Bits: free travel in London with Android Pay, HfP reader wins trip to New York and a car

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• N says:

  16 Oct16 October 05:38

  O/T – Dragonpass/Barclays lounge access. Are the vouchers in the account holders name or can anyone use them even if account holder is not travelling?

  • John says:

    16 Oct16 October 15:54

    Not sure what you mean by vouchers. I have the membership card downloaded on my phone and just hand it over at lounge entrance (from memory you can ask them to send you a physical card as well).

    Usually then then ask for a flight number, and write it down alongside card number, and then ask for a signature (some places do it all on the computer, no sig required).

    Never been asked for a boarding card (which will also be downloaded to phone) but presumably some lounges will ask.

    But because generally you’re post-security airside, most lounges seem to see boarding passes as superfluous and are only interested in your Dragonpass number and flight details.

    Incidentally despite the price increase, I think Dragonpass a huge improvement on Airport Angel and the enhanced insurance (including cover for terrorism) makes Barclays’ monthly fee worthwhile.

    Everyone’s calculations are different though.

• Andrew says:

  16 Oct16 October 06:31

  O/T – having signed up to the 8% back at Caffe Nero on my BAPP yesterday, today sees me offered 5% statement at Caffe Nero on the same card. I’ve saved that one too and both offers are showing in my account. Any bets on whether I’ll get 13%?

  • Genghis says:

    16 Oct16 October 07:46

    I’d have a latte bet (the usual currency for bets at work) and reckon you’d get 13%

  • TGLoyalty says:

    16 Oct16 October 09:23

    Spend £5, get 5% back. Plus 8% on all spend. £5 gift card top ups could work out very nicely especially if you combine with the virgin red app 2-4-1 deal

• Lumma says:

  16 Oct16 October 07:43

  Android pay is dreadful. The only card I have that is compatible with it is one halifax debit card. No Mastercard I have work. Neither does there seem to be any plans to accept amex .

  • Alex says:

    16 Oct16 October 10:28

    That’s why I use Vodafone Wallet.
    It would work only of you have contract with Vodafone, but it works much faster and it’s possible to link PayPal (the app generates virtual visa debit card). So it’s potentially possible to pay on the terminals which don’t accept Amex (haven’t tried though)

  • John says:

    16 Oct16 October 10:43

    None of my cards work with Android Pay and I don’t want to get my phone out all the time anyway.

    • Lumma says:

      16 Oct16 October 11:51

      Don’t get me wrong, I have no interest in using it going forward as I don’t see any benefit over just getting a card out of the wallet, but I would have liked to have gotten a couple of days free travel in London

• danksy says:

  16 Oct16 October 08:06

  Wow, congratulations to whoever won that prize!!

• Mikeact says:

  16 Oct16 October 08:27

  Free Monday etc includes the Gatwick Express which may be useful to some.

• Nick says:

  16 Oct16 October 08:28

  Congratulations to the winner.

• Zoe says:

  16 Oct16 October 09:16

  O/T my husband is likely to be picking up his first IT contract job shortly. Working for a UK based company but with significant time spent in their St Louis office. Obviously I’m looking to maximise the miles and points benefits.
  He would be charging (premium economy) flights and hotels back to the client as part of his normal invoicing.
  So far I have got him to register for the triple avios promotion and once he has a VAT no. will do On Business. What else should we be thinking of? It is likely he will have 6 months plus with maybe 3 weeks a month in St Louis. Thanks in advance

  • TGLoyalty says:

    16 Oct16 October 09:31

    If the plan is to use BA would get a AMEX BAPP as it’s double points on BA spend so 3/£1

    Don’t know if he has status with any hotels or what hotel he plans to us but AMEX Platinum would be worth a look.

    As straight to mid tier in SPG/Hilton and travel insurance as long as you pay with an AMEX BAPP and priority pass for lounge access which you won’t get with PE until he hits Silver ofcourse. Sure hotel spend will have him hit the spend target quickly.

    Possibly could do the Gold then platinum upgrade route if there’s enough time or he’s not bothered about the things above

    • Genghis says:

      16 Oct16 October 09:53

      To add, as your husband will have lots of expenditure, make sure that expenditure is always doing something for him. What I mean is hitting sign up bonuses (he applies, refers you and he uses a supp on your account), hitting a 241 etc.

      • Raffles says:

        16 Oct16 October 10:52

        Get him to sign up for PartnerPlusBenefit (the Star Alliance small business scheme). If you use the link in the HFP sidebar, half way down, you get double the usual sign-up bonus.

      • Scallder says:

        17 Oct17 October 16:09

        Would also add maybe getting the Lloyds Avios cards – FX free and for the first 6 months have 2.5 Avios/ on the Amex, so could do very nicely for his spend out in the US. I know some on here have experienced problems, but having signed my wife up a couple of months ago (and adding me as a supplementary), it has worked perfectly.

        After £7k get the upgrade voucher so can work towards this as well as the 2 for 1 on the BA Amex.

  • Kip says:

    16 Oct16 October 09:46

    Also could get a non-Amex card to pay his VAT that might tie up with his hotel chain choice.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      16 Oct16 October 10:17

      Creation IHG Platinum Card come in very handy

      • Roger says:

        16 Oct16 October 10:20

        Yes can earn spire status much quickly depending on how much spend is generated using that card. Fees are 0.386% for paying HMRC.

  • Lady London says:

    16 Oct16 October 10:47

    Try to find out (hfp, BA) if the promotion that gives you a free First Class upgrade for one leg of a CW transatlantic trip is still running. AA, IB and BA are all running pretty much the same version. It usually occurs around this time of year but I’m not sure if there was en earlier signup period required – but for upcoming flights the flying period is definitely still operational. I’d try to book AA planes on BA flight numbers transatlantic mostly if it’s their newer Business Class – apparently the service on AA has also improved on these as well as the plane which is the main advantage..

    If you’re going to be earning that amount of miles you might also want to take a look at whether the AA program might be better for you than BA. AS also worth a look.

  • Zander says:

    16 Oct16 October 14:58

    What I’ve done in the past with company travel spend that is claimed back rather than paid for with the company card is the following:
    American Express Platinum for hotel status and travel insurance.
    Lufthansa Miles & More credit card (as I had European travel) however your husband may prefer BAPP from American Express which gives him 3 Avios per £1 spent with BA and a 25k bonus.

    Hotel wise I would pick a chain and stick with it, I prefer Hilton as my #1 followed by Starwood but Marriott bought them out. I had the Hilton card for Hilton spending.

    I think it may be worth getting the Americans Express Gold card as well purely for the bonuses on foreign spending which may outweigh the earning potential of the credit cards.

• reds says:

  16 Oct16 October 09:42

  Super win. Congratulations!!

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