In this post:
Buy Points bonus for Hyatt and Hilton
Hyatt
The World of Hyatt points sale offers a discount off the price of buying points rather than a bonus. They often offer a maximum 40% bonus or 30% discount so this one at 20% is not worth buying unless you need to purchase points now. Although they are not as great value as usual, if you plan to stay at a premium property such as Park Hyatt soon, it is always worth comparing the cash cost with buying points.
You have to purchase at least 3000 points to get the discount. You also must be a member for at least 60 days to purchase or receive Bonus Points. Bonus Points can be purchased in increments of 1,000, up to 55,000 points per calendar year. Members can receive up to 55,000 points per calendar year.
The offer ends on 8 October. You can find the offer page and buy points here.
Hilton
Hilton are offering a 100% bonus when you buy points. A minimum purchase of 5,000 Points is required to get the 100% bonus offer. You can now also purchase up to 240,000 points in the offer. Again if you are looking at expensive cash prices for properties it is always worth considering buying points.
The offer ends on 24 September 2024. You can find the offer page and buy points here.
British Airways axes Beijing
Following Virgin’s withdrawal from Shanghai, BA has now removed Beijing from their winter 24 schedules. It seems astonishing that after the growth of flights to China pre-Covid with BA offering several destinations, we are now in a situation where BA can’t make a direct flight to Beijing work, given the amount of trade between the two countries.
The last outbound flight to Beijing Daxing International Airport will leave Heathrow on Thursday 24 October 2024. They are instead offering an indirect flight via Hong Kong connecting to Cathay Pacific. You could also fly with Qatar if you want to stick with one world. BA will continue to offer Shanghai.
HT: @londonairtravel
BA adds more Bangkok flights and expands codeshare, changes Cape Town flights
British Airways has announced that it is increasing flights from London to Bangkok and expanding its codeshare partnership with Bangkok Airways.
The airline announced earlier this year that its direct route from London Gatwick to Bangkok will return on 28 October 2024, operating three times per week to the Thai capital. As of this week, the service will increase to up to five times per week between January and March 2025. So, if you have been looking for Avios tickets, it may be worth looking again.
Furthermore, its existing codeshare partnership with Bangkok Airways has been expanded to open up five new destinations across Thailand and Cambodia, allowing customers to connect seamlessly in Bangkok onto:
- Phuket (HKT), Thailand
- Koh Samui (USM), Thailand
- Chaing Mai (CNX), Thailand
- Phnom Penh (PNH), Cambodia
- Siem Reap (SAI), Cambodia
Currently BA operates a codeshare on the Singapore-Koh Samui route with Bangkok Airways. Customers will have the option to incorporate a stopover in Bangkok into their journey before continuing onto their final destination on the same ticket.
Bangkok Airways, known as Asia’s Boutique Airline, is a great little airline and offers great service even in economy. It operates an extensive domestic network in Thailand, as well as to destinations across Cambodia, Hong Kong, the Maldives, Laos, and Singapore.
This agreement means British Airways customers will be able to connect to their final destination in Thailand or Cambodia on a single ticket. You will also be able to collect Avios and earn Tier Points when flying on Bangkok Airways on a British Airways codeshare journey.
Mr. Chulin Kocharoen, Vice President – Network and Product Development of Bangkok Airways PLC commented: “We are pleased to expand this codeshare partnership with British Airways to strengthen our respective route networks and offer business and leisure travellers with unprecedented and convenient access to new gateways. Moreover, British Airways passengers traveling on Bangkok Airways flights will enjoy the boutique airline’s unparalleled services such as lounge access at available airports, in-flight meal and much more.”
Codeshare tickets are now available to book on www.ba.com, for travel from 28 October 2024 onwards.
BA Cape Town changes
BA has also changed around its Cape Town flights with its seasonal London Gatwick – Cape Town route being cut from 7 January 2025. Instead, British Airways will increase its London Heathrow – Cape Town route from 2x to 3x daily flights from 10 January 2025 for Winter 2024/25.
HT: @seanm1997
Virgin Atlantic cuts two Caribbean routes
Sadly, Virgin has cut two of its more exotic routes not that long after it started. I am particularly sad about Nassau being cut since I went on a press trip on one of their first flights to the Bahamas and absolutely loved it. You can read my review of Atlantis Bahamas here.
London Heathrow to Providenciales in Turks and Caicos will be cut from 21 February 2025 and London Heathrow to Nassau will have its final flights on 23 February 2025.
5 comments
Re Beijing – I believe there is a lot of price pressure from the Chinese carriers, and they’ve upped there game somewhat based on a couploe of recent flights on Shanghai Ailrines/China Eastern
VA barely gave Turks and Caicos a go – it’s was half hearted as best flying mid week only and they didn’t try much harder with the Bahamas – a route they have had and failed at twice- all the while BA had made that route work daily for years. Virgin just seem to want America which is over saturated market. Very sad.
I worry for Virgin in the sense of how uncommitted they seem to be to their route network. I absolutely get it, a route has to perform and there is no point ‘flogging a dead horse’ but Virgin just seems to have lost focus of its strategy.
Sao Paulo was an absolute debacle. All the noise about the launch to then can it, re-launch sales and again ditch it. Shanghai cancelled. And now they are making hype about an entry on the LHR – Seoul route – I will personally not believe it until I see it.
Post pandemic BA and Virgin are both rediscovering that if you want to make money you need to point your aircraft to the US. The relationship with their respective trans Atlantic partners gives them great distribution in the local market that they don’t enjoy in many other markets.
Doesn’t help that you can’t fly over Russian airspace therefore adding extra cost to the airlines and longer flight time for the passenger.
Unfortunately it’s not a level playing field as most of the other airlines can fly over Russian airspace
Comments are closed.