easyJet and Jet2 snap up Thomas Cook take-off and landing slots at Gatwick and Bristol

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• Sam G says:

  9 Nov9 November 05:13

  From what I read the TC slots at Gatwick were a hopscotch of timings so only really made sense for BA or Easyjet to allow them to be optimised within their existing portfolio. I can’t imagine IAG were super aggressive on the bid as they really don’t have the aircraft or crew to spare in the near future – Titan and Envelop being used currently

  I imagine Easyjet and Jet2 will add quite a bit of Turkey and Greece to fill the gap left by TC. So if you are looking at these for Summer 20 might be worth holding off/checking back frequently. I know from relatives looking at places like Zante that prices are crazy high and tour operators like Olympic are struggling to replace TC flights with reasonably priced alternatives

  • BJ says:

    9 Nov9 November 05:58

    BA is obviously not interested in Manchester, they even cut their domestic connections. Any apparent interest is just part of the games they play.

    • Shoestring says:

      9 Nov9 November 07:25

      BA just being strategic, exactly as you’d expect from a commercially-run hub & spoke airline. Perfectly obvious that a Manchester—>London airport/s connection wasn’t worth it in terms of [[spoke—>hub feed) + isolated route] profitability.

      Little Red came to the same conclusion?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      9 Nov9 November 08:25

      BA is interested in whatever makes them money.

      They don’t have an abundance of aircraft so aren’t going to make moves for slots they can’t fill with aircraft.

• roberto says:

  9 Nov9 November 07:00

  I see the Capital on Tap advert on this site is now a Visa card. Do we have any details of what the changes will mean to us moving forward? There was speculation that HMRC would no be accepting the cards which was the number one reason to sign up.

  • BJ says:

    9 Nov9 November 07:12

    Well spotted detail that, very impressive early Saturday morning 🙂

    • Rob says:

      9 Nov9 November 10:32

      Yes, Visa credit for new applicants. Existing cardholders get swapped in December.

  • Rhys says:

    9 Nov9 November 09:15

    We wrote about it in April – https://headforpoints.com/2019/08/23/capital-on-tap-card-avios-becoming-visa/

    • Roberto says:

      9 Nov9 November 10:04

      Indeed you did but that was half a year ago and things change of course. If as speculated the new card wont work as a debit and will therefore be attracting a cost to use with HMRC why hang onto it? This was the number one selling point in the advertorial that encouraged me to part with £200.

      Will there be any extra features to counterbalance this major drawback? And will we be able to cancel the card for a prorata refund?

      Whilst I appreciate I could ask COT these questions I am only asking for any insight other may already have.

• James says:

  9 Nov9 November 07:10

  And what about the Lloyds upgrade voucher?

• Jack says:

  9 Nov9 November 07:42

  O/T planning ahead for my spire 2020.

  My IHG statement comes out 22nd December, does that mean any spend I make from 22nd December that arrives with my January statements counts towards my 2020 status which resets on the 1st of Jan?

  • Liz says:

    9 Nov9 November 08:07

    Yes! I am already holding some spend back till the Dec statement triggers. It’s all about the timing!

  • Peter K says:

    9 Nov9 November 09:04

    The last couple of years the December statement has been later than other months and been later than the 22nd Dec, maybe the 26th?

• John Dodd says:

  9 Nov9 November 08:01

  Appreciate not everyone is not over 60 but I have just converted £10 of Tesco Club points to a senior rail card at a 300% rate so giving me a 1 year card for free rather than £30 which then gives 30% off train fares.

  • Shoestring says:

    9 Nov9 November 08:05

    Not exactly for free, the £10 Clubcard points had a value, eg £10 of groceries.

    Most of us here would see minimum value you used as an alternative to buying Avios or Virgin miles (worth 1p each).

    So you used £10 of Clubcard points = 2400 Avios/ Virgin miles = £24.

    Currently ex-Shell loyalty scheme users are getting 40% bonus on Avios, so for their £10 of Clubcard points they’d get 3360 Avios = £33.60.

  • Liz says:

    9 Nov9 November 08:08

    The 3 year card is better value at £70.

    • Alex Sm says:

      9 Nov9 November 08:29

      Well, you never know what could happen to you in 3 years when you are over 60, so could be a bit risky, I guess

      • Liz says:

        9 Nov9 November 08:37

        A lot more travel is what you do when you are over 60 – not that I am there yet but my hubby is – hopefully a lot more life in us yet!!!

  • Mikeact says:

    9 Nov9 November 08:46

    West Sussex CC offer it free as an alternative to the Bus pass. My annual replacement has just arrived for another year.

  • Genghis says:

    9 Nov9 November 09:42

    I was meant to get 2,500 cc points as part of Tesco home insurance in April but they messed up multiple times so this week settled for £125 cash, £75 for the cc points and £50 compo. Their initial offer of cash was 2,500 = £25. I’m not a numpty. Lol.

    • Lady London says:

      9 Nov9 November 12:06

      Nice one @Genghis

  • Lady London says:

    9 Nov9 November 12:04

    It’s a pity that there’s no way of combining thé frequently available 10% discount (making it £27) with clubcard. You can be sure Tesco is hoovering up at least that 10% as I’m sure they also do with hotels.

• Mikeact says:

  9 Nov9 November 08:50

  Interesting bit for Bits this morning,

  Ryanair has been named the filthiest flight operator in the UK by passengers, according to a Which? Travel survey.

  • Lady London says:

    9 Nov9 November 12:10

    OK I’ll bite. Really? As in filthy planes with decrepit bits and breaages that they fly the planes with flight after flight without mending?

    How in earth did British Airways not get named for that?

    • Doug M says:

      9 Nov9 November 12:23

      Can’t comment on Ryanair, hardly ever flown them, not them, it’s Stansted. But the BA I read about here frequently and the BA I fly myself just don’t seem like the same airline. So I wouldn’t expect BA to labelled like this. Mostly I fly from LHR and it does seem that LGW has the old dogs.

• The Savage Squirrel says:

  9 Nov9 November 09:10

  OT: Amex points to Radisson Rewards transfers

  I remember there was a trick to entering your membership number so that the Amex site would recognise it but can’t remember what it was. Leaving some digits out or something? Anybody know?? TIA!

  • Peter K says:

    9 Nov9 November 09:25

    Drop the first 4 or 5 digits (I can never remember which).

• Zoe says:

  9 Nov9 November 09:22

  OT got a survey from Curve yesterday. Main questions for me were about what value there was in being able to pay HMRC . Various options like 1% surcharge with current limits or 2% surcharge for unlimited where offered.

  • Peter K says:

    9 Nov9 November 09:26

    This was on bits last night as well. Curve is looking for ways to make money it seems.

    • RussellH says:

      9 Nov9 November 10:47

      Well, they are a business. And most people seem to think that being in business is meant to make money.
      Even if curve do negotiate special rates with CC companies they are going to have to pay interchange plus, surely, on cash withdrawals, which seems like an excellent way to lose money!
      🙂

  • MD says:

    9 Nov9 November 09:33

    Yes I’ve just filled in that survey too, rather ominous! Sounds like they’re going to be limiting or charging for HMRC payments soon. Enjoy it while it lasts. I told them, in all honestly, that if I lose that benefit I’ll stop using Curve altogether. Plenty of other ways to avoid foreign transaction fees these days.

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