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Bits: 25% off No1 Lounges, Amex finally supports Android Pay, new BA celebrity safety video

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News in brief:

Get 25% off No1 Lounges with MSE

If you got the MoneySavingExpert newsletter this week, you should have seen an offer for 25% off No 1Lounges with a special code.

This means you can get into the No1 Lounge at Heathrow for £27, Gatwick for £22.50, Birmingham for £19.50 and Edinburgh for £18. You can also access My Lounge at Gatwick for £13.50 and the Clubrooms for £30. You need to book by midnight this Sunday via the No1 Lounges website here using the code MSEDEAL at check out.  You need to use your lounge pass by 31st December 2017.

This is quite a good offer, but don’t forget the very good Avios offer we wrote about here.

If you pre-book access to the No1 Lounges via this website you will pay a flat fee of £22.50 per person in Birmingham and Edinburgh and £25 in London. This saves up to £15 depending on airport. You will also receive 750 Avios points in avios.com. Even if you only value the Avios at 1p each, the net cost for lounge access will be just £15 to £17.50 under this deal, beating the MSE deal.

The only ‘catch’ with the avios.com deal is that the 750 Avios points is per booking and not per person, so you need to make a separate booking for each guest and the Avios will be spread across a number of accounts.

No 1 Traveller

Amex finally supports Android Pay in the UK

Good news for Android users.

Without any big announcement Android Pay has finally added Amex to their list of eligible payment cards.  Note that only Amex-issued Amex cards can be used, not MBNA / Lloyds etc.

Now Android users can join Apple users in holding up the queue for the tube, because paying with your phone is marginally slower than touching a bank card or Oyster ……

New BA safety video with celebrities

Watching safety videos on airplanes can be boring especially as frequent flyers who gets to see them at least once a month, if not once a week.

To make the safety briefing a bit more fun and to raise awareness for the Flying Start envelopes in your seat pocket, British Airways has brought together a group of celebrities to star in a new safety video.

Flying Start is BA’s global charity partnership with Comic Relief. Since 2010 BA has raised £16.5m and the aim is to have raised £20m by 2020.

The celebrities that feature in the video are: Gordon Ramsay, Rob Brydon, Sir Ian McKellen, Rowan Atkinson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jim Broadbent, Thandie Newton, Gillian Anderson, Warwick Davis, Jess Glynne and Chabuddy G (Asim Chaudhry).

Here is the Director’s Cut:

P.S. Some have labelled this video ‘hilarious’ but I think Gillian Anderson’s part is the only funny bit.   Might just be my sense of humour …..

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous 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

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

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

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

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.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

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

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

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 Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

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

Comments (110)

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

  • Cate says:
    21 Jul21 July 12:35

    I’ve just had an email from BA saying I have till the 23rd of July to buy something through their shop for a 500 avios bonus.

    • ankomonkey says:
      21 Jul21 July 13:15

      I’ve found Lakeland great for offers like this. I live close to one so can click&collect for free. I can buy a packet of reasonable biscuits for a couple of quid, end up in profit and either eat or gift the biscuits.

      • Cate says:
        21 Jul21 July 19:03

        …I think I could manage a packet of biscuits for 500 avios :-). Thanks for the tip.

  • Fenny says:
    21 Jul21 July 13:23

    OT but lounge related. I’ll be flying out of LGW on a 5.30am Easyjet flight. Which lounges are likely to be open at 4am to get coffee?

    • Phil says:
      21 Jul21 July 14:20

      You’ll be able to find opening hours online.

    • Paul L says:
      22 Jul22 July 00:03

      Easiest way to find out would probably be to use the loungebuddy app to list all the lounges you can access (based on status / cc). You will then just need to click on each lounge to check the opening times.
      You can do similar on the prioritypass and loungeclub websites if that is how you are getting access.

  • Jon says:
    21 Jul21 July 13:27

    It will be a long time before anyone tops Virgin America’s safety video.

  • Phil says:
    21 Jul21 July 14:02

    OT- do I need to have a preferred rewards Gold charge card to get the gold rewards credit card from AMEX? I currently have the Gold charge card but I don’t plan to keep it beyond year 1.

    • Mzungu says:
      21 Jul21 July 14:31

      I think you’ll find that the Gold Credit Card is described as a Companion Card, as in companion to the PRGC. Having said that, I asked AMEX on the phone if I could keep the Gold Credit Card when I cancel the PRGC, and I was told I could… for a £36/year fee 🙁
      I’m pretty sure it would also prevent you from churning the PRGC for a bonus, if that’s your intention, as you would still be holding a MR earning card.

      • Phil says:
        21 Jul21 July 14:35

        Thanks for sharing your experience. To be honest I mainly just don’t see PRGC being worth the annual fee however I slice it! The 20,000 MRP welcome bonus was certainly nice though! I’m probably not a big enough spender to justify even £36 p.a. for the Gold credit card so will stay with the free BA AMEX.

      • Rob says:
        21 Jul21 July 16:11

        You can now apply for an Amex Rewards Credit Card as a stand-alone product – see https://headforpoints.com/hfp/amex-gold-credit-card-purchases/ – which will keep your MR points alive.

        • Alex W says:
          21 Jul21 July 16:29

          Do any of these credit cards allow you to get the bonus for referring others for Gold/Plat charge card?

  • Stephen Lee says:
    21 Jul21 July 14:07

    Doesn’t work with Amex card issued by MBNA (Virgin). Maybe only Amex cards issued by Amex.

    Steve

    • AVM says:
      21 Jul21 July 16:00

      Correct!

    • Alan says:
      22 Jul22 July 17:53

      Indeed – might be worth Rob amending to make clear only Amex-issued Amex.

      Also only takes longer than contactless card with iOS, Android works nice and quickly 😛

  • john says:
    21 Jul21 July 15:44

    OT: curve card doing through as a debit card again at Guildford counciltax. Originally it worked as debit, then went to credit only, now its working as debit again and refused as credit card!

    • Roger says:
      22 Jul22 July 06:40

      If one hopes that curve goes through as debit card, does one need to select card type as Maestro or Mastercard when doing online?

  • Lumma says:
    21 Jul21 July 17:39

    I don’t understand why anyone uses Apple/android pay for London transport. The system treats the phone and physical card as being seperste, so if there’s any point that you pay for transport with the card (due to having flat battery or something), it won’t count towards the daily/weekly cap

    • anikaanika99 says:
      21 Jul21 July 17:53

      I’ve used Apple Pay for London Transport for a while but had way too many embarrassing moments at the oyster gate. Even when launching Apple Pay prior to getting to the gate it would only work 3 times out of 4 …

      • Leo says:
        22 Jul22 July 19:00

        It’s annoying for those behind phone users at the gates, knocks everyone’s timing off – there I said it!

        • flyforfun says:
          23 Jul23 July 00:33

          Just like George Clooney in Up in the Air avoids queues with families in, I try to avoid queues with people trying to use their phones at TFL barriers. It is noticeably slower and more people seem to have an issue with it than a credit card or oyster. After having to use my CC for a bit, I’m sticking to the oyster card for speed – despite what TFL keep shouting on their speakers!!

    • F says:
      22 Jul22 July 05:44

      I was told by the help desk that it should all count towards the same cap but obviously didn’t work this way. But if you were mixing and matching occasionally you can call to fix your pricing

  • JamesB says:
    21 Jul21 July 22:56

    Hi Rob, in the bits post the other day you provided the link to the main curve android article. Is your referral code still working and is the blue card still free? If so, I’ll use it. Is the £200/month ATM allowance for earning points or miles on a monthly calendar basis or card anniversary basis? Thanks.

    • Rob says:
      21 Jul21 July 23:55

      Yes, the code still works, thanks. And, yes, Blue is still free.

      The £200 is per calendar month, I just checked the FAQ. Note that the rules say “you MAY be charged a 2% fee on subsequent withdrawals” …. they don’t seem to be doing it so far, at least for £ withdrawals.

      • JamesB says:
        22 Jul22 July 00:07

        Cheers, will apply in the morning. In unlikely event it comes in before the end of this month I should manage £600 of the target spend on virgin white visa via ATM which is a good result in itself.

      • JamesB says:
        22 Jul22 July 08:14

        Rob, just a heads up for you. I just signed up for curve but it may be that the application process has changed slightly since app updates people have commented on recently. I worked through it very slowly and there was no place to add a referral code that I could see nor was there any page resembling the screenshot in your article showing where to enter it. The card did show as free though. On completing sign up I sent them a support message explaining this, gave them your code and asked if they could apply it manually, I will let you know their response.

        • JamesB says:
          22 Jul22 July 11:27

          Good news Rob, already got a response from curve and they have applied your code to my account Thanks again.

        • Alan says:
          22 Jul22 July 17:57

          Interesting, they said they were going to change the app to make the use of a referral code more obvious to new users signing up – perhaps this was only in the last day or so?

    • the_real_a says:
      22 Jul22 July 00:01

      The T&Cs say its £200 per calendar month. The app now shows your limits and usage against them.

      (My referral code if Rob does not get back to you JGOKM)

      • JamesB says:
        22 Jul22 July 08:17

        Sorry tra, Rob got in first but there may be an issue anyway as you will see from my comment above.

        • JamesB says:
          22 Jul22 July 18:42

          I think I’m losing my marbles 🙁 I see it in your screenshog but I would swear it wasn’t there early this morning.

          • Alan says:
            22 Jul22 July 18:43

            When did you last update the app? IIRC they recently added functionality to make adding a referral code more obvious…

        • JamesB says:
          22 Jul22 July 20:11

          @Alan, before 7 this morning. The page is the same as TEA shows but I just don’t recall the referral text despite it now being blatantly obvious. However, all’s well that ends well, Code was applied manually by CS.

          • Alan says:
            22 Jul22 July 20:15

            Glad to hear all sorted 🙂 They seem to be continually developing the app, Back In Time pretty nice (and loving their choice of Flux Capacitor as the icon for it!)

    • Alan says:
      22 Jul22 July 17:58

      The Curve app now tells you how much of your daily/monthly/annual limits you have used, with links to the Fair Use Policy. Just go menu > Curve Card Limits

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