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Get 10% off Heathrow Express with Amex – and how to save more money on top

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American Express has launched a new cashback deal with Heathrow Express.

Until 31st March, you will get 10% cashback on all tickets you buy.

You need to be targetted for this offer via the ‘Offers’ tab on your American Express online statement or in the app and you need to click ‘save to card’ before purchasing.

You can book your tickets via the Heathrow Express website here.

Because this is a cashback deal, it will double up with any other special offer you can find for buying tickets. I thought it was worth running through your options.

Heathrow Express discount

‘Secret’ discounts are nearly, but not quite, dead

Ten years ago, the generous discounts that many airlines used to offer for buying Heathrow Express tickets via their websites dried up.  You could often save up to 14% this way.

The only offer I know of is in association with Mastercard.

The link for your discounted Heathrow Express ticket is here.  It is only valid for Mastercard Small Business cardholders.

You save 12% on full fare standard and First Class tickets.

Remember that children travel FREE

Children under 15 travel for free on Heathrow Express.

This makes a substantial difference to the maths when you compare the train to a taxi.  As a family of four, we have increased our use of the Heathrow Express since this policy was launched, mainly when travelling at peak times on a Friday when I don’t want to trust the M4.

Make SERIOUS savings by booking in advance

A range of Advanced Purchase tickets is available.  If you can plan ahead – a long way ahead – you can make big savings.

You can see the full list of prices here.

Tickets can be as cheap as £5.50 one way.  You are not tied to a particular train, just a particular day.

Combine that with the fact that children under 15 are free, and a family of four could get to Heathrow for as little as £11.

Discounts for two or more people travelling

Heathrow Express has a special offer for two people travelling together – £55.50 return in Standard Class.  Full details are here.  You need to use promotion code DUOSAVER when you book.

If you are travelling in a group of three or more adults, see a deal for that here which saves 33% using Heathrow Express discount code 3RDOFF.

Heathrow Express discount

Earn Avios points or Heathrow Rewards points when you book

You are able to collect Heathrow Rewards points on Heathrow Express tickets booked online.   This works on both the main website and the HEx app.

You earn 1 Heathrow Rewards point per £1 spent.  Premium tier members earn 2 points per £1.  They can be redeemed 1:1 for Avios, Virgin Points, Emirates Skywards miles, Miles & More miles, Heathrow shopping vouchers and various other bits and pieces.

You can also collect Avios with your Heathrow Express tickets as this article explains.  This is a far more generous offer than the Heathrow Rewards one because you earn 5 Avios points per £1 spent (see ba.com here).

There is a snag, of course. You need to visit www.heathrowexpress.com/avios to book.  This site does not allow you to mix a promotional code with your booking, nor can you book Advanced Purchase tickets. You would receive the 10% Amex cashback.

Using a railcard on Heathrow Express

Don’t forget that if you have a railcard (Network Railcard, 16-25 Railcard, TfL Annual Gold Card, Senior Railcard etc) then you can also get a discount – my Mum gets 34% off with her Senior Railcard.

Details of how to claim a Railcard discount are on this page of the Heathrow Express site.

Big discounts if you work for an airline

You save 75% on full-fare Express Saver and Business First tickets if you work at Heathrow – see here and scroll to the bottom.  This discount also applies to employees of airlines that operate out of Heathrow who have a valid airline photo ID card.

This means that if, for example, you work for British Airways at Gatwick, you are still entitled to 75% off your Heathrow Express ticket.  An easyJet employee would not as easyJet does not fly from Heathrow.

Heathrow Express discount

A free upgrade if you are Star Alliance Gold

You are able to upgrade your standard class ticket to First Class if you have a Star Alliance Gold card from any of their member airlines.  Simply sit in the First Class carriage and show your Gold card to the conductor.

The website for the offer is here.  Note that whilst the website says that you needed to have a ‘full fare’ Heathrow Express ticket, this is never imposed.

A free upgrade if you are British Airways Gold Guest List

The least known benefit of being a British Airways Gold Guest List member is a free First Class upgrade on Heathrow Express. This is also valid for one person travelling with you.

As ba.com explains, simply sit in First Class and show your Gold Guest List card and your standard class ticket to the conductor.

A standard BA Gold card will NOT work – there is a small ‘GGL’ in the corner of Gold Guest List member cards.

Don’t forget the Elizabeth line, of course

If you don’t want to take the HEx at all, the slower Elizabeth line services are also an option.

Here is our recent review of the Elizabeth line service. Trains have been running directly into Central London from 6th November when the tunnel at Paddington opened.

Whilst the Heathrow Express is faster for point to point trips between the airport and Paddington, it is likely that the Elizabeth line will be faster overall if your final point is elsewhere in London, especially the West End or Canary Wharf.

And, of course, there are the tube and indeed bus options. Both are cheaper, but the tube does lack the comfort and space of the trains – the Heathrow Express is, in my view, the ‘poshest’ train service in the country. In many ways, it depends where you are starting from as to whether going via Paddington is convenient.

Category

American Express Membership Rewards

Comments (43)

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

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:
    2 Dec2 December 05:49

    “There is a yield management system in place, so if you book late or on a busy train you will pay more.”

    This is incorrect, one of the benefits of Heathrow Express advance tickets is they’re not tied to a specific train, the advance tickets can run out if a particular day is busy but it’s not tied to individual services.

    “the Heathrow Express is, in my view, the ‘poshest’ train service in the country”

    Not anymore! Now the old trains are on the scrapheap you get ironing boards in standard and a pretty underwhelming 2-1 layout in first class.

    “National Railcard”

    Do you mean Network Railcard? Named after the former Network SouthEast area. Unfortunately there’s no national railcard available to everybody but the Network Railcard is available to anyone and is worth looking at if you travel in this area.

  • Andrew says:
    2 Dec2 December 06:02

    Don’t forget that the railcard, advance purchase and children-go-free offers stack. I have bought tickets for our family of four (two adults and two children) to get to Heathrow for £7.30 total each way by combining with our Family and Friends railcard.

  • Andrew J says:
    2 Dec2 December 06:09

    “A family of four could get to Heathrow for as little as £11.“ or £5.50 if there is one adult and 3 children under 15.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
    2 Dec2 December 06:18

    In reality how many people book their HEX tickets 90+ days in advance to get one of the limited of number £5.50 tickets?

    • Nigel Hamilton says:
      2 Dec2 December 07:23

      I can’t see why you wouldn’t do this. You know the dates of your flights well in advance – and you’re not fixed to a specific train so you just book the Heathrow express in advance too. It cost £7.30 each way for our family of five (with a family railcard) on what would have been £50ish on the Elizabeth line.

      Note that discounts with a family railcard count up to the 17th birthday if you’ve bought a three year one(or you’ve planned it so well you bought a one year one the day before your child turns 16!)

    • Andrew J says:
      2 Dec2 December 07:43

      I have many times pre-covid. I booked my flights months in advance, had no intention to change them and booked my HEX then too – it’s the date you have to specify, not the specific train (as the article above incorrectly implies) so you usually know the date you’re travelling to and from LHR months in advance (a year in advance for Avios seats chasers).

      • The Original David says:
        2 Dec2 December 08:29

        Yep, for leisure travel booked months in advance, the AP tickets are great value, especially since the discount stacks with Railcards. Last week bought tickets for £3.65 each, which seems good!

    • Dave says:
      2 Dec2 December 08:22

      Do you only book fully-flexible airfares also?

      If you’re happy booking nonflex airline tickets, no harm in booking at the same time.

      • Andrew J says:
        2 Dec2 December 08:39

        And worse case scenario you’ve lost a fiver.

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:
        2 Dec2 December 08:45

        One thing that put me off these advance tickets is they’re non refundable and with all the covid related cancellations in 2020-21 it didn’t seem worth getting.

        I’ve only used the ‘new’ HEX trains once with their ironing board seats is no longer the luxury experience it used to be. It’s worth remembering that the date on Elizabeth line is capped if you pay with Oyster or contactless so it’s a decent deal

        • Joshua Critchley says:
          3 Dec3 December 17:04

          During covid HEX customer service was rebooking unused tickets. Though it’s a bit plebby to do that.
          The easiest is just to do full fare walk up and charge expenses so someone else pays anyway

  • Dave says:
    2 Dec2 December 08:22

    Worth mentioning that _anyone_ can get a Network Railcard for £30.

    No brainer if you live in the South East.

    • Dubious says:
      2 Dec2 December 17:52

      No always a no brainer. I used to find I would be buying Super Advance fares for my journeys. These were not eligible for rail card discounts and doing the sums for my other journeys would have saved less than £30 over the year.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
    2 Dec2 December 09:03

    LNER also on airtime rewards but more often than not I have to retro claim for it – just something to keep an eye on

  • Martin says:
    2 Dec2 December 10:09

    The Elizabeth Line is comfier, quieter, much cheaper, takes 5 minutes more to reach Paddington, and takes you anywhere to central London.

    The Heathrow Express is an expensive tourist trap, and any londoner taking it is an idiot.

    • Rhys says:
      2 Dec2 December 10:15

      That’s not quite true. Lizzy takes twice as long to Paddington.

    • Dave says:
      2 Dec2 December 10:18

      Nonsense.

      The HEX is cheaper if you book in advance – like most people do for their leisure trips. And for business travel I don’t care about the price.

      The Elizabeth Line trains don’t have any creature comforts that make trains nice – like tables to work from, seat power, loos, etc.

      I can usually get the laptop out on the table and do 20-25 minutes of solid work on the HEX.

      Liz line is mostly dead time.

    • Rob says:
      2 Dec2 December 10:19

      I’ve done the Elizabeth Line twice this week from Heathrow. It is painfully slow to get to Paddington, including multiple stops and long periods standing around doing nothing waiting for platforms to become free or the exact slot to enter the Paddington tunnel. Once you’re in the tunnel it is amazing, of course, but it is a real drag up to that point.

      • Andrew J says:
        2 Dec2 December 10:41

        Agreed. And its infrequency actually means the Piccadilly line is likely to be quicker (albeit not as nice a train) and less that half the price. For some reason I was expecting Elizabeth line to be the saviour to travel to LHR but it’s actually quite pointless.

        • Rhys says:
          2 Dec2 December 11:10

          We can only hope that at some point Heathrow and TFL come to an agreement to scrap HEX and instead offer more Lizzy services, perhaps some express ones….

          • Mutley says:
            2 Dec2 December 20:11

            But what if you need a number two? scrapping HEX would be a disaster darling.

        • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
          2 Dec2 December 11:34

          Depends where you’re coming from / going to.

          If you’re on the Thameslink line the change at Farringdon is very easy compared to changing to the Piccadilly at Kings Cross / St Pancras or the district at Blackfriars are o then change to the Piccadilly at earls / Barons Courts / Hammersmith.

          The issue with the wait outside Paddington at the moment will be resolved anther later this month or next May when the winter and summer timetables switch.

          And remember Lizzie wasn’t designed as a line to serve Heathrow, its main aim is to improve east – west connections and alleviate the central line.

          HEX had its concession extended to 2028 last year and I don’t see them giving it up easily until then.

          • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
            2 Dec2 December 11:37

            And there is an issue with the capacity of the stations at Heathrow to consider and also the issue of train paths,

            The more trains to LHR the fewer there can be on the West Country / Wales inter city routes..

    • VerdantBacon says:
      2 Dec2 December 12:55

      Blanket statements like this are usually the real mark of an idiot

      The HEX is faster, more convenient and in some cases cheaper than the Liz line for us. Almost like it entirely depends on your situation which is better.

  • cabal of rabid baboons says:
    2 Dec2 December 13:48

    Can anyone suggest the best combination of trains from Euston to Heathrow T4 please?

    • Rhys says:
      2 Dec2 December 14:02

      Use CityMapper?

    • Rob says:
      2 Dec2 December 14:17

      Walk to Kings Cross next door, get a Piccadilly tube.

    • John says:
      2 Dec2 December 17:22

      Victoria to Green Park, get on towards the middle-back of the train for shorter change to Piccadilly (escalators up to concourse then back down)

      Kings Cross is not “next door”, it’s 8-15 minutes away depending on your walking speed and luggage.

      • cabal of rabid baboons says:
        2 Dec2 December 21:28

        Thanks John, a journey of an hour but pretty straightforward.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      3 Dec3 December 07:22

      Northern line to Tottenham Court Road then pick up Lizzie there is the route I’d go for.

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