Amex / Foursquare 2013 …. what I’ve discovered so far
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So, how is the American Express / Foursquare 2013 promotion going for you so far?!
(See here for details of the current deals if you are new to this.)
On Wednesday I picked up 6 x £50 gift cards in Harrods, and on Thursday I got 3 x £50 in House of Fraser.
I learnt a few things:
Harrods
I probably made a mistake in Harrods by buying 6 separate £50 cards with my 6 Amex’s. A comment on Flyertalk said that the Harrods tills cannot process more than 4 gift cards when you redeem them, so I can’t use all 6 at once on that basis. The only workaround would be to buy a £200 gift card using 4 x £50 gift cards and then redeem that!
I’ve already had Foursquare notifications for the BA Amex and Amex Platinum transactions. I got nothing for the Lloyds TSB cards but that is par for the course. I have always got cashback on the Lloyds cards before even without receiving notifications.
The T&C’s in the original email on this promotion said that only Harrods Knightsbridge was included. This presumably means that purchases at Heathrow do not count, neither do online purchases.
Harrods gift cards cannot be used at Heathrow according to their website, but they can be used on the harrods.com website and at all bars and restaurants in the Knightsbridge store.
You cannot double up on Harrods Rewards points. Whilst they will swipe your Harrods Rewards card when buying a gift card, it does not earn points. You will earn points when you spend it. However, as you need 500 points (£500 of spend) to earn any rewards, it is not worth it if you don’t plan to visit the store again this year.
House of Fraser
For House of Fraser, I went to the Victoria store. This is the store that time forgot – I can only assume they are tied into a lease they can’t escape. It never has any customers (at least outside lunchtime during the week) and only about 1 in 10 tills is manned. A large part of the basement has been sublet to Gap.
Looking at the receipts, the House of Fraser gift cards are valid for two years. This gives me confidence to buy another 3 gift cards – there is no risk of not being able to spend £300 in 2 years, even if it all goes on cosmetics for my wife!
House of Fraser gift cards can be used on their website. Yesterday, I used £53.99 of my new balance to buy a new smart cover for my ipad. For some reason, House of Fraser is discounting their remaining ipad smart covers by 10%, so if you want one then take a look online. Quidco cashback is also available.
You cannot buy gift cards online to trigger the bonus – the website confirms that they go through as ‘Voucher Express’ and are delivered by a third party. It is not clear if other houseoffraser.com purchases will trigger the Foursquare bonus.
Comments elsewhere have focussed on the fact that the Oxford Street flagship store does not offer the ‘special’ on Foursquare. However, people have successfully ‘checked in’ at Victoria Street and spent the £50 at Oxford Street and got Foursquare notifications.
The Victoria House of Fraser has a fantastic off-licence on the top floor! There is a surprisingly decent selection of premium wine, spirits and a very wide range of champagne. The champagne seemed a little pricey, but only because supermarkets are so aggressive these days. Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2008 was £21, which was only £1 above Laithwaites.
I did not check if you can earn Recognition points in their loyalty scheme for buying the gift cards – I have enough points balances to juggle as it is!
Other offers
The other current deals are (ending 28th February):
- GAP – Spend £50, Get £25
- Banana Republic – Spend £50, Get £25
- Carphone Warehouse – Spend £25, Get £10
Plus the three older offers which are still running:
- Starbucks – Spend £10, Get £5 (to 13 February)
- Pizza Hut – Spend £30, Get £15 (to 6 March)
- Shell – Spend £50, Get £15 (to 18 April)
I am deliberately giving these a miss, though! I can’t do everything ….
Want to earn more points from credit cards? – March 2024 update
If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current 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:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
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
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Earning miles and points from small business cards
If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive a huge 120,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Platinum by 9th April 2024. You receive 80,000 points for spending £12,000 within 90 days and a further 40,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Gold by 9th April 2024. Remember that the card is FREE for the first year. You receive 40,000 points for spending £6,000 within 90 days and a further 20,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
American Express Business Platinum
Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 9th April) and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
Huge 60,000 points sign-up bonus (until 9th April) and free for a year Read our full review
Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review
For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.
Barclaycard Select Cashback credit card
2% cashback on all your business spend for 3 months (1% thereafter) and no annual fee Read our full review
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