There is good news for Avios, Virgin Flying Club, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest and Lufthansa Miles & More members!
Tomorrow, 1st November, Heathrow Rewards is launching its annual mega-bonus promotion on electronics, watches and jewellery, keen to tap into the Christmas rush.
Worth noting is that World Duty Free is included this year which gives you a far broader choice of products to earn on. Only jewellery, watches and electronics in WDF are included – not perfume, alcohol or giant Toblerone.
This is an excellent opportunity to pick up a large pile of miles. Dixons Travel is included so this is a good opportunity to cash in on a new iPhone purchase.
Here are the details of the offer, which runs from 1st November until 31st December. Remember that you can convert Heathrow Rewards points into Avios, Virgin Flying Club, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest and Lufthansa Miles & More miles as well as into Heathrow shopping vouchers.
If you are not already a member, you can earn an additional 3,000 points (=3,000 miles) when you spend £150 in one day via this promo.
Here are the deals for 2017:
15,000 extra points when you spend £4000 or more at Bulgari, Cartier, Dixons Travel, Harrods Fine Watch Room, Rolex, Swarovski, Tiffany, Watches of Switzerland, World Duty Free
5,000 extra points when you spend £1500 – £3999 at Bulgari, Cartier, Dixons Travel, Harrods Fine Watch Room, Rolex, Swarovski, Tiffany, Watches of Switzerland, World Duty Free
1,000 extra points when you spend £350 – £1499 at Dixons Travel, Swarovski, Tiffany, World Duty Free
500 extra points when you spend £150 – £349 at Dixons Travel, Swarokski, Tiffany, World Duty Free
I took advantage of this deal a few years ago when I bought my wife a watch at Watches of Switzerland. I then sat on the points – over 20,000 in total, including double base points as I was a premium member of Heathrow Rewards – and converted them to Avios when BA joined the programme. They were offering a 100% transfer bonus at the time, and I netted almost 50,000 Avios if I remember! That was a serious rebate on the price paid for the watch.
Full details will be available on the Heathrow Rewards website from tomorrow.
(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for the latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios from current offers and promotions.)
About Head for Points
I’ve no flights planned this year 🙁 so are any of these shops landside? Thanks
Oh dear. Rest of my travel this year is from Gatwick.
Could be worse you could be flying from Turku Finland – http://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/flight-spins-180-degrees-during-landing
Just book a cheap flight to the continent. Who says that you have to fly, just leave the airport once purchased 😉
Hahaha! If only I had the time. Can barely fit in a meal with a mate before the new year let alone an additional trip to Heathrow to go shopping. Temptimg though, do like the T5 shopping centre. Think the husband likes it when we have lounge access as it keeps me out of the shops.
How do you do that at Heathrow?
I’ve never spotted a way out. Although my old boss was terrified of flying and would only manage to board, on average, one flight in four – so it can’t be too difficult. (His wife used to divi up his clothes between the rest of the family as she was fed up of her holiday being delayed as the ground crew recovered his luggage.)
You ask the info desk in the middle of the terminal to be escorted out. They do a ‘walk’ once an hour. Happens to loads of people whose meetings get cancelled or flights get delayed and they decide not to go.
Get the transit to 5C and stay on until it moves round to the arrivals side and exit via the UK Border
Don’t forget your passport!
Much easier at T3 as there’s an ‘arrivals’ chute from the main departures area where you can self-arrive before you’ve even left. Try to do it with an airline you don’t like though, as they’ll run around trying to page you before offloading!!
I suppose any purchase of less than £3,000 is better done on a new card with the Avios bonus code than on a card that has previously triggered the double bass points. I assume that the double Base points option does not expire and you are not downgraded.
OT. Interesting perspective on BA and private jet travel in GQ (referenced on FT)
http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/british-airways-private-jet-service
Unfortunately, I am one of the HFP readers that can’t afford Business/First flights. That said, I used to be happy to spend the premium for economy on a major carrier over the budget airlines. I used to actively seek to fly economy on BA rather than Ryanair or Easyjet. Unfortunately, BA’s race to the bottom in economy has meant that this is now no longer an option.
I guess there aren’t enough people like me (can’t afford business, but happy to pay a bit more for decent economy) to base an airline structure around.
I used to enjoy flying. Now, with crap flights and horrendous airport queues everywhere, I dread the thought of actually departing these shores.
Alan, I’ve never paid just ££££ for premium or business class, always combined with using miles, that’s why I visit here…
Where are you flying Alan? It sounds like shorthaul; if so you can have an experience akin to CE on easy jet for a lot less excepting blocked middle seat. Longhaul, there are always possibilities to get premium seats at less than BA WT but not as easy as it once was due to the low £.
Thanks for the responses guys. I do both short haul (most commonly) but also the occasional long haul holiday.
Think I might look into the Easyjet option, thanks for the tip.
My last 2 short haul holidays were with BMI out of Bristol. Have to admit the experience was much better than the current BA economy offerings.
Not sure I’ll be partaking in this. I think my entire lifetime spend in airport shops probably comes in under £150!
+1. Am I the only person who cannot see the “savings” from buying stuff at the airport? Granted, “exclusive” whiskey/ drinks packages may tempt a collector but for me it seems a waste of effort and money.
I bought my wife a Mulberry purse for John Lewis for around £300 in September. I gave it to her on our anniversary and to her credit she didn’t open it because we were going on holiday the next week to DXB from LHR. I signed up for Heathrow rewards at a time with 3000 bonus points, and in the Mulberry shop it was £50 cheaper. I also needed to replace my sunglasses as salt water had speckled the polarization away so i got some from Sunglasses hut. All in all we only bought what we would of anywhere else. Saved about £100 all in and earn’t 15,000 Avios due to all the promotions that were on at Heathrow – most, i didn’t even know where on. I also returned the purse to JL on our return. So YES, you save money at the Airport you can even be better off too all things considered.
There are no real savings on perfume and often very little on alcohol compared to supermarket special offers.
The real money is from the designer shops, and I think it is less about the saving than about the fact that many highly paid people simply don’t have the time in their day to day life to saunter down Bond Street on a regular basis and like having everything side by side in the airport where they have enforced downtime.
(Obviously the same applies to less highly paid people who don’t have time to saunter down Oxford Street on a day to day basis, but the reality at Heathrow is that shop rent is based on a % of turnover and it makes sense to put in designer brands.)
Sometimes I think I don’t ‘fit’ on this site despite having a job that pays around double the national average (and my wife’s job pays well over national average too). Typically I pay less than £2 for a pair of sunglasses (managed to get some England football ones for 10p once after they’d crashed out of a world cup) and definitely less than £10 for a purse/wallet. I’m a keen runner and have paid £200 for a GPS watch once but that was with money collected from various people for my birthday (and I made my previous one last over 10 years)! Most I’ve paid for a non sport watch is less than £30. Most I’ve paid for a mobile phone is £110; never have a contract that includes paying for a phone and make them last at least 3 years. Most for a computer of any sort: £395.
Each to their own though. And to be clear I find this site extremely useful and am not being critical, just saying that many on here seem to live in a different world to me.
I’ll stop rambling now!
They do not have any of the designers I go for at Heathrow.
Primark, Matalan, George, or perhaps more exotically Neues Kaufhaus Deutschland (pack of 3 pairs Pierre Cardan socks for €2 last September).
🙂
Sounds like you live in my world RussellH 🙂
Have a friend who has got his wife her Xmas present from a petrol station or motorway service centre more than once!
You are missing the “playing the game” aspect. You can order your electronics to be delivered at Dixons after getting them to beat Amazon via the phone line, you buy 2-3 months worth of supermarket gift vouchers for waitrose at John Lewis. Do the same for boots and M&S… Stamps at WH Smiths. Top up your families phones with credit etc etc.
There are good savings on electronic goods. Macs and iPads are cheaper in T5 Dixons Travel than on the High Street. Thats before you add the Heathrow Rewards discount, which with a bonus is substantial.
I do stock up on my Clarins skincare as cheaper than in the department stores I normally get them from.
Also, if there is a product I am wanting to buy from a designer store I try to wait for my hols to get cheaper in duty free. Have saved quite a bit waiting until I’m at the airport. Have to know what you’re buying and what ot retails for outside the airport.
OT – Is it possible to make a switch from (free) BA Amex to the new membership reward credit card, while getting the bonus and not making a new credit application?
You’ll get the bonus if you haven’t had a MR card in the past 6 months. It’s debatably if you’ll credit file will take a hit – generally as an existing Amex card holder for me, they use internal details rather than existing agency data.
Data point – they check me fresh every time, regardless of whether I hold a card already.
I’ve got a new Heathrow Rewards account and am planning to spend £150 on L’occitane products at T5 in November (they are marginally cheaper). Will this net me 3650 HR points?
No, because the World Duty Free element of this does not apply to cosmetics, ignore what I wrote in the email today. You’ll get 3,150 HR points (actually 3,250 because there is usually another 100 points welcome bonus added).
OT read elsewhere that IAG Level are coming to LGW using Monarch slots
O/T
What are the signs that a downgrade is possible?
Checking in for a BA reward flight tomorrow, UK regional connection via LHR to the US, Check in completed and all boarding passes printed apart from my wife’s In CW. A seat is assigned but there isn’t an option to save or print just collect at the airport.
Is this a flag for a possible downgrade?
There are CW seats available to book right now on the flight.
Yes, that is a flag.
It doesn’t matter that seats are for sale. Look at how expensive they are. If someone buys a seat at those prices, BA will downgrade you as well because the compensation is a fraction of the current ticket price.
Ok, to be prepared the strategy would be –
Request both passengers to be moved to another flight in the correct class booked (unlikely to work? There isn’t one until the following day barring a convoluted route.)
Take the hit and I’ll be in WTP (the trip is for my 50th but I’m sure that won’t matter.)
Take the compo? Then claim via EU261? I realise it’s BA policy to say none is applicable until pressed legally.
Are you on a 241? If the downgraded passenger is the 241 voucher user (ie not the main cardholder) then BA will refuse compensation and you will need to take them to arbitration, as TripRep did. For a clear, unarguable, run at compensation it must be the main cardholder who is downgraded.
(You could swap seats on board, but the main cardholder should be the one with a WTP boarding pass.)
You aren’t necessarily screwed. A reader in this position last week was saved when two passengers travelling on a connecting inbound flight were delayed.
Yes a 241, I’m on the voucher and have a CW boarding pass. My wife, the cardholder doesn’t have a boarding pass at present.
That’s OK, compensation-wise, then because BA will pay you the 75% of the one-way Avios back without fuss.
If you request to go on another flight routing in CW the next day, suspect BA will resist as IIRC you are then entitled to EU261 for the ensuing delay for both pax & is much more clear cut in terms of compensation. Plus BA have to pay for hotel & food.
For clarity I was the downgraded pax my wife was the 241 voucher holder.
Suggest you consult Flyertalk and Corporate-Wage-Slave.
Again hopefully you will be okay and have a good trip for your 50th.
Darren – no guarantees but based on my experience, I’m going to suggest that you will be ok.
For my downgrade from CW to WTP enroute to Maldives, I couldn’t check in at all.
For my return in CW I could check in & chose it seat,etc but was also unable to print or download boarding pass, had to collect at the airport.
Let us know how you get on in a Bits comments section 2moro…
Ok thanks, will do.
Darren, the one time I was unable to print a boarding pass it was because the reservation was not ticketed properly despite everything appearing ok online so there can be other reasons. If the worst comes to the worst then don’t hestitate to lay the big 50 once in a lifetime emotional card on them too, they are human.
Don’t panic yet – it could also be that you have been selected for additional security screening. You’ll get the boarding pass and it will have “SSSS” on it in large unfriendly letters.
Quick chat with a G4S person and some extra swabbing of electronics between gate check and airbridge and you should be grand.
Relax everyone!! You gave it away when you said ‘to the US’. Your wife will have been selected for screening, not downgraded. The US authorities don’t allow mobile/self-print BPs in this situation.
Even in the teeny tiny event she actually has been downgraded, there are plenty of alternative routes they can (and would) send you on if you asked not to be downgraded. The JB means they get the same revenue regardless, so AA connections would be used with no issue. We’re not talking a 3x weekly to MLE here.
Thanks guys, fingers crossed.
One thing I’d miss if downgraded is the CX T3 lounge, love it there.
From experience you’ll be able to get your long haul boarding pass printed at your domestic flight check-in if all is well.
The other possibility is they want to do a document check, I’ve had that as the reason for being able to check in but not get a boarding pass remotely too.
Hopefully it’s nothing but let us know how you get on, hope it works out for you.
What if Darren’s wife was to insist on her legal right to be rerouted on a competing carrier the same day in business claas, or wait until BA CW the next day? What would BA do? They would be caught between a rock and a hard place, they either pay the competing carrier or the compensation. Surely they cannot force her to downgrade whilst denying her her rights? I bet this rarely happens to solo travellers anymore, it seems BA are deliberately targeting couples, especially on 241s, because they know they can screw the compensation. And then there is the emotional dimension to two passengers wanting to fly together which hampers their willingness to exercise the rights of the passenger being downgraded as this would result in their travelling independently.
https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Resolving-travel-problems/Delays-cancellations/Your-rights/Your-rights-when-you-are-downgraded/
you can’t insist on being re-routed in this case – you get compensation for the downgrade but you will arrive as scheduled (barring delays)
I don’t think you’re right about BA getting away without compensation on downgraded 241s, either – see the FT thread
I was posing the questions Harry, I didn’t know the answers. So we are only entitled to rerouting on another carrier if we get bumped off a flight entirely and an airline cannot reaccommodate us themselves on the same day?
I guess what’s reasonable comes into play
if you get bumped & they offer you an alternative flight (with them) a couple of hours later, you might as well take it & claim your compensation (btw here’s Raffles’ EUR300 https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Resolving-travel-problems/Delays-cancellations/Your-rights/Your-rights-when-you-are-bumped-from-a-flight/ )
if you get bumped and they offer you a flight (with them) the next day/ later, you would be within your EC261 rights to re-route yourself (if they refused) on an alternative carrier to get to your destination – say – 15 hours earlier than their alternative, then claim the cost of the fare difference & food & drink in the interim from the original carrier
if they proved difficult, you’d win at MCOL – straightforward case and this is what Ryanair was ordered to do by CAA recently
Is Heathrow Rewards criteria one per address/family or one per person?
One per postal address
One per identical postal address, however setting your OH’s account as “Seventeen Acacia Avenue” rather than “17..” is a solution, or use an address for a family member, work…
OT – I seem to have successfully used Clubcard vouchers to reduce the price of a 3 night stay in Washington DC next summer by about 60% on Hotels.com, very happy. The price was the same using the link as just going onto the website as normal.
Otherwise, having an odd time with Hotels.com. In August I was charged $40 government tax for a 2 night stay where the price stated that it clearly included all taxes. At first, Hotels.com tried to wriggle out of any responsibility, but after I lodged a formal complaint with them, eventually admitted fault and credited my account with $45. In the meantime I reported them to the ASA, the result of this being that Hotels.com has told them that the hotel made a mistake and should not have charged me the tax! I’ve advised the ASA to double check this with the hotel as Hotels.com have now given two contradictory explanations!
O/T – Marriott seem to have launched a new shopping portal called ‘Marriott Rewards More’. There aren’t many retailers listed on there, but one which caught they eye was Amazon, which gives 4 Marriott points per £1 spent. This will come in handy, especially during Black Friday next month.
Nice one, thanks.
Now that’s interesting…
What’s the value of a Marriott point? My employers sell Amazon vouchers with 200 “WOW” points per £100 spent. 200 “WOW” can be converted to £2 by BACS.
I can see the benefit of keeping my Marriott points alive.
0.5p in general
1p for a travel package. Or even 1.5p based on today’s other article.
Good stuff but I have a sneaky feeling points will be earned on the bottom line price so likely no points for spending our stash of gift card credit that many HFP readers likely have.
Great spot !
O/T Daily Telegraph catches up http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/31/taxpayers-banned-using-credit-cards-pay-personal-tax-bills/
O/T the good news is: there’s no news out yet about some silly competition on tesco.com to win a few Avios prize upon conversion
I think we’re in with a real chance of +20% bonus Avios
No chance!
Two years ago this quarter was the last one IIRC.
Hope so, I’ve got £349 in vouchers waiting……
holding a few hot vouchers here as well 🙂
O/T ***NEWSFLASH!*** Simon Calder writes decent article
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ba-british-airway-cabin-crew-staff-pay-rise-dispute-resolved-a8029811.html
Can anyone work out how many HR points i would end up with if i spent £4500 during this promotion how many HR points i would end up with? I have never used my HR card before so i would assume i would get the 3000 bonus for spending over £150, which would trigger the 3000 bonus but would the £4350 left be at the premium membership rate of 2 points per £? Thanks guys
You only get the 3,000 if you signed up using the Avios promo code originally.
Good question about the 2nd bit though ….
I suggest you look at what the T&Cs say.
It was my understanding that the 3,000 bonus points is time limited after your registration.
From memory you are eligible for double points only once you’ve spent £500 and then you continue to receive double points for the remainder of the calendar year. If you can, split your spend into £500 and then £4,000. Refer to the T&Cs to make sure there is no restriction that the double points does not take effect a day after you become eligible (i.e. take a copy of the T&Cs to use to support any challenge later!)
As a reminder there are also double points on offer if you reserve and collect (although these did not go through automatically for me so I have contacted their support to get them added).
I’m looking to buy myself a Tag Heuer watch on the 10th which will qualify for the 15,000 extra points. I have a heathrow rewards card but not used it yet so this will be its first purchase, qualifying for the 3000 bonus for spending over £150 in a single transaction however reading the T&C’s on this current promotion it says “9. Where a transaction may qualify for more than one Heathrow Rewards promotion, ‘Extra Points on Jewellery, Watches & Technology’ will take precedence.”. I’m going to call tomorrow to double check but I’m assuming this means i will get just the 15000 extras points and not the single transaction points? My Wife may buy herself something too so if she uses the rewards card first on a transaction over £150 and then i make a separate purchase of the watch does this mean i will qualify for both?
Just as a side note i signed up for the Gold Amex (via referral) in order to make this purchase as I’ve hit my spend target for the companion voucher on my BA Premium card already. this one purchase will trigger the sign up bonus of 22,000! and then all the Heathrow reward points and amex reward points to boost! I do love this game!
Great Blog by the way Rob. Thanks, Jon
Yes, you could be right – it might override the 3,000 points bonus.
Heathrow Rewards works on a day basis, so having your wife buy something beforehand for £150 might not help. It is £150 in a day, not in a transaction. Arguably they could still disqualify you from the 3000 points on that basis because the purchase would be part of your daily spend which took you over £150.
Perhaps easier (assuming your wife will spend £150 anyway) to open another account – needs to be at a different address, perhaps work – for her. She triggers the 3000 on her £150 spend, definitely. You may or may not get the 3000 on top of your 15000 bonus (and the base points).
Hi John
Did you purchase the watch and get the extra points ?
I wonder if you still get the bonus if you pay with rewards vouchers? I’ve got £720 burning a hole in my pocket!
Yep, they’re just treated as a form of payment. I received HR points fine when paying by voucher.
Has anyone had these extra points credited to their account ? Just called Heathrow Rewards contact number and they didnt know anythign about it
CHeers
I’m not seeing this offer on my account, only double points at Accessorise T3 and 25% extra on Rocketmiles. Is this targeted?
No, open to all. Should be on there somewhere, perhaps under an obscure heading?
Can’t see a thing. How strange. And a google search only comes up with HfP!
Spoke too soon. Refreshed my browser and it appeared. Thanks Rob!