News you may have missed at Points Well Made - 11th October
Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to another news you might have missed here at Points Well Made.
It has been a week of exciting news and offers.
We started the week strong with an offer from Rocketmiles to earn 75% more Avios on hotel bookings, beating Avios Hotels! Then, British Airways announced the long awaited details of the A380 refurbs ... which look fantastic.
We popped out a reminder about the BA Premium Plus American Express card changes, something we know none of you are happy about, neither are we, but we wanted to just remind everyone about what is changing.
American Express announced a new Centurion Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5, which actually is very exciting, and British Airways Holidays have put out another Pay with Avios offer boosting the value of your Avios by 33%, but is it worth your time?
Lastly, the Hilton Honors Plus debit card has boosted it's sign-up bonus back up to a huge 50,000 Hilton Honors points. Phew, what a week.
I just wanted to say a very quick thank you to everyone who reads our website, follows us on socials and just generally interacts with us. On Monday we were invited to a lunch hosted by Cathay Pacific, to talk all things points and loyalty. It was a brilliant chance for us to get to know the team at Cathay, and also be able to talk to them about various sticking points (and your biggest bugbears) with various airline programmes. Needless to say they were very interested to hear your views and thoughts. We wouldn't have the chance to do this without you guys, and wherever we can, we will keep putting your queries and sticking points to the airlines. So, thank you, we couldn't do this without you.
Helena
If you want Avios from a hotel stay, the usual move is Avios Hotels. Book through it and you collect 10 Avios per pound on a standard booking, which is usually very good.
Until 15 October there's a better option. Book through Rocketmiles with a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account and you'll get a 75% Avios bonus, pushing it above the earn rate of Avios Hotels.
We've got a London hotel we need to book this month, so I ran the same room through both for the dates we need, and Rocketmiles wins by a good distance.
Want to find out more on this offer? Click here.
I love it when airlines expand, grow and shake up what they do. So when British Airways announced new First Class suites and a full refresh for its dated A380s, I was thrilled. Sorry to say it, A380, I adore you, but the BA interior has been looking rough for a while. If you're curious, here's my experience in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus earlier this year.
Well, BA has now launched the cabin in person, and it has shown off the new seats going into every cabin, from World Traveller (Economy) all the way up to First. Every single cabin is getting an upgrade, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for my favourite bird.
It's Wednesday 7th October. We should be getting excited for Halloween, or enjoying a crisp Autumn day. Instead, we're all waking up depressed and angry because today is the day that the changes to the British Airways Premium Plus American Express Card have officially kicked in.
I am being over-dramatic here as I am often want to do, but I think it is warranted.
We are a big fan of this announcement.
Terminal 5 has frankly always been rubbish for non-BA lounges, with just the pokey Club Aspire lounge for those of us not able to access the Galleries lounge.
In recent weeks we had confirmation that the Club Aspire lounge will be renovated, expanded, and turned into a No. 1 lounge, so that's one tick. Now we have confirmation that American Express is going to open one of its Centurion Lounges in Terminal 5. This will be the second Centurion Lounge in the UK after the Centurion Lounge in Terminal 3, which I am a big fan of. Double tick.
The weather has turned, and it's already too cold for me. I'm not built for winter. I need a holiday.
Conveniently (for me at least), BA Holidays has brought back its Pay with Avios boost. Until 23:59 on Tuesday 13 October, British Airways Club members get 33% more value from their Avios when they use them as part payment on a package.
This time the offer is for holidays between 5 January and 30 September 2027. If you were hoping to knock some money off using Avios for a Christmas or New Year trip, sorry.
For all the joyous terms and condition, check out our article on the offer here.
The Hilton Honors Plus debit card welcome bonus is back at 50,000 points, and you have until 14 December 2026 to apply.
The standard bonus for this card is 15,000 points. In March it was doubled to 30,000, and in July it jumped to 50,000 for the first time, until 7 September.
This time it works slightly differently. You earn 10,000 points on your first transaction with the card, and you will get the remaining 40,000 points when you spend £2,500 in foreign currency within six months.
The Elite Qualifying Nights bonus has also doubled, from 5 nights to 10, allowing you to climb the Hilton status ladder quicker.
Want all the details? You can find them in our article here.
Points Well Made is a passion project from Sam and Helena. If you've enjoyed this and want to help us keep the lights on, please consider buying us a Ko-fi or subscribing monthly. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for more of the same. Thanks for reading.
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