Business class deal: Air Serbia Berlin – Tianjin o/w for €650
Air Serbia launched a new route to Tianjin, China earlier this year, and there’s now a pretty good price for travelling there from Berlin in business class.
You can check the flight price on Air Serbia’s website or via Skyscanner. The flight operates only weekly and you’ll be looking at Thursdays. The sale seems to be wide open in August, September and October.
€653 is a very solid deal for a one-way intercontinental flight in premium cabins. I glanced over the fare rules and it appears to be fully refundable and changeable. Unfortunately you can only credit to Etihad Guest, and the fare bucket C earns you 175% miles.
The fare rules also mention one free stop-over permitted. However when I tried to search multi-city it always came up considerably more expensive. I’m not sure if you can book a one-way flight first and then call up to request a stop-over for free.
Tianjin is one of China’s ports that participate in the 144-hour transit-without-visa program. You don’t need a visa for flying into the city as long as you are continuing to a third country within 144 hours.
My ITA Volare Executive card finally arrived
ITA Airways is the Italian national carrier that was reborn a couple of years ago after its former entity Alitalia dissolved. They ran a status match campaign which, in theory, would give you Skyteam status right away.
My British Airways Gold status matched to their top tier Executive (Skyteam Elite Plus). In March 2022 ITA sent me an email reminding me of updating my address, because a surprise was waiting for me. Well one year and four months later the wait is finally over…
To give them some credit, very few airlines or hotel groups nowadays still mail physical membership cards. It’s thoughtful of them to include a gift box as well, instead of just attaching the card to a letter. Although frankly it is not nearly as nice as what Starlux sent me.
Earlier this year ITA Volare decided to extend all membership status to January 2024. Then in May Lufthansa agreed to buy 41% stake at ITA Airways – it seems very likely that ITA Airways will leave Skyteam to join Star Alliance soon, and let’s hope that means another status extension…
Buy Avios at 0.89p with The Economist’s promotion
The Economist has brought back its promotional offer with British Airways, which allows you to earn bonus Avios for purchasing an annual subscription.
The offer page is here. Two types of subscription are available, and here’s the UK pricing:
- Digital Only: £199 with 15,000 bonus Avios
- Digital + Print: £265 with 18,000 bonus Avios
In terms of “buying Avios” the prices aren’t hugely competitive, so it doesn’t make much sense unless you are actually interested in the subscription. If you have a UK Amex card though, you may have a “spend £199 get £65 back” offer, reducing the cost substantially to 0.89p per Avios only which is excellent!
If not, you can still change the webpage’s country to Canada, where the Digital Only subscription costs only C$235 (~£140).
British Airways added a new feature called Balance Boost recently, and the introductory 10% bonus in July makes this deal even more attractive, as it allows you to buy another 45K Avios at a low cost. The 15,000 Avios should hit your BA account roughly two weeks after purchase.
If you only receive the digital copies, country of residence doesn’t make a difference anyway. However make sure you provide a plausible billing address in the selected country (e.g. Canada), as otherwise your subscription may be cancelled.
My review of Hilton Nottingham
(Update: refurbishment has now completed. Again I received no upgrade as there were quite a few events going on in the city, but the room’s interior is much nicer now. Note that the hotel is very stingy with check-out time: standard check-out is 11am and the generous late check-out for Diamond members is 12am…)
(Originally posted in October 2021)
Stuck in the UK, I’m going to Nottingham for a weekend to visit a friend and their German Shepherd puppy.
Weekend hotel prices are ridiculous at the moment in almost all the UK cities I’ve checked, which means using points is a good call. I spent 60,000 points for two nights at the Hilton hotel at Nottingham, despite the fact they don’t have very good reviews.
The hotel is about 15 minutes’ walk from the railway station, and right next to Victoria Centre which means it’s very central.
It’s very busy this weekend. The gentleman at reception spent a long time trying to find me an upgrade, and was very apologetic when it turned out impossible unless I wouldn’t mind changing room the second day. I was given two drinks vouchers though as a Diamond treat, which I don’t think many UK hotels are still doing nowadays.
The room on the hand, is compact, dated and dysfunctional just as I had imagined…
As you can tell from the little fan on the desk, the room is not air-conditioned. Fortunately the two days I stay here aren’t really warm so I didn’t suffer.
Bathroom looks okay comparatively.
I was told by the receptionist that the 5th and 6th floors are currently undergoing renovation. I guess the owner of the hotel has finally realised that they can’t get away with the old and ugly decor anymore…
Breakfast is served at the Bric restaurant, which is in the fashion of a buffet.
The quality is excellent for a 4-star hotel, especially after you have seen how distasteful the room is. My favourite is the vegetarian sausages which reminds me of a delicacy from my hometown in China.
The hotel also features a gym and spa, which is a nice bonus. You don’t need to make prior reservations and can just walk in.
Unfortunately there were many hotel guests so I didn’t manage to take a lot of photos. Overall the facilities are quite okay although again quite dated. Swimming pool is big enough; jacuzzi too but not warm enough as it’s connected to the pool; sauna is closed due to malfunction; steam room is a bit too steamy.
I think you should already have a very good idea of the hotel at this point. I believe the rooms will be a lot more comfortable after the renovation has completed, but in the meantime you still have to make peace with it and your chances of getting an upgrade will be slimmer as a consequence.
Guide on redeeming Virgin Voyages and maximising your benefits
(Thanks to @Luca for providing me with the photos!)
The Virgin Group welcomed a new member to its family, Virgin Voyages, which in my opinion is a game-changer to collectors of Virgin points. For as low as 80,000 points you can treat yourself (and one companion) to a 7-day all-inclusive cruise in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, which is probably more fun and valuable than ten hours in the sky.
I have finally decided to jump onboard, and booked myself a Mediterranean (departing from Barcelona) trip this August. I did my fair share of research and hopefully this post will help you understand the booking process and maximise your benefits.
The redemption is still live on Virgin Red but is “ending soon”. Coincidentally, Virgin has a points sale and you can buy just over 80,000 points for £945, which is enough to cover the cost.
[Redeem your voyage]
Once you’ve made the redemption on Virgin Red, an access key (code) should arrive at your mailbox within three days. With the access key you can pick your voyage on Virgin Voyages’ website and book. Virgin Voyages is still quite new to the market so availability tends to be pretty good. I strongly encourage you to redeem an access key as soon as possible and then you can chill and plan.
Due to airfare and other factors I opted for the Barcelona route. The Greek one is considerably more expensive, and is possibly more interesting due to it being a new route. With your access key you can book any of the three Sea Terrace cabins:
Value-wise you are getting ~5p per Virgin point which is incredible!
[Link Accounts]
Once you’ve booked you’ll be given a referral link, and if your family and friends book with it your accounts will be linked. You’ll both receive some “celebration perks” on board, which is anecdotally a bottle of bubbly.
You can also ask their customer service to link existing bookings. Note that it only works on the same cruise. If you are travelling on the August 13th Mediterranean route, feel free to use my referral link.
[Solo Sailor Promotion]
If you are travelling solo there’s a special promotion if you book by June 30th, which entitles you to a whopping $600 bonus credit!
It is an all-inclusive cruise but you can pay extra for things such as cocktails, specialty coffee and specialty menu. According to my friends though you don’t have to as the inclusive meals and drinks are already very good.
According to its terms and conditions free access key bookings are excluded from this offer. However a friend of mine was told by customer service that his redemption booking is eligible for the bonus credit. Well you never know…
[Sailing Club]
Most importantly, don’t forget to join the Sailing Club before your trip. If you qualify as a Sea Rover you are entitled to the following perks:
- Priority boarding
- $100 bonus credit
- $10 daily specialty coffee credit
- Free premium wifi
- Free laundry and pressing service
- $100 bonus credit if you top up $300
Becoming a Sea Rover is easier than you think through their status match initiative. If you already have Virgin Atlantic’s Gold status you can submit your application right away. Otherwise you need to status match to MSC Cruises first.
1. Make sure you have a qualifying membership from an airline or a hotel program. I used my Hilton Diamond card but there are many other options including Hyatt, Accor, Marriott and IHG.
2. Submit your application to MSC. I tried MSC’s UK site first but it wouldn’t let me enter the correct postcode, so eventually I had to use their US site instead.
3. Wait for the approval email to arrive in a couple of days. With the provided membership number you can log on and obtain a snapshot of your Diamond membership card.
4. Submit a status match request on Virgin Voyages’ website with your booking reference and MSC membership.
You’ll soon be notified of the outcome. My request passed very quickly and I could immediately see the perks added to my booking.
I hope you find this post useful, and I’ll report back once I’ve completed my trip!
Prime Day preview: Music Unlimited Trial, £15 credit, Deliveroo £5 coupon
July 11 & 12 are Amazon’s Prime Days this year. Here is a summary of the already published offers which you can start taking advantage of. Note that you need to be a Prime member to participate.
Free Trials
- Kindle Unlimited 3 months
- Audible 3 months
- Music Unlimited 4 months
Remember to turn off auto-renew before your trial expires to avoid being charged.
Coupon Offers
Note that both offers are targeted. I qualify for the first but not the second.
Deliveroo
Prime members are offered a free match to Deliveroo Plus membership which offers free delivery.
As a limited-time offer, enter promo code PRIME5OFF to enjoy £5 your next Deliveroo order of £25 or more. It seems to be intended for new Deliveroo members only but I had no problem signing up. You may need to have a Deliveroo Plus account linked to Amazon Prime to be eligible.
Great deal: Lindner hotels now redeemable using Hyatt points
Hyatt acquired Lindner Hotels, a hotel group in Germany a while ago. It looks like they’ve more or less completed the system integration work and Lindner hotels can now be redeemed using Hyatt points.
Here is a list of all the Lindner hotels, as well as me and all which was a sub-brand:
Austria
- Cat 1 / Lindner Hotel Vienna Am Belvedere
Belgium
- Cat 1 / Lindner Hotel Antwerp
Czech Republic
- Cat 1 / Lindner Hotel Prague Castle
Slovakia
- Cat 1 / Lindner Hotel Bratislava
Spain
- Cat 4 / Lindner Hotel Mallorca Portals Nous
Germany
Cat 1
- Lindner Hotel Berlin Ku’damm
- Lindner Hotel Cologne Am Dom
- Lindner Hotel Cologne City Plaza
- Lindner Hotel Dusseldorf Seestern
- Lindner Hotel Frankfurt Hochst
- Lindner Hotel Frankfurt Sportpark
- Lindner Hotel Leverkusen BayArena
- me and all hotel ulm
Cat 2
- Lindner Hotel Frankfurt Main Plaza
- Lindner Hotel Hamburg Am Michel
- Lindner Hotel Hamburg Hagenbeck
- Lindner Hotel Nurburgring Congress
- me and all hotel dusseldorf
- me and all hotel dusseldorf oberkassel
- me and all hotel hanover
- me and all hotel kiel
- me and all hotel mainz
Cat 3
- Lindner Hotel Nurburgring Ferienpark
- Lindner Hotel Nurburgring Motorsport
- Lindner Hotel Oberstaufen Parkhotel
And many of them are already bookable.
As you can see, most of the hotels fall under Category 1 or 2 which makes the deal very attractive, as you can redeem for a reward night for as little as 3,500 points. As a benchmark 1 Hyatt point is worth roughly 1.5p / 2c.
Not all Lindner hotels are showing award availability yet so it’s probably still work in progress. If your travel destination is on the list and you have some Hyatt points to spend you are in luck!
My review of Le Meridien Barcelona
I was close to accepting a job offer finally, and I decided to treat myself to a holiday in Spain! I’m staying three nights in Barcelona before heading to Valencia, and besides the two nights with Hyatt for the Q1 promotion, I’m staying at Le Meridien for one night as well for its more central location.
The hotel acts as a great base to explore Barcelona. It’s near the Universitat metro station, with many shops and restaurants nearby, and you can even walk to the beach.
The receptionist lady is very friendly and professional. She welcomed me warmly, explained all the benefits and hotel facilities, as well as offered me a choice of different rooms.
If I remember correctly they are usually quite generous with room upgrade. Unfortunately there happens to be an international mobile conference going on in the city so they are a bit tight on availability. I chose a Premier Deluxe room on the first floor.
Size-wise Premier Deluxe rooms are identical with the standard Deluxe rooms, but they are more recently refurbished.
The sixth floor and higher appear to be a totally different building. Rooms look much nicer at least from the outside.
The hotel has rooftop terrace, with a (small) pool, jacuzzi and sauna / steam rooms. They are good enough for me.
Breakfast is served in the lobby restaurant.
Spread is decent with quiche and churros!
Lacking a club lounge and a proper swimming pool, Le Meridien Barcelona may not be my first choice of the city. The location is great though, and if I can fare a good upgrade I wouldn’t hesitate to come back.