In this post:
ETIAS for EU delayed again
The European Union has announced that British tourists will not need to apply for a visa waiver to visit the EU until May 2025, at the earliest. The visa waiver scheme, known as ETIAS, was originally scheduled to launch in November 2023, but has been delayed several times.
ETIAS will be a type of visa waiver scheme like the US, which will also use a form of biometrics like the US. This is believed to be the main stumbling block for the introduction of ETIAS. Although the official line is that it should be introduced by May 2025, EU officials have admitted there could be further delays.
12% off Qatar flights
Qatar has a new offer for get up to 12% off your next trip when you book by 11 December 2023 and travel by 30 June 2024. This is for Qatar Privilege members, which is free to join and allows you to transfer Avios to and from your BA account.
The 12% off will be off the base fare only, so it will be less than 12% overall. There are various different codes, including one for business class, which is BCJUL23. The rest can be found using the link below.
Simply log in to your account and be sure to use the relevant promo code.
You can find the offer page here.
20% bonus on Hyatt points
A new offer has popped up on Hyatt points. At the moment, it can make sense to buy hotel points more than usual, thanks to the sky-high prices everywhere. I advise never to do this on speculation and only to do it when you are about to book a hotel. Bonus points are offered very frequently.
The bonus is 20% when you buy a minimum of 3000 points, which is a bit low for World of Hyatt. We did see some 30% bonuses in 2022, but this year there has been 25%. You must be a member for at least 60 days to purchase or receive Bonus Points. You can only purchase a maximum of up to 55,000 Bonus Points per calendar year. The promotion runs until 4 December 2023.
It is always worth double-checking if it is cheaper to buy points than pay cash with more expensive hotels, but make sure you buy the points immediately after you have checked availability and then book the hotel. You don’t want to be stuck with points if the hotel sells out.
You can find the buy points page here.
3 comments
Thank you, as always, Michele for your invaluable insights. I must say, I find these QR “sales” mystifying. I booked FCO-BKK return yesterday for 2,300 euro, with the code BCJUL23 they are asking for 2,700 this morning. Booking these trips for sub-£1,500 feels like a very distant memory!
Yes the discount codes are very variable in whether it actually lowers the price! I miss those days..although I’ve managed to get a couple of decent deals to Dubai and Bangkok this year from Oslo with Qatar.
Hopefully by May 2025, the UK will have a new government that wants to work with the European Union instead of antagonising them and perhaps for UK citizens, ETIAS will not be applicable.
Comments are closed.