Bit: 10% off duty free voucher, 100% IHG ‘buy points’ bonus ending, Club Eurostar launches
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News in brief:
Save 10% off duty free purchases at Manchester and Stansted
Biza is offering 10% off all purchases, excluding tobacco, at its duty free stores during December.
The discount is valid at the Biza stores at:
- Manchester Airport (Main, Express, Arrivals)
- London Stansted Airport (Main, Express, Arrivals)
- Bournemouth Airport
- East Midlands Airport
IHG’s extended ‘100% buy points bonus’ ends today
IHG Rewards Club – the InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza etc scheme – extended its recent ‘100% buy points bonus’ promotion but IT DEFINITELY ENDS TOMORROW. It is as generous an offer as you will ever see for IHG points.
The page to buy points is here.
The standard prices, before the bonus, are:
- 1,000 – 10,000 points for $13.50 per 1,000 points
- 11,000 – 25,000 points for $12.50 per 1,000 points
- 26,000 – 60,000 points for $11.50 per 1,000 points
The bonus rates are:
- 40% bonus when you buy 5,000 – 19,000 points
- 100% bonus when you buy 20,000 – 60,0000 points
With a 100% bonus, you would be able to buy 120,000 IHG points for (at current exchange rates for $690) £515. This assumes your credit card has 0% FX fees.
At the top end of the IHG Rewards Club portfolio, you have InterContinental properties which top out at 50,000 – 60,000 points per night. That’s what you would pay for InterContinental Le Grand in Paris or the InterContinental Amstel in Amsterdam.
With a 100% bonus, IHG is effectively selling you a night at a 50,000 point property for £215 all-in. A 60,000 point hotel would be £257. At the bottom end, the points for a 5,000 point PointBreaks night would cost just £22.
You should look at this if you have a ‘buy points’ target for your Accelerate promotion – although it makes more sense to buy 5,000 and get the bonus than buy 1,000 for no bonus. If you are topping off your account, it is also a good deal irrespective of the exact cents per point cost. The maximum number of points you can buy per year is 120,000 (ie 60,000 plus the 60,000 bonus).
You can buy via this link. The offer ends tomorrow, 8th December.
Club Eurostar launches today
If all goes to plan, the new Club Eurostar loyalty scheme should be launching today.
We wrote a long article here with our initial impressions of the changes. I will write something else once I’ve had a chance to look at all the bits and pieces which were not covered in the first announcement.
Starting on Monday, we have a fantastic Club Eurostar competition on Head for Points. Not only can you win a big pile of Club Eurostar points, you can also receive top-tier Carte Blanche status in Club Eurostar.
And, thanks to the new ‘Anytime’ feature with the new Club Eurostar, the winner can be 100% certain that they will be able to redeem their points for the train of their choice (unless it is completely sold out for cash, of course). And, with no taxes or charges with Club Eurostar redemptions, your ‘free’ ticket is genuinely free.
Make sure you visit Head for Points on Monday to enter.
How to get Club Eurostar points and lounge access from UK credit cards (April 2024)
Club Eurostar does not have a UK credit card. However, you can earn Club Eurostar points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.
Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:
- American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 1,333 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.
- The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 2,666 Club Eurostar points. Card benefits include Eurostar lounge access.
- American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 666 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for life.
Membership Rewards points convert at 15:1 into Club Eurostar points. The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, so you will get the equivalent of 1 Club Eurostar point for every £15 you spend.
American Express Platinum comes with a great Eurostar benefit – Eurostar lounge access!
You can enter any Eurostar lounge, irrespective of your ticket type, simply by showing The Platinum Card at the desk. No guests are allowed but you can get entry for your partner by issuing them with a free supplementary Amex Platinum card on your account.
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