Virgin / Regus partnership ends May 22nd – last chance for a free Regus Gold
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I have written a few pieces on Head for Points recommending Regus business lounges. (Although I also wrote a piece explaining how I get robbed in them once every 18 months …..) 70% of what you read on HfP is written in Regus.
For many years, to keep their centres busy during the recession, Regus was giving away free access (unlimited visits) to their lounges via a number of loyalty programmes. In late 2013 Regus started tightening up their access rules as I wrote here. Since then, the company has tightened the screw even further so I thought it was time to take another look.
For the last 18 months, the most generous Regus offer has been for elite members of Virgin Flying Club and Virgin Black credit card holders. This offer is ending on May 22nd, however, so you should jump in now if you qualify even if you don’t plan to use it immediately.
Let’s take a step back first.
The company Regus may or may not be familiar to you. They are the worlds leading provider of ‘serviced office space’. This is, fundamentally, treating office space like a hotel.
You want an office for a day / a week / a month / a year for 1 / 2 / 5 / 20 people? They can provide it. You don’t need to worry about furniture, IT, cleaning, receptionists etc – they provide it all. It is an effective route for start-ups or for businesses which are growing quickly.
However, it is the other side of the Regus operation that is the point of this post.
Almost all Regus centres feature a ‘business lounge’. They vary in size, but most feature open-plan seating areas, 1-4 Apple Mac computers available for free use and 1-10 ‘pods’, available on a first come, first served basis (for free) which provide a semi-private work area.
Free wi-fi and free tea and coffee are provided in all lounges.
Last year Regus opened a lounge in the Terminal 5 arrivals hall at Heathrow. They have also launched at Gatwick South.
If your job takes you ‘out and about’ a lot, or you work for yourself but simply don’t like sitting in Starbucks or your house all day, then working out of Regus lounges is a very viable alternative. Regus also has a global network, so you can pop into centres pretty much wherever you are in the world.
Frankly, even if you buy a global pass for £49 + VAT per month, it is a bargain if you use it a lot.
Historically, though, you didn’t even have to pay that. There were numerous loyalty programmes that issued a FREE BusinessWorld Gold card to their members on request.
This has now, to all intents and purposes, dried up. Instead, Regus introduced a new card called ‘Regus BusinessWorld Preferred‘. You get 15 free visits per year to Regus business lounges, which is still very handy.
Over the last few months, free ‘Regus BusinessWorld Preferred’ cards have also become harder to find. As far I can tell, this is the current state of play:
Virgin Flying Club – Partnership ends on May 22nd. Gold still available to Flying Club Silver and Flying Club Gold members and Virgin Black credit card holders. Importantly, as you can see from the link, Virgin offers their base level Flying Black members the chance to buy a BusinessWorld Gold card (UK only) for half price at just over £200 for a year. You will also receive 3,000 Virgin Flying Club miles.
IHG Rewards Club – offer ended
Avis Preferred – offer ended
American Airlines – Gold still seems available to paying Admirals Club members but not elites
United MileagePlus – offers Regus BusinessWorld Preferred for free, it is not clear if all members qualify or only elites
Miles & More – offer ended
TripItPro – offer ended
National Car Rental – offer ended
RICS (UK Chartered Surveyors) – offers BusinessWorld Preferred although ironically the activation code remains MSREGUSBWGOLD as per an older offer
Delta – offer ended
If you know of any other Regus BusinessWorld promotions available via travel loyalty schemes, please let me know. Their days do seem to be numbered, however.
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.)
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