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

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.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 2023)

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 Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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

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 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey 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.

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