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Bits: Virgin Trains loophole closed, new Crowne Plaza Newcastle, Royal Mint churning

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Some news in brief:

Virgin Trains closes a loophole I never knew existed

Last weekend, Virgin West Coast closed down a loophole that, unfortunately, I had never heard about.

It turns out that, if you used a Railcard to buy a ticket on Virgin West Coast, you were charged off-peak pricing on ALL trains.  This meant that you were effectively offered a double discount on peak time trains – you got offered an off-peak price not available to other travellers AND it would be discounted with your railcard.

This was not an error – it was a generous Virgin policy which they have now removed.  More details in The Independent here.

If you ever took advantage of this, you no longer can.  And if you never did, you never will!

New Crowne Plaza Newcastle opens

I don’t cover many new hotel openings on Head for Points but I make an exception for upmarket IHG or Hilton properties, where many HfP readers have points and status, in popular cities.

The new Crowne Plaza in Newcastle officially opens tomorrow and is already in its soft opening phase.  Located directly behind the main railway station, it is a new build four-star hotel which looks pretty good from the website (photo above).

Reward nights are 30,000 points per night.  Cash rates will be pretty low for the first few months, however, so you may prefer to pay – especially if you participating in the generous IHG Accelerate promotion this Autumn.

Remember that new IHG Rewards Club members will get a free night – anywhere in the world – for two paid stays they make under the Accelerate offer.  Click the link above for more details.

I have been told, unofficially, that all IHG status members – Gold, Platinum and Spire – will be upgraded to club rooms or at the least given free club access for the first month.  You may want to reconfirm this with the hotel before you book but it sounds a decent deal.

Royal Mint £100 coins

Finally, it is worth noting that the Royal Mint is currently selling a £100 commemorative coin at face value, with free postage.

See here.

A reader has bought some of these and paid them directly into his bank account.  Royal Mint does not accept American Express but he had the old bmi Diamond Club Mastercard which earns up to 2.5 Avios per £1.

Not all bank branches will accept them although as legal tender (albeit not circulating coins) they should – you need to ask around.

Category

IHG One Rewards

Comments (32)

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

  • Ian says:
    9 Sep9 September 06:13

    The royal mint coin purchase is a good way to reach the £7500 on the Lloyds Avios Duo too.

    How many coins can you buy? Which bank branches easily accept them?

    • CC says:
      9 Sep9 September 10:11

      They limit you to 10, but dont know if you can go back in on a separate order and get another 10. Best to pop in to a branch of your local to see if they will accept.

  • William says:
    9 Sep9 September 07:15

    What is not reported re. Virgin West Coast off peak perk is that the peak-peak trains to Birmingham are so expensive they are more than half empty which is a national disgrace when the government is saying HS2 is going to relieve congestion. The trains which are at a vaguel affordable fare and close to rush hour are then packed to the rafters. This makes no sense for passenger comfort or for the environment.

  • cheekychappie says:
    9 Sep9 September 07:30

    MSE:

    Are Scottish bank notes legal tender? No, not even in Scotland, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be used. It simply means most people don’t understand what legal tender is (see below). Bank of England notes are only legal tender in England and Wales, meaning there are no legal tender notes in Scotland at all.

    What is legal tender? It simply means if you have a court order against you for money, the person you owe cannot turn down your settlement if you offer to pay by legal tender.

    Trivia time – Is 22p of 2ps legal tender? No, but 18p is. For pub quiz use only, be aware that with coins the amount counts. So you can settle court debts of up to 20p in 1ps and 2ps; up to £5 in 5p’s & 10p’s, and up to £10 in 20p’s & 50p’s. However, £1 & £2 coins are legal tender up to any amount – in England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.

    What if a shop refuses your cash? There’s little you can do, shops don’t have to sell you goods, whatever you offer for payment.

  • Clive says:
    9 Sep9 September 07:39

    Wow just seen the footage of the fire onboard the Las Vegas flight. Scary or what.

  • Chris says:
    9 Sep9 September 08:24

    CP Aberdeen Airport also opened within days of the Newcastle one. I stayed there last weekend and it has a decent restaurant and club lounge. As expected for Aberdeen due to the oil the rates are eye watering during the week, however at the weekends I have several nights booked at £49! Definitely one for anyone up here in Scotland that is looking for cheap nights for accelerate.

    *I was also upgraded on the £49 rate, hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

  • Ravi says:
    9 Sep9 September 08:26

    I am going to be staying the CP next week and then for the following few weeks, will add a little TR to this comment thread if anyone is interested. Or can do a longer one with photos. You can actually already book to stay there as they were taking public bookings for this week. I think the initial advance rate is about £100 per night in a standard room with breakie.

    • Rob says:
      9 Sep9 September 10:52

      If you send over a couple of room photos I’m happy to add them to this article, thanks.

  • Nick Burch says:
    9 Sep9 September 10:32

    I seem to remember some complaints about Cross Country removing that easement when they took the franchise over from Virgin, but it’s been a while so I can’t be sure. Does ring a bell though!

  • jason says:
    9 Sep9 September 10:32

    Any easy/quick ways of hitting amex spend

    Thanks
    Jason

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

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