Bits: get 2400 Avios for £60 LEGO, BA cabin baggage requirements, lounge reviewers wanted

News in brief:

Good ‘Avios for LEGO Friends’ deal returns

Tesco Direct is repeating their LEGO Friends promotion.  If you still haven’t filled up every bithday wish list for the rest of the summer, you will receive 1,000 bonus Clubcard points (worth 2,400 Avios or 2,500 Virgin miles) when you spend £60 of LEGO Friends before 27th March.

If you need a present for a young child or fancy giving yourself an eBay challenge earning to earn as many points as possible with the least financial loss, you should take a look at this offer.

The list of boxes available is here.

New BA UK cabin baggage security requirements

British Airways has updated their official statement regarding the electronics ban on certain flights.

As of this week the UK Government has banned all electronic equipment larger than a standard mobile phone from aircraft cabins on flights from (but not to) Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia or Saudi Arabia to the UK.

As British Airways offers a ‘hand baggage only’ fare on its flights to and from Istanbul, passengers will now have to take hold luggage if they wish to travel with a laptop or similar device.

Customers who made a booking before 22nd March for travel by 4th April 2017 are able to take a suitcase free of charge.  If the flight is after 4th April or has been purchased after 22nd March the passenger must pay the baggage fee either at the airport or online.

Help us review lounges

As we are already halfway there, we want to plough on and try to complete the Head for Points directory of UK airport lounge reviews.

You can see what we have so far on this page. At some point we want to look at missing airline-specific lounges too, but for now we want to get the ‘pay to enter’ ones completed.

If you will be in any of the lounges below in the next month or so, and think you could take some photographs and write a short review for us (see Helena’s Inverness one here for an example), we’d like to hear from you.

Please register your interest first by email – rob [at] headforpoints.com – so you don’t duplicate anyone else’s efforts.

You don’t need to work for free.  There are two ways we will make it worth your while:

if you have Amex Gold and the lounge is in LoungeClub, we will reimburse you the £15 entry fee (assuming you have already used your two free entries for the year), or

if you can get in for free with a Priority Pass or LoungeKey card, we will sort you out with a few miles

This is what we are missing as far as ‘pay to enter’ lounges go:

• Aberdeen – Swissport
• Belfast City – Aspire
• Bristol – Aspire (not AspirePlus)
• Doncaster – Premium Lounge
• Durham – Swissport
• East Midlands – Escape
• Exeter – Executive Lounge
• Humberside – Swissport
• Manchester – Escape T1, Escape T2, Swissport T2, Aspire T1
• Newcastle – Aspire, AspirePlus
• Norwich – Multiyork
• Southampton – Breeze

Thanks.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2025)

Here are the five options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,500 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here.

You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £290 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A good package, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

Got a small business?

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum which has the same lounge benefits as the personal Platinum card:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

You should also consider the Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card which has a lower fee and, as well as a Priority Pass for airport lounge access, also comes with Radison Rewards VIP hotel status:

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.