Bits: DragonPass accepted in T5 and Gatwick Regus, 20% off gift cards at Tesco

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News in brief:

DragonPass lounge card now accepted at Heathrow Terminal 5 and Gatwick South Regus

DragonPass, the Asian-based airport lounge access business (a clone of Priority Pass) is beginning to make inroads into the UK market. With the demise of Airport Angel, they have picked up the lounge access deal offered to Barclays current account holders.

Without telling anyone, DragonPass has launched a deal with the Regus business centre in Terminal 5 arrivals at Heathrow and the South terminal (landside) at Gatwick. This is a small coup given that Priority Pass does not have such an arrangement.

Regus in Terminal 5 is a business centre more than an airport lounge. There is no free food but there is a free Nespresso coffee machine. There are two sofa chairs, plus two ‘pods’ for working and a shared table of six seats best suited for working. There are no newspapers but there are some magazines. The photo below shows you how it looks.

It is not somewhere to ‘lounge’ but, if you need to work before or after a flight and do not have British Airways lounge access, it is not a bad place to go. I was working in there yesterday before catching an afternoon flight to Finland (more on that soon).

20% discount on selected Tesco gift cards

Tesco is currently offering a 20% discount on selected gift cards via their online gift card shop. It is not clear if this offer is also available instore.

The retailers included are:

Pizza Express
iTunes
Mitchell & Butlers
New Look
Monsoon
Accessorize

The deal is only available on ‘plastic’ gift cards and not digital gift codes. This means that you must pay for postage which will add at least £1.50.

The key thing to remember is that you will receive 150 Clubcard points for every £50 you spend on gift cards (excluding Tesco-branded cards). That is 360 Avios. You need to spend £50 after taking into account the 20% discount and your order must be in multiples of £50 – ie if you spend £100 there must be a theoretical way of separating the order into two lots of £50, otherwise you just get one lot of bonus points.

Pizza Express cards come in a £20 denomination and the others as £25. The cheapest route is therefore 2 x £20 Pizza Express and 1 x £25 from elsewhere, total £65, which reduces to £52. Postage adds £1.50 or more if you want recorded delivery. This means that you are paying £53.50 for £60 of gift cards plus 360 Avios points.

The deal ends on 22nd November.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

Tesco Clubcard

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Tilly71 says:

11 Nov11 November 08:27

Has there been success with them posting the bonus points to accounts when you order online? I had heard mixed reviews a while back of points not being applied via the giftcard site.
- Iain says:
  
  12 Nov12 November 20:10
  
  I bought £200 of currys e-gift cards via the website on 26th Oct (£100 *2 transactions). Points posted on clubcard account 6th Nov. However, only recieved 2 x 150 points rather than 4 times. So with hindsight should have put through as 4 x £50. Going to contact clubcard customer service as this isn’t obvious from their T&Cs so going to put case forward for the other points if i could/should have got
Roberto says:

11 Nov11 November 08:37

Anyone know whats the official story with Airport Angels? I have Airport Angels cards (via the Barclay’s wheeze ) – in fact my latest one was sent to me as recently as September. I am keen to know if they are still valid and if so when they are likely to stop working when the plug is to be pulled.

I am flying next month AGP-LGW-AGP and was hoping to use the lounges. I have had no contact from them or Dragon ( Barclay’s new partner ) but if I log onto my online account its still showing as 6 more visits available..
- Waribai says:
  
  11 Nov11 November 08:56
  
  If you got one via the “wheeze” it’ll stop working as soon as you hit your expiry date Id have thought.
  September was when they pulled the plug so you probably got renewed just before the change over date.
- harry says:
  
  11 Nov11 November 09:15
  
  Yep they’ll be valid until expiry date. I’m hoping the wheeze ones get renewed to 6 visits with Dragonpass on the 12 month renewal date – but the onus is on ‘hope’ since Barclays closed the loophole to get them free. The other way to get them (see my link above) is still good value @ £13.50 for 6 visits, the current a/c is free and easy to manage online – ie you can turn off the Travel pack insurance as soon as you get the cards.
- Rob says:
  
  11 Nov11 November 09:23
  
  The official story is available via CPP as they are a quoted company – they have closed it down.
  
  CPP is the company which did deals with all the banks to sell you credit card insurance, insurance which was hugely profitable for banks as the coverage rarely paid out – the majority of what you were insuring against was already covered by your card issuer under UK credit law.
  
  It was such a good earner, CPP offered to run bank credit card activation call centres for free in order to give callers a hard sell on this insurance. Most banks agreed,
  
  With the banks now having to pay compensation to people who bought this insurance, and CPPs relationship with the banks not exactly being great now, their ability to get banks to sell Airport Angel for them was presumably strained.
  - harry says:
    
    11 Nov11 November 09:33
    
    Correct but that doesn’t affect the validity of existing cards. I’ve got a couple issued 7/15 and I assume B**** would have sent out replacement Dragonpass cards if the AA ones had stopped working (which they haven’t). Might be wrong if B**** had rumbled the wheeze but anybody successfully using an AA card after 16/9 could confirm they’re still working until expiry.
    - Jen T says:
      
      11 Nov11 November 09:52
      
      Years ago I signed up for an AA card via a shared Barclays Premier link (I had a regular Barclays account, not Premier but they didn’t spot the difference when I entered my long card number). Every year, I get sent a new card with 6 visits loaded – I last used the card on the 6th of October in Gatwick’s No 1 Lounge with no problem – the card has an expiry of 02/16 printed on it.
      - harry says:
        
        11 Nov11 November 09:52
        
        Thanks for confirmation.
      - Roberto says:
        
        11 Nov11 November 12:54
        
        My son used his AA on the 19th October in Madrid. His expiry is August 2016
      - planeflyer says:
        
        13 Nov13 November 09:38
        
        I last used my AA on 3 Nov. Fingers crossed to be sent out a new DragonPass card. I had no idea the Barlcays thing had finished so long ago. No infomation was sent out. Shame
- John says:
  
  12 Nov12 November 01:32
  
  Yep, got the same letter/new card in the post (though I’m planning to use the app).
  
  Pretty certain anyone trying to use an AA card next month will be turned away at the lounge, regardless of the expiry date.
  - harry says:
    
    12 Nov12 November 06:35
    
    Thanks. Not surprising the wheeze cardholders didn’t get the letter. Good to know, though.
    - Roberto says:
      
      18 Nov18 November 16:46
      
      I had this emailed to me today from airport angels regarding their Barclays’ branded cards .. I know many of us have them via a “wheeze” but it seems as if its come to an end.. There is another thread about this somewhere and I will update that too if I can find it..
      
      Dear Roberto,
      
      Thank you for your email.
      
      Barclays have found a new lounge supplier which will be taking over from Airport Angel. For your new membership card, you will need to contact Dragon Pass on 0333 220 5599.
      
      All AA Barclays memberships will expire on the 29th November – cards will not be valid passed this point.
      
      Barclays are in the process of communicating with all of their customers regarding the provider switch.
      
      I hope this answers your query but please do not hesitate to contact us again if needs be.
      
      Regards
      
      John Gregory | Airport Angel Support
      CPP Group Plc – Travel Services
Keith says:

11 Nov11 November 09:31

Delivery is £2.95 for orders over £50 and requires a signature on Tesco gift shop
Liz says:

11 Nov11 November 12:21

OT MSE showing a Tesco wine code XXLRTY 500 club card points for new and existing customers on a £60 spend – 3500 codes – till Sunday
- harry says:
  
  11 Nov11 November 12:39
  
  Nice. Just picked up my wife’s 6 Tesco Grocery wines with the 500 point code that I posted earlier. True enough – it was somewhat targeted as it didn’t work on my a/c or for some other poster here. But it was in generic format ie XX.
  - CV3V says:
    
    11 Nov11 November 13:40
    
    btw the wine code, when ordering groceries, also works for those little one glass bottles, worked for me last week – the main issue is the wine tastes awful!
  - TimS says:
    
    11 Nov11 November 20:48
    
    I think this code only works via ‘Tesco Wine by the Case’ and not wine purchased via Tesco Groceries.
    - harry says:
      
      11 Nov11 November 20:53
      
      Yep 2 different codes, you’re right.
      
      Mine is on a recent BITS, Groceries.
      
      This one is for WBTC.
- Rob says:
  
  11 Nov11 November 12:59
  
  Thanks Liz, will take a look and try to get it in tomorrow.
- harry says:
  
  11 Nov11 November 21:05
  
  correction
  
  ker-ching another 1000 Tesco points plus the extras
  
  easy mistake
  
  2400 Avios plus the extras
harry says:

11 Nov11 November 22:21

Travel in London on Friday 13 November 2015 and, thanks to your contactless MBNA MasterCard®, it won’t cost you a bean.

TOUCH IN ON TRANSPORT FOR LONDON THIS FARE
FREE FRIDAY

Touch in and out to travel in London on the bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail, Emirates Air Line and most National Rail services using your MBNA MasterCard contactless account (including Apple Pay™) on Friday 13 November 2015, and we’ll refund your fare (up to £27.90).

That should make your commute to work more pleasant… or, if you’re lucky enough to have some time on your hands, why not explore the capital and discover something new?

Small print

MBNA MasterCard contactless – Transport for London – Fare Free Friday:
1. Offer is restricted to eligible MBNA MasterCard account holders.
2. The offer will be available from 04:30am 13 November 2015 to 01:00am 14 November 2015 inclusive (“Promotional Period”).
3. To redeem the offer, eligible account holders must use their MBNA MasterCard contactless card or device to travel by bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, Emirates Air line, TfL Rail and most National Rail services in London during the Promotional Period.
4. To qualify for the offer you must touch your MBNA MasterCard contactless payment card or device on a yellow card reader at the start and end of each journey by bus, Tube, DLR, London Overground, Emirates Air Line, TfL Rail and most National Rail services in London (or any combination of these) and at intermediate points where required. On London Buses and on London Trams you must only touch in at the start of your journey.
5. Offer excludes travel on Thames Clippers River Bus services.
6. Eligible MBNA MasterCard contactless account holders must have an active account, with the requisite funds to cover their Transport for London travel costs during the Promotional Period.
7. The offer entitles eligible MBNA MasterCard account holders to receive a refund against their qualifying travel costs, during the Promotional Period,up to a maximum value of £27.90. The offer is as stated and nothing else is included.
8. The refund will take up to 28 working days from the end of the Promotional Period to appear in the qualifying account.
9. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount, offer or promotion.
10. Offer is subject to the Transport for London Contactless Payment Cards Conditions of Carriage located at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/terms
11. To the fullest extent possible in law, neither MasterCard nor agencies involved in this offer will be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever caused by matters relating to this offer.
12. By redeeming this offer, eligible account holders will be deemed to be bound by and have accepted these terms and conditions.
13. Any question concerning the legal interpretation of the rules will be based on English law and the Courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction.
14. In exceptional circumstances, the Promoter reserves the right to vary these terms and conditions or withdraw the offer at any stage.
15. Promoter: MBNA Limited. Registered Office: Stansfield House, Chester Business Park, Chester CH4 9QQ.
Roger says:

13 Nov13 November 20:00

10% off DragonPass purchases over £60 with Nationwide Simply Rewards.
harry says:

13 Nov13 November 21:40

You might need a current a/c to transfer to (say) Halifax for a £150 credit