Bits: first Cuban five-star opens, 150 free Marriott points, no BA lounge at Stansted

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News in brief:

Kempinski opens the first 5-star hotel in Cuba

If you have been put off from visiting Cuba due to the poor quality of accommodation on offer (Virgin Atlantic flies to Havana, as does Iberia from Madrid), there is good news.

Kempinski opened the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana this week. It is Cuba’s first five-star luxury hotel, centrally located in Old Havana. It is a conversion of what was originally a European-style shopping arcade, later used for offices.

The hotel has 246 rooms, six restaurants and bars and a spa. Full details are on the Kempinski website here.

Kempinski hotel Havana Cuba

Get 150 free Marriott Rewards points

Marriott Rewards is offering 150 free Marriott Rewards points if you link your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds (50 points per site).

This promotion originally ran last year and offered 1,500 points. For the sake of 150 points, which I value at around 75p, I’m not sure it’s worth handing over your information.

Escape Lounge Stansted 2

No BA lounge access at Stansted

(EDIT: BA has now renewed its agreement at Stansted and the lounge is available again)

If you remember our review of the Escape lounge at Stansted Airport a couple of weeks, you may remember the picture above which lists British Airways. This is because passengers on the BA ‘regional Cityflyer’ weekend services from Stansted were using the Escape lounge.

For some reason, British Airways has not renewed its contract with the lounge. There is currently a bit of paper stuck over the BA logo on the sign above and passengers from the British Airways services are not being allowed in. You can still access it with a Priority Pass or Lounge Club card if flying on BA.

With no other lounge in the airport, you’re going to be stuck in the main Stansted terminal area. To be honest, I would be filing a compensation claim with British Airways if I was impacted by this as it is not acceptable.

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

British Airways and Avios, Marriott Bonvoy

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

Wally1976 says:

9 Jun9 June 07:08

OT – can anyone confirm if a current year ISA transfer into Virgin qualifies for the 8000 point bonus? Thanks
Jovanna says:

9 Jun9 June 07:57

Is there any point in paying for Club Europe from Stansted? Apart from the meal and the Tier Points, you can’t be getting much more..?
- Rob says:
  
  9 Jun9 June 08:16
  
  Food is very good on Cityflyer, but they still have free drinks and snacks in Economy of course.
  
  People pay for CE out of City and that has no lounge and no Fast Track!
  - John says:
    
    9 Jun9 June 10:55
    
    And half the time they don’t even eat the meal. 3/5 pax on LCY-AMS a fortnight ago wanted water only!
Ben says:

9 Jun9 June 08:05

That is so weird about the lounge at stanstead. I can’t imagine it would have cost them that much? Why bother selling club there at all?
Smid says:

9 Jun9 June 08:30

If you’re a BA customer in Stansted, there’s a good chance the taxi drive dropped you off at the wrong airport….
- callum says:
  
  9 Jun9 June 12:13
  
  You do realise BA fly from Stansted?
Isodrac says:

9 Jun9 June 08:35

Given the horrific price increase of Cuban hotels over the past couple of years, I genuinely dread to think how expensive the Kempinski will be.
James says:

9 Jun9 June 08:39

Having been there last week and, along with lots of other passengers, was denied access due to overcrowding, this lounge needs to at least double in size.
I of course then needed to spend money I hadn’t planned for 🙁 Priority Pass just became less valuable to me.
- Lady London says:
  
  9 Jun9 June 08:59
  
  Different lounge would be better. The Escape lounge has lovely staff but surely competition would help?
SLS says:

9 Jun9 June 08:59

Having recently come back from Cuba where we stayed at the Parque Centrale…i can confirm the Kempinski looks beautiful!! A place havana is in much need of (if you’re after a nice hotel as opposed to casa)
- Graeme says:
  
  9 Jun9 June 11:44
  
  Was in the early stages of conversion when I was in Havana and also stayed at the Parque Central, it is a stunning building.
BlackBerryAddict says:

9 Jun9 June 10:36

“If you have been put off from visiting Cuba due to the poor quality of accommodation on offer “. I can kind of understand why you are saying this, but the whole point of going to Cuba is perhaps not stay in luxurious hotels…

And airberlin still flies to Varadero and Havana as well. We did that a couple of years ago – great use of Avios because of low taxes
- Rob says:
  
  9 Jun9 June 10:54
  
  The US airlines have already cancelled many of their new services to Cuba and the unacceptable standard of accommodation is the main reason being blamed …..
  - Leo says:
    
    9 Jun9 June 11:09
    
    Cuba is fantastic and there is plenty of okay accommodation – especially in Varadero etc. if that’s what you are looking for – hotels are a bit ropey in Havana maybe. Do all Americans demand to stay in 5 star hotels? Maybe they won’t/can’t go because of the lack of opportunity to spend their points mountains.
  - Fenny says:
    
    9 Jun9 June 12:51
    
    What US and UK travellers deem “unacceptable” is wildly different in my book!
- Graeme says:
  
  9 Jun9 June 11:49
  
  I completely agree, I thought you travel to experience the culture not the hotel room (within reason of course).
  
  If they are staying away that’s their loss. May save Havana’s old world charm for a bit longer before the onslaught of restaurant and coffee shops chains catering for those that want ‘acceptable standards’ of hotel accommodation…
  - Ro says:
    
    9 Jun9 June 13:11
    
    Seems like a lot of people in this game travel to visit hotel rooms rather than culture though.
    
    i think a lot of US airlines are pulling back flights because they were actually incredibly over zealous when they implemented them. Instead of trying to grow organically they all wanted to outdo each other and wildly overestimated demand.
    - John says:
      
      9 Jun9 June 19:51
      
      I think Americans are more put off by the fact that
      
      1) they can’t exactly go to Cuba on a whim, unless they have a proper reason or are willing to extend the truth a bit when asked by a US government official
      
      2) US payment cards may or may not work, or at least Americans have the impression that they might not work
      
      3) Exchanging USD cash costs 10% extra so they have to get euros or Canadian dollars
      
      Sure, it doesn’t put off everyone, but for Americans it isn’t the same as say going to the Bahamas, “accommodation standards” notwithstanding.