News in brief:
Save money on No 1 Lounges
If you don’t have airport lounge access via your flight ticket, your elite status, via a Priority Pass card from American Express Platinum or via a Lounge Club card from American Express Gold, your best fall-back option is usually No 1 Lounges.
No 1 Lounges is the largest network of premium independent lounges in the UK. We have reviewed most of them (click for the review):
- No 1 Lounge Heathrow Terminal 3
- No 1 Lounge Gatwick North
- My Lounge Gatwick North and #2
- No 1 Clubrooms Gatwick North
- No 1 Lounge Gatwick South
- No 1 Clubrooms Gatwick South
- No 1 Lounge Birmingham
- No 1 Clubrooms Birmingham
- No 1 Lounge Edinburgh (not reviewed since relocated)
- The House Heathrow Terminal 4
All lounges include free hot food, free drinks (some premium food and drinks carries an extra charge), free newspapers and magazines and free wi-fi.
moneysavingexpert.com is running an exclusive discount code for No 1 Lounges. Here is the pricing, which will vary based on the date and time you want to visit:
- Birmingham – £16.80 to £22.40 (was £28) PLUS free fast-track security
- Birmingham Clubrooms – £20.40 to £27.20 (was £34) PLUS free fast-track security
- Edinburgh – £16.80 to £22.40 (was £28) PLUS free fast-track security
- Gatwick North and South – £14.40 to £30.40 (was £24 – 40) depending on lounge PLUS free fast-track security. It is MyLounge which gets as low as £14.40.
- Heathrow Terminal 3 – £20.40 to £27.20 (was £34)
- Heathrow Terminal 4 – £27 to £32 (was £40)
This offer must be booked by midnight on 14th April, for lounge visits up to 30th June.
You must book via this special page of the No 1 site and use code MSESPRING at check-out.
Up to 75% bonus when buying Flying Blue miles
Flying Blue, the Air France / KLM loyalty programme, is running a bonus promotion for anyone who is looking to top up their account.
This offer is the best we have seen for a while for anyone who wants to buy a large number of Flying Blue miles – 75% is very good by their standards.
The bonus is staggered:
- 40% bonus when you buy 4,000 to 8,000 miles
- 50% bonus when you buy 10,000 to 38,000 miles
- 75% bonus when you buy 40,000 to 100,000 miles
The annual ‘buy miles’ cap depends on your status level – 75,000 miles for Ivory members or unlimited for elite members. The maximum you can buy pre-bonus in this promotion is 100,000 miles.
75,000 miles, the annual cap for a non elite member, + 75% means you are paying €2,062 for 131,250 miles. That is 1.57 Eurocents per mile.
Is that a good deal? Well, Flying Blue is not exactly well regarded amongst European frequent flyer programmes. However it does have regular ‘50% discount’ sales on some routes.
At the end of the day, I don’t imagine anyone except an existing Flying Blue member topping up an account getting excited by this.
It is also worth remembering that Flying Blue is an American Express Membership Rewards partner if you need a few thousand extra miles. You might find it better value to get an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card with a 20,000 mile sign-up bonus, or an The Platinum Card from American Express which comes with a 30,000 miles bonus.
The Flying Blue ‘buy miles’ page is here. The offer runs until 10th April.
Special Malaysia Airlines companion fares launched
Over the last couple of weeks I have written about my tour of the Malaysia Airlines A350-900 and my visit to their impressive but little know lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4.
If it raised your interest in the airline, Malaysia Airlines is running a special companion fares promotion until 19th April. This is how it works:
You need to use promo code TWO2GO on the airline website here
You must be searching for two, four, six or eight tickets
Business Class fares will be discounted by up to 40%
Business Suite (the renamed First Class) fares will be discounted by up to 35%
As well as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines has good connections to Australia, Thailand, Bali, the Philippines and elsewhere in Asia. There are two daily departures from Heathrow Terminal 4 at 10.25 and 21.25.
Remember that you earn Avios and British Airways tier points when you fly with Malaysia Airlines as both are members of the oneworld alliance.
You can find out more about their seats in my aircraft tour review which also includes a bit of video.
About Head for Points
Seems like the discounted lounge access offer is only valid on outbound flights. It’s not applicable to lounge access upon arrival (e.g. from a red-eye flight).
Only some lounges can be used as Arrivals lounges regardless of how you gained entry. Those airside tend to be departures only at least in Europe/UK.
OT – Amex offer £10 off on £40 Virgin Train purchase. Offer says only for purchases of Virgin train services. Is this true in people’s experience, i’m not sure how Amex’d know what has been purchased on Virgin website?
The trains won’t be cheaper on other sites so you’ve got nothing to lose from giving it a go?
Virgin have a specific virgin trains website so you’d only get it back on that. I had a 33% Amex offer last week which paid out yesterday.
It’s been mentioned in the past that non virgin journeys go through as ‘the train line’ so they do differentiate.
I booked twice for Scotrail service on plat and supp plant and have already had the £10 credit for both.
I’ve had the credit for 2 x £20.20 tickets to London (not on Virgin Trains) booked as one transaction via the Virgin Trains site on laptop – transaction came up as “Virgin Trains Desktop” and £10 credit followed a day later.
It works if you spend on the virgin trains site regardless
Worked for me regardless.
Virgin have a specific virgin trains website so you’d only get it back on that. I had a 33% Amex offer last week which paid out yesterday.
In the past, this has paid for buying tickets on virgintrains website. The actual trains need not be run by Virgin. Sometimes, these work on cumulative purchases as well(unless clearly mentioned it is on 1 transaction).
This is all well and good, however, as a fee paying Amex Platinum cardholder, I am getting increasingly frustrated when I am unable to access lounges, because at busy times they are full with people paying to get access, and No 1 lounges, would rather get paid from this income direct than Priority Pass. This is devaluing the Priority Pass benefit within the Amex Platinum membership fee
+1
+1 and I gave Amex that reason when cancelling!
+1 maybe anyone cancelling could mention.
However in some airports where they offer it I would sooner use the food credit option and i sée that as a positive dévelopment. Rather a métal Of m’y choice than thé low quality offering in many lounges if both are coing to be busy.
*sorry for unruly French text editor. I correct its first efforts but sometimes it still overrides.
+1 with Lady L. A proper cooked-to-order meal is more attractive than the offer in nearly all 3rd party airport lounges if you’re intending to eat anything substantial.
Yes – I do like the new food credit option PP has in some places (although was sorely disappointed with the Sydney Domestic offering at Bar Roma).
Amex Plat could really excel here if they offered a backup credit if refused entry at a PP lounge! Rob have you ever suggested that sort of thing to them?
Amex is too busy cutting your Platinum insurance benefits and not telling you about it …. see tomorrow!
Oh FFS – first they reduce sign-up bonuses now something else negative. Are they just trying to remove themselves as a decent option in the UK?!
Yup, let’s kick silver’s out the BA lounges while we’re at it 🙂
👍
*coming soon….
Not long until you’re unhappy with a fee increase and a metal plat card
Would definitely prefer backup restaurant credit over a metal card!
Sorry i know i’ve asked before but not got around to actually doing it.
Does the upgrade to Plat from Gold Charge card still have the 20k points offer?
And has anyone actually done Green and got the points? Might be a way around the 24 months for me, as I was about to apply for a Plat.
Try it and see 😉
Reports in the past week Green to Plat works
Let’s end thus discussion there please.
Yup. I have. It works.
Should do if you have the link.
https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/upgrade/platinum-charge/index.html
The Malaysian airline prices are hilarious (if their website works, which it appears not to on mobile). Massively cheaper on skyscanner at ‘full price’
It’s quite well known that MAS is generally better booked via OTAs.
Let’s see how we get on at T3 tomorrow – 2 Lounge Club passes to burn, got dissed & sent away (full up at 10am) from the lounge at Xmas, have not pre-booked (& I’m not sure you can!) as I’m not that bothered & a couple of pints of Guinness in the pub would be fine as well.
Good luck Harry
cheers – I met some quite amusing people in the T3 pub, it’s a cool place to hang & I don’t think £5/ pint is that bad for a London airport
also managed to move us up from seats near the toilet block to 7 window & and a row of 8s – you gotta be quick on the kill button 🙂
What do you use for that, Harry, expert flyer?
Malaysia’s heavily discounted business class LHR – KUL fares don’t come close to reality.
That’s even more ominous!
For the No1 lounges also alternative discount available for HSBC advance customers (20%) worked out the same for me at LHR T3.