News you may have missed at Points Well Made - 26th July

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another news you may have missed.

A slightly calmer week on the news front, however Sam and I did spend two fantastic days at this year's Farnborough International Airshow on Monday and Tuesday as Press. I went to the Airline Leasers Summit (part of the Aerospace Global Forum) whilst Sam got to enjoy a Boeing 777X interior reveal event. We were also some of the first media in the world to see inside United Airlines' brand new Airbus A321XLR, as well as Emirates' new A350 interior.

Anyways, this week we gotten a Qatar Airways Avios offer on flights to and from Australia. We have written a guide all about cancelling Avios flights with BA, and we also had more good news (sarcasm, it isn't) regarding another BA co branded Amex, this time it's the Accelerating Business card which is getting a devaluation. Anyone telling you this is good news is wrong!

We've also written a guide as to what benefits are on offer at the O2 if you are in possession of an Amex, as well as a guide on all the hotel statuses you get with an Amex Platinum. Lastly, our review of the Virgin Red Room at the O2, which we got to enjoy back in May for a measly 40,000 Virgin Points. Is it worth it, or should you just save them for flights?

Be sure to check out our Q&A over on our Instagram stories, where we will answer any questions you have about miles and points. No matter how silly you think the question is, chances are others are also thinking it, and there is never any judgment on our part, so please do pop along.

As always, hope you have had a great week.

Helena

Qatar Airways is giving away up to 24,000 bonus Avios on flights to/from Australia

If Australia has been sitting on your travel list, Qatar Airways has just given you up to 24,000 reasons to move it up.

If you book a flight between Doha and Australia during the promo window below, you'll get up to 24,000 bonus Avios on top of whatever you'd normally earn. It's a short booking window, so worth acting on quickly if the numbers work for you, but you have quite a while before you have to have completed your flight. So if this is the winter (or summer in Australia) that you are planning to go to a land down under, this deal might be for you.

Check out the full article here as well as the deadline for booking!

Can you cancel Avios flights with British Airways, and how much does it cost?

You did it. You booked your dream Avios flights. You are going to the Maldives. But then BAM. You finally get off the waitlist for the operation you need / you realise you're going to be due to give birth at any moment / your ogre of a manager won't let you take the time off ... you get the idea.

So you realise, you're going to have to cancel the flights. Now you're worrying about the cost and whether you get your Avios back. Oh my friend, take a breath, and let me reassure you.

Find out the details here.

Not another one: the BA Accelerating Business Amex will also have its Avios rate cut from 7 October, with On Business points removed entirely

Another week, another cut to your benefits.

In December, we lost a chunk of value in the Avios devaluation. In May they raised the taxes and fees for reward flights. Then Friday last week, Amex confirmed it's cutting the earn rate on the Premium Plus card and scrapping the triple Avios on British Airways spend. Now the British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card is getting an even more brutal cut.

Everything below takes effect on 7 October 2026, the same day as the cuts to the British Airways Premium Plus. Thank you to Sean for bringing this to our attention via Instagram.

For all the changes to this card, click here.

What benefits do Amex cardholders get at The O2 arena?

If you've got an American Express card, thanks to a hefty amount of sponsorship The O2 is one of the better venues in the country to use it.

There's a free lounge with a complimentary drink, free bag drop, and a separate enrolment programme that gives you 10% back on food and drink across the arena.

We've written all about how each one works here.

Here's the full list of hotel statuses you get with an Amex Platinum

Earlier in the month, Amex added ALL Accor as a transfer partner allowing you to move and spend your Membership Reward points on hotels with the Accor group.

Building on that initial partnership, Accor Gold membership has now been added as a feature for Amex Platinum cardholders. That takes you from four free hotel statuses to five, and it gave us a reason to do something we'd been meaning to anyway: go back through the whole list!

So if you're holding the Amex Platinum, we have written the full set of hotel statuses that you get as it stands now, right here.

Virgin Red Room at the O2 review: what 40,000 Virgin Points gets you

Most people collecting Virgin Points are saving them for a flight, and this is normally what we'd be doing, but in all honesty, I was bored one day and wanted to book us something to look forward to. In that vein, did you know that Virgin Red has a private suite inside the O2 arena in London called the Virgin Red Room, and you can book it for almost any show there using points rather than money?

You book the whole thing through Virgin Red directly in about the time it takes to buy a normal ticket, and prices start at 10,000 Virgin Points for two. We spent 40,000 of our Virgin Points on two tickets to see RÜFÜS DU SOL back in May, and in a moment that may shock you, there were no additional taxes or fees to pay! Here is my review of the Virgin Red Room at the O2 Arena.

Read our review of it 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.