Bits: Virgin redemptions with infants, Qatar increasing Scandi frequencies, Amex and Ryanair

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• Steve says:

  29 Nov29 November 11:14

  I don’t understand what people have against Ryanair neither. I am not buying £30 ticket to some local airport to get the first class treatment. One cabin bag, passport and ticket ready, put my headphones on, be nice to the staff and in 2 hours I am almost anywhere in the Europe.

  I still value the priority exit row seat (leg room) more than many business class offers other airlines have.

  The only thing I have against them is the constant noise pollution on the airplane with all the announcements but for that price, I am ok to survive it. Nothing good headphones can’t deal with.

  It’s still cheaper than traveling 30 minutes outside of London with the insanely overpriced trains in much worse conditions and people do that daily!

  It is great to have options and freedom to chose whatever suits you. I would use my Amex for this offer if I would have it.

  • Richard G says:

    29 Nov29 November 11:32

    It’s a principals choice for me. I refuse to give that company any of my money (I appreciate they’ll do just fine without me). I did use them once upon a time, but now I’m happy to go out of my way to avoid them.

    • Leo says:

      29 Nov29 November 11:42

      Me too. Used once as a friend booked a flight for me. It was very grim. Do they still make the crew buy their own uniforms? I’ve no time for O’Leary. I don’t tar EZ with the same brush and I think Air Asia is great so it’s not inherent LCC snobbery.

      • Will says:

        29 Nov29 November 17:44

        Air Asia pay their cabin crew less than £200 a month.

        Nothing wrong with that but to anyone bad mouthing Ryanair based on making staff buy their uniforms then saying air Asia are great it’s not a black and white argument.

      • the real harry1 says:

        29 Nov29 November 18:00

        @ Will it’s a fair bit more than that after extras (same as BA mixed fleet concept) – about £1250/ month typically
        http://www.flygosh.com/2015/05/air-asia-x-cabin-crewflight-attendant.html

      • TripRep says:

        29 Nov29 November 18:04

        Will – appreciate the info, I’ll be sure to tip AirAsia crew for good service in business class in that case.

        Personally I try to avoid RyanAir where possible because I find the experience uncomfortable, did a trip to Malta a few years ago and it wasnt pleasant at all, on balance in general I do find EasyJet ok though. Again it often depends on your journey starting & end points, timings and cost. Based on that formula I might have to use RyanAir later this summer. If BA had direct flights to Europe from more of its regional airports that would be my top preference.

      • CV3V says:

        29 Nov29 November 18:27

        Air Asia paying £200 per month in Asia would roughly equate to about £1000 in the UK, rough rule of thumb i have sometimes used in some asian countries that seems to work out. But still not good.

  • shd says:

    29 Nov29 November 12:49

    On short haul, I find the over-long – and not funny – BA safety video, charity chugging for Flying Start, and High Life shop announcements just as annoying as Ryanair’s announcements.

    I recently flew Ryanair Dublin to Manchester for EUR 10.19 including credit card fee, and yes, I paid with Amex 🙂

    • Alex W says:

      29 Nov29 November 22:41

      +1 flying start always ruins the end of whatever film I am watching!

• Graham Walsh says:

  29 Nov29 November 12:04

  I’m still waiting for VS to do a sale on redemption tickets like they did last year. 30% saving on points and then use my PE upgrade vouchers.

  • lev441 says:

    29 Nov29 November 12:31

    Since changing to the peak/off-peak model, seems as if they have stopped doing them… Which is a shame as they used to come around like clockwork – it gave really great value when using the PE upgrade vouchers in conjunction with the sale during peak dates like school holidays.

    I actually let 2 x vouchers lapse in September – would have been more tempted to book a redemption somewhere if they’d had a 30% off sale as it may have swayed my opinion on potential holiday destinations.

  • TripRep says:

    29 Nov29 November 13:15

    When checking my PE Upgrade vouchers had posted, Lady at VS FC advised me to wait for the next seat sale as “they can be combined”.

    I thanked her for the reminder as I’d done this a few times in previous years… 🙂

    But yes, Reward Seat Sales maybe history now….?

• Tilly says:

  29 Nov29 November 12:25

  O/T – can someone explain the BA cabin bonus avios to me please? I get them credited when flying in CE (not flown CW yet) separately to the normal avios and tier points. What are they and how are they calculated? TIA.

• Rob says:

  29 Nov29 November 12:44

  Has anyone had success yet in triggering the Amex £5 back on £10 spend at the Post Office by buying the One4All gift cards? I just read the terms and conditions and it specifically excludes gift cards. I have this offer on 6 cards, so would like to use it but have no use for stamps.

  • Genghis says:

    29 Nov29 November 12:46

    Yep. Bought this morning and all triggered the success email. The cashier was very patient.

    • Rob says:

      29 Nov29 November 13:09

      cool thanks, will go do it tomorrow. I hope my PO is just as patient as I do six transactions on separate credit cards instead of one!

      • Tom says:

        29 Nov29 November 13:52

        I bought two gift cards yesterday, triggered to immediate emails – my T&C’s state;

        “Offer valid for items and gift cards purchased in-store over the counter only.”

  • Richard G says:

    29 Nov29 November 13:42

    I read that and in my opinion it was excluding gift cards that weren’t bought in store (IE, online).

    • Tom says:

      29 Nov29 November 14:07

      Ah yeah, we have a big PO close to may office to I popped in and bought their one4all cards.

  • Crafty says:

    29 Nov29 November 14:09

    Worked for me, two different Amexes in two different post offices.

    Bear in mind Amazon is no longer a partner.

  • xcalx says:

    29 Nov29 November 16:53

    Used 1 plat and 5 sups today . No emails as yet.
    Did anyone get the PO offer on SPG

    • mark2 says:

      29 Nov29 November 17:22

      BAPP only

      • Mike says:

        29 Nov29 November 17:36

        And the gold rewards card too

    • the real harry1 says:

      29 Nov29 November 17:49

      contactless doesn’t seem to trigger an email half the time – though Amex do seem to pick up the purchase later so you get the £5

      I prefer the lazy good feel of getting a success email, so stick it in

    • Liz says:

      29 Nov29 November 18:43

      We have 4 SPG cards and got zilch! Got it on our BAPP.

      • xcalx says:

        29 Nov29 November 19:01

        Non on our 2 SPGs that’s what prompted me to ask. Only 7 offers on 1 of the SPG cards, but then we don’t keep them long enough to load the offers lol, just chasing the Marriott TP
        (one more referral for mrs xcalxs mum in Jan should do it) and don’t want to use MR points

      • Charlie says:

        30 Nov30 November 19:44

        I didn’t get the order on my Gold amex, but went ahead and spent £10 at the PO and then called Amex who credited me with £5 after I asked politely for the offer!

      • Alan says:

        3 Dec3 December 15:51

        Didn’t get it on SPG, Nectar or Plat.

    • xcalx says:

      29 Nov29 November 18:49

      Used 1 plat and 5 sups today . No emails as yet.
      Did anyone get the PO offer on SPG

      update was looking at wrong email. arrived in 2 min intervals.

• TripRep says:

  29 Nov29 November 13:13

  Slightly OT: Virgin Amex Black Camncellation

  Just a data few points to share..

  My 2x PE Upgrade vouchers posted to my VS FC a/c 5 days before my MBNA anniversary date.

  Was offered 5000 miles for a £1000 spend for not cancelling the card, I declined as they couldn’t offer any guarantee when it will be pulled and tbh I thought the offer wasnt enough.

  They will refund the £140 for the next year as long as no spend after anniversary.

  • Ben says:

    29 Nov29 November 14:43

    Thanks for this, I have my anniversary coming up on the 8th Dec so will be calling just before then.

    I am still waiting for my 5000 from my last threat – I wonder if they will come before the 8th.

    • Alan says:

      3 Dec3 December 15:52

      Yep, still waiting for 5k from my white card attempted closure – they’ve confirmed I’ve met criteria, just waiting to see if they post…

• Cate says:

  29 Nov29 November 13:20

  Amex just aren’t offering us any offers we want and the offers are getting fewer. They’re pushing the shop small stuff but there is only a takeaway near us and they’ve confirmed they shouldn’t be on the list. I’m happy to spend money as the lovely MrCate can attest but as a non alcohol drinker it’s no good offering me four different suppliers of alcohol by the case because I’m just not interested.

  • Choons says:

    29 Nov29 November 14:06

    Where would you like the offers to be from?

    They are not that suitable for me either, although I have used a few, like spend in Tesco with 500 avios and will most likely use the post office ones, if I can bear the usual long queue at lunchtime…

    • Cate says:

      29 Nov29 November 15:21

      Valentino would be nice.

• Brandon says:

  29 Nov29 November 14:03

  Ive got 3 amex cards, dont/didnt see the ryanair off on any of them

  • Tilly says:

    29 Nov29 November 22:10

    Ditto

• Simmo says:

  29 Nov29 November 14:22

  OT/

  Earnt my 2-4-1 on the BAPP – Voucher in my BA account.
  Is it still the case I can cancel the card (not downgrade to Blue) and keep the voucher?
  Only risk being booking using the voucher then needing to cancel?

  • lev441 says:

    29 Nov29 November 14:24

    Correct.

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