This week's wrap for frequent travellers

By Chris C., June 19 2015

Planning a trip with British Airways? Sit in premium economy and you’ll soon earn fewer Qantas frequent flyer points as the traditional 10% ‘cabin bonus’ disappears…

Also in this week’s wrap, fellow Oneworld member Cathay Pacific prepares to open its latest lounge in Hong Kong for its first class passengers, Marco Polo Club Diamond cardholders and Qantas Platinum frequent flyers; while Hyatt makes it easier to gain Diamond status in its own loyalty scheme.

Winding things up, Hilton HHonors dishes out 5,000 bonus points per stay plus double HHonors points, while you’ll now need fewer AA miles to reach Europe when flying with Qatar Airways.

Hyatt: Instant Platinum status, Diamond fast track

Members of Hyatt Gold Passport can boost themselves to Platinum status instantaneously and then take the speedy route to a top-tier Diamond card under the chain’s latest promotion.

Platinum status can be yours for 60 days, granting immediate benefits including priority check-in and late check-out, free hotel room upgrades, free in-room Internet access, a dedicated customer service line and 15% more Gold Passport points on your stays.

Spend just six nights in any of Hyatt’s hotels during that 60-day period and Platinum status is then yours to keep until February 2017, bypassing the usual requirement of 15 nights or five stays in one membership year.

Register for the deal now: Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond fast track

New Hong Kong lounge for Qantas Platinum members

Cathay Pacific is set to roll out the welcome mat at Hong Kong's new The Pier First Class lounge this weekend, which opens its doors to Qantas Platinum and Platinum frequent flyers and other Oneworld Emerald members.

Travellers will find a very different lounge to The Pier's sibling The Wing, which sits at the southern end of the airport near gates 1-4.

It's expected to look like Cathay Pacific's new Haneda Airport lounge, pictured

Instead of The Wing's cool, sharp but arguably clinical vibe, The Pier is all wood and stone and warmth, with natural materials and a feel that's more 'residential'.

Pocket 5,000 bonus Hilton HHonors points per stay

Staying with Hilton HHonors brands such as Conrad, Waldorf Astoria, DoubleTree by Hilton or simply Hilton? Register for the program’s latest promo and you’ll earn 5,000 bonus HHonors points with every stay until July 6 2015.

That’s at every hotel in the HHonors portfolio, which means you can earn those points on a short interstate business trip or an international jaunt further afar.

And, you can even combine that offer with Hilton’s separate Double Your HHonors promotion, so register for both deals and start raking in the points.

Registration: 5,000 bonus points per stay

Also register for: Double HHonors points or double frequent flyer points

Qantas Points decrease in BA premium economy

Qantas Frequent Flyer members travelling in ‘World Traveller Plus’ premium economy with British Airways will lose the current 10% ‘cabin bonus’ from August 1 2015.

That takes the number of points earned to no more than the most expensive economy tickets on the same flight, although will still be four times greater than the bulk of BA’s economy class seats:

On a return premium economy trip from Sydney to London, that reduces your haul from 23,290 Qantas Points to 21,172 Qantas Points, while most BA economy fares continue to earn just 5,294 Qantas Points on the same journey.

There’s also no change to the number of points earned when flying in business class or first class with British Airways, which both retain their applicable cabin bonus.

AAdvantage: fewer miles for Qatar's Europe flights

Members of the AAdvantage program can now redeem their frequent flyer miles on Qatar Airways flights between Australia and Europe at improved rates.

Prior to the change, a trip from Melbourne or Perth to London via Doha was considered two separate journeys. When flying in business class, that would have cost 45,000 miles between Australia and the Middle East, followed by an additional 30,000 miles onwards to Europe – totalling 75,000 miles.

Now, the same award is available for a lesser 60,000 miles in each direction and brings the cost in line with Qantas’ flights from Sydney and Melbourne to London via Dubai – giving travellers even more cost-effective options to redeem their AAdvantage miles.

Also read: Buying AA miles for low-cost business class travel

Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT