News in brief:
More American Express card offers
Yesterday we covered an interesting Santander Cycles American Express card offer. This would get you 1,000 Membership Rewards points for a £6 outlay.
There are a number of other American Express offers popping up in people’s accounts.
Got an Amex Gold?
Amex is offering double Membership Rewards points for Gold card holders at certain retailers. It is an eclectic list – Aldi, Superdrug and participating Esso petrol stations, and online only at Currys PC World and Deliveroo.
The offer is valid until 21st November 2020. You need to opt-in via the ‘Offers’ tab of your online statement page.
And a hotel deal …..
I have an offer of £100 off £300 spend at The Connaught and The Berkeley hotels in London. You must book and pay by 27th November 2020. It is not valid purely on restaurant spend so you need to be a resident to use it.
These are usually extremely expensive and plush hotels. However, you can combine this with the special benefits that our hotel booking partner Emyr Thomas can get you. At The Berkeley, for example, booking via Emyr comes with:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Seasonal welcome amenity
- Full English breakfast for two guests per bedroom
- £75 hotel credit to be utilized during stay (not combinable, not valid on room rate)
- Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
Factor in the £100 credit and it looks interesting for a high-end break. You can contact Emyr via the form on this page of HfP.
The Sunday Times Travel Magazine has closed
The Sunday Times Travel Magazine has been closed down by News UK, presumably following a collapse in advertising revenue, according to Press Gazette.
The magazine will always have a place in the heart of Head for Points readers. This is because, back in 2016, it decided to offer 4,500 Avios to everyone who took out a £30 subscription. What could possible go wrong ….?
I often use this example when talking to companies who want to use loyalty points as incentives. The magazine thought it made sense to pay (at least) £45 for 4,500 Avios in return for a £30 subscription. Why? Because their modelling showed that the average subscriber stayed with the magazine for (I’m guessing now) five years.
There were many, many thousands of sign-ups from amongst the Head for Points readership, and I am pretty sure that the average subscription length was nearer 1.0 years ……
Eurostar finally starting direct trains from Amsterdam and Rotterdam
At long last, there is a date for direct Eurostar services from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London.
Direct services TO Amsterdam started in 2018. Anika travelled on the launch London to Amsterdam Eurostar service and her review is here.
Direct services back to London were not possible, however, because the necessary passport, security and segregation facilities were not in place in the Netherlands. You had to take a standard train to Belgium where you would clear immigration and get onto a Eurostar train for the final leg.
From 26th October, you can say goodbye to all that with the launch of direct services. It will take just over four hours for the trip from Amsterdam and just over three and a half hours from Rotterdam.
Tickets will be on sale from 1st September.