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News: Virgin Atlantic upgrades, save 20% on PremiAir, IHG’s credit cards get an app

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News in brief:

Virgin Atlantic to upgrade elderly passengers this Christmas

Following a social media story which went viral, about a Virgin Atlantic passenger who gave up his Upper Class seat for an 88-year old passenger in Economy, Virgin has decided to run a special campaign over Christmas.

Between today and 1st January, Virgin Atlantic will offer an upgrade to the eldest customer on each of its flights.  This doesn’t automatically include the rest of the family group, although I am sure the airline will be accommodating where it can.

Save 20% on PremiAir at Manchester

Save up to 20% on Manchester Airport’s PremiAir VIP terminal

PremiAir, the new private terminal at Manchester Airport, is offering a special short-term discount.

You will receive a 20% discount if you book for a flight in January.

You will receive a 10% discount if you book for a flight between February and June.

A 20% saving takes the service down to as little as £40 (£80 if you want to use lounge) which makes it well worth considering.  My very positive review of PremiAir is here.

Sainsbury's Nectar credit card

IHG’s credit cards finally get an app

If you have either of the IHG Rewards Club credit cards – and I am a big fan of the £99 per year Premium Mastercard – you finally have an app.  See the image above.

You will find it in your local app store, under the name ‘Creation’ which is the company – part of BNP Paribas – which issues the card.

Feedback so far seems to be good, even though this is only the first version.

Here is our review of the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard.  You pay a £99 fee but you get 20,000 points as a sign-up bonus, 2 points per £1 on your spending – and they count towards status, Platinum Elite status and a voucher for a free night at any IHG property for spending £10,000 per year.

IHG One Rewards update – April 2024:

Get bonus points: IHG One Rewards is offering 2,000 bonus points for every two cash nights you stay (not necessarily consecutive) between 1st April and 31st May 2024. You can read our full article here and you can register here.

New to IHG One Rewards?  Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG One Rewards points, you can buy them here.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Category

IHG One Rewards, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (214)

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

  • Andy_H says:
    24 Dec24 December 09:52

    App looks great on first use, very happy to have it.

    IHG-related question, I know it has been asked before, but can’t find the answer: IHG free night – does it need to be used or just booked by the expiry date? Thanks in advance.

    • Anna says:
      24 Dec24 December 10:16

      I’m pretty sure it’s booked, though it was a US website I read it on and some of the rules are different there!

    • Doug M says:
      24 Dec24 December 10:23

      Agree. It’s booked by, not used by.

    • Genghis says:
      24 Dec24 December 10:26

      Booked

      • Benilyn says:
        24 Dec24 December 12:02

        How long is expiry typically?

        • EwanG says:
          24 Dec24 December 14:34

          Expiry of the voucher is just over 12 months from issue and it will post to your account alongside any points on the statement after the anniversary of opening your account.

          For example my latest voucher has booking dates 22 Nov 2019 to 1 Dec 2020.
          Dates are shown in the app under Redeem > Free Nights.

      • Chrisasaurus says:
        24 Dec24 December 22:45

        Indeed, booked – but note that post-expiry it becomes essentially non-cancellable, whereas before it is flexible

  • mcaf123 says:
    24 Dec24 December 09:54

    I’ve only had the IHG Premium card for a few weeks and already got the 20k bonus points. My first statement has been generated and my IHG points are now showing as 0 earned this month (fair enough) and 0 earned in total when I should be on about 22k. Does anyone have experience of how the points display works and also how often they transfer across to my IHG account? TIA

    • TGLoyalty says:
      24 Dec24 December 10:16

      Statement has just been generated for most so now showing 0 points.

      Points sweep across monthly as your statement is generated, I usually get them around 22nd/23rd of month. will probably get them on around the 27/28th this month though.

    • Sandra says:
      24 Dec24 December 10:17

      I can’t remember how long they took after account opening (sorry) as had mine a couple of years but normally the points move over fairly quickly each month, usually at the same time as the statement is produced or within a few days of it. It does vary slightly and an odd month it has taken about a week, not sure if that is due to IT/accounting or just Creation! I have a feeling that after account opening the points didn’t show or move across until the 2nd monthly statement was produced but I may be incorrect. The monthly points earned usually show on the dashboard and then disappear once transferred across to your IHG account. Have you checked IHG rewards to see if they are showing in your account?

      • mcaf123 says:
        24 Dec24 December 10:24

        Thanks for your replies @TGLoyalty @Sandra – the statement must have just been generated overnight and as of yet my IHG account is only showing my points earned from IHG stays. Now that they’ve gone from my Creation account I’m sure they’ll appear soon enough!

        • Secret Squirrel says:
          24 Dec24 December 13:45

          When your points go to zero I usually find they hit my account the next morning.

    • Anna says:
      24 Dec24 December 10:18

      They transfer monthly on your statement date (though make take a couple of days to appear in your IHG account).

  • Benilyn says:
    24 Dec24 December 09:58

    OT: Latest on churning credit limit through the month for VA? Me and missus on free card, haven’t received any communication on that yet.

    • Stephen says:
      24 Dec24 December 10:07

      I get the forbidden message too and am in uk. Anybody managed to work out what to do?

      • Benilyn says:
        24 Dec24 December 10:13

        In what form did you get the message? Email or post? If email, can you share the subject please. Also, do you have the free or paid card.

    • Jimmy says:
      24 Dec24 December 10:17

      I still haven’t received any cap email.

    • Rooster says:
      25 Dec25 December 03:24

      They don’t need to issue notice on this one as far as i know

  • aston100 says:
    24 Dec24 December 10:56

    So are Virgin working out who the eldest passenger is on the whole flight and offering them an upgrade (assuming that passenger isn’t already in a premium seat)?
    Or did I read that wrong?

  • Greg says:
    24 Dec24 December 11:08

    My boss once experienced a death on board a flight so he gave up his business class seat to a doctor and the corpse from a full economy section. As a result he was upgraded on every flight he booked with that airline

    • aston100 says:
      24 Dec24 December 11:11

      I don’t understand. Did the Doctor AND the corpse both travel together in the same business class that was vacated by your boss? Like was one on the lap of the other or something, or did they try and shove the corpse in the overhead locker? So many questions…

    • ChrisBCN says:
      24 Dec24 December 11:29

      Sounds like your boss was lying to you 😅

    • Lady London says:
      24 Dec24 December 13:18

      Did you really mean he ‘experienced’

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      24 Dec24 December 22:52

      I’m pretty sure that’s an elaborate fabrication to explain why your boss always booked J (sorry, was ‘upgraded’ to J) while you slummed it up back…

  • Matt says:
    24 Dec24 December 11:10

    Praise the lord an app finally!

  • Anna says:
    24 Dec24 December 12:21

    I’m upgrading my phone for Xmas (don’t worry, Shoestring, it’s only to an iPhone 6 with a Tesco contract!), so am looking forward to downloading the IHG app tomorrow!

    • Shoestring says:
      24 Dec24 December 12:50

      my middle son (the one with his mother’s brains so pretty brainy!) got it right: iPhones are very overpriced for what you get

      so he has a Samsung whereas my daughter had to get an iPhone like her mates, that’s loadsamoney I won’t be getting back soon but then it’s only 3 years until she goes off to university!

      • JRC says:
        24 Dec24 December 12:55

        I think Apple has created the simplest, most elegant, easiest to use OS for the iPhone. Yes Samsung hardware is cheaper etc but for the amount of time most people spend on their iPhone, your daughter will get this repaid for the thousands of hours she will spend on it!!

        • Shoestring says:
          24 Dec24 December 13:13

          I’m not denying iPhones are great/ elegant/ possibly the best out there – just expensive!

          can I get away with no upgrade for my daughter over the next 3 years? That would be my pennypinching dream

          somehow I doubt it

          • Polly says:
            25 Dec25 December 23:06

            You can and should get away without an upgrade. We managed that with our youngest. Had to get the screen replaced x 2 but that’s about it….

      • sloth says:
        24 Dec24 December 13:00

        an iphone looked after will have a decent resale value in 3 years time. a samsung a lot less. plus the iOS is much nice to use on an iphone although everyone has different opinions…

        • Mr(s) Entitled says:
          24 Dec24 December 13:22

          Sure about that? iPhone in 3yrs won’t have a battery worthy of the name. A Samsung can have a new one inserted for a few pound. That greatly impacts the price Having sold both an iPhone and a Samsung to Cex in the past few weeks I’d equate the iPhone to an electric car. Great experience, buckle in when you come to sell.

          Writing on my OnePlus which is excellent!

          • Brian W says:
            24 Dec24 December 13:28

            You can change the battery in an iPhone for roughly £7 (from eBay for example). It’s not that difficult and keeps it going I find. I usually do that when I upgrade my own, change the battery in the current one and it becomes a hand me down for one of the kids, otherwise known as ‘their upgrade’!

          • sloth says:
            24 Dec24 December 13:31

            i can only speak from experience but i have sold 8 iphones over the years. always got a decent return on them such that when i upgrade to the new/next model i dont pay that much extra than what i received. of course, can only speak from experience…

          • Lady London says:
            24 Dec24 December 13:33

            OnePlus great phones. Also really really pleased with my Xiaomi Pocophone. Incredible spec for the price. Xiaomi has also auto-updated the OS repeatedly. Would like to see these 2 manufacturers less shut out of the UK market.

            PS my other phone is a high end Samsung and I really don’t think OnePlus / Xiaomi are far off that plus not paying the 30% Samsung surcharge. Is the surcharge on the i-Phone 100%? You’re right though, due to the power of branding you’ll always be able to resell i-anything.

          • Shoestring says:
            24 Dec24 December 13:36

            Facetime saves us a few £££s 🙂

            not sure I would want my wife looking at my ugly mug whenever I called her!

          • Chrisasaurus says:
            24 Dec24 December 23:20

            You can’t make a decent battery for £7 let alone sell one for that

          • Brian W says:
            24 Dec24 December 23:51

            @Chrisasaurus the battery specialist lol………..I’ve yet to have a duff one yet, some have lasted better than the originals. You’re obviously an ‘Android’ know it all!

          • guesswho2000 says:
            25 Dec25 December 02:15

            Having had iPhones since the beginning, and selling after 2-3y each time, I stand by that – they hold a reasonable value (even in the case of a broken screen, as my OH’s 7 had when we sold it).

            I bought an X 64GB for A$1,599 a couple of years ago, and they’re selling (completed, sold listings) $600-$900 right now, I’d be happy enough with that.

        • will says:
          24 Dec24 December 14:10

          If you bought a iphone X 64GB 2 years ago for £999 it’s worth about £300 right now if it’s in mint condition once you pay ebay/paypal fees and postage. Savage depreciation.

          There was a time where if you bought an iphone new with a 20-30% discount (carphone warehouse/apple amex offers for example, this year you could have done 30% potentially at harrods with amex) then you could flip it a year later for very little loss.

          The iphone X “changed everything” in terms of that.

          Even iphone XS, 3 months ago they were £999, you could pick one up from very brand new for £579 in November.

          • guesswho2000 says:
            25 Dec25 December 02:17

            I bought an X 64GB for A$1,599 a couple of years ago, and they’re selling for $600-$900 right now, which I can handle tbh.

          • guesswho2000 says:
            25 Dec25 December 02:18

            Percentage wise, compare that to the phones I had pre-iPhone, which would be maybe £250 to buy, and sell for about £25 18 months later, as they were nearly always free on a 12-18m contract. iPhones are expensive upfront, so the resale holds, to a point.

      • BJ says:
        24 Dec24 December 13:47

        And the most right bit of all is that android so much better than clunky There’s a good reason why iPhones has been going downhill for years and it’s not price.iOS.

        • Polly says:
          25 Dec25 December 23:10

          I use a Samsung 8plus, and have now gone on to a sim only contract. Hope to keep it for several years. I use it for everything. The photography is superb too.

    • Doug M says:
      24 Dec24 December 13:59

      Not sure there’s really that much in it. I dislike Apple because they’ve sold the world this belief that they’re somehow a lifestyle. When it comes to Steve Jobs I’m firmly in the Mr Robot view of what he was, and what Apple are. I prefer Android because it’s not Apple.
      Lady London – do you take comfort from every bit of data on your Xiaomi being shared directly with Beijing 🙂

      • Lady London says:
        24 Dec24 December 15:57

        Yup. And same for my Huawei modems. And just missed out on Huawei laptop data being forwarded to Beijing as well.

        I suppose its no worse than the personal data hoovers up constantly without consent. Despite the legislation.

        • Lady London says:
          24 Dec24 December 15:59

          *personal data Google hoovers up

          • Yuff says:
            24 Dec24 December 17:13

            I have always had the latest iPhone and sold them on eBay for silly money with £1 fees, except this year.
            I could not see the difference between my sons XR and my Xs max, there was hardly any difference so I got the 11 and I can’t believe how good it is. The 11 pro max would not be much better in my experience and was 50% more, no brainer for me.
            I didn’t sell my Xs max and gave it to my daughter but my x max sold for £660 after a year, my daughters 8 plus sold for 350, it cost £575 a year earlier.

        • Mr. AC says:
          25 Dec25 December 13:08

          Disagree about Google. They were in compliance with GDPR since way before there was a GDPR. I doubt there’s any large company that made even 10% of the effort to be on the good side re: privacy (see Incognito mode on browser and apps, Google Takeout, ability to turn off any kind of tracking etc). The French case is a clear attempt of a cash grab against a politically “safe” target (and won’t stand to appeal). Note that the fine was announced 1 day before the French agency lost the authority to do so.
          There are big problems with Google, but privacy and GDPR compliance ain’t it.

          • Lady London says:
            25 Dec25 December 23:02

            Erm…. just take a look at the default settings in chrome and on all google products someday.
            Whenever Google changes anything or introduces anything new, beware all default settings will be set to grab everything.
            They’ve improved with GDPR, But they still make it darn difficult to stop them shopping your data all over the place. I’m relatively on the ball, but what they’ve got away with (and keep getting away with) is shocking.

            they’re not the only ones, but they’ve led the way for others. Them and Facebook. Luckily I’ve never been on Facebook other than under an incognito.

  • tom1 says:
    24 Dec24 December 12:22

    BA RFS -can I check my understanding with the variable pricing please?

    I can book a RFS now, and irrespective if what combo of £/Avios I select at point of booking, I can cancel and only pay £1?

    And this could change at any time? So I could potentially book now, but BA then revert back to £35 cancellation fees?

    TIA!

    • Shoestring says:
      24 Dec24 December 12:45

      completely wrong, you messed up

      it’s 50p 🙂

      for a single leg

      otherwise you are completely right, T&Cs mean BA could go back to £35 any time they like

    • Doug M says:
      24 Dec24 December 13:54

      Far and away the best price typically is the one where you pay around £17.50 in fees per flight. The pay nearly nothing prices really devalue Avios, as do the pay more and keep Avios prices. Certainly on the flights I’ve booked it’s been that way, the sweet sport is always the one closest to the old price.

      • Shoestring says:
        24 Dec24 December 14:24

        people are saying no matter which pricing option you choose, it’s 50p/ £1 if you cancel

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