Waitrose will no longer give you Virgin Flying Club miles from 26th March

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• Sandra says:

  21 Mar21 March 09:51

  It’s very irresponsible to send people into supermarkets right now to buy air miles… I think you should reconsider this article? #flattenthecurve

  • Spursdebs says:

    21 Mar21 March 11:08

    Love a good dose of sarcasm. Unless you were being serious than OMG really!

    • Colin MacKinnon says:

      21 Mar21 March 12:47

      You’ll know he’s being serious when he give tips on which gift cards can be used in undertakers!

    • Jamie Oliver says:

      21 Mar21 March 14:17

      Triggered Debs again. So right-wing woke 😂😂😂🤦‍♂️

  • Lady London says:

    21 Mar21 March 19:33

    Like people are not visiting a supermarket for food when they have to anyway (maintaining 1metre distance in UK, 1.5metres in Australia) and just passing by the gift card rack on their way out?

    • Lyn says:

      21 Mar21 March 23:08

      And up to 6 feet in California, with chalk lines carefully marked on the pavement outside one supermarket where people are queueing up waiting to get in.

  • Bazza says:

    22 Mar22 March 05:06

    What’s this you say about Curve?

• BG says:

  21 Mar21 March 09:56

  The Morrisons offer seems to be ending on March 29th also.

  • Mark says:

    21 Mar21 March 12:07

    Mine says 8 miles/£ until 25th. Time to use the Amex offer I have for 10% back at Morrisons where they sell John Lewis gift vouchers which can be used at Waitrose……

    • The Urbanite says:

      21 Mar21 March 21:23

      Mine has been reduced from 8 miles/£1 to 6 miles/£1!

  • Colin K says:

    21 Mar21 March 16:30

    I also see Morrison’s ending 29/03/2020. Anyone know why?

• Tom1 says:

  21 Mar21 March 10:11

  o/t Tesco / virgin auto convert bonus

  Has anyone got the 1,000 (?) bonus points for turning this on yet?

  • Liz says:

    21 Mar21 March 13:07

    Nope! I’ve switched back to vouchers now.

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    21 Mar21 March 15:11

    Tesco Pet Insurance points – everyone still getting them @ 35 x days or longer still?

• Shoestring says:

  21 Mar21 March 10:22

  O/T @BJ got my 2x £100 Amazon giftcards today in the post (MSM ins) – that was quick 🙂

  and on a lighter note, just got 9x 1kg Basmati rice at M’s, £1.70 bit too much minus 20% bit better but I normally pay under £1/ kg for better Basmati rice lol 10kg bags, beggars (and pandemickers) can’t be choosers, easy to get round 2 item limit by buying 2 items at a time at self service ha ha!

  • Harry T says:

    21 Mar21 March 10:39

    Are you stockpiling? Save some for the elderly!

    • Shoestring says:

      21 Mar21 March 10:40

      I might have bought some for my 80YO dad

      • Ben S says:

        21 Mar21 March 18:33

        Why are you buying so much rice over a “pussycat” virus. So irresponsible.

        • Shoestring says:

          22 Mar22 March 10:19

          because I’m not going to be around in UK for the next 20 weeks so bought my 80YO dad 9kg rice to tide him over

  • John H says:

    21 Mar21 March 12:12

    Why are you stockpiling? Why are you afraid of a pussycat virus?

    • Shoestring says:

      21 Mar21 March 13:08

      my 80YO very unhealthy dad is hiding away from all social contact for the next 20 weeks

      which is pretty much how he likes to live anyway, aside from food shopping which he’s now delegating to family

      • Chabuddy geezy says:

        21 Mar21 March 13:24

        It’s really poor form to stockpile 9 bags of rice for your dad. Stockpiling means other vulnerable people and key workers will miss out.

        • Peter K says:

          21 Mar21 March 13:35

          Completely agree. You’ve boasted about the multiple packs of pasta before, now this stockpiling of rice.

          People overbuying then causes others to mass outside waiting for store opening which then helps spread the virus.

          I’m aware you are concerned for your father, but many more are for their families as well.

      • Lady London says:

        21 Mar21 March 19:42

        Need to leave stuff outside door untouched long enough for virus to die.

        In cardboard apparently up to 9 hours on glass or tins I saw 48hrs advised

        So Series 1 of Yes Minister in the box set to.be safe 🙂

      • Lady London says:

        21 Mar21 March 20:37

        Plus you are a family of 5, aren’t you, @Shoestring?

        • mvcvz says:

          22 Mar22 March 13:23

          And yet again Shoestring demonstrates just hat an unmitigated w***** he is.

  • James says:

    21 Mar21 March 14:19

    Another embarrassment committed to actual words 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    21 Mar21 March 14:30

    @Shoestring:
    LI policies, got to last page and supplier wanted all details of doctor etc. Never seen this in previous quotes so is this new or just that particular company providing the policy?

  • CV3V says:

    21 Mar21 March 15:08

    not much of a ‘lighter note’ i.e. ignore government advice, bend the rules at supermarket aimed at keeping food on shelves. If I had seen someone doing this at self service till I’d be ‘having words’. Its all been said; think of all the other people who are in need, including other people trying to buy for their relatives. Also spare a thought for those on a (state) pension who can’t afford to stockpile and can only go to supermarket when they have enough cash to do so.

    • Lady London says:

      21 Mar21 March 19:46

      *very very true about state pension

      Had emails from both Waitrose and Morrisons saying 1st hour of opening daily is elderly and mobility-impaired with their carers only

    • Bazza says:

      22 Mar22 March 05:13

      Have words? You would do nothing! Cry to a member of staff? When have you EVER done anything? #Keyboardwarriors

      • Jayne says:

        23 Mar23 March 03:16

        Who the flap are you? Jog on.

  • AJA says:

    21 Mar21 March 16:28

    Good thing you didn’t try that 2 items at a time trick at my local Waitrose today. There was a man trying to buy 5 packs of mince (why???) despite the frequent announcements over the tannoy of a limit of a maximum of 3 of the same item would be enforced at the tills. Which it was. I felt sorry for but admire the tenacity of the Waitrose employee who was enforcing it at the self-service till. When the customer tried to claim they were different types she made him read out loud the package descriptions (all identical) and then took 2 packs off him to a round of applause from the rest of us.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      21 Mar21 March 17:29

      I don’t know how big packs they were but family of 5 I’ll cook a Curry with about 1.5kg of mince so it last a couple meals each during the week considering 3 of us are now home for all meals that wouldn’t last long at all.

      I think there needs to be balance with how people are treated I don’t need 1000 bags of tea but I do need 3 packs of 2x fish fillets for a single meal.

      • Peter K says:

        21 Mar21 March 18:13

        So a 3 per person limit being enforced for each item would be fine for you then 🙂

        • TGLoyalty says:

          21 Mar21 March 20:04

          Ofcourse but that’s one meal, I thought everyone is meant to be limiting their social contact. Supermarket is the worst of the lot. Good job I’m not pescatarian.

          And some are limiting to 2.

      • AJA says:

        21 Mar21 March 18:57

        They were “Waitrose essential British Beef Mince 1kg” – so 5kg’s of mince which to my mind is a lot!

      • Callum says:

        22 Mar22 March 03:03

        With thousands of people dying every day, I don’t have much sympathy left over for your family’s mince consumption being very slightly restricted!

  • Jack says:

    21 Mar21 March 16:43

    There is no shortage of food. We are facing an unprecedented crisis and people panic buying more than they need are hurting the entire country, diverting important resources and hurting key workers as well as the elderly and disabled. People like you and the greedy scum profiteering should be jailed – and it may yet come to that. For your sake let’s hope it doesn’t. In the mean time give a thought for other people

    • Jack says:

      21 Mar21 March 17:37

      To clarify directed at the idiot buying 9x 1kg bags of rice…

    • Jeff says:

      21 Mar21 March 18:03

      I wouldn’t want these sort of draconian measures in normal times but I’d be happy for the police/the army to shoot anyone who’s trying to get around item limits. They’d get one warning, of course.

      • Doug M says:

        21 Mar21 March 20:06

        You softie, why the warning.

  • Unsavage gerbil says:

    21 Mar21 March 17:32

    Morrisons really doesn’t cut it compared to Waitrose daaaahling.

    • Rob says:

      21 Mar21 March 17:52

      Harrods food hall remains open and has pretty much everything still available – probably the biggest selection of dried pasta and pasta sauce still available in London for a start. Was in this morning. Very civilised too as most people think the whole store is shut, which is wrong.

      • Unsavage gerbil says:

        21 Mar21 March 18:17

        I’m guessing the Harrods reference was tongue in cheek, but even if it wasn’t, it was a laugh out loud moment, anyway. Priceless.

        • Anna says:

          21 Mar21 March 18:32

          Possibly not as I think Rob lives across the road from Harrods! I did find myself browsing the preserves section on the Fortnum & Mason website (I was sidetracked while ordering wine from Laithwaites, with money, not Avios!) then had a word with myself and moved on 😂

        • Rob says:

          21 Mar21 March 18:49

          Totally serious. I live close by and had to pass it today to drop my daughter at a friends house. The Little Waitrose and Sainsburys Local directly opposite it on Brompton Road are also virtually full of food. In fact, I was literally the only customer in Sainsbury’s at around 11am this morning.

          The Whole Foods on High Street Kensington is also apparently totally stocked.

        • Chris K says:

          21 Mar21 March 22:01

          Gah, alas Imperial College (sensibly) sent all us non-essential workers home on Wednesday to WfH. Local shops where I am now have the square root of naff all.

        • ICU says:

          21 Mar21 March 22:08

          No doubt this will be deleted:
          Seriously is no one listening to the advice. Why would you drop your daughter off at a friends house and then post about it. Social distancing , limit exposure to other people!! Look after the vulnerable by staying at home.
          London is the epicentre and Northwick park hospital had to intubate 12 Covid patients in 10 hours and declare a critical incidence as their ICU beds were full. I know people in ICU and they are anxious/ terified by this as it’s not even close to the peak, and can’t understand why people are not listening. I just hope people get the message stay at home, protect the NHS and the vulnerable who will die if the virus spreads – look at Italy!!

        • ICU says:

          21 Mar21 March 22:14

          A senior director at another London acute trust told HSJ: “Given we’re in the low foothills of this virus, this is f***ing petrifying.

          “The thing people aren’t really talking about yet is that we are going to have to quickly agree some clinical thresholds for admissions to intensive care. This is what the Italians have had to do, and whether its set at [a maximum age of] 60 or whatever, we are going to have to do something similar. There’s no way we’re going to be able to scale up to the level we need otherwise.

          “The trusts in outer London seem to be hit much worse at the moment, probably about two weeks ahead of the rest of the country. Barnet, Lewisham and Greenwich, Epsom and St Helier, North Middlesex and Hillingdon are all struggling.

          “I was in denial about the seriousness of this virus a couple of weeks ago, but not anymore.

          “I’m now on calls with commissioners about getting more people out of hospital and into the community, and they’re saying ’yes that’ll be done in the next week’, and I’m on the verge of screaming at them. Things are going completely nuts.

        • Novice says:

          21 Mar21 March 22:58

          ICU, I get it you might be frustrated at others but tbh all you can do is control yourself.

          You should not be preachy and I’m saying this an honest to god OCD but I travel etc and I wipe plane seat etc I don’t tell others what to do to make me feel better.

          I do everything myself and hope others will follow my example. So please all this is negative energy. Try to spread good positive energy. Thanks

        • Concerned says:

          21 Mar21 March 23:13

          Just adding to comments below that taking your daughter to visit a friend when everyone is meant to be avoiding unnecessary social contact is worrying.

          The risk of contagion is very real and potentially very, very serious.

  • pking says:

    21 Mar21 March 22:07

    I’m sure a lot of this stockpiled food will end up getting thrown away.

    I live on my own and have no idea hows I’m going to get through these 30 pints of milk before Tuesday, can it be frozen ?

• Lee says:

  21 Mar21 March 10:36

  Can anyone clarify? We have a 241 return flight to New York where the return leg has been cancelled but not the outbound. The 241 expires normally in August 2020. If we opted for the voucher would we get the full value of the 241 still, in the voucher and the seats reservations we have in Business class on the return leg (we are going 1st on the outbound)
  It seems that if we get the full value of the 241 via the voucher we essentially extend our chance to use it for 12 months (so essentially extending 241) and retain the reservations for 2 seats?
  Any help would be gratefully appreciated?

  • AJA says:

    21 Mar21 March 18:09

    Hi Lee I am not sure that is how it works it you take the eVoucher – they are valid for 12 months from the date of your initial first flight, you have to book and travel at least the first sector before that 12 months is up, but the return can be after the 12 months.

    You don’t mention when your flights are but I am assuming they are imminent meaning if you take the e-voucher it will be valid for 12 months from now, which is effectively a 6 month extension of the 2-4-1 voucher.

    As an alternative you could go for a cancellation and refund of your Avios and 2-4-1 voucher and all fees but ask for an extension of the voucher validity. That would then have you dependent on Avios availability on the flights.

    • Lee says:

      21 Mar21 March 19:49

      Thanks for this, the flight out is due 9th April. So if we opt for the voucher it sounds from what you are saying that we would effectively have use of the 241 (albeit via this voucher) until 8th April 2021. This is better for us because we would use in April next year. It was a 40th birthday treat so being deferred a year lol

      • Rob says:

        21 Mar21 March 20:16

        No. Your 241 will expire as usual – potentially with a 6 month extension but no guarantee.

• mutley says:

  21 Mar21 March 17:38

  Shoestrings been totally owned today!!!!

  • Ben S says:

    21 Mar21 March 18:36

    Did he ever admit his error for calling it a “pussycat” virus… that rubbed everyone up the wrong way and now he’s the one panic buying 9 x 1kg bags of rice….

    • Russ says:

      21 Mar21 March 19:03

      Shoestring isn’t panic buying – it’s human nature. As much as we like to think we’re highly civilized and have transcended our current human capabilities we are still just human beings being human. What’s happening now is giving you a glimpse of what we are really like. Scary isn’t it 🙂

    • TGLoyalty says:

      21 Mar21 March 20:08

      If he’s Asian then he’d be buying a 10kg bag of rice on a regular basis.

      9kg of rice isn’t a lot for many families. It probably is if it’s all for his dad.

      Lots of people with large families will be stigmatised for their regular qtys of food

      • Lady London says:

        21 Mar21 March 20:22

        Ah.

        That will explain why my regular 5kg rice on Amazon (normally £11-£17 depending on the season) is now £89 and out if stock everywhere else.

        • Novice says:

          21 Mar21 March 22:44

          I understand about some people needing to buy a lot because of large families but what I don’t understand is why a lot of people think they need to stuff themselves now that they are stuck at home.

          Logically, if a person is stuck at home in a city/ town then they probably won’t be doing a lot of energetic movement at home (walks in nature is more a countryside luxury) so people should not be eating a lot to begin with.

          The government should start a mass test for science based on calorie intake as this could have far reaching consequences.

          Instead of being the fattest nation in Europe we could try to be the healthiest.

      • Harry T says:

        21 Mar21 March 22:37

        I regularly buy kilos of meat every week and it would look like stockpiling to some.

        Worth nothing that my local asian supermarket is full of large bags of rice – a thought for anyone who is genuinely struggling to find food.

        • Novice says:

          21 Mar21 March 22:51

          It’s true.

          I have asian mates. They have a culture of bulk buying coz they have a lot of dinner parties or family get togethers but they aren’t buying anything now because they already have a lot of food items at home.

    • Unsavage Gerbil says:

      22 Mar22 March 09:00

      If you say so Harry

• Lady London says:

  21 Mar21 March 20:35

  Email from John Lewis they are closing all shops as from Monday evening 23rd

  They say employees will be moving over to Waitrose where they are extending hours etc.

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