News in brief:
Club Eurostar relaunching in October
Members of Eurostar’s Club Eurostar loyalty programme were given a very brief outline of the new loyalty programme yesterday.
Following the merger of Eurostar with European train operator Thalys, the respective loyalty schemes of the two companies are coming together later this year.
Club Eurostar members will see fewer changes than their My Thalys World counterparts. The name will be unchanged and we have been told that key benefits such as the ability of Carte Blanche members to use fast track security and the lounges will remain.
If you go into the T&C for the new programme, a bit more detail emerges:
- membership years will be reset to run from 1st October, so there could be some issues over the status you receive for 2024
- there will be a new top status tier above Carte Blanche called Étoile Club
- the only stated benefit of Étoile Club so far is the ability to guest two people into the lounge and through Fast Track security (Carte Blanche only gets one guest)
- Carte Blanche and Étoile Club members will be able to access Railteam lounges in Europe if using Thalys
- points earning will change to 1 point per €1 spent or 1.2 points per £1 spent
- Train & Hotel packages will earn at half of the above rates
- Value and Anytime rewards will remain, as will the ability to redeem points for upgrades or a cash discount
We’ll cover this topic in more detail as more information is released.
Norse Atlantic cuts Barbados flights
The saga of Norse Atlantic’s new Caribbean flights continues.
One of the nails in Norwegian’s coffin was that it chose to fly long haul routes from London Gatwick with strong seasonality on a year-round basis.
Norse Atlantic, which has (literally) inherited Norwegian’s long haul fleet, is loathe to make the same mistake. It was planning three Caribbean routes that will make the most of its aircraft during the quieter winter months when leisure passengers are less keen on a (cold) USA East Coast city break:
- Barbados – daily
- Kingston (Jamaica) – three flights per week
- Montego Bay (Jamaica) – four flights per week
The first sign of problems was when the launch of the routes was pushed back from late October to 1st December.
Last week we told you that Kingston had been scrapped entirely before a single flight has taken off.
Now, the trimmers have been taken to Barbados. Two weekly flights have been cancelled (Sunday and Tuesday) with the route now seeing five flights per week.
Fingers crossed for Montego Bay ….
Hilton to open a Hampton hotel in Rochdale next month
Finally, a brief mention that Hilton’s latest Hampton launch – Hampton by Hilton Rochdale – is due to open on 18th September. It is on New Baillie Street.
I’m not sure what the Rochdale hotel scene is like, but I have a soft spot for Hampton properties. The room spec is surprisingly high these days, and of course all rooms come with free breakfast. It should be a good addition to the region.
The hotel website is here. Rates start as low as £49 for Sunday night stays in the early weeks.