You can still get £15 of free stuff from Starbucks in Heathrow T5C

When we flew out to Dubai last Wednesday we departed from Terminal 5C, the newest satellite terminal.

If you flight leaves from 5C, as I have mentioned before, you can claim one of the odder British Airways frequent flyer benefits.

British Airways status card holders and Club World / First passengers still get £15 each of free goodies from Starbucks.

Unlike the 5B satellite terminal – which has a BA lounge which is generally empty – there is no lounge in T5C.  Most people, of course, will use the lounges in the main terminal and then take the train over to T5C when boarding starts.

However – whether or not you have already used the lounges in the main terminal – passengers who could use the T5C lounge if there was one (First, Club World, Club Europe and BAEC Gold and Silver cardholders – but not other OneWorld elites, it seems) can instead claim £15 of free goodies from the Starbucks in T5C by showing their boarding card.

The bad news is that they don’t sell gift cards. They DO sell mugs and bagged ground coffee which you could take home.  The most tempting item is mini-bottles of champagne for, I think, £14.99.  This is probably only of use if you are travelling in World Traveller or World Traveller Plus whilst having BA status as champagne is freely available in Club World and First.  I didn’t fancy my chances of getting them into Dubai given that your baggage is x-rayed on arrival although I may well have been OK.

If you are booked on an A380, you will know with 100% certainty that you will be flying from T5C and can plan accordingly, leaving space in your hand baggage.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2023)

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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.

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.