Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Some photos of Virgin Atlantic’s new Eric Lanlard Afternoon Tea in the Clubhouse lounge

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As I wrote last week, Virgin Atlantic has launched a new afternoon tea service in the Heathrow Clubhouse in Terminal 3.

You will receive a stand of sandwiches and cakes plus tea or a glass of rose champagne.  This is a new collaboration with celebrity cake maker Eric Lanlard.  Everything is free, of course.

Here are a few photos from the launch yesterday, which do look very good.  Click on the pictures to enlarge:

Virgin Atlantic afternoon tea Heathrow Clubhouse

and

Virgin Atlantic afternoon tea Heathrow Clubhouse

and

Virgin Atlantic afternoon tea Heathrow Clubhouse

… and there is an ice-cream machine too!  The launch was followed by a flight to New York to showcase the Economy Delight product and to trial the on-board afternoon tea service.  A report on this will follow next week.


How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)

Comments (98)

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

  • Anna says:

    OT – re Curve. I used it linked to my Lloyds MasterCard to top up my Cash Passport account for holiday spending money to see if it incurred any charges as it would help meet the Lloyds upgrade voucher spend. The transaction doesn’t seem to have attracted any charges according to my statement but I am now wondering if it counts towards my monthly cash withdrawal on Curve, or whether I could still withdraw the £200 AND load up on foreign currency without additional charges?

    • Mikee says:

      As a test, I recently topped-up my Curve using my MBNA Virgin Visa and it was processed as a cash withdrawal, therefore incurring me charges. Not sure if this is just MBNA or whether other card issues process in the same way.

      Topping-up my Revolut account doesn’t incur charges as the transaction is not processed as a cash withdrawal. I recently put through £7k using the Lloyds Avios card to trigger the upgrade voucher.

  • Paul says:

    “It looks a little claustraphobic (sic) from the pictures, and not hugely different from the Qatar Airways Qsuite”

    Surely comparing it to their business class would make more sense? It doesn’t look too much different apart from the addition of the door and 1-2-1 instead of 2-2-2 (all aisle access)

  • Jtz says:

    OT…I bought some Iberia avios from Groupon on the weekend …how long do they take to post?
    With the changes coming to avios…how can we now convert Iberia avios to BA?
    PaI’m waiting for some missing avios from flights too and want to move everything to BA.
    Thanks

  • Nick M says:

    OT – Hilton CC

    Is the £10k spend for Gold status per calendar year or card year? I’ve just had my annual statement and it reminded me that I haven’t been using the card as much as previously, so will need to make a conscious effort to ensure to do so!

  • Scottydogg says:

    OT , we are flying through Gatwick South in a few weeks so were looking to use No1 louge with our Priority pass (amex plat) , was reading on trip advisor yesterday and loads of negative reviews about people not getting in as they have not paid the £5 per person booking fee ?
    I’m not wanting to pay a booking fee (because i never had to anywhere else) , am i best off just getting a table at the Grain Store and ordering a bottle of wine and a sandwich ?
    We are 2 adults 2 kids so is that £60 off any bill , and buying alcohol is allowed ?

    • John says:

      You can go to both, if no1 wants you to pay then just skip it

    • W says:

      Flying out of gatwick last Thursday and about two months back, each time between 8am and 10am: Turned away anyone without reservation. Lots of unhappy people.

    • Anna says:

      I’m going to try and use ours at the Escape lounge at MAN T3 at the end of May, however it was full when I last tried to get in in November. Does anyone know if you can pay to reserve it and is it £5 per person or per party? There will be 4 of us so not convinced it’s worth £20 (very limited food and drink, makes the BA Terraces lounge next door look highly desirable!).

      • Tom Cook says:

        Hi Anna

        We’ve not had any issues getting into the Escape Lounge at T3 the past 3 times we’ve flown (three of us, flying last August, December, and then this April). These were early morning flights mind. We have access to the BA lounge through our Silver status but choose Escape for the decent bacon and sausage sarnies.

        Mind you – we’re flying at the end of May (Sat 26th, so the bank holiday weekend) on a mid-PM flight so now you’re making me wonder if I should rethink!!!

        • Anna says:

          So are we – trying the direct BA service to Nice for half term! We’ve only been in the Escape lounge once, mid afternoon and were decidedly underwhelmed by the buffet and wine selection. Hopefully try and get in before they stop serving breakfast this time, though it was 10 am on a Friday in November when we were turned away, no idea why it was so busy.

        • Tom Cook says:

          Ah we’re heading to Florence, again trying the new direct service! I think the drinks are better in the BA lounge but the last few times it’s been breakfast and a quick drink plus coffee hence Escape lounge has been our choice as the BA lounge hasn’t had a hot breakfast options when we’ve called in.

    • Lumma says:

      It’s annoying, but I’d pay the £5 to guarantee you get in, especially with the unlimited priority pass and you’ll get priority security at Gatwick for the £5. You’ll definitely be getting more value from using the lounge than the £5 and with No1 traveller you’re getting a decent experience

  • JPV says:

    OT: Has anyone had any experience of applying for an increased Amex credit limit via the online portal?

    My partner has SPG card with a 12k limit and BAPP with a 2k limit. I have some big bills coming up that I’d like to put on the BAPP to get the 241. I asked Amex if they could move some limit from the SPG to the BAPP but they said they couldn’t because the account is only 6 weeks old. I am tempted to apply for a straight limit increase on the BAPP via the site, but I’m unsure if doing so will have any negative consequences or cause any kind of credit pull. Also, I pay the bills for these cards but on the limit increase page it asks for my partner’s income, which is considerably lower than mine, so I don’t know how that will factor in.

    It will be irritating if I end up only being able to put 2k on the BAPP. The bill is large enough to cover the remaining 8k of 241 spend, but it has to be paid in person and it is not tenable to pay 2k, clear the balance and then pay another 2k etc

    • Harpo says:

      I had a similar issue last year, and phoned customer services, the person I spoke with first didn’t seem to grasp what I was asking for in the first instance (moving the credit limit rather than applying for more). I asked to speak to a supervisor who did get it and made the change in minutes.

    • Tom Cook says:

      Often when I get a £12k – £14k limit on a credit card (which I know I won’t need) I will immediately go and lower the limit so as to “free up some space” for capacity if needed elsewhere.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Ive requested credit limit switches within hours of receiving an Amex card so I suggest just ringing back and getting a different agent to do it as it’s 100% possible

  • Newquay Brown says:

    There are right now literally thousands (over 4000) of £1 Europcar one-way route/ date combos available with long availability into late 2018. https://www.europcar.co.uk/deals/one-way-uk.step – particularly good if you are heading to an airport. Their site is running slow, though.

    Not sure why the availability has suddenly improved or why Europcar have added more starting points. There are never usually any £1 opportunities starting in Cornwall, for example, but I just got Newquay Airport-LHR for 20th July (and could have picked up in Truro or Penzance as well). Saved me £120.

    • xcalx says:

      Have noticed this for a while now. Just booked LBA with a drop off in MAN for June 10 leaving my car at LBA as returning to LBA 5 days later. Cheaper than paying LBA’s Dick Turpin taxi rates.

    • Gavin says:

      Shame I can’t get the site to work on Internet Explorer (work PC), and it doesn’t work on mobile. So I can’t use the offer!

      • Gavin says:

        I can now get on the website, but can’t see how to book! Must be an internet explorer issue

  • Matt Black says:

    OT – my partner has Amex gold, will she get 3k MR for taking out a Supplementary card or does she have to be targeted?

    • Tom Cook says:

      I’ve generally waited for the email offering the bonus. Others have reported clicking through and filling in the supp forms but not submitting these as it can trigger the system to show your interest and then you get the bonus offer.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Added mine a couple weeks ago and got 3k straight away. Wasn’t targeted.

      Make sure you do it after you have the main card and not with the initial application.

    • mark2 says:

      I have just applied. Same with BAPP: card arrived today; 3,000 points last week.

    • AndyGWP says:

      My g/f applied for a supp for me as soon as her card was delivered, and got the 3k immediately

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