In this post:
United Airlines announces new UK route with a catch
United will be offering nearly 3,000 weekly international round-trips from the US in Summer 2026 and have announced several new routes, including one from Scotland.
“United has an unmatched international network, and we pride ourselves on connecting our customers to unique, trendsetting destinations no other U.S. airline serves,” said Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances. “With the addition of these new flights and the return of all of our new routes from last year, United now flies to 46 cities across the Atlantic – more than any other airline – and is the clear flag carrier of the U.S.”
United will start offering a nonstop service between the United States and Glasgow from next sumer. The daily seasonal service from Newark/New York will begin on 8 May will be on a Boeing 737-MAX8 aircraft. However, if you were planning to fly business class, you are out of luck. The airline are only selling premium economy and economy for these flights. Since the aircraft don’t offer a long haul business class seat, this is the right thing to do.
The good news is that the premium economy seats are United domestic first, featuring a 2-2 configuration and being wider than a regular premium economy seat. I would assume they would use aircraft with the new seats which offers a privacy screen, vegan leather upholstery, a larger 18-inch tray table, an Italian quartzite cocktail table, winged headrest, a five-inch recline, and “an ergonomist-designed seat cushion that sits one-inch lower to accommodate a wider variety of heights”.
There is also Bluetooth connectivity to the 13-inch IFE screen, and a total of three charging options, including a wireless charging station in the arm rest, a USB-C port and standard AC power socket.
The flights also offer economy plus seats, which cost around £150 extra for more legroom. So if you want to fly in one of those two classes, the service will give some interesting options.
United also serves Edinburgh year-round and is the largest carrier between the United States and Scotland.
You can check prices and times here.
15 Bonus nights with Hilton debit card and instant Gold
If you don’t want a credit card but fancy earning some hotel points and want to be able to “buy” status, then the Hilton Honors Debit cards from Currensea are a good option. It is also a good option for spending abroad due to its low FX fees. We explored the cards in detail in this article.
There is now an extra bonus for the Plus card, which gives you an extra 15 Hilton Honors night credits, which will bring you closer to Diamond status if that is what you are aiming for. This is similar to the Marriott Amex card, which gives you 15 nights credits per year, which I use to maintain my Platinum status with them. You need 60 nights for Hilton Diamond, so this reduces it down to 45 nights which may be more manageable. The offer runs until 18 November 2025.
In essence, there is a cheaper card that usually costs £60 per year and the more expensive one that costs £150 per year.
Here are the two options with the current bonuses:
Hilton Honors Basic Debit Card
- £60 yearly fee
- Earn 2,500 Bonus Points when you spend £1,000 in foreign currency within 6 months of getting your Card. Terms apply.
- Earn up to 3 Hilton Honors Points for every £1 spent on eligible purchases
- Instant Hilton Honors Silver Status (For the whole time you own the card, not just for a year)
- Realtime Exchange Rate with low 0.5% FX fees
- Low 0.5% fee on ATM withdrawals abroad. 2.5% fee over £250 per month
- Earn 1 Hilton Honors Point for every 1p rounded up with Point Booster.
Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card
- £150 yearly fee
- Earn 15,000 Bonus Points and 15 Elite Qualifying Nights when you spend £4,500 in domestic or foreign currency within 3 months of getting your card. (until 18 Nov 25)
- Earn up to 4.5 Hilton Honors Points for every £1 spent on eligible purchases
- Instant Hilton Honors Gold Status (For the whole time you own the card, not just for a year)
- Realtime Exchange Rate with no FX fees
- Fee-free ATM withdrawals abroad. 2.5% fee over £500 per month
- Earn 1 Hilton Honors Point for every 1p rounded up with Point Booster
You can find the offer page here.
Hilton and Qatar Avios bonus and discount
I recently wrote about the new partnership between Qatar and Hilton Honors, which allows you to Hilton Honors members to earn bonus Avios with Qatar Airways, and Privilege Club members to potentially transfer Avios for Hilton Honors points and vice-versa. You must have your accounts linked to take advantage.
The new offer provides a 10% discount when you book on qatarairways.com or their mobile app by 31 October 2025 for Hilton Honors members. This may not be such a good offer compared to the current Privilege Club offer, which I wrote about here. However, some destinations are not included in that offer, and some only offer 6-10% off, making this offer more attractive with the bonus Avios on top. The drawback is that you must credit the flights to Qatar’s Privilege Club, which is annoying if you are still trying for BA status.
Then you need to travel by 31 March 2026 to collect 3,000 bonus Avios in Economy Class and 6,000 bonus Avios in Business or First Class. The code QRPCHILTON should be used to take advantage of the offer.
