Bits: UK laptop ban, Hilton Flash Sale, new airberlin business class seat

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News in brief:

UK laptop ban on flights to / from certain countries

This story was covered extensively in the news yesterday so I don’t want to dwell on it here. However, if you missed it, the UK Government has banned all electronic equipment larger than a standard mobile phone from aircraft cabins on flights from (but not to) Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia or Saudi Arabia to the UK.

If you are currently in any of these countries and travelling ‘hand baggage only’, British Airways will rebook your flight home without charge in order to give you time to buy a suitcase.

You can learn more on the BBC website here.

Hilton flash sale launched

Hilton has launched a flash sale which runs until next Monday (27th March). Included are Hilton properties in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Hilton Honors members can get up to 25% off the best available rate for weekend stays between 24th March and 27th August 2017.

On the 7th April you could for example get a room at the Reichshof Hamburg (which Rob reviewed here) for €138 instead of €169. You could also get a room at the Hilton Paris Opera (which I reviewed here, photo above) for €267 instead of €319.

As the discount is based on the ‘Best Available Rate’ which is cancellable without charge as opposed to the flash sale rate which requires non-refundable pre-payment, you do need to take the ‘25% discount’ with a pinch of salt. However if you don’t plan on cancelling your stay you might find a good deal in the flash sale.

The page to book is here.

New airberlin Business Class seat

Earlier this month at ITB Berlin all the noise was about the new Qatar Airways Business Class seat / suite. However Qatar Airways wasn’t the only oneworld airline to present a new business product.

airberlin also showcased an updated version of their Business Class product. Remember that airberlin offers excellent value for Avios redemptions if you don’t like paying taxes or charges as this article explains.

Unlike Qatar Airways, who changed their whole concept with their new seat, airberlin focused on a bit of polishing and adding storage space – which is why at first I didn’t even notice any changes. Looking a bit closer though, you can see an added shelf on the right side of the seat.

The distance between the seat and TV screen seems a bit shorter, probably so passengers won’t need glasses to watch the rather small screen. airberlin has also changed the fabric and colour of the seat and the carpet looks like it has been updated as well.

All in all these are not very exciting updates, but I do appreciate the additional storage space.

The first planes to get the new seat will be in the three A330-200 airberlin has recently leased, of which two came from LATAM, to enable it to launch its extended range of US services from this summer.

Here is my review of my Business Class flight from New York JFK to Berlin Tegel last summer. For £4 taxes and charges, it is the smart way to travel if you want to minimise your cash outlay.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

Hilton Honors, oneworld alliance partners

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Ro says:

22 Mar22 March 07:33

OT.
Asked amex via their online message centre about getting an offer to upgrade my gold to amex to platinum.
Originally said my account is not eligible for the 20k for 1k spend offer but as a gesture of goodwill they would give me 5k if i upgraded. That isnt worth the extra cost IMO so replied asking if they could increase it a bit (10k would be enough for me to bite)
Got a reply this morning saying as a one off since im “such a valued customer”, they would give me 20k once i upgraded to platinum… without even a minimum spend target! What a win.
- Genghis says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 07:44
  
  Score!
- Graham Walsh says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 19:34
  
  I’m thinking of upgrading, however I have the “10k MR points will be awarded to your account up to 60 days after your Card renewal on 26 Apr 2017”.
  
  If I upgrade now, will I still get them, or best to wait until after 26th? I need new travel insurance.
  - Rob says:
    
    22 Mar22 March 20:50
    
    You get them within 30 days in my experience, but not much less.
Anna says:

22 Mar22 March 07:35

Will travel insurance cover expensive electrical items in checked baggage?
- James67 says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 08:12
  
  Yes, if you include personal items in policy and you specify high-value items (varies by insurer but usually items ovef £1500)..
James67 says:

22 Mar22 March 07:42

Doing a European tour in May. None of tbe Hilton hotels I am staying are cheaper in the sale, best rates are all the same or higher.
- Nate1309 says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 14:07
  
  The Stucky Molino in Venice was a lot cheaper for my stay in June.
ee says:

22 Mar22 March 07:49

O/T does anyone have experience on how long for first time transfers E rewards to Iberia?
- John says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 07:51
  
  I’ve experienced 1 day to nearly 1 month
  - David says:
    
    22 Mar22 March 20:40
    
    It definitely varies, 1 day to 2 weeks is usual for me over the last year. Still awaiting this month’s, redeemed on the 14th…
    - ee says:
      
      23 Mar23 March 21:29
      
      Thanks – also redeemed on 14th and Avios are showing up in Iberia today, with a date of 21st.
James67 says:

22 Mar22 March 07:58

I’m unconvinced the laptop ban was security-driven, I think it is all smoke and mirrors by the USA in an attempt to hurt the ME3, and also to play to a conservative electorate. That the UK folliwed suit made me cringe which turned to laughter when comparing the difference between the UK and USA lists. I was somewhat surprised though that Saudi Arabia did not escape the ban. It seems doubtful to me that safety will be substantially enhanced simply by putting these items in checked bags. Surely the answe is simply better airport secutity.
the real harry1 says:

22 Mar22 March 08:05

Interesting interview on Radio 4 just now. One security expert explaining that the idea is to separate bomb from terrorist/ that terrorist wants to detonate the [small, remember] bomb next to the thin shell of the plane to cause massive depressurization & catastrophic failure/ that hold explosion much less likely to cause this damage & therefore more likely for pilot to be able to return the plane safely to ground (cf Somalia bomb cited above)/ that recent ‘printer bombs’ detected were so well put together that even security people knowing they were looking at a bomb were initially unable to work out that ink cartridge had been replaced with explosive.

Other security expert expressing puzzlement at the way this looks to be implemented with UK & USA naming slightly different lists of countries & then only for people flying in one direction. I share this puzzlement – surely if you are a terrorist capable of getting a laptop/ printer bomb on board in one direction, you will also find a way to do the same thing in the other direction or on a different route? The idea that the named countries are the main weak spots as regards Security screening & that’s why they have been targeted for no on-board devices larger than a mobile phone? – this doesn’t make much logical sense if the idea is to reduce the threat posed in (say) 80% of cases – you’re still leaving the threat open in the remaining 20%.
- James67 says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 08:20
  
  Phones are still allowed in the cabin so presumably could be usec to detonate something in the hold unless I’m missing something. With a whole bunch of batteries now in the hold it seems to me that the potential for catastrophuc danage remains.
- Anna says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 08:22
  
  And as we’ve seen in recent times, there’s very little to prevent these individuals from getting into mainland Europe and starting their operations from there.
- Thomas says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 08:39
  
  http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/07/investing/airlines-american-gulf-carriers-trump/
- Ro says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 08:48
  
  Essentially, this measure will end up causing a great inconvenience to many and lost revenue to several airlines.
  Whilst the people who really want to cause damage, will very easily circumvent these issues. If you really want to go out of your way to blow up a plane, is it really that difficult to fly indirectly? No.
Rash says:

22 Mar22 March 09:14

Slightly OT but related to Hilton. Regarding the Amex offer of 50 off for a 250 spend at Hilton… is this on a single transaction or cumulative?
- N says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 09:28
  
  Meant to be single transaction but in the past it’s been cumulative for me and others.
- David says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 20:41
  
  Definitely cumulative for me this occasion (over three advance bookings)
  - JamesW says:
    
    24 Mar24 March 04:33
    
    Wow. I presumed it would only be on a single transaction.
    
    Nice.
- Alan says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 23:09
  
  Definitely cumulative – just message Amex if it doesn’t apply across transactions and they’ll manually credit you 🙂
Anna says:

22 Mar22 March 11:29

I was a big fan of 2-centre holidays (pre-offspring!) and hope to do a few more once we’re no longer tied to school term dates and entertaining young ‘uns. Berlin plus Abu Dhabi would be very appealing to me as i love culture and history but also sun and sea. I would be interested in hearing if anyone else has done such a trip using air berlin.
- Walty says:
  
  22 Mar22 March 16:59
  
  I have done the Berlin – Abu dhabi trip a couple of times. 1st time I stayed in Abu Dhabi, 2nd time used the free chaffeur and spent the week in Dubai (return).
  All very easy to plan and book and a decent hard product.