Bits: Four Seasons walks away from the Wharf, latest Amex offers, Tesco NOW TV offer

News in brief:

Four Seasons walks away from Canary Wharf

Four Seasons announced yesterday that it is dropping management of its hotel at Canary Wharf in London.  This is presumably linked to the opening of its new Tower of London project in a couple of years.

Canary Wharf was certainly a second tier Four Seasons property, nowhere near the standards of Park Lane, but it was pleasant enough.  It will be interesting to see which operator takes it over – it may well be a redemption opportunity at that point.  Hyatt, for one, would love to get a presence in the area I’m sure.  Starwood is also under-represented.

The last day under Four Seasons management will be 30th April.

New American Express cashback offers launched

Amex officially launched three new cashback deals yesterday, albeit they have been showing online for Amex-issued Amex cards for a while.

The deals are:

Monsoon & Accessorize: spend £50 get £10 back

Holiday Extras: Get 15% back

Gordon Ramsay Restaurants: Spend £100 or more and get £20 back

You can register an Amex-issued Amex card under the ‘Offers’ section of your online statement or via cardmemberoffers.co.uk.  Closing dates and restrictions vary.

MBNA, Lloyds, TSB and Barclays Amex cardholders can register via Amex Network.

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

Finally, I wanted to mention this Tesco Direct offer again.  I ran it last week but you still have three days to buy one.  If you don’t have a ‘smart TV’ it is a very good deal indeed for a modest £15 outlay.  The 480 Avios you receive on top are an extra bonus.

Sky’s NOW TV 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 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.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.