Club Eurostar makes it harder to qualify for top tier Carte Blanche status

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• SeanD says:

  15 Aug15 August 08:46

  With the BA competition it’s linked to a purchase, prizes are involved and there’s no free route of entry – which gives it all the hallmarks of an illegal lottery. Did BA’s lawyers not get as far as Schedule 2 of the Gambling Act 2005?

  • Rob says:

    15 Aug15 August 09:01

    I thought that too, but my legal knowledge on that area isn’t strong enough. You would expect some test of skill required to get around that rule.

    Rules are already a mess given the failure to mention the need to spend on a BA Amex and the failure to mention redemptions.

    • AJA says:

      15 Aug15 August 09:37

      The skill required is successful negotiation of the website / log in to register for the competition. 😉

      • Lucky Jim says:

        15 Aug15 August 11:10

        Phoned the Gambling Commission’s “Confidential Intelligence Line”.

        Maybe the missing form is the free entry required by law?

  • Shoestring says:

    15 Aug15 August 18:21

    SeanD is right

    you can demand free entry if you feel like it

• GS says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:14

  OT but BA Amex related – Do I need to wait for an offer to appear in my online account for the bonus points to add a supplementary card, or if I just apply for one will the points appear anyway?

  • Charlieface says:

    15 Aug15 August 09:23

    It’s a publically available offer. Search Google for Amex supplementary card.

  • Nick_C says:

    15 Aug15 August 13:58

    https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/supplementary-cards/index.html

• Chas says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:16

  I got the e-mail (and successfully registered) on Tuesday pm, having booked the return portion of next years 241 redemption earlier that day at T-355, and paid for the taxes, fees and surcharges on my BA Amex. I hadn’t been worried about the fact that being a redemption booking might not be an eligible booking – I was more concerned that BA’s computer systems would identify that I had actually booked the flight before registering, when the email said that I had to register first and then book”. And then I remembered that this was BA we were talking about!

  N.B. The e-mail said “book”, not buy – I’m fairly certain that redeeming avios for a flight is “booking” a flight.

• AJA says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:21

  BA’s IT systems working just as clumsily as always!. I clicked on the link and got to a page which asked me to log in which I did. Then no sign of any form to complete but nice link to the CW 2 for £2019 deal.:-)

  So came back to HfP and saw the edit that you had to be logged in. So having now logged in tried the link again and got to a page which said “You are already registered for this offer”. So guess the initial link did work and all I had to do was sign in.

  Now all I need to do is book a flight. This works well for me as I also registered for the book a flight and get 1000 bonus Avios from Amex about a week ago.

  I wonder if they’d let you UuA if you win the flight prize as I don’t do economy dahling! 🙂

  • Chas says:

    15 Aug15 August 09:26

    The terms state that “Tickets cannot be upgraded”

    • AJA says:

      15 Aug15 August 09:43

      I saw that I was joking. Actually only half joking, as I really don’t do economy. Also given how clunky BA’s website is it might be worth trying to upgrade on the extremely remote chance I’d win first prize. Then again I wonder how many people will actually successfully register?

• Lee CB says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:25

  Thanks for the tip, Rob. I registered fine but my wife got “Your registration has been unsuccessful, unfortunately you are not eligible for this offer.” Nothing obvious in T’s and C’s as to why not.

• Alex says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:47

  I’m a bit annoyed with the Eurostar change, although I did see it coming. The lounges are a mess at peak times both in London and Paris. I’ve been CB for about 10 years now, so this might sound a bit selfish, but honestly from their point of view I don’t understand it. Why didn’t they simply remove the Amex Plat benefit if lounge overcrowding is the main issue?

  The only place the Business check-in gets too long is Paris, and that’s because it’s so badly organised. It’s anything but dedicated, and you’re back in the normal flow once you’ve passed French passport control (so before UK border and security scanners). London is only ever an issue when they let the other queues go towards the dedicated Business passport control e-gates.

  • Renaud says:

    15 Aug15 August 14:16

    I’ve been Carte Blanche for 9 years and I agree : London fast track queues are rarely crowded. They could fix the problem in Paris through other means (like properly enforcing fast track in the first place).
    They could fix lounge overcrowding by scrapping the Amex benefits.

    I probably won’t requalify and will now seriously consider flying, despite living near St Pancras : given how painful regular Eurostar check-in queues are, it won’t be much longer and it will usually be cheaper.

    I also took a couple of minutes to email them in protest, and I believe everyone affected should do the same. I doubt they will backtrack on the new threshold, but we might at least get a grace period.

• Simon says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:54

  How is this a ‘free’ competition, if you then have to book a flight?

• George W says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:55

  “I am guessing that this kicks in from your next full membership year although it is not clear at the moment.”

  I just rang them. Change takes place on 23rd October, no matter when your membership year ends. Slightly sheepish guy admitted this was not communicated well and that he could see why it would be seen as moving the goalposts.

  Agree with comment upthread; why not remove amex plat lounge access rather than this change.

  • Lady London says:

    15 Aug15 August 10:44

    +1 Eurostar is only hurting its own best customers on this.

    Even if they have an ongoing contract with Amex to allow Amex Plats and Centurions access, all Eurostar needed to do was give notice on or expire the contract or seek to rearrange terms with Amex. Then either make Amex access dependent on class of travel such as at least Standard Premier, or remove it.

    The same overcrowding is a real annoyance in US airline lounges as they are rammed full if parties who got access due to credit card spend or membership. They seem to view frequent flyer lounges as drinking clubs and rarely fly as compared to the frequent flyers who get crowded out.

    Eurostar maybe should have thought about this more. 2 bad messages to Carte Blanche holders? You know, now that flights to Paris are less crowded some of them are actually pleasant and can still take not much more time to fly. Even LCC flights can be OK to Paris. And for sure lower overall pricing than Eurostar unless you catch a promotion.

  • Alex says:

    15 Aug15 August 11:01

    And now the email from Club Eurostar has landed in my inbox. No prisoners…

    [QUOTE]
    Dear ,

    We’re writing to let you know that we’re making a change to the points threshold for retaining your Carte Blanche tier level.

    From 23 October 2019, you’ll now have to earn 2,400 points or make 32 return journeys with us in a membership year to stay in Carte Blanche.

    We’re making this change to improve the comfort and experience of our Business Premier passengers and Carte Blanche members at our fast-track ticket gates and in our Business Premier lounges.

    The benefits of being in the tier will remain the same.

    Kind regards,

    The Club Eurostar team
    [/QUOTE]

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