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Bits: £119 Park Plaza London deal, Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in LA joins Priority Pass

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News in brief:

Excellent Park Plaza London £119 hotel deal

The Park Plaza hotel group has launched a £119 promotion for its London hotels.

This is a very good deal, because Park Plaza has some very decent hotels in the capital.  You need to book by midnight on Monday for stays before 8th April.

The best properties are the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge (reviewed here, it is the big round building opposite the Houses of Parliament) or the Plaza on the River (this one is £129).  The County Hall, Waterloo, Victoria, Sherlock Holmes and London Riverbank properties are £119.

Park Plaza is part of Club Carlson so you will earn points in that scheme, which can be topped up by a transfer (at 1:3) of American Express Membership Rewards points.  American Express Platinum cardholders will have Club Carlson Gold status.

The special booking link for the £119 deal is here.

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Los Angeles joins Priority Pass

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse lounge in Los Angeles is joining Priority Pass on Monday

It will also be available to anyone with a free Lounge Club pass from their American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card or a Mastercard World Elite LoungeKey pass.

You can also get two free Priority Pass cards, each admitting two people to a participating lounge, with the American Express Platinum charge card.

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in LA is located on Level 4 in Terminal 2 and accessible to both domestic and international customers.  It is a 4,000-square foot space.

It will only be open to Priority Pass holders in the mornings when there are no Virgin Atlantic departures.


Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 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 1,500 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

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee 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 – 30,000 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 £290 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 good package, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

Got a small business?

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum which has the same lounge benefits as the personal Platinum card:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

You should also consider the Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card, which has a lower fee and also comes with Radison Rewards VIP status:

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

30,000 points (TO 9TH DECEMBER) plus good benefits 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 (16)

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

  • Lumma says:

    The Clubhouse is only available in the morning when there’s no Virgin flights isn’t it?

    • Adey says:

      I jolly well hope it’s only then.

    • Rob says:

      That was not in the press release PP sent me so don’t know.

      • Alan says:

        See OMAAT article and lounge listing in PP app. Seems to be a totally different setup for the mornings with just a cold buffet. Good to have extra options for LAX, but won’t help anyone wanting access to the lounge for evening VS flights. In fairness to VS it makes sense to make more out of the facility by doing this whilst not ending up with overcrowding in the evenings.

        • Leo says:

          I agree to an extent and VS are generally good about presentation etc. I just wonder about what the effect of all that extra traffic will be on the fixtures and furnishings and general cleanliness etc. Lots of US PP cardholders.

  • Catalan says:

    Are Virgin that short of cash these days?

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    Fyi Plaza on the River is ‘from £129’ and it isn’t all-suite any more (has about 40 regular rooms).

    • Rob says:

      Thanks, will tweak.

    • LostAntipod says:

      Just had a quick squiz at Tripadvisor….I know to take these things with a truckload of salt…but PP on the River seems to have a lot of reviews complaining about dirty or unserviced rooms, the restaurant quality, or poor room service (eg. orders not, or partially, delivered). I wasnt scientific about it, I just scanned the “average” and “very good” reviews, it was enough to put me off at the sale price when the location is taken into account…..YMMV of course ….

  • TripRep says:

    Slightly OT, but Club Carlson related.

    Just checking out of Radisson Park Inn Manchester, great central location near Manchester Victoria Train station.

    Has a nice compact rectangular swimming pool, calm & clean sauna & steam room.

    I’ve got Carlson Gold status, sadly my stand by offer of £45 suite upgrade didn’t happen as the hotel was full.

    However the staff here are great, upgraded all my 3 booked rooms (£82 room) to Superior, all my guests had Complimentary full breakfast from my status, seriously impressive.

    Would definitely come back.

    • Rob says:

      Result. I was in the Rad Blu on Monday – zero status recognition but very classy hotel.

  • PaulW says:

    Flying aa domestic from lax over Xmas. Around lunchtime. Have BA gold and also Amex plat. Is the consensus that the quantas lounge is still my best option?

    • Lyn says:

      If you can access the Qantas First Class lounge with BA Gold it is very well worth a visit if you aren’t already familiar with it. Have only tried the food at breakfast time, but it was very good, although not on a par with their First lounge in Melbourne. Can’t really imagine the new AA lounges competing. Allow enough time to order food (served restaurant style) and also to walk from the International terminal back to the AA departure gate (reasonably quick with moving walkways).

      • PaulW says:

        Thanks both. Plenty of time for a tour. How my travels gave changed since discovering this point world!

  • Alex says:

    OT but loungee related: tested Premium Plaza in T5 yesterday- liked it very much, But they swiped my platinum card, so canceled Plats won’t allow one to enter the lounge, me thinks.

  • Talay says:

    No surprise on the Park Plaza offer as Hilton have central London properties from less than £100 and usual £175/200 properties for £99/109/115 etc.

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

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