Bits: Virgin East Coast 50% off sale, HfP in the Daily Mail, a good Club Europe meal

News in brief:

Virgin East Coast four day sale

Virgin East Coast is running a short sale until Thursday night.  The discount is apparently a full 50% on all sale tickets, although the deals cannot be combined with any railcards you hold.

The sale is valid for travel between 5th September and 4th November but excluding half term week of 21st to 30th October.

My very positive review of the new food offering in First Class on East Coast is here.  A review of the refurbished First Class lounge at Kings Cross will follow later this week.

HfP in the Daily Mail

The Daily Mail ran an online story yesterday about the recent cutbacks to the British Airways food and drink offering.  My recent articles on the topic were referenced as you can read here.

Similar stories have appeared elsewhere in recent days which cannot make pleasant reading for BA bosses.

An impressive meal in Club Europe

Ironically, at the same time as the Daily Mail was using my articles as the basis for a piece criticising BA cuts, I had one of my best Club Europe meals in a long time.

The picture above is a very decent cod and mash dish I got on the way down to Spain on Saturday.  I had no complaints at all.  There even a salad alternative for anyone who didn’t want a hot meal.  BA did well here.

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 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 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.)