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Here are a couple of pieces of news that I’ve noticed in the past few days which may be of interest. They include an announcement from Qatar Airways that it intends to serve a new Asian destination from early 2018 and details of how you can earn triple Avios when you book stays with Hilton.
Qatar Airways’ New Route To Penang
I’m really liking some of Qatar Airways’ recent route choices. In August Qatar Airways announced that it would start service to the historic Thai city of Chiang Mai in December this year (albeit on a seasonal basis for now) and now it has announced that it will offer service to Penang from February 2018.
I’ve wanted to visit Chiang Mai ever since a friend of mine returned from a visit with great stories and fantastic pictures of the city and my interest in Penang was triggered by a very friendly Uber driver whom I met on my last visit to Kuala Lumpur.
(Aside: KL has some of the friendliest Uber drivers I have met anywhere in the world)
Penang (click to enlarge)
I really enjoyed the few days I spent in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year so when one of my Uber drivers told me that Penang was somewhere I should visit I started to look into it. The problem was that there wasn’t any obviously economical way of getting to Penang in Business Class…..but that has now changed.
From 6 February 2018 Qatar Airways will offer a 3x/week service between Doha and Penang on the following schedule:
QR850 DOH 02:30 – 14:30 PEN (Tue, Thu & Sat)
QR851 PEN 20:30 – 23:20 DOH (Tue, Thu & Sat)
Flights are already bookable at QatarAirways.com
Wha makes the news of this new route even better is that it will be served by Qatar Airways’ 787 Dreamliners which offer a great Business Class product (reviewed here).
Qatar Airways 787 Business Class
There is no mention of this being a seasonal route so I’m left to believe that Qatar Airways will be serving Penang year round.
With Qatar Airways frequently offering fantastic Business Class fares from Europe to Asia (see examples here and here) it’s only a matter of time before we see a great Business Class fare to Penang appear online.
Earn 3x Avios For Hilton Stays
Headline Rules:
- To be eligible for this promotion, members must enrol with Hilton Honors, select British Airways Avios as their earning preference when making the necessary a reservation.
- All Hilton Honors terms and conditions apply.
- Offer available for new bookings made between 15 October 2017 and 30 January 2018
- Stays must be taken from 15 October 2017 until 30 January 2018 at participating Hilton Hotels only.
- Triple Avios is applicable on each stay during the promotional period.
- A stay is defined as 1 or more consecutive nights spent at the same Participating Property, i.e. from check-in to check-out irrespective of the length of stay.
- Bonus Avios [per stay] will be credited to the Eligible Participant’s British Airways Executive Club account within 4-6 weeks of the stay
- Base Avios will be earned for each paid stay during the Promotional Period in addition to the [1,000] Bonus Avios
Link to promotion registration page and full terms and conditions
Annoyingly there doesn’t appear to be a link to show what properties are participating in the promotion but, as Hilton has historically been very good at ensuring that all of its properties are participating in its global promotions (unlike Starwood for example), I would venture a guess that you’ll find it hard to find a non-participating property.
Be careful to note that it’s only new bookings that are eligible for this promotion (if you have a refundable booking and rates haven’t increased you may wish to cancel and rebook) and you have to make sure that you’ve selected British Airways Avios as your earning preference in your Hilton Honors online account.
