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News: Avios ‘Thank You’ appeal closes, Lufthansa bailout approved

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News in brief:

Avios ‘Thank You’ appeal closes at 300 million points

Last month we covered the Avios ‘Thank You’ appeal, which will see Avios offered to NHS workers as a big thank you for their efforts during coronavirus.

Avios Group donated an initial 210 million points.  British Airways Executive Club members donated a further 95 million Avios on top, which will allow over 5,000 NHS workers to receive enough points for a short-haul ‘flight and two hotel nights’ package.

You cannot nominate yourself or a friend to receive a grant.  Avios has asked over 250 hospitals, ambulance trusts and other NHS healthcare organisations to put forward a list of proposed beneficiaries.

Lufthansa bailout approved by shareholders

Lufthansa bailout approved by shareholders

The saga of the Lufthana €9 billion bailout, as we covered here and here and here and here, is finally over.

I won’t go into the details again – the four links above tell you more than you need to know – but the deal was approved by 98% of shareholders at a meeting yesterday.

Despite threats to the contrary, Lufthansa’s largest shareholder Heinz-Hermann Thiele voted in favour of accepting the deal, which gives the German Government a 20% stake in the company.

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How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (April 2025)

None of the Star Alliance airlines currently have a UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn Star Alliance miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to over 40 airlines at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 airline miles per £1 spent on the card.

There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2 : 1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.

The Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (81)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • meta says:
    26 Jun26 June 07:56

    I had a Dell offer on personal Plat. The items were processed separately, but the statement credit appeared.

    I received 3 emails from Dell for 2 items. One of these was order acknowledgment. This clearly displayed all items as one transaction. I guess this could be used as proof of single transaction.

  • Brian says:
    26 Jun26 June 07:56

    Hi Rob. The Comet offer works fine, and although I have n’t quite used the full 10 x £20 credits, I’ve swiftly had 6 x £20 credits On my statement after spending 6 separate £20+ transactions paper / printer ink etc.

  • Michel29 says:
    26 Jun26 June 07:57

    Data point – I bought a gift card in-store in my local Currys last week for £20 and I did NOT receive a statement credit. As this was over a week ago already I think it’s safe to assume that the Amex offer does not work in-store.

    • Rob says:
      26 Jun26 June 07:57

      Thank you

    • Andrew says:
      26 Jun26 June 08:04

      I think the same is true of the Selfridges offer – online goes through as Selfridges.com and in store as Selfridges .

  • Anna says:
    26 Jun26 June 08:50

    On the subject of Amex offers, I didn’t initially get the 15% back for Wineflyer. It wasn’t clear whether this was because it was charged as Laithwaite’s or because of some IT glitch (the chat CSA said the offer wasn’t showing at their end), but they opened an investigation for me and the 15% was refunded a few days later. It was a great deal as I also got 20% off for being a Blue Light card holder.

    • Craig says:
      26 Jun26 June 09:53

      Similar for me, possibly because I’ve used wine flyer in the past? Chased with Amex and the 15% rebate was applied stacked with the Blue Light code, as an added bonus 1000 Avios appeared in my account a couple of weeks later.

      • Anna says:
        26 Jun26 June 10:47

        Boo – I didn’t get the extra avios 🤣

      • MD says:
        26 Jun26 June 12:35

        @Craig. Just to confirm, the only Blue Light code I can see is for generic Laithwaites, that works with BA Wine Flyer too? Thanks.

        • Anna says:
          26 Jun26 June 12:46

          Input it at checkout and see if it works, it did for me.

        • Craig says:
          26 Jun26 June 12:48

          I didn’t log in via WineFlyer, forgot I had the account to be honest. But the case had WineFlyer branding when it arrived.

  • paul says:
    26 Jun26 June 08:52

    Avoid Dell. I was looking at a laptop and this offer made it a sensible deal. Not a bargain but a good price. I logged the deal onto my card and next morning went to buy to find a 16% hike in price from £749 to £869.

    Not sure who is paying the £100 but it looks like they are making sure they get their money back one way or another.

    Amex are also unmovable with US flights cancellations that are described by airlines as schedule changes. I had to go via insurance route

    • Nick says:
      26 Jun26 June 09:08

      There’s a time limit in the US before which a ‘changed time’ becomes eligible for refund. This is in the airline T&C which you would have agreed to at the time of booking. See the press around what happened when United tried to get around it (spoiler – they retreated pretty quickly). You can’t expect European rules or standards to apply globally.

    • Anna says:
      26 Jun26 June 09:29

      That didn’t happen when I bought my laptop a couple of months ago, that’s disappointing.

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:
      26 Jun26 June 20:10

      So Dell knew that the day before you went to make the purchase you had saved the offer on to your Amex card and they adjusted the price of their stock across the board just to get you?

  • L Allen says:
    26 Jun26 June 08:58

    The way Dell charge has always been that way. If ordering, say, a laptop and peripherals, they will arrive separately. I suspect the individual charging is to ensure they only charge for what they’ve shipped. Having been a Dell customer off and on for years, this is no surprise. Amex not allowing cumulative spend is also often hit and miss. The learning here is to buy something you actually want rather than for the sake of thinking you’ll get something for free.

  • Simon Barlow says:
    26 Jun26 June 09:17

    Bought a monitor for £164. Offer worked perfectly, especially as I’m WFH 😉

    • Rob says:
      26 Jun26 June 09:34

      If you buy 1 item then obviously Dell can’t split the transactions!

  • Nick says:
    26 Jun26 June 09:56

    Does anyone know if the currys/PC world offer valid for all Amex cards or only business cards?

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