News You May Have Missed at Points Well Made - 19th April
- Helena
- Apr 19
- 5 min read
Hello, I hope you've all had a good week!
We've seen a competition for two people to win One Million Avios ... with a catch, there have also been some new Business Class Cabins announced and the Marriott Bonvoy Amex Welcome Bonus has increased substantially.
M&S have partnered with Virgin Red as their first Sparks partner and you can now earn Avios on Uber Eats. We have also created two pretty key pieces of content these week. Yesterday we brought you an article all around BA Companion Vouchers, and answering all the key burning questions people often have around these. Whereas on Thursday we created something for all you Virgin Atlantic flyers, a table showing all of the current fees and taxes you will pay on all cabins, across the whole route network. Wonder no more, we created it for you.
As always, a bit of housekeeping, if you want to get in touch to change your subscription to a weekly only email, or from weekly to daily, then please do email sam@pointswellmade.co.uk. Or if you have anything else you want to ask us, tell us or request for us to cover, we love to hear from you so feel free to email helena@pointswellmade.co.uk.
British Airways Club has launched a prize draw offering two lucky members a million Avios each, timed to "celebrate partnership milestones with Finnair and Loganair" (whatever that means). It's a big headline, and in theory entering is simple. But there's a wrinkle worth knowing about before you get your hopes up, like I did …
Want to know what that wrinkle is? Click here to read the full article and find out.
I'm sure a lot of you follow Points Well Made because you want to use your points for "aspirational" travel. Whether that is to fly in comfort, enjoy the fine things in life, or just experience what it is like not to be herded like cattle into economy. At least that's why I started collecting points.
There is a veritable bonanza of new business class announcements happening right now, due to an aircraft interior expo happening (you may think that sounds dull, but I bet the parties are wild), so we thought we'd summarise the latest business class cabins that you may have the pleasure to fly in one day, and which are the best points schemes available to you to use.
If you want to see a whole load of other new seats coming soon, head on over here to see them.
American Express has brought back the tripled welcome bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Card, offering 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points when you spend £3,000 in the first three months. The offer runs until 26 May 2026.
If you are unfamiliar with Marriott Bonvoy points, they are more versatile than most people realise. You can use them for free hotel nights across 37 brands, or you can convert them into airline miles with over 40 different frequent flyer programmes, including Avios and Virgin Points. You could also get a 5,000 mile-bonus for doing so, but more on that below.
Click here to go over what the offer includes, what the points are worth, how the airline transfer situation works, and whether this card could be a good fit for you.
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Yes, you read that right. We're writing about Marks & Spencer's loyalty programme. Bear with us.
M&S has just relaunched Sparks, and ordinarily that would not be something we'd cover on a site about miles and points. But the revamp comes with a new partnership between Sparks and Virgin Red, and that bit is very much our territory.
I would thoroughly recommend checking this one out, simply click here for how this partnership is going to work.
You'll know that Virgin Atlantic charges taxes and fees on every reward flight booked with Virgin Points, ranging from around £60 to over £700 depending on the route, cabin, and direction. As of early April 2026, these charges are now the same regardless of how many points you pay. Here's what's changed to reward flights, and the full list of taxes and fees for all of Virgin Atlantic's routes if you pay using Virgin Points.
To make everyone's lives easier we have created a table showing every Virgin Atlantic route from Heathrow, Manchester, and Edinburgh, with the taxes/fees required for each route, in every cabin for reward flights paid using Virgin Points. Click here to see precisely what you will now be paying.
You may have already known that you can earn Avios with Avios, but did you know that didn't include Uber Eats?
Worry no more, Uber and Avios have expanded their partnership this week to include Uber Eats. If you're already linked your Avios and Uber accounts then you will automatically benefit from this improved partnership automatically, but here's what's new, what you could already do, and how to link your accounts.
This is, without a doubt, one of the most frequent questions we get on our Instagram right now. So if you have ever wondered if you have to book both legs of your companion voucher at the same time, you will now know the answer.
We think we have covered every question we have ever been asked about this, but if you can think of any more, do pop us an email!
Sam
Points Well Made is a passion project of Sam and Helena with a loyal following. If you like what we do, and wish to help us continue to create the content you love, please consider buying us a Kofi, or subscribing monthly. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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