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Plaza Premium loses management of the Cathay Pacific lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3

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Plaza Premium confirmed to us this week that it is no longer managing the Cathay Pacific lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3.

We had heard rumours of this from readers in the last couple of weeks, along with more worrying reports about a deterioration in food quality and service.  I don’t know who has replaced Plaza Premium – Accor manages the nearby Qantas lounge so it could be them – or who initiated the move.

Cathay Pacific Business lounge Heathrow plants

The Cathay Pacific First Class lounge was, by far, the best option for a British Airways Executive Gold member flying out of Heathrow Terminal 3.  I reviewed it here.  You’d be a mug to use BA’s Galleries First lounge, which I reviewed here.  Let’s hope that the recent feedback reports are only a transitional blip.

Before anyone asks, if you have a British Airways Executive Club Silver card then I tend to recommend the Qantas lounge in Terminal 3, purely on grounds of scale.  The Cathay Pacific Business lounge is smaller but quieter.  Unless you are looking for a specific drink, item of food or magazine there is no logical reason to go near the American Airlines or British Airways lounges.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

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

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

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

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 Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

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Comments (136)

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

  • sedgie252 says:
    6 Dec6 December 13:23

    OT: BA Amex account website.
    When I click on “View earned Avios”, “Avios to be transferred” or, on the resulting page, “Transactions” I always get the message in red “We are unable to complete this request at the present time”.
    Does anyone else experience this? Is there perhaps a setting I need to change?

    • Rich says:
      6 Dec6 December 13:30

      It’s buggy. It comes and goes, but it works some of the time! Have you got the app?

      • Alan says:
        6 Dec6 December 13:34

        I find Amex app even worse unfortunately – can never see points earned on spend, only bonuses!

      • sedgie252 says:
        6 Dec6 December 13:57

        Thanks Rich. I have got the Android app but that doesn’t show it either. I’ve had my card for 2-3 years now, never seen my Avios details!

      • sedgie252 says:
        6 Dec6 December 14:33

        I’ve tried various Windows machines (different versions of Chrome), Chrome on Android phones and the Android app. Or was your comment intended as a joke mark2?

        • mark2 says:
          6 Dec6 December 15:22

          Not a joke; sarcasm perhaps. It seemed to me that you were using a phone. I use Edge and rarely have a problem.

  • Rich says:
    6 Dec6 December 13:32

    OT Anyone with Barclays Premier Rewards.

    Free bottle of Prosecco at Majestic. Today/ tomorrow only.

    • Joe says:
      6 Dec6 December 14:35

      Thanks!

    • Rich says:
      6 Dec6 December 14:40

      Week, that went splendidly well.

      Apparently the voucher must be redeemed instantly once you activate it. If you lock the screen, it shows as used. Genius!

      Way to make someone go from feeling relatively neutral about Barclays to negative -installing!

    • Rob says:
      6 Dec6 December 16:02

      Worth noting that Vodafone has launched their new rewards scheme this week. Log in via the usual app. Free Costa coffee for everyone at the moment.

      • Anna says:
        6 Dec6 December 16:09

        I’m thinking of moving to Vodaphone, apparently they have just launched a SIM only deal for £13 per month giving 20G of data!

      • AlexT says:
        6 Dec6 December 18:27

        I redeemed a tesco reward on a bag of Cadbury candy. Best part was the reward itself was in the form of a giftcard… candy was 1 GBP, giftcard was 1.5. Something tells me it would have worked without the candy having been added to my shopping cart too…

  • Stoneman says:
    6 Dec6 December 13:45

    OT:

    Anyone got any news on whether Qatar will be holding one of their stupendously cheap sales again in Janaury?

  • Neil says:
    6 Dec6 December 13:54

    OT: Just called Avios to use my last upgrade voucher and they told me the entire system is offline….That doesn’t fill me with hope!

  • Anton L. says:
    6 Dec6 December 14:08

    OT: Hilton Mallorca appears to be leaving the chain. “Please note that as of December 31, 2018, Hilton Sa Torre Mallorca Resort will cease to operate as a Hilton hotel. As a result, stays booked past this date will not accrue Honors points. Please contact the hotel direct in case of any questions.”

    • Peter K says:
      6 Dec6 December 15:43

      Boo. Couldn’t make it this year, looks like it won’t be next either!

      • Rob says:
        6 Dec6 December 15:57

        Good spot, thanks. It was always a bizarre Hilton property though. Not many Hilton’s have an 18th century windmill in the grounds ….

        • Big Ernie McCracken says:
          6 Dec6 December 19:01

          and the Hilton Coylumbridge in Aviemore ceases being a Hilton on 19 December. Got a points booking in January so not sure if I will get a free breakfast as Gold.

  • marcw says:
    6 Dec6 December 14:11

    ALERT JUICY REDEMPTION: Flying Blue Promo award to Mexico City – travel in February/March: 26.500 Flying Blue miles one way in BUSINESS.

  • AlexT says:
    6 Dec6 December 14:33

    OT: How do people usually book Miles & More business class redemptions? I looked at US west coast redemptions online and there are barely any J seats out there on LH or other *A carriers. When I looked at comparable dates on the UA website, I can see plenty of availability in all classes. Is there a trick to this (e.g. searching on UA and then calling M&M if operators see more availability than is available online?)

    Thanks in advance for the advice.

    • Rob says:
      6 Dec6 December 15:59

      Have you looked out of Munich and Dusseldorf too? Often easier than FRA.

      • AlexT says:
        6 Dec6 December 17:23

        Have so far looked directly out of LHR / LON, hoping to score a redemption on UA / ANZ / etc. Honestly, can’t be bothered with doing positioning for a redemption…

        • marcw says:
          6 Dec6 December 17:27

          You may be lucky booking, like a few days in advance. But don’t expect anything interesting so far ahead.

        • AlexT says:
          6 Dec6 December 18:24

          It’s more of a question on the M&M booking site. Does it show accurate inventory or are phone agents able to access additional seats? Honestly, the M&M site makes BA’s look like a total gem…

    • Lady London says:
      7 Dec7 December 02:04

      Berlin has often had a lot of choice on the Meilenschnaeppchen sales. So I would guess you might find availability out of there, if anywhere.

      I’ve always found slightly higher prices and worse availability on MUC than FRA for Transatlantic when I’ve looked. Had always thought it was because MUC was always a much nicer airport than FRA to transit through.

  • Jill says:
    6 Dec6 December 15:20

    Had to change my flight home from Abu to Dubai. Unfortunately plane is a 777 200 with 17 f seats. Full choice of seating except row 1.

    Can anyone advise best First seats on this plane? Also does anyone know what is in the large space behind row 2?

    Thanks

    • Doug M says:
      6 Dec6 December 15:54

      Flyer Talk better for this. I think I’ve read that space is crew rest area.

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

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