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Bits: 480 Avios with Now TV box, double Avios at Chestertons, Virgin’s Manchester lounge shuts

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News in brief:

480 Avios and £10 off with a £15 NOW TV box

This was covered in more detail over at Shopper Points yesterday but it is worth a wider airing as it is a very generous overall package.

Sky’s NOWTV box turns your TV into a smart TV.  It lets you watch Sky channels without a contract and also streams catch up TV straight to your TV.  The only downside is that it won’t let you watch Netflix (get a Google Chromecast) or Amazon Prime (get an Amazon Fire Stick).

Tesco Direct is currently offering three special packs at £10 off.  More importantly, you will receive 100 Clubcard points with your order.  Even better, at present the Tesco website is ‘glitchy’ and is adding 200 Clubcard points (480 Avios) per box.

There are three packs to choose from depending on whether you prefer sports, entertainment or movies. These passes offer excellent value for money even if you ignore the value of the NOW TV box – £15 is not a bad price to pay to get access to Sky Movies for two months, for example.

Click the link below to be taken to the appropriate Tesco Direct page:

2 day passes for Sky Sports

3 month pass for Sky Entertainment

2 month pass for Sky Movies

The NOW TV offer runs until 17th January – although I would expect the ‘extra’ 100 points to disappear before then.

Double Avios at Chestertons estate agents in January

Last year, as I wrote here, estate agent Chestertons became a new Avios earning partner.

During January, Chestertons is offering double Avios for new instructions.  That would earn you 2 points for every £1 of your fee.

I certainly wouldn’t pick an estate agent purely on the back of earning a few points – it is too big a decision for that – but if all other things are equal then the deal is worth a look.  You can find our more on their website.  The deal is valid for landlords as well as anyone selling a property.

Virgin’s lounge in Manchester closes – with no alternative

Bad news for anyone flying in Virgin Atlantic Upper Class from Manchester in the next few months.

On 10th January, the ‘Escape’ lounge (pictured above) is closing for a refurbishment.  It will remain closed for 15 weeks which means it will be shut over Easter.

Virgin is NOT making a replacement lounge available.  If you are eligible to use a lounge and are flying with Virgin, you will receive a restaurant voucher to use in the terminal.

This will also impact Priority Pass customers using Terminal 2 who will have to use the Swissport lounge instead.


How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)

Comments (27)

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

  • Tim Millea says:

    Major things are underway at Manchester Terminal 2. According to their official website, in the future Terminal 2 will take over from Terminal 1 as the “main” terminal. It appears the owners are finally making use of all that nascent capacity designed into it but thus far sealed off.

  • Smid says:

    I do wonder if they’ll be building a real lounge for virgin customers. A few Orlando, Barbados and Vegas flights were usually not enough to justify one, but the larger flights to Atlanta might well make them consider it.

  • Kev says:

    I think Virgin have made the right decision here if their customers cannot access the Escape lounge. You would never want to go in the alternative one. It is vile! If there is only now one lounge it will only be worse. Just read the tripadvisor reviews.

    However, not sure why they do not just allow them to use the V Room instead – I know this is Virgin Holidays but sure a deal could have been done.

  • James Ward says:

    The Escape lounge in T2 was as dire as the Swissport one IMO, so it’s really no great loss IMO. Hopefully they’re planning to install a Clubhouse at MAN.

    It is bizarre that they haven’t arranged access to the V Room though, I agree.

  • PGW says:

    Will QR passengers have any lounge during this period?

  • Alan Hunt says:

    Thanks for this, 200 Clubcard points still working at 8.30am (plus a 30 extra via the Avios online store!) – 230 Clubcard points = 736 Avios for those of us with the legacy 800 Avios/250 clubcard points!

  • James says:

    I agree that with Virgin’s expanded presence at MAN and the Delta JFK flight going 767 this year they really should build a proper lounge for them both.

  • Jake says:

    I agree with Kev, surely they could use the V room instead?

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

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