More news in brief as we do a quick tidy up:
‘3’ strikes an interesting deal with easyJet
Mobile network ‘3’ has launched an interesting promotion with easyJet for its ‘pay monthly’ customers.
It is giving its customers free use of easyJet’s ‘hands free’ service. This allows you to check in your hand baggage at the airport (UK departure airports only) for free. You also get priority boarding (first group behind those who paid for speedy boarding) and the ‘priority’ return of your bags when you land.
Only ‘3’ customers can do this, for one piece of hand baggage. Your fellow travellers must pay £5, as do any ‘non-3’ customers who want to take advantage of this.
Is there a market for this? Not from people like me who take a soft bag on board which would be wrecked if treated as checked baggage. If you’re the sort of person who takes a small suitcase as hand baggage, it might be worth it. You’d need to queue up to drop the bag but you wouldn’t have to carry it with you in the airport.
Not sure why you’d give priority boarding to people who do this though …. the whole point of boarding with zero luggage at all must be that you can board last of all?
Full details are on the ‘3’ website here. Thanks to Daniel for this.
Double Clubcard points on Esso Synergy Supreme+ premium fuels
Tesco and Esso have brought back double Clubcard points with Synergy Supreme + premium fuels.
Until 31st August 2018, filling up your tank with Esso Synergy Supreme+ premium fuels will give you double the standard amount of Clubcard points. These can be converted into Avios or Virgin Flying Club via the Tesco Clubcard website.
You can read more about this offer and the – complicated – Esso / Clubcard relationship on Shopper Points and on the Esso website.
Heathrow Fast Track article
We did an article yesterday on Heathrow now selling Fast Track security access, including Terminal 5.
About once a year I confuse North and South at T5 in an article, and yesterday was the day for 2018 :-). If you buy Fast Track, you use North Fast Track. North is the semi-secret one that few people know about, which is directly in front of you when entering T5 from the lifts from the tube.
Sorry for the confusion!
(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
For me, the main benefit of the easyJet hands free service is to get around the liquids restrictions, I’m sick of buying sunscreen in Boots in airports to have to bin it a couple of days later. I’m not sure I’d pay £5 for it if I wasn’t a 3 customer though.
As my usual hand luggage bag is soft and doesn’t have wheels or anything like that, I’ve never been asked to gate check it anyway, even when everyone else is
I was annoyed at Boots in T5. I went to get some hair gel and all are 150ml or bigger. I’m carrying FFS and won’t be able to bring it back. Found one travel size one and rip off price.
If found that in the USA most of the toiletries that, in the UK that come in smaller than 100ml and can be carried on, are all above 3oz and the same store will sell a tiny flight version of the same thing for the same price as the larger one.
It’s enough to make you think it’s got nothing to do with safety and more to do with making money….
Buy some 100ml containers so you can split it up next time
OT: anyone know how long it takes for Hilton to send you a ‘Be Our Guest’ certificate? I had some service failures a few weeks ago and hotel management promised me the voucher but i havent received it yet.
I’d chase if nothing by a month – they are effectively cash so arrive via courier from the States.
Ok thanks Alan! Been 3 weeks so I’ll wait another week or so.
Re: ‘3’ Bagdrop offer
Do you think you would be able to drop one cabin sized bag off and then take another bag on board?
I’m pretty sure they mark the booking to stop that happening. But then again, BA doesn’t, so who knows…
OT – want to book my first redemption but looking for some advice as it’s not straightforward…I want to fly LHR-New York ,then NY-Havana, then Havana-LHR. I have a Lloyd’s 2-4-1. I could also have a BA 2-4-1, have enough spend and am just waiting to upgrade my account when it suits .
My idea was use the Lloyds voucher for the the first flight, get the cheapest flight option down to Havana then do a standard Avios Iberia redemption back to LHR via Madrid (BA don’t do a direct flight) . Is this the cheapest way avios /cash wise ? Am I right in thinking that the BA 2-4-1 wouldn’t help me as it had to be BA flights only? I have a second problem in that I can’t seem to open an Iberia plus account – I keep getting an error message , have emailed but no response a week later ….though I know it’s going to cost me extra to book via BA than Iberia 🙁 . It’s for 2 adults. My first redemption- I don’t want to mess it up…! Thank you ????
Unless you really want to go to New York, perhaps cheapest option is routing via MAD on both legs and not using any vouchers?
Although it’s for my birthday (!) OH really wants to do New York as he’s never been …. 🙁
But thanks !!
Could you not just use the BA 2-4-1 on a one way from London and it would cost 50,000 avios plus about £700 in taxes or fly Iberia MAD-JFK where it would be 68,000 avios one way but far less in taxes and charges, although you would have to get to Madrid and leaving yourself long enough to connect if booked on separate tickets.
Don’t virgin fly Havana to London too if you could get some of their miles quickly or already have some?
Can’t you also add a return to a 2-4-1 booking at a later date and maybe have another trip to the Americas at a later date with another one way booking?
OT, I got a credit limit of just 1500 on my recent BA card but have 6000 on my Gold card, I would prefer it the other way round, has anyone got experience of this the limits being swapped over? Thanks in advance Grimz
You should be able to ask Amex via Live Chat to move £4500 of your credit limit on your Gold card onto your BA card. Can usually do this once every 3 months maximum.
Yes – but Chat wouldn’t do it for me in May, I had to do it over the phone. They will let you reshuffle your total limit between cards once every six months so have a think about what you want before you call.
OT: Paying VAT bill – want to put it on Curve but it’s above my daily limit. Can I pay some today and some tomorrow? Any problems anyone foresees with this? Would get me a decent chunk of HH points if I could start doing this regularly (I know, I’m late to the party…).
No problem at all.
Yes it’s fine. Paid my VAT this morning.
Supposed to be a 50 bonus Clubcard points voucher in the latest esso magazine for purchases of the highlighted fuel, so double points and extra 50 PTS.
There is – we’ve tried to find one but can’t, although it is in the online version. Not sure if that is accepted.
It’s a rubbish offer. You have to buy at least 20l of esso supreme fuel to get the bonus. Not worth it unless you were going to buy it anyway imo.
easyJet have the most generous hand baggage allowance in the business. The main bag is the same size as BA, 56cm x 45cm x 25cm, but with no weight limit plus, for ‘hands free’ customers, a second bag 45cm x 36cm x 20cm, again with no weight limit. The main advantage of checking-in your cabin baggage is liquids! You can pack all your toiletries etc. without the security restrictions and use the second bag for laptop and valuables.
Anyone like me who has developed many strategies over the years for travelling hand-luggage only with an ‘infinite wardrobe’ appreciate easyJet’s cabin baggage allowance. The ability to check in the main bag for £5 (was £4 when introduced) is the icing on the cake.
I am with 3 mobile but sadly the promotion does not extend to PAYG customers.