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Bits: 500 Avios from Tesco, Aer Lingus launching Philadelphia, new Amex Hong Kong lounge

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News in brief:

500 Amex points or Avios when you spend £10 at Tesco

A few readers have been in touch about a very generous offer which has appeared on their American Express online statements.

Once you have registered, you will get 500 Amex points, or 500 Avios, when spending £10 or more at Tesco by 3rd December.

Neither one of us has this offer (unfortunately), but it’s worth checking your Amex account for it, across all of your cards.  The offer is valid once for the first 50,000 members who save it to their card so it can’t be that rare!

Aer Lingus to launch Philadelphia this week

There are strong rumours that Aer Lingus will launch a new route to Philadelphia this week.  It will run four days a week from March 2018, using a Boeing 757.

This would be another excellent low-cost Avios redemption from Dublin to the US.  As a reminder – although we will run through all this again when the route is officially confirmed – business class redemptions for Avios on Aer Lingus tend to have under £100 of taxes and charges.


Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2024)

Here are the four 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 1,300 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.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit 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.

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

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 £195 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 huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients 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.

Comments (129)

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

  • Nicola Walton says:

    Thank you. Have the offer on BA card but not on Platinum one.

  • Delbert says:

    Thanks, Rob. Located the Tesco offer on my BA blue. An easy 500 Avios and what with the recent generous Amazon offer my Avios balance remains buoyant.

  • David says:

    Not on any of our Amex cards.

    There are Centurion Lounges outside of US. I visited one at MEX a couple of years ago.

    https://www.thecenturionlounge.com/international/

    • Ziggy says:

      Amex does not consider its international lounges to be part of its Centurion Lounge network (with the exception of HK). If you read the page you link to it reads:

      “In addition to The Centurion® lounge network, American Express operates ten lounges exclusively for Card Members internationally, providing comfort as you travel the world. These lounges are exclusive for Card Members. To find a lounge, visit americanexpress.com/findalounge.”

      Note the use of the phrase “In addition to the Centurion lounge network….”

      • dgsupersonic says:

        Not true.

        The ones in Mexico and Argentina are named Centurion as so is some in Brazil.

        • Ziggy says:

          Erm…yes it is true. Regardless of the name on the door the Amex website (and, as it happens, the Amex hierarchy in the US with whom I have exchanged emails) consider the international lounges to be a different offering to the Centurion lounges that are found in the US and now in Hong Kong….it’s why the website specifically differentiates between them in the quote I posted above.

        • Rob says:

          Wot Ziggy said.

  • Tony says:

    I found this offer on our BA Amex card for Tesco 500 points . So saved it . Thought it be very popular. Got my wife’s card saved too . Looks like a 1000 points coming for £20 spend .. happy days

  • Rtid says:

    Also got the Tesco offer on BAPP not Plat.

    I also have Financial Times offer, spend £30 and get £20 back

  • Tilly says:

    Managed somehow to finally add the Tesco offer manually to both BAPP and gold cards yesterday but gold card showing as avios still rather than MR.

    This morning logged in to see a new account “hub” which is awful! Amex need to reinstate the old format. Messy.

    • TripRep says:

      Tilly – Ditto, got it saved on all our cards (thanks for the tip from Steve) including one card account that has been “enhanced” with the the yacky new look.

      • Rob says:

        My Plat shows as Avios after ‘forcing’ it on. Bought a £15 Marks gift card on the way to Marks (!) and it did not trigger the offer. Did the same for my wife’s BA Amex, hopefully that works.

        • TripRep says:

          Yep, Amex Gold showing 500 AVIOS (ie not MR), still at a £10 spend it’s worth a punt, might take a day or two to trigger.

        • Lawro says:

          Are they sticking to their own T&C’s for once – GC’s are technically excluded, although definitely hasn’t been a prob on similar promos in the past.

          • Rob says:

            No, there was a report yesterday of BA Amex deals not working when cut and pasted to Gold / Plat cards.

  • Simon says:

    Rob – good to meet you at the weekend. After I mentioned that I thought Amex could leverage their sponsorship of the Amex stadium more, I have an offer from them to encourage using their card for contactless transactions at the stadium. Either coincidence or fast work on your part!

  • Jason Hindle says:

    Not on my card. However…. I arrive in Hong Kong, Tuesday, and leave the following Monday. Nice Avios redemption, so business class with CX out of MAN. When I depart, I will check out the Centurion Lounge, though I don’t imagine it being a better option than the CX options (perhaps a little more quiet)? Call me sentimental, but the Platinum card no longer pays for itself in these lean times for business travel; I just can’t bring myself to get rid.

    • Rashad says:

      flying with CX first time soon and already looking forward to try their infamous The Pier lounge, not sure I will have time for Amex Lounge

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