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Bits: video of ‘The Concorde Bar’ in Singapore, IHG sale ending, new Amex cashback offers

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News in brief:

Check out ‘The Concorde Bar’ on YouTube

Back in October, I published a brief reader review of ‘The Concorde Bar’ in the new British Airways lounge in Singapore.

This is a new model which BA is rolling out.  Instead of a separate First Class lounge, there will be a separate room where you can go.  The ‘bar’ does not have much in the way of dedicated facilities however.

A HfP reader made a short YouTube video of the Singapore ‘Concorde Bar’ which you can see here.

If you are heading to Dubai soon this should be of particular interest.  The 2nd ‘Concorde Bar’ will be in the new BA lounge in the new Concourse D, should it ever open.  I have lost track of exactly how late Concourse D is now and it is a little frustrating as I was hoping to use it next month.

British Airways Concorde Bar Singapore

Last 48 hours for the IHG Winter sale

A quick heads up that the IHG Winter sale, covering Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc ends on Sunday night.

You can save up to 30% on stays at 600 InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo hotels across Europe.  The sale rates are valid for stays until 29th February.

Full details of the IHG Winter Sale can be found at this special website.

The picture below is the new InterContinental Bordeaux which will be reviewed next month.

InterContinental Bordeaux

New American Express cashback offers

Four new American Express statement credit offers launched this week, with a very loose Valentines Day theme:

Hawes and Curtis fashions: Spend £100, to receive a £20 statement credit

Sofa.com: Spend £1,000, to receive a £100 statement credit

Monica Vinader jewellery: Spend £150 to receive a £25 statement credit

Appleyard Flowers: Receive statement credit to the value of 10 per cent of your total spend

These all run until the end of March except for Monica Vinader which expires on 29th February.  American Express cardholders should find some or all of these offers under the ‘Offers’ tab on their online statement page.

Hawes & Curtis and sofa.com can also be accessed on the cardmemberoffers.co.uk site instead.

Holders of Lloyds, MBNA, Barclays and TSB Amex cards can register via the Amex Connect site here.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 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 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 card

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: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and 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

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

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 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 Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

American Express Gold card, American Express Platinum card, British Airways American Express, British Airways and Avios, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Comments (49)

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

  • John says:
    5 Feb5 February 06:39

    Not very interesting. Wish the Westfield offer would return or at least a waitrose one.

  • Zoe says:
    5 Feb5 February 06:52

    I already have a sofa.com sofa, great product. Can definitely recommend their Long Island with massive footstool.

  • Ross says:
    5 Feb5 February 07:48

    Trials of the new Concourse D take place tomorrow (6th Feb) and the last word I heard from someone on the project is a March 2016 opening unless they find problems.

    All fittings inside the terminal are complete.

    • Rob says:
      5 Feb5 February 09:02

      Yes, I saw that reported. They have 6 weeks to get it open before we pitch up!

  • Ross says:
    5 Feb5 February 08:01

    PS. that video was terrible… stabilisation anyone?

    • Rob says:
      5 Feb5 February 09:01

      I think he decided to do it on the spur of the moment – better than nothing though, and interesting to compare the reality with the glossy BA PR shots.

      • Worzel says:
        5 Feb5 February 14:21

        Just a light wipe with some lens tissue needed, sound good- you can hear(towards the end) John walking over what could be a spilt handful of coated peanuts missed by the sweeper upper, 🙂 .

  • Paul says:
    5 Feb5 February 08:28

    I was waiting for an Amex travel offer to book theme park tickets but I noticed that Holiday Extras (that offers 15% statement credit) also sells attraction tickets. May help somebody planning for Florida in school hols.

  • Dale says:
    5 Feb5 February 08:33

    Speaking of Florida in school hols – can anyone recommend the Miami Conrad over the Hilton Downtown, or vice–versa? Hilton is cheaper and has exec lounge, I have diamond status but not sure it is recognised so much at Conrad?

  • harry says:
    5 Feb5 February 09:02

    only 1 HFP email this morning – normally get all 3
    nothing in junk

    • Paul says:
      5 Feb5 February 09:11

      Just a a reference point for Raffles – all three did come through for me.

  • Gavin says:
    5 Feb5 February 09:16

    OT – My IHG Accelerate bonus points from the goals I’ve completed already (stays took place Jan 1st – 3rd) have posted.

    • Liz says:
      5 Feb5 February 09:54

      You beat me to it – I was going to say the same – my stay was 9/1 – got 11k in my account today!

      • Jamie P says:
        5 Feb5 February 10:30

        I will complete all of my objectives when I have a stay on Monday night but desperately need the bonus points to hit my account before the devaluation later this month. Fingers crossed!

      • Leo says:
        5 Feb5 February 10:53

        Mine came through from the 6th Jan too. 11K.

      • Andy says:
        5 Feb5 February 11:41

        No such luck for my 20/1-24/1 stay, hopefully this suggests it will post next week.

    • Simmo says:
      5 Feb5 February 10:47

      I’ve not had anything at all from IHG! all taks completed 3 weeks ago, no updates on the accelerate website, and all stays posted as qualifying on the standard site.

      Also waiting on Virgin->IHG to complete.

      • Jamie P says:
        5 Feb5 February 10:55

        I find IHG infuriating at the best of times. With their T&Cs stating that the points can take 2-3 weeks to post, I dont really have a leg to stand on if I want them credited before February 17th.
        Unfortunately as you have pointed out, they usually take a lot longer

        • Gavin says:
          5 Feb5 February 13:44

          Calls today to both Barclaycard and IHG chasing where the status from holding their Visa card were pretty fruitless today. Got told ‘wait 2-4 weeks’ after your first spend. Pointed out that first spend was 6 weeks ago – gave up on chasing as I haven’t got any stays booked for now.

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

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