06 SEPTEMBER 2007

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BRITISH AIRWAYS “FIRST” UPGRADE OFFER – IT’S BACK AND IT’S BIGGER

BA have re-launched their Club World to First upgrade offer… and added a little bonus extra for regular travellers.

Book and fly long-haul (inc Tel Aviv) in Club World with British Airways at their J2BA fare between 4th September and 14th December and you can have a complimentary one-way upgrade to First. This will be confirmed at the time of booking – but is subject to availability at the time of booking.

The "bonus extra" for this year is that if you make two or more return trips during this period you can also walk away with up to £200 worth of Gordon Ramsay vouchers. These can be used at Mr Ramsay’s various fine dining establishments in London and New York and are valid for up to 18 months.

Here’s the reward table

Passengers who choose to travel First class to start with qualify for the Gordon Ramsay vouchers as per the above table once they have travelled on more than one occassion.

You need to be a member of BA Executive Club to take advantage of this offer – click here to join. Members do not need to register for the “upgrade” part of the campaign, but DO need to register for the “voucher” part. Click here to do this if you think it's applicable.

This is always a really popular promotion, and the number of First seats available for upgrade is limited … contact our Business Travel Team on 0208 731 1333 to make a reservation

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FLYBE PRODUCT UPDATE

Flybe have now launched their long awaited frequent flyers reward scheme – rewards4all. This looks quite generous as you can earn points no matter what fare you pay

Economy Class: one-way 1 point, return 2 points
Economy Plus: one-way 2 points, return 4 points

16 points will get you a “free” return flight (you still have to pay the taxes)… while regular travellers will want to know that just 20 points will get you an economy plus ticket with a full years worth of access to their VIP lounges.

To join rewards4all, click here to set up your personal account and then provide us with your details so we can make sure the applicable points are accrued.

Did we say Flybe were generous? Well they’ve just increased their checked baggage charges. Again. Hold baggage booked online in advance now costs £5 per bag each way… phone their call centre to book, or turn up at the airport with an unannounced bag and it’s £9.

Good news for business travellers is that Flybe have entered into a codeshare agreement with Brussels Airlines on their services from Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle…and will extend this to Southampton when the service starts on 28th October.

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BMI LAUNCH 17 “NEW” ROUTES THIS WINTER

Following the integration of ex- British Airways franchise carrier BMED in February, bmi will effectively operate 17 new routes in their own colours from the start of their winter timetable on October 28th.

The “new” routes are: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Aleppo, Syria; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Amman, Jordan; Ankara, Turkey; Baku, Azerbaijan; Beirut, Lebanon; Bishkek, Kyrgystan; Cairo, Egypt (4 November); Dakar, Senegal; Damascus, Syria; Ekaterinburg, Russia; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Khartoum, Sudan; Tbilisi, Georgia; Tehran, Iran; Yerevan, Armenia.

Amman and Beirut will be “upped” to a daily service, an increase over the previous BA schedule.

Coinciding with the launch of the new routes, bmi is to introduce enhancements to its in-flight service with new lie-flat beds on flights from Heathrow to Riyadh to Jeddah, as well as to the Caribbean and to the US from Manchester.

The airline is also unveiling an enhanced premium economy on services to the US and the Caribbean, providing travellers with a "genuine" business class seat in a premium economy cabin, with a 49-inch seat pitch, claimed to be 11 inches greater than competitors.

Stanmore Business Travel have great contract fares with bmi right across their network in all classes… our Business Travel Team will be delighted to give you a quotation … and, where appropriate, look after your visa application as well.

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DRAGONAIR – A MAJOR NEW PIECE IN THE ONEWORLD JIGSAW

Dragonair will join the BA-led oneworld global alliance on 1 November – giving oneworld members access to most of mainland China before the other airline alliances bring their Chinese members on board.

Hong Kong-based Dragonair serves more destinations in Mainland China - 19 in total - than any other airline not based there, with some 400 flights a week. Twelve of these destinations will be new to the oneworld network - Chongqing, Changsha, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Haikou, Kunming, Guilin, Ningbo, Nanjing, Shenyang, Sanya and Wuhan. With their addition, oneworld alliance will serve a total of 22 destinations in Mainland China.

Elsewhere, Dragonair will add Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Phuket (Thailand) to the alliance map. By adding Phnom Penh, oneworld will connect with one new country – Cambodia.

Dragonair was elected on board oneworld late last year, following its integration with alliance founder member Cathay Pacific Airways in September 2006. While it is now part of the Cathay Pacific group, Dragonair has retained its own brand and identity, market positioning and separate "KA" flight code.

As a oneworld affiliate member, Dragonair will offer the alliance's full range of services and benefits. This means its frequent flyers will be able to earn and redeem mileage awards on all other oneworld carriers. Top-tier members will have access to the 500 airport lounges worldwide offered by the alliance's airlines.

Members of other oneworld airlines' frequent flyer programmes will be able to earn and redeem awards and receive all other oneworld benefits on Dragonair from 1 November, when its network will also be covered by oneworld's extensive range of alliance fares.

For more information about oneworld, click here

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Stanmore Business Travel welcomes your feedback. If you would like to comment on any aspect of our services, please feel free to email marks@stanmoretravel.co.uk at any time

STAR HOUSE, 6 GARLAND ROAD, STANMORE,
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TELEPHONE: +44 (0) 208 731 1333
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