News you may have missed at Points Well Made - 6th September
- Helena
- 14 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Hello, hello, hello. And welcome back to another "News you may have missed."
We've had an interesting week, of news, offers and me managing to double post one day because I forgot to unschedule an article. So, apologies for the double email on Tuesday!
We started off the week with the latest in our guest post series, an article from the lovely Beta and Nat from Fly Smart Club, and how they use their points.
Tuesday was the unfortunate double post day, well done me, where we brought you the second in our series of Rev Point guides, this one all about earning them. Plus we also covered the 20% transfer bonus from HSBC to BA Club Avios.
Not to be outdone, Virgin started (once again) a 70% bonus offer when purchasing Virgin Points, and Amex announced a supplementary card bonus offer also. I really hate the use of the phrase free points, but on this occasion, the points earnt from simply taking out your first supplementary card really are free, and we love that.
We've gone from no HSBC content to double HSBC content! The HSBC Premier World Elite card has a frankly ridiculous offer of 70k points + £790 back. You won't want to miss that one!
I wrote up a review/guide on Travel Smarter, a loyalty optimisation tool for the travel you already have planned, and the travel you're planning next. That sentence doesn't do the product justice, so I would recommend heading over and reading this, plus there is a 30% discount code if you sign up by the end of September. More on that in the article. One more thing. If you were delaying taking out the Hilton Honor Plus debit card until the last moment, that moment has now come! There is one day left to get 50,000 Hilton Honors points, which is worth more than the fee alone, so you can click here to apply for the Hilton Honors Plus debit card.
Helena
In our fourth guest post, today's post has been kindly written by Beta and Nat from Fly Smart Club. They're two best friends from Brazil who use points to see their families more frequently, and take the odd holiday too!
Hey! We are Beta & Nat from Fly Smart Club, two friends running two very different families, here to show you the reality of being a travel-loving family in the UK, even with the "monster" that's called the school holidays!
Travelling as a family with points is not always easy; availability can be really hard to find, especially during those peak dates. But if you are willing to learn a bit about this universe of points and miles, it can also be very rewarding…
RevPoints are one of the more interesting loyalty currencies in the UK, and the earning side of it is far deeper than "spend on your card and see what happens."
Between plan-based earn rates, boosted merchant offers, booking bonuses, and the odd transfer bonus, there's a strategy to be had here if you know where to look.
The timing of this couldn't be more perfect. You've been messaging us about HSBC for the last few weeks and finally we have some good news.
From 1 September to 30 September 2026, HSBC Premier cardholders can convert their HSBC reward points to British Airways Club Avios and get 20% extra Avios on top. That's a nice little uplift if you were already planning a transfer, not quite as nice as their 25% bonus they ran in February, but still pretty decent.
Got a trip you're a few points short of? Virgin Atlantic, via Virgin Red, are running another buy points promotion with up to 70% bonus when you buy or gift Virgin Points.
It runs from 1 September to 4 October 2026. If you've got a redemption lined up and you're just shy of the points, this is worth a look.
American Express has re-launched its supplementary card bonus offer, and the rewards on several cards are higher than usual. If you hold a card that qualifies and have never added a supplementary card, this is one of the simplest ways to boost your points balance this year.
You've heard of Amex. You've heard of Barclays, and if you read us regularly you've heard of Currensea too. But how about HSBC doing reward cards?
If you haven't, there's a good reason. HSBC's reward cards are only available to people with an HSBC Premier bank account, and Premier needs a six-figure income or six figures in savings. That rules most people out, which is why we've hesitated in covering HSBC in the past. We prefer to cover topics that benefit everyone, but HSBC has given us all an offer so strong that we cannot ignore it any longer.
This guide is a paid partnership with Travel Smarter, who also gifted Helena and Sam a Premium membership. We may earn affiliate commission from the links in this guide, but all views remain our own.
Anyone who collects miles and points knows the real work isn't necessarily earning them, but rather in keeping track of them. We’re all guilty of it, fighting to remember which tab is which, multiple open on your laptop.
We've all been there. Until now, the only real fix has been that spreadsheet and a lot of patience.
I am sure many of you have asked the question “What if the flights I’m already planning could get me airline status faster, and earn me more points towards free flights?”
Travel Smarter set out to change that. This is a loyalty optimisation tool for the travel you already have planned, and the travel you're planning next. The idea is to help you get to frequent flyer status a bit sooner, spot perks and benefits you might otherwise miss, and put the points you're already earning to better use.
Exclusively for Points Well Made readers, sign up and become a paid Travel Smarter subscriber in September and get 30% off the Premium subscription, helping you reach frequent flyer status faster and earn more points towards free flights. Simply use this link, and enter promo code "POINTS30"
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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