In this post:
Black Friday – what’s coming up
With the IHG sale already on, there are some more key dates to note. You will be able to find all the Black Friday 2024 offer articles on this page. If you don’t already subscribe by email or on social media, now may be the time as often the best fares sell out quickly!
- Qatar Airways – due to start tomorrow 20 November, and we will be publishing an article with all the best fares
- British Airways – TBC
- Radisson – up to 35% off stays starting on 21 November. Travel between 12 December 2024 and 31 December 2025 and earn an additional 3,000 points/stay.
- Marriott – from 26 November to 3 December , Marriott Bonvoy members can save 25% off stays at 7,000 participating hotels around the world for stays 1 December to 20 January 2025, when booked through the Marriott Bonvoy App. Marriott Bonvoy members who book online will receive 20% off and non-members will save 15%
- TAP – some deals on now but are teasing some special deals on the day itself
- The Doyle Collection – now on with up to 30% on stays at The Kensington, The Marylebone and The Bloomsbury in London; The Westbury in Dublin; and The Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. Members of the company’s Discovery loyalty program can save an additional 5%. You must book the trip by 4 December for travel until 31 March 2025.
- Hilton – already a sale on but could be something extra for Black Friday.
Finnair announces positive business class changes
Finnair has launched its new winter menu and the ability for customers to now pre-order their choice of meals when traveling on short-haul Business Class flights.
The new menu has been inspired by the flavours of Finland, with an Asian twist in a nod to the airline’s network. It is now is available on all scheduled services up to and including 28 January 2025.
Ability to pre-order dishes on short-haul Business Class flights
It is a very positive step being able to order your meal on short haul business class flights as there is usually no choice of meal unless you pre-order a special meal. Obviously, this was far from ideal for fussy eaters or people who don’t eat certain foods. Now customers travelling in Business Class on short-haul flights within Europe now have the option to pre-select their preferred dish from a range of four options.
The new feature will be available for lunch and dinner services in Manage My Booking and will include a range of locally inspired dishes. These include beef meatballs in a cream sauce with mashed potatoes, broccoli and lingonberries; and smoked salmon lasagne with a creamy spinach and tomato sauce topped with cheese gratiné. These sound great options, and even though I am normally fine with Finnair’s short-haul food, I’d definitely be interested in pre-ordering as both those examples sound delicious!
Pre-ordering your meal is already available for those travelling in Business Class to Finnair’s long-haul destinations.
New long-haul dishes
As part of the new menu, Finnair has relaunched its long-haul Business Class menu. New seasonal appetisers include smoked whitefish, crayfish tails and Shimeji mushrooms, in addition to both salmon tartare and spicy sriracha shrimp with trout roe and cucumber in scallop cream. For customers who prefer a vegetarian option, a new goat’s cheese tartlet with semi-dried cherry tomatoes and redcurrant compote will be offered.
For the main course, customers also have a choice of a new range of recipes, including slow-cooked beef entrecôte with garlic mashed potatoes, root vegetables and sautéed porcini mushrooms in blackberry sauce or pike-perch and salmon terrine with creamy kohlrabi and roasted vegetables in lobster sauce. A third destination-specific option will also be offered, in addition to a range of meals available to pre-order for those with specific dietary requirements. It’s good to see a change from the usual trout that while very tasty, was a very frequent menu option on Finnair!
To complement these changes, Finnair has also updated its wine list and dessert options to suit the new menu, in addition to launching a new snack menu. The new range will include sweet treats such as Pågen cinnamon buns and Fazer Domino biscuits, in addition to cold-smoked reindeer and hummus sandwiches on flights departing from Helsinki. Last time I flew Finnair, there was a rather limited selection of mid-flight snacks, so having sandwiches and sweet snacks is a good improvement.
Customers travelling in both Premium Economy and Economy will also receive a refreshed menu and the airline’s iconic blueberry juice will continue to be free of charge on all flights, irrespective of class of travel.
You can find more information on in-flight meals here.
New American Express offers to save for British Airways and Heathrow Parking
One of the big benefits of many American Express cards is the offers you need to save to your card before you use them. This can often offset the fee entirely or, in my case, make having the card actually profitable!
Some new offers have just landed which will be of interest to TLFL readers.
British Airways Holidays – Amex Platinum (may also be on Gold Preferred)
Save the BA Holidays offer to your card to get 3,000 Avios on eligible spend of £3,000+ online at British Airways Holidays by 22/12/2024. The catch with this is that usually, with BA Holidays, one of the advantages of making a trip a holiday (other than double tier points) is that you only have to pay a small deposit. Obviously, you’d have to be spending a lot of money on a holiday for the deposit to be £3000+. However, if you are booking for something in the next couple of months where the balance would be due now or shortly, then it makes sense to use the offer. You could also part pay your balance with £3000 and that would also count.
There are some T&Cs to be aware of. Firstly, the holiday must start in the UK. Secondly, you can only get the discount on online bookings. However, I do wonder how they would know if you were paying off a balance online for a telephone booking if it was made by phone originally, so it is worth a try. The offer only applies to holidays, not flight only purchases sadly.
The offer is on the British Airways Amex.
Heathrow Parking
Heathrow Official Parking can be very expensive but I do occasionally use it at a weekend when the POD parking can be more reasonable (I love the POD parking!). I also redeem my Heathrow Rewards points for parking as you get £10 off instead of a £5 voucher for every 500 points, so it is the best value use of points if you want to buy something with them. The Amex offer will work even with using points, as you will still get the cashback on the cash part of the payment (if it is £50+).
There are two offers. I have a 10% GBP statement credit when you make a single, eligible transaction of £50+ online at Official Heathrow Parking by 31/1/2025. Valid once per Card up to £25. This is on my Platinum card.
You can use the offer on purchases of Short Stay, Long Stay, Business, Meet and Greet, POD parking (T5) and Valet Parking at Heathrow Parking or by phone.
I have also seen an offer for 5 Avios per £1 spent, but I don’t have that one. You can, however, get 7 Avios per £1 through the BA shopping portal.
1 comment
I am a massive Finnair fan I love how they are not afraid to innovate and try different things.
Good to hear about the ability to pre-select a meal on short haul flights. As much as we can complain about BA’s Club Europe catering at least there is usually a choice, something I have not experienced on Air France, Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian etc.
I do wish Finnair would consider making their long haul meal service a little more ‘premium’. Even on their longest routes to Japan and Korea the main meal is all served up together – starter and main – on a tray and whilst that would suit a shorter flight it would be a nicer experience if they served course by course.
Comments are closed.