There was a technical issue yesterday, so if you wanted to see the British Airways sale article, you can find it here.
In this post:
Mr and Mrs Smith available via Hyatt
World of Hyatt is now offering members the ability to earn and redeem at a collection of more than 700 boutique and luxury hotels and villas around the globe with Mr & Mrs Smith. In total, Mr and Mrs Smith has over 2000 properties, but for now, 700 are bookable via Hyatt.
The participating properties from the Mr & Mrs Smith portfolio adds more than 20 new countries to World of Hyatt such as Namibia, Fiji and the British Virgin Islands. Being a group of boutique hotels, it does open up some really unique properties.
In the UK, there are some great hotels, including the luxurious The Grove, which I will be reviewing soon. There are also some other iconic luxury properties such as:
- Cliveden House
- Chewton Glen
- Cowley Manor
- Lympstone Manor (review here)
- Bovey Castle
An easy way to explore participating hotels is on hyatt.com/explore-hotels/map and filter by Mr & Mrs Smith.
“Our members truly value World of Hyatt, and we’re always looking for new ways to engage guests, help them get the most out of their travels and reward them for experiencing what the world has to offer – from cozying up in a secluded treehouse in the Arctic Circle, reigning over an English country manor, glamping under starry desert skies or going wild in a jungle villa perched above Pacific waters,” said Amy Weinberg, senior vice president, brand, loyalty and data, Hyatt.
The addition of Mr & Mrs Smith is in addition to more than 35 new luxury properties recently announced across Hyatt’s Timeless, Boundless, Independent, and Inclusive Collection brands.
The good news and the bad news
The good news is that all rooms at the 700 properties will be bookable on points via Hyatt, including the top suites. However, this is because the redemptions are based on revenue, which is not so great.
Luckily, earning points is the same as at other Hyatt properties – 5 points per $1 spent (excludes taxes). You also earn Elite night credits the same way.
The less good news is that the benefits are different from those you would get with status at a Hyatt hotel. The only benefit you will receive is a space-available upgrade if you have Globalist status.
Virgin Atlantic Mastercard sign up bonus
Virgin Atlantic has increased the sign up bonuses on their Virgin Atlantic Credit Cards.
New customers will now receive:
- Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card: a brand-new welcome offer of 3,000 bonus Virgin Points on the first spend of any amount (in 90 days) – previously 0 bonus Virgin Points
- Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card: a welcome offer of 18,000 bonus Virgin Points on the first spend of any amount (in 90 days) – previously 15,000 Virgin Points
The Virgin Atlantic Credit Card, issued by Virgin Money, allows customers to earn Virgin Points to spend across both Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. One of the things I like about Virgin points is the fact that they never expire. Now that Virgin are part of Skyteam and you can use your points on lots of different airlines, it is definitely worth considering. Some of these can be great value for long-haul redemptions, such as Air France and KLM.
I find them more versatile for rewards than Avios if you don’t always want to spend points on flights. You can use them for all sorts of things including cruises, hotels and concerts in their Virgin Red private box.
If you want a non American Express card but can’t get the Barclaycard Avios card, this could be a good alternative as there is no minimum spend to get the bonus.
Katherine Lovell, head of unsecured lending at Virgin Money said: “At Virgin Money, we want to encourage our customers to make the most of their money through rewarding experiences, and that’s why we’re pleased to announce the increase in welcome bonus Virgin Points new Virgin Atlantic Credit Card customers will now receive. To qualify for the bonus Virgin Points, new customers simply need to use their credit card to pay for something within the first 90 days – it really is as simple as that!”
Virgin Atlantic sale from £1479
Shortly after British Airways announced its sale, Virgin also rolled out its sale, which ends on 14 May.
Similar to BA there are no massive bargains to be had. However, Virgin can often be much more expensive than BA, but the prices are similar to the BA sale prices with a few decent deals.
- London (LHR) to Los Angeles (LAX) £2,303
- London (LHR) to New York (JFK) £1,593
- London (LHR) to Orlando (MCO) £2188
- London (LHR) to Miami (MIA) £2,097
- London (LHR) to San Francisco (SFO) £2,197
- London (LHR) to Las Vegas (LAS) £2,197
- London (LHR) to The Bahamas (Nassau) (NAS) £2048
- London (LHR) to Antigua (St. John’s) (ANU) £2131
- London (LHR) to Dubai (DXB) £1,999
- London (LHR) to Mumbai (BOM) £1,688
- London (LHR) to Delhi (DEL) £1,479
- Manchester (MAN) to Orlando (MCO) £2,209
- Manchester (MAN) to Boston (BOS) £1,794
- Manchester (MAN) to New York (JFK) £1,572
