending on an Amex anyway. Bronze gives you priority check-in and a small Avios earning boost, but it's a long way from the lounge access and upgrade currency of Gold. If you're a frequent Amex spender who wants a taste of BA status without committing to a full travel schedule, it's worth exploring. If you want to check whether you're eligible for an Amex welcome bonus first, our Amex Welcome Bonus Eligibility Tool will give you a quick answer.

Heads up: this route requires careful planning and the maths only works if you're hitting meaningful Amex spend thresholds. It won't suit casual spenders. But as a concept - earning airline status without flying - it's a notable shift in how The Club is positioning itself.

🚨 Deal Alert: 40%-100% Avios Transfer Bonus via Bilt Rent Day - Tomorrow Only

Bilt Rewards is running its May Rent Day promotion on Thursday 1st May only, and the headline offer is a significant transfer bonus to three Avios programmes: British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. The bonus tier depends on your Bilt status level: Blue members get 40%, Silver gets 50%, Gold gets 60%, Platinum gets 75%, and Platinum members who also spend £150 in Bilt Cash unlock a full 100% bonus.

This is a US-based programme, so it's primarily relevant if you hold Bilt points already. But if you do, a 40%-100% bonus to Avios points is genuinely strong - Avios at even 40% bonus means every 1,000 Bilt points becomes 1,400 Avios. Use our Avios Value Calculator to work out whether the transfer makes sense for your specific redemption target. The offer is live from midnight ET on 1st May through to 23:59 ET - one day only, no exceptions. Don't sleep on it.

🚨 Deal Alert: BA Holidays Spring Sale - Up to £300 Off, Ends Wednesday Night

The British Airways Holidays Spring Sale is running until 23:59 this Wednesday 30th April, with discounts tiered by booking value: £50 off a minimum £1,250 spend, £100 off £2,500, £200 off £5,000, and £300 off bookings of £10,000 or more. Travel must be between 1st May 2026 and 26th March 2027.

The maths on the top tier: £300 off a £10,000 booking is a 3% saving in cash terms. Not spectacular, but BA Holidays packages also earn Avios on the full booking value, which adds meaningful points on top of the discount. At 1p per Avios, even a modest Avios earn on a £5,000 package starts to make the numbers more interesting. Worth a look if you're planning a package holiday later this year or early next.

🌎 Trivia Reveal

The answer is 🟣 13 million. British Airways The Club has approximately 13 million members.

💬 Quick Question

Has the Extension-Gate chaos changed how much you trust BA's loyalty programme? Are you doubling down on Avios, diversifying into Virgin or hotel points, or something else entirely? Hit reply - genuinely curious what our readers are thinking right now.

Until Friday - but don't forget the BA Holidays Spring Sale closes at 23:59 this Wednesday and the Bilt Avios transfer bonus (up to 100%) is live for one day only on Thursday 1st May. If you're sitting on Bilt points and want to top up your Avios balance before a summer redemption, tomorrow is the day to move.

💳 Best UK Card Signup Offers Right Now

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Platinum Card: 75,000 points after spending £10,000 in 6 months (£450/yr)

2. Business Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

3. Gold Card: 20,000 points after spending £2,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

4. Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card: 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points when you sign up and spend £3,000 within the first... (£95/yr)

✈️ Award Deals This Week

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

• The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort - 1.6cpp value

• Waldorf Astoria New York - 1.9cpp value

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

See all award deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

💳 Today's Best Points & Miles Opportunities

Before we wrap up, I wanted to share some timely opportunities I've been tracking (courtesy of our friends at AwardTravelFinder). These deals won't last long, so let's dive in.

Buy Points & Miles Deals

Hotel programs:

• Choice (Privileges): 35% bonus at 0.76¢ (expires April 28, 2026)

• Hilton (Honors): 100% bonus at 0.5¢ (expires May 29, 2026)

• IHG (One Rewards): 80% bonus at 0.56¢ (expires April 30, 2026)

• Marriott (Bonvoy): 40% bonus at 0.89¢ (expires June 23, 2026)

• Wyndham (Rewards): 100% bonus at 0.65¢ (expires May 01, 2026)

🎯 Award Deals We're Tracking

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

Emirates has just become the first airline in the world to fit Starlink Wi-Fi onto an Airbus A380, with the first equipped aircraft returning to Dubai from Newquay this week. You can read the full announcement on the Emirates media centre.

This is a real moment for in-flight connectivity. The A380 is the largest passenger aircraft in the world, with two decks and roughly 480 to 615 seats depending on configuration, and historically getting reliable Wi-Fi to that many devices simultaneously has been a serious engineering problem. Emirates appears to have cracked it.

What is actually new

Three Starlink antennas have been fitted to each A380, one more than Emirates uses on its 777s, delivering more than 2 Gbps of total bandwidth across the cabin. To put that in perspective, Emirates' first-generation Wi-Fi system on the A380 offered less than 1 Mbps for the entire aircraft. We are talking about a thousand-fold increase.

The service will be free for everyone across every cabin, with what Emirates describes as easy sign up and access. That is the same model Qatar Airways and Iberia have rolled out, and it is rapidly becoming the default for premium long-haul carriers.

Future enhancements include Live TV streaming over Starlink, initially on personal devices and later integrated into seatback screens. This builds on the broader Emirates Starlink rollout we covered back in autumn, which started with the 777-300ER fleet. To track the rollout of Starlink further, check out seatwifi.com.

A Cornish backstory

The first installation was completed in Newquay, UK, before the aircraft flew back to Dubai this week. Cornwall has quietly become a serious aviation maintenance hub, and Emirates choosing to do the world's first A380 Starlink fit there is a nice nod to that. Emirates Engineering will now begin parallel installations in Dubai to accelerate the rollout across the wider fleet, which is sensible given the airline operates the world's largest A380 fleet.

How does this compare to the competition

Emirates is now in genuinely strong company on connectivity. Qatar Airways completed its 777 fleet rollout earlier this autumn and was the first to demo Starlink with a live in-flight press conference. Iberia has committed to free Starlink across its entire fleet by end of 2026. British Airways has announced Starlink for its Boeing 777 and A350 fleets, but the rollout is expected to take significantly longer.

Virgin Atlantic is also in the mix, having confirmed Starlink as part of its broader cabin overhaul announced earlier in November.

In other words, anyone still charging for Wi-Fi or running on legacy systems is now a clear laggard. Lufthansa Group, Air France-KLM and most of the US majors are still well behind on this. The pace at which Starlink is being adopted has caught a lot of legacy connectivity providers off guard, and the carriers that move first are going to enjoy a real product advantage for the next couple of years.

Why this matters if you fly from the UK

Emirates flies the A380 to and from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. If you are heading to Dubai or connecting onward to Australia, Asia or Africa via DXB, you are very likely to end up on an A380 at some point in your journey.

The retrofit programme is being accelerated, but realistically it will take time before every aircraft is equipped. For now, expect a mix of Starlink-fitted and legacy-Wi-Fi A380s on your bookings. You can check the seat configuration of your specific flight via FlightSeatmap closer to departure to get a sense of what aircraft you are on, although Emirates has not yet committed to a specific tracking page for which A380s are Starlink-equipped. I would expect that to surface fairly soon.

My take

I have flown Emirates a few times over the past couple of years and the previous Wi-Fi system was, frankly, not great. Slow, intermittent, and with the kind of are-we-connected-or-not experience that makes you give up after fifteen minutes. The speed itself was the bottleneck regardless of cabin or status.

This changes the game. More than 2 Gbps across the cabin means you can actually stream Netflix, hop on a video call, or push a 50MB file to a client without staring at a loading wheel. For business travellers, the value of genuinely usable connectivity on a 7-hour LHR-DXB flight is substantial. It also matters on the longer DXB to Sydney, Auckland or Los Angeles routes where the A380 is the workhorse aircraft.

The competitive picture is the more interesting story. Five years ago, BA had Wi-Fi parity with Emirates and the Gulf carriers. Now it is some way behind. If you split your long-haul flying between BA and Emirates, as a lot of UK collectors do, you are going to notice the gap getting wider over the next 18 months. It is also a pointed reminder that announcements are not the same as installations. BA announced Starlink before Emirates equipped its first A380, and yet Emirates is the one with kit on the wing.

A few practical thoughts

If you are booking long-haul Emirates flights and want to maximise your chance of getting a Starlink aircraft, the newer 777-300ERs are your safest bet right now. 25 of those are already equipped, with the A380 fleet just beginning. According to Emirates, more than 650,000 customers have already flown on Starlink-equipped flights, so the fitted aircraft are quietly racking up serious flying hours.

For redemptions, Emirates Skywards is not always the best-value programme for UK collectors as the taxes and surcharges on Emirates redemptions are substantial. That said, the in-flight experience now genuinely justifies booking with cash if the price is right. If you are weighing different award programmes for the same route, Award Travel Finder is the easiest way to compare options side by side.

And if you are using Starlink on the ground (the residential or roam variety) for your home or travels, there is a sign-up credit available via this link.

The bottom line

Emirates getting Starlink onto the A380 is a meaningful world-first rather than marketing puff. Three antennas, more than 2 Gbps across the cabin, free for everyone, and a fleet retrofit now happening in parallel in Dubai and Cornwall.

For UK readers who fly Emirates regularly, this should genuinely improve the journey. For BA Club members watching all this from a 1990s-era Wi-Fi connection, it is a stark reminder that the connectivity arms race in the sky has well and truly started, and BA still needs to put its boots on.

I will be tracking which routes get Starlink-equipped A380s first and will post updates as Emirates accelerates the rollout. If you spot Starlink onboard a recent Emirates flight, drop me a line and I will keep a running list.