The final rail partners leave the Nectar loyalty scheme

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• Paul says:

  11 May11 May 06:00

  I’m surprised the Hilton package doesn’t come with a stay at the Hilton at Silverstone? Has the opening been delayed again?

  • John says:

    11 May11 May 08:26

    You can find out for yourself by trying to book. Also never book a new Hilton (or even worse one that isn’t even open) without a plan B, particularly on points. Hilton won’t help if the hotel doesn’t open or doesn’t open fully and you’ll have to find another hotel. And if they haven’t set up OnQ properly yet and you’ve booked on points, they won’t be able to honour that reservation unless you pay the going rate

  • Nick says:

    11 May11 May 08:26

    It’s scheduled to open next month, after many delays, as you say. Cannot make bookings yet though.

• The Savage Squirrel says:

  11 May11 May 06:49

  Good shout on the bulldozers at Tower Bridge. To be fair I’ve always thought that a few of the Park Lane hotels are spectacular mingers given their uber-premium location. On a smaller but astonishingly ugly scale, the Thistle Trafalgar Square captures that “neglected 70s concrete shopping precinct” vibe perfectly.

  • BJ says:

    11 May11 May 07:25

    Very evocative post before 7am 🙂

  • Rob says:

    11 May11 May 07:29

    The Thistle Trafalgar is totally blocked in though – very hard to see it accidentally!

    • BJ says:

      11 May11 May 07:54

      Unlike HfP Towers 😉

      • Rob says:

        11 May11 May 09:03

        That’s the old one. 1 Poultry couldn’t be more exposed.

        • BJ says:

          11 May11 May 10:01

          That’s what I meant, Poultry is so ugly/eccentric you cannot help but love it, a bit like a Citreon 2CV 🙂

        • Rob says:

          11 May11 May 10:16

          It’s not hidden like Thistle Trafalgar though. Moor Place is now totally hemmed in – the new building above Moorgate Crossrail (Deutsche Bank) is literally about 1 metre from it. If we were still there I think we’d have moved 🙂

• Gavin says:

  11 May11 May 07:12

  Just to flag the format for the British Grand Prix has reverted back this year (ie Fri Practice; Sat Qualifying; Sun Race). There is no Sprint at this event.

  • HH says:

    11 May11 May 08:47

    Indeed, article should be corrected @Rob. I’m surprised they’re asking for 125k points to see FP1/FP2!

    • Rob says:

      11 May11 May 09:00

      Will do

• BJ says:

  11 May11 May 07:52

  Generally agree with comments on Nectar ‘gamification’. Had the BAEC partnership not come along it would now be a damp squib. However, there is no point (well…) in wallowing in clubcard nostalgia because by comparison it has been a dead duck for five years already. We cannot game points most people cannot earn easily in meaningful numbers. At least with Nectar most people can earn thousands a month effortlessly and if we want to we can buy tens of thousands of avios per year via BAEC HHA and SB insurance at 0.2-0.4ppa.
  .

• Nick says:

  11 May11 May 08:54

  Given rail firms can’t make Nectar work, how does LNER justify it’s near-permanent 7 or 10% Amex offer?

  • dougzz99 says:

    11 May11 May 09:10

    Maybe because that’s enough cash back to change behaviour. The problem with Nectar was it didn’t offer enough. It’s getting it right between changing behaviour and not losing too much doing so.

    • Andrew says:

      11 May11 May 09:40

      Change behaviour to what end? There’s no way there’s a 10% margin when selling tickets for other train operators.

      • John says:

        11 May11 May 15:12

        To make you use their app and keep it for convenience when the offer ends

  • Andrew. says:

    11 May11 May 09:48

    It’s fairly ubiquitous across all the rebate options. 8% Barclaycard, 8% Virgin Money, 5% BoS, 10% MBNA, 8% Airtime, 10pts/£1 Nectar.

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    11 May11 May 12:53

    Also worth noting LNER has appeared in Nectar Connect for me a number of times with a decent points return (much better than when LNER was an official partner) but the Nectar Connect offer was a one off that once you use it then it disappears until it comes round again. So the best way to take advantage of it is to buy an LNER evoucher

• Ambient says:

  11 May11 May 09:29

  The loss of nectar for train tickets is no great loss, especially since Virgin Trains Ticketing now provides an easier and more comprehensive solution.

  • Harrier25 says:

    11 May11 May 13:24

    …but Virgin Red charges a booking fee which eats into the points value.

• Ben says:

  11 May11 May 10:36

  As someone that gets the train to work, it changed my behaviour in that I switched booking my ticket via GWR to TPE when GWR stopped Nectar. I guess I may as well switch back once TPE stop as well as I travel on a GWR route.

• john says:

  11 May11 May 10:45

  *St Katharine

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