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Bits: Concorde Room side door reopens, LATAM deals to Latin America, IHG 15-year bonus

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News in brief:

The Terminal 5 Concorde Room magic door reopens

When British Airways opened The First Wing at Terminal 5 earlier this year (review here), they simultaneously closed the direct entrance into The Concorde Room by the South security channel.

(The Concorde Room – reviewed here – is the lounge for ticketed First Class passengers, Gold Guest List members with 5,000 tier points and Premier Executive Club members only.)

The First Wing actually made life harder for Concorde Room visitors as they had to use the First Wing, walk through Galleries First, leave Galleries First and then walk down to the Concorde Room side entrance.  Staff have been saying that a group of senior BA executives, who have Concorde Room access, visited recently and were unhappy with the new arrangement, so the side door has returned.

LATAM 787

New LATAM business class deals to Latin America

LATAM has launched some attractive business class fare to Latin America.

Remember that LATAM in a oneworld member.  This means that you earn British Airways tier points and Avios when you fly with them as long as you add your BA number to the booking.

Headline prices are (all flights involve changing in Santiago or Sao Paulo):

  • London to Rio, £1560 return
  • London to Sao Paulo, £2020 return
  • London to Buenos Aires, £1650 return
  • London to Salvador Bahia, £1560 return
  • London to Curitiba, £1560 return
  • London to Porto Alegre, £1560 return
  • London to Santiago de Chile, £1620 return
  • London to Asuncion, £1630 return
  • London to Montevideo, £1630 return

Here is our review of LATAM’s Boeing 787 business class, when we flew it from Madrid to Frankfurt earlier this year.  You are likely to be on a 777 which has similar seats.

These deals can be booked here.  You must be 9th July, book at least 31 days before you travel and stay at least 5 nights or a Saturday night.  Blackout dates apply to each route.

 

IHG giving out bonuses on your 15th anniversary

Finally, a reader sent me an email he had received from IHG Rewards Club to thank him for being a member of the programe for 15 years.

It’s good to see this sort of data being tracked.  As a present, he was offered triple base points on a selected day during the next three months.

What was good about the offer was that it did not activate until the reader clicked a link.  This means that he can hold it back for a higher value stay rather than being stuffed if his next trip is a £39 overnighter at a Holiday Inn Express.


IHG One Rewards update – April 2024:

Get bonus points: IHG One Rewards is offering 2,000 bonus points for every two cash nights you stay (not necessarily consecutive) between 1st April and 31st May 2024. You can read our full article here and you can register here.

New to IHG One Rewards?  Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG One Rewards points, you can buy them here.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Comments (36)

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

  • Kevin says:

    Gold Guest List members are not all able to use the Concorde Room. They can on joining the GGL level which requires 5,000TPs but can renew at 3,000TPs so would then lose their Concorde Room card but retain GGL status in subsequent years.

  • Paul says:

    Typical of BA. Doesn’t matter what crap passengers receive but you can’t upset the executives on their free “bump commercial passenger” tickets. You can tell they never fly anything other than first or CE as if the did you would not have BOB or cramped world.
    I used First wing the day it opened and coincidentally my last day as a Gold card holder. It was the day of the PR stunt and I commented at the time that i had never seen so many staff at every stage of the process. It was never going to last.

  • Beefy says:

    RE: IHG I had the same offer for 10 years back in March 🙂

    • Dev says:

      I’m going through the wing tomorrow morning…..let’s see what it is like!

  • Ah says:

    Ist it still cheaper to book on LATAM latin american website

  • Ro says:

    i visited the concorde room for the first time on the 12th april and entered via this door near south security… the desk outside was manned by a staff member.

    pretty sure that was after the first corridor was opened. so has it really been shut?

    • Leo says:

      Yes there was even a desk up against it barring entrance two weeks ago.

      • Ro says:

        ok, guess there was a delay then in shutting it down. Musta got lucky

  • Jules M says:

    Haven’t seen queues like that, but using the First Wing has always been significantly faster to get to CCR than going through South security – where about half the time I’d opt to either use regular security or go North instead.

  • Clive says:

    OT: am I right in thinking that, in a couple, only one of you needs to reach silver or gold for both to receive the benefits (lounge access etc) when travelling together?

    • Rob says:

      Yes

      • Clive says:

        Thanks

      • Alex W says:

        Not true for some partners e.g. Aer Lingus – no guests allowed in lounge so both need BA status to get in.

        • Rob says:

          Aer Lingus, Vueling, Iberia Express in Eco require BA flight code and a Gold card, with no guests. I think.

          • Klaus-Peter Dudas says:

            BA flight number Gatwick to Barcelona on Vueling let me have a guest, that was in the North Terminal still though.

          • Klaus-Peter Dudas says:

            PS with a gold card

      • ee says:

        Isn’t row 1 seat bookings for (gold) card holder only?

    • Bob says:

      For a couple 1 gold card is sufficient to receive gold benefits but I understood that regarding the First wing security channel this doesn’t apply.

      • Rob says:

        First Wing allows 1 guest, it is same rule as the lounge it leads to.

  • Mycity says:

    Hi, o/t has anyone used the Good to go travel insurance for pre existing conditions? if so any feedback please, oh and the person is over 72 thanks

    • Genghis says:

      That’s a very specific request but hopefully someone will be able to answer. My advice is to read the policy document very carefully.

      • Mycity says:

        I asked because Robs mentioned them on here a few times, only want feedback on how good they may or may not be. I can and have read the policy but in life things sometimes are different.

    • Kingy says:

      Just insured my mum aged 79 for our trip to Thailand.
      She had COPD and Vertigo occasionally.
      We used this site http://www.payingtoomuch.com/insurance/travel-insurance.aspx
      and got her insured for £220 single trip which is cheaper than 2 years ago.
      Easy to use comparison site

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