[Jan M]

Anyone know if Virgin would do a status match from AF/KLM Flying Blue, if I bought an upper class ticket? (I know it seems unlikely.) I would love to use the Clubhouse rather than KLM’s depressing Aspire lounge at Heathrow.

[Jan M]

You wouldn’t lose the flying blue miles (they are not Amex points) but they will expire if you don’t spend them or earn more through some other route within two years. I don’t value FB particularly highly, to be honest, but the Promo Deals can be good value.

[Jan M]

I have no experience with French (?) Amex cards but terms – you only get it once – seem clear enough: https://www.flyingblue.fr/en/financial/details/american-express-france-detailed-gold#:~:text=The%20AIR%20FRANCE%20KLM%20–%20AMERICAN%20EXPRESS%20GOLD%20Card%20is%20free,amount%20without%20any%20additional%20costs..

This site sometimes covers Irish cards and their terms are worse than UK ones, while US ones are famously more generous. So I don’t think the British two year applies here.

The 30 free XP look interesting to me, making it much easier to keep FB status. You would pay more than 180 euro to earn those. But otherwise the card is hard to justify.

I can’t find any mention of a pro rata refund as we get in the UK, so that’s worth checking.

[Jan M]

Alex G wrote:

No requirement to pay for the flight with your Barclaycard, so you are free to close the account.

However, a MC that gives 1 Avios / £ is still useful where Amex is not accepted, and combined with the free Curve card gives you a way to earn Avios on foreign currency transactions without paying high surcharges.

I’m keeping mine.

Me too, for now. There isn’t a better free card on the market. But I will cancel when Virgin launches a sign up bonus. If I remember correctly, you still only have to be without a Barclaycard for 6 months to earn a sign up bonus…

[Jan M]

I’ll keep using my Avios (non-plus) card till the next offer comes along. If they increase the bonus to 30k again, then I’ll be much better off waiting.

[Jan M]

Gary wrote:

See https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/economist-avios-offer-problems/
It does not make sense Avios.com should be involved as this is a BAEC offer but they are. Email customerrelations@avios.com

Thanks! And yes, I won’t be taking out a subscription again. I’m finding The Economist less insightful and more predictable (ideological) than I used to…

[Jan M]

Tried to use the Dragon Pass twice on my recent flight back from Melbourne via Doha and couldn’t use it at either airport. The Premium Plaza lounge at LHR terminal 4 has been good but otherwise it’s been quite disappointing.

[Jan M]

I have downgraded after hitting the spending target for the voucher. It’s very easy to do in the app (assuming they show you being eligible for the normal Avios card). They’ll let you use your plus card till the end of your monthly billing period.

Currently without a card though because the new one hasn’t arrived yet. The fault of the strikes no doubt, rather than Barclays.

Longer term plan is to cancel when Virgin Atlantic comes with some sort of bonus. But ATM the Barclaycard is the best free non-Amex card on the market. The only thing that possibly beats it is the Chase debit card for 12 months.

[Jan M]

I downgraded to the normal Avios card after hitting the spending target for the voucher too. So I can afford to wait around for Virgin Money to launch something better. In terms of rewards the Chase debit card is probably a better bet now, but it’s not very satisfying from a gaming perspective.

[Jan M]

The Aspire lounge at LHR is overcrowded and incredibly depressing. Probably not worth going to even if it is free.

[Jan M]

PAUL7331 wrote:

I managed to open a standard Barclays account and then upgrade to premier – no need for 75k salary or millions in the bank.

Paul, how long have you left it to upgrade to Premier? And have you received an e-mail about the 100k Avios? I meet the monthly earning treshold but I’m a few thousand pound short of a 75k annual salary.

Thanks!

[Jan M]

ts84 wrote:

Not so much of a problem entering it, but after entering it doesn’t show the record once you move off the page on the KLM website. Not the best user experience.

My problem is that KLM seemingly only recognises my account as silver, despite being Gold. This means battling the queues in Schiphol and no lounge access. Tried sorting with Virgin twice and with KLM and no luck at all.

Do you have a card you show even just on your phone? I’d just explain at the business check in at Schiphol. They always seem very friendly and barely look at the ticket.

[Jan M]

memesweeper wrote:

No

You need to see it on Virgin’s site. You should be able to get most of the way through booking then payment fails. At that point I’d call up.

Yes, indeed. KLM reward pricing is dynamic, so there is more availability if you’re willing to pay more miles. Virgin’s not. Used to book a lot of UK to Schiphol flights with VIrgin miles. They were always cheaper than spending FB.

[Jan M]

I have the normal RBS account and also exchange their rewards for Avios. Basically that is 3 pounds per month for 1,170 Avios every other month. The credit card offers more Avios on supermarket shopping than an Amex Gold (1.17 per pound spent). And the app is really great, so much better than Barclays.

[Jan M]

Yup. That’s what happened to me. As soon as I wanted to add a new card, the two card limit crystallized. It really reduces the value so much but I don’t think Curve X is worth the fee.

[Jan M]

Speaking as a user of their free card, who uses it only overseas, I don’t think Curve is long for this world. It’s free product has been substantially downgraded and their promotion of alternative currencies doesn’t bode well.

[Jan M]

Hope so too. I want to downgrade my Barclaycard once I hit the spending target and take out the Virgin card.

[Jan M]

The Urbanite wrote:

A few years ago Barclaycard sent out a letter stating they would no longer accept Curve for account payments. Looks like the policy has remained in place.

To get around this, why not just top up a different card account with Curve and use that to pay off Barclaycard using the card or bank transfer? Revolut is still accepting debit cards for loading right?

Thanks! Only asked because I was wondering if Curve would let me use my Chase account with its 1% cashback to pay off the balance (and double dip the rewards). Cheeky but guess we’ll never know.

I only have the free Curve version, but it’s getting pretty pointless when you’re only allowed two cards.

[Jan M]

No problems or fees when using Curve when I did it. (Well, not from Barclaycard anyway.)

[Jan M]

Hmmm. Ordered an Airbnb gift card on the PayPal website. Very curious whether it will track or not. I can see a transaction pending with “PayPal Digital Gift UK” so there is definitely no hiding what it is.

[Jan M]

Thanks!

[Jan M]

Has nobody actually used it to buy a gift card? I wanted to use it on KLM but apparently there is an Amex restriction on using PayPal with flights. Typical!

[Jan M]

Also not been charged when I tried, but obviously Barclays would be within its rights to do so, and as the other respondent implied, posts like this raise awareness of the issue and only make it more likelier that it will charge in the future.

[Jan M]

Only ever tried Bristol, Cardiff and Heathrow, so I can’t speak to Glasgow but they will give you fast track. Not that you ever need it at Cardiff!

[Jan M]

Lyn wrote:

I should add that Qantas frequent flyers don’t earn status credits flying KLM, just points. So it seems unlikely you would earn KLM tier points flying Qantas, but surely the KLM Flying Blue web-site would include this if you did earn them?

Thanks! The Flying Blue website seems to suggest that I can earn XP was well on flights that are ticketed by Qantas, but I think AF/KLM need to be listed as a Codeshare? https://www.flyingblue.us/en/earn-spend/partners/airline/airline-qantas-airways/presentation

The problem with booking through KLM is that they insist on routing me via Amsterdam when I really just wanted the direct London to Perth flight.