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Bits: BA lounge adds BrewDog taps, get £200+ Virgin Atlantic cashback with American Express

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News in brief:

British Airways adds BrewDog taps to the Gatwick lounges

Given the run of bad publicity about BrewDog for its treatment of employees and, just two weeks ago, a raft of redundancies as it closed a number of failing pubs, it seems odd for British Airways to double-down on its relationship.

However, you can now get BrewDog on tap at the British Airways lounge at London Gatwick.

Punk IPA and Wingman are available at a self-pour draught beer station, along with the usual selection of chilled cans.

British Airways adds BrewDog taps to the Gatwick lounges

Get £200+ Virgin Atlantic cashback with American Express

Last year we saw the first ever Virgin Atlantic cashback deal with American Express. Since then they have become a regular feature.

So regular, in fact, that a new one has launched just four weeks after the previous one closed.

As always, you need to see if the deal shows under the ‘Offers’ tab on one or more of your American Express cards. You need to click ‘Save to card’ to register before making your transaction. Don’t waste your time checking British Airways American Express cards!

I’ve seen or heard of three versions so far:

  • £200 cashback when you spend £1,500 with Virgin Atlantic
  • £250 cashback when you spend £2,500 with Virgin Atlantic
  • £300 cashback when you spend £2,500 with Virgin Atlantic

Last time there was also a £100 offer for a lower spend target – I don’t know if it is available again.

Virgin Atlantic launches a new American Express cashback deal

You must book by 30th September and depart from a UK airport. Cumulative spend is OK. Phone bookings do not count.

I am fairly certain that taxes and charges on Virgin Atlantic redemption flights WILL trigger the cashback as long as you hit the £1,500 or £2,500 threshold. They go through your credit card in the usual way. American Express will get details of the underlying flight but is it smart enough to weed out redemptions? The T&C don’t even explicitly block reward flights.

The cashback will NOT trigger on the purchase of Virgin Points because this is handled by a third party intermediary. Anything booked via Virgin Holidays will not count.

You can check prices and book on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

Comments (62)

  • Bob says:

    “you can now get BrewDog on tap at the British Airways lounge at London Gatwick.”

    THE BA lounge…….there is more than one !

  • Paul MCY says:

    Wingman also in the news today with Brewdog’s advertising for it falling foul of the Advertising Standards Authority, who said “We told BrewDog to ensure their future ads did not imply that drinking alcohol could overcome boredom, loneliness or other problems”. No further comment from me in relation to it’s investiture into the LGW lounge(s).

  • Alex G says:

    Frankly, I dont give a damn

  • Mike says:

    The Virgin cashback isn’t valid on bookings made over the phone (ie when using a voucher). Straight reward flights booked online was fine last time.

  • Thywillbedone says:

    The FT did a good piece recently on Brewdog and how minority shareholders will get shafted if a sale or IPO ever happens. A warning to those contemplating investing in crowdfunding garbage where the only upside is being able to brag (however briefly) about your start-up ‘investments’ at dinner parties …

    • Rob says:

      Yes, like Curve later investors were given preferential terms to ensure they are paid out ahead of the rest.

    • JDB says:

      As it happens, Mr Watt is one of the remaining minority shareholders (with 23%) screwed by the terms that enabled him to sell a chunk to a PE firm. He had promised to give some of that remaining holding to staff, but it’s likely worthless.

      The terms aren’t quite the same as Curve where there was an exit guarantee. Here there’s a pref (issued to the buyer) with an eye watering coupon so it’s an ongoing burden on the business.

      • Ken says:

        It has the makings of a Mexican stand off.

        There will likely never be any incentive for the voting shareholders to sell up as it seems past the point where the preference shareholders will not simply take everything.
        18% compounded is simply brutal.

        Only value for the “equity punks” is any discounts, ‘free’ beer or offers they get.

        It’s a glorified membership scheme I suppose, but you wonder if people realised this at the time of investment.

      • BSI1978 says:

        More pertinently, Brewdog remains heavily loss making, even after all the showy new location openings and PR.

        • ken says:

          think they made a small profit in year end December 2024

          • BSI1978 says:

            Their YE ’24 AA’s haven’t been filed as yet, although you may have insight here. Note your suggestion of a “small” profit.

    • cin5 says:

      And that’s the least of the concerns about the brand…

  • JdeW says:

    Virgin Atlantic Holidays are running a separate Amex offer: Spend £5,000 and get £250 cash back.

  • Lumma says:

    I see that Gail’s Bakeries are looking like the next Brewdog…

    • Richie says:

      Have they expanded too quickly?

      • Rob says:

        Gail’s will be fine. They are a genuine improvement to most places they open in.

        (Although I don’t really get Gail’s, probably because I have always lived in places with indy bakers so there is no real novelty.)

        • Nick says:

          Gail’s strategy seems to be to look for places that have strong indies and open there, i.e. get someone else to do the market-proving for them. Whether the market is big enough for those indies to then survive too is irrelevant – they’ve just killed off a lovely 80 year old family firm in Marlow.

          • The Savage Squirrel says:

            I’d never heard of them; a quick look explains this – there’s not one anywhere North or East of the Pennines.

            Amusingly a map of Gail’s looks like some sort of Dark Ages map of the UK: the Danelaw and the Celtic fringes are having nothing to do with Gails while the Anglo-Saxon lands have all fallen.

          • Tom says:

            Squirrel, there is a Gail’s in Chester

          • AL says:

            Squirrel – there are plenty in the Manchester (read: London 2.0, apparently – hah!) area. My local high street is fiercely and proudly indie, but the slightly larger conurbation it finds itself in has one.

            I am yet to work out why I’d pay close to a fiver for a sub-par croissant when I have top drawer ones from at least three bakeries on the way to it. And I am *exactly* the type of person they’d want to attract. Maybe better quality coffee will help lure me in.

          • Danny says:

            I found Gail’s coffee was like treacle. Not pleasant.

          • The Savage Squirrel says:

            Tom and AL I know that. West Midlands, Chester and most of Manchester would have fallen under Mercia – albeit Manchester right on the border, and were not part of the predominantly Danish territory. That’s why the maps look similar!
            https://www.medievalware.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/alfred-guthrum-treaty-map-1.webp

    • Ken says:

      About the only similarity is that both have pretty strong brands.
      Gail’s seems to be run as a proper business, although I’m not sure how much expansion room there is as there are interesting Indy bakers everywhere now.
      Brewdog seems sometimes to be run on a whim.
      Brewdog bars in Bombay & Shanghai simply smack of vanity projects.

      • Panda Mick says:

        And the Las vegas one seems like an afterthought. However, given the eyewatering cost of everything here, it’s a little oasis of mediocre affordability on the strip

  • Spaghetti Town says:

    Separate VA holidays offer on my free mr card.

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