British Airways Johannesburg airport lounge closing today

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• Bee says:

  23 May23 May 16:10

  OT – How do you use your virgin 241 and how do you see it on your account. I know I have reached the threshold and on my statements on my flying club account it says “virgin atlantic
  reward credit card- reward qualification” with 0 mileage and 0 tier points.

  I hope it is straight forward process like BA.

  Also if I book 2 premium economy tickets, does that mean we get upgrade to upper with the 241?

  • rams1981 says:

    23 May23 May 16:14

    Think you can only upgrade from economy to premium economy

    • Anna says:

      23 May23 May 19:00

      I think it depends on your status.

  • HGT says:

    23 May23 May 20:30

    Why do so many people use this site as a lazy way to find answers that can be easily found by clicking T&C’s. Come on, this is a forum, not the flying Citizens advice bureau!

• Murray says:

  23 May23 May 16:23

  OT – I’ve been approved for the green charge card and have the upgrade to platinum offer already – would it be OK to apply for the platinum upgrade now (about a week after applying for the green and a few days after receiving it) or would the second credit check be harmful to my credit score / more likely to get my upgrade declined?

  • Shoestring says:

    23 May23 May 17:09

    there may or may not be a credit check, there’s no particular evidence that having a credit check (or 2 in short order) for credit card approval/ taking out 2 credit cards damages your credit score significantly in any case

    usual caveat being that if you are applying for a mortgage, play it safe for 6 months

  • BJ says:

    23 May23 May 17:30

    Based on reports last week, if you upgrade now you will very likely be charged the annual fee on your next statement. I think it is better to take the £60 fee then try the upgrade.

    • Shoestring says:

      23 May23 May 19:03

      I’m waiting for £60

      • BJ says:

        23 May23 May 20:25

        Me too, might even risk giving them 2 full months of green.

        • Murray says:

          23 May23 May 21:13

          Sorry, can someone explain about the £60 fee / being charged the annual fee in the next statement? I’m not really sure what you mean but it sounds interesting, as I won’t apply for the upgrade yet if there isn’t good reason to!

        • BJ says:

          23 May23 May 22:32

          @Murray, we do not discuss this widely. If you want to upgrade green to platinum recent reports suggest you should not do this before receiving your first green statement and paid the £60 green annual fee. Even that may no longer help but it is the best advice for the moment.

        • Murray says:

          24 May24 May 19:09

          Ah okay, I understand. Being that I’ve just recieved the card in the last few days, am I right in assuming that my first statement (and £60 green card fee) wouldn’t be billed until after the new Platinum fee comes into effect in June? Not sure I want to risk having to pay the higher annual fee if so. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!

  • Charlieface says:

    23 May23 May 21:22

    Personal feeling is that credit reports are not sophisticated enough to show definitively that it’s two separate applications if they come from one bank. They can’t see approvals so may assume it was a secondary check for the same application

• BJ says:

  23 May23 May 17:37

  OT: Barclays Blue Rewards monthly fee increasing to £4/month. There is a promise of more benefits to be notified later (I think we’ve all heard that one before!).

• Shoestring says:

  23 May23 May 17:53

  Car insurance renewals. So I renewed my Tesco car insurance yesterday. Don’t be a loyal loser. My quote was £320. I reapplied online as if I were a new customer – result: £285 plus I got 3650 Avios.

  Loyal losers are getting ripped off everywhere – car insurance, breakdown insurance, gas, electricity, cable TV, broadband & phone. [Save 10% on your council tax as well.]

  I pretty much re-negotiate all of those every year, the only one I’m stuck with is water. Can’t avoid the TV licence as well, I guess.

  • Shoestring says:

    23 May23 May 18:27

    *but no problem getting Amex MR points on TV licence & water

  • Fc99 says:

    23 May23 May 18:36

    I was quoted over £1000 when I called the AA to get my insurance moved onto a new car. The same cover was £400 with admiral

    • Michael says:

      24 May24 May 11:43

      Admiral lost me last year after 3 years when they wouldn’t come down to what Hastings Direct were offering.

  • Darren Morrison says:

    23 May23 May 18:37

    We need a masterclass article from you Harry!

    • Shoestring says:

      23 May23 May 18:43

      it’s a masterclass in one sentence – never accept annual renewals without checking what else is available

      though you might need advice on 10% off council tax 🙂

      • Mzungu says:

        23 May23 May 18:48

        though you might need advice on 10% off council tax 🙂

        OK, I’ll bite – yes please!

        • Shoestring says:

          23 May23 May 18:52

          Halifax current a/c and various other – 10% off at Co-Op on the Halifax card twice a year, max £300 so £30 off – your significant other gets her/ his offer as well with a separate online a/c, sure it won’t be more than £120 off but I’ll take it 🙂

        • Shoestring says:

          23 May23 May 18:57

          * @Paypoint

  • BJ says:

    23 May23 May 18:41

    And if applying as if you were a new customer doesn’t work always the option to do alternate years with policy in OH name.

    I’m hoping that the the amex changes have driven down nectar card applications and consequently nectar themselves might boost their own regular October promotion to 2ok points this year. I hope we don’t have to wait that long though before the next big game.

    • Shoestring says:

      23 May23 May 18:48

      good old IB90K, that was fun x2

      should have enrolled the kids

  • Jonathan says:

    23 May23 May 19:24

    I would say the direction of travel is not good for switchers. Look at reduction in number of tariffs for gas/electricity suppliers, talk of compulsory switching to cheapest phone deal at renewal etc. Not to mention vaguely related issues like interchange fees. Unfortunately with more regulation the savvy pay more to bring down the prices for the lazy/less financially literate to pay less.

    You can make a moral argument that most of the pro switchers probably need the money a lot less than those currently getting ripped off but I think the regular contributors to the comments may be finding they have to invest a lot more time & effort to match the returns they’ve had over the last few years.

    • Shoestring says:

      23 May23 May 19:29

      anybody proactive/ a researcher on prices will always beat the lazy

  • LB says:

    23 May23 May 19:42

    Commercial and industrial customers can choose any water company from April last year. If you are self employed and work from home (as your office base) you can choose.

  • Qwerty Bertie says:

    23 May23 May 20:10

    Actually there is another option regarding TV licence. I’ve been getting a 100% discount my entire adult life, simply by ignoring their letters and their occasional visitors. I refuse to open any letters from them as my name is not The Householder. I refuse to acknowledge the existence of any entity sending correspondence without my name on it.

    • TV Licence Payer says:

      23 May23 May 20:34

      Well Qwerty Bertie, better say a big thank you to the rest of is who subsidise your evasion then!

    • Brian W says:

      23 May23 May 21:17

      Surprised someone reading this blog can’t afford to pay a hundred odd quid for the TV licence and then actually admits it publicly to the rest of us who can!

      • Qwerty Bertie says:

        24 May24 May 01:34

        I can afford it. It’s principle. If the law were enforceable, then even though I strongly disagree with the concept of the licence I would have to pay it.

        I find it objectionable that I should subsidise the rot generated by the BBC. More than 80% of my viewing is one obscure freeview channel, for which I pay the price of time – I am subjected to far more minutes per hour of advertising than most other viewers. The rest doesn’t include BBC.

        I believe I should be able to watch non-state telly without having to pay the state telly producer. It should be a case of pay to view, not pay whether viewing or not. How ironic you used the word subsidise. In fact, if I were to pay it, it would be me subsidising those who like the BBC content!

  • Spurs Debs says:

    23 May23 May 21:23

    You can avoid the TV licence don’t watch live TV. Why give that corrupt outfit any of your hard earned money.

    • Shoestring says:

      23 May23 May 23:59

      TV cheat/ thief. You need to pay TC licence for catch up BBC TV now, you thief.

      • BS says:

        24 May24 May 08:06

        Calm down. Whatever infringement is made by not having a tv licence, it is NOT theft. Libel could give you a far bigger penalty than not paying your TV licence.

  • Alan says:

    24 May24 May 08:27

    Had my motorbike renewal through last week. £90. A quick search of the comparison sites I saw I could get it for £70. A quick phone call to my supplier to cancel my auto-renewal and was asked why I wanted to cancel “because I can get it cheaper elsewhere”.
    “Do you want me to check if we can do anything?”
    “Might as well while I’m here”
    “OK, we can do it for £70”
    “OK, go ahead”.
    10 minutes work for a £20 saving. I’ll take that.

• auntie says:

  23 May23 May 18:17

  Hi

  To upgrade to BAPP from std blue Amex – phone or online for best chance of success?

  Thanks

  • GeoffGeoff says:

    23 May23 May 18:31

    I tried on the phone and they told me to do it on line.

  • Anna says:

    23 May23 May 19:03

    You can just apply as though it was a new card and they will send you the BAPP and make the changes on your account.

  • Gavin says:

    23 May23 May 20:55

    Also FYI in case anyone needs to do it, you can also downgrade by just applying for the basic BA Amex online. My account changed over after 3 days.

    • Annabelle says:

      23 May23 May 21:48

      Hi Gavin. Thanks – that’s what I need to do. Did your existing BAPP balance / annual fee refund move across to new blue card account? Or did you ensure you had zero balance before transfer?

      Thanks

      • auntie says:

        24 May24 May 11:06

        Thanks everyone!

• Jtz says:

  23 May23 May 19:08

  Data point: plat card I got last week, made spend 2 or 3 days ago and points hit and also the full fee

  @shoestring does he Halifax account need a credit check? Oh has Halifax clarity credit card already and signed up to their current account 2 days ago and was declined.
  He just checked his credit score and it’s quite low, (gold and spg jan) (cancelled spg march)
  Fully pays everything on time.

  I was also planning on applying for virgin, as I applied for plat last week, is this probably a no no? I don’t have any major loans/mortgages coming up. How long does it take to ‘smooth out’ your credit score?

  • Shoestring says:

    23 May23 May 19:11

    just a couple of months (smoothing)

    no idea on Halifax credit check

    • Jtz says:

      23 May23 May 21:41

      Think I might chance the virgin card then!

    • Genghis says:

      24 May24 May 05:10

      IME whenever I’ve applied for a current account linked to a debit card, it has been subject to a credit check (even if no overdraft). This is because, and I know it sounds strange, a debit card is a credit product.

  • BJ says:

    23 May23 May 20:17

    Jtz, was that a green to platinum upgrade and, if so, did you upgrade before your first monthly statement for green?

    • Jtz says:

      23 May23 May 21:40

      BJ, yes upgrade, and yes upgraded before any green fee hit (tbh i didnt even know there was a fee for green!) And 2 days ish for spend bonus to hit account.

      • BJ says:

        23 May23 May 21:59

        Thanks, and sorry you missed out on getting platinum fee-free. It might be that none of us are any longer, even if we wait 1+ month and the higher fee kicks in. It will be interesting to see what people soon start to report on that.

        • The Streets says:

          24 May24 May 18:13

          I’ll know in three days

• Cat says:

  24 May24 May 23:35

  Hey, totally OT, sorry.
  I know Iberia CS / complaints dept isn’t supposed to be the best, but does anyone have any advice on which way to contact them in order to get a swift, helpful response? Had a pretty awful experience on board just now.

• Brian says:

  25 May25 May 00:39

  OT but seems to be actively discussed – how often can you use the Green > Platinum strategy to get 20k MR each time?

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