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Bits: Heathrow’s Christmas ad, two free US Uber rides, American Express shopping offers

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News in brief:

Watch Heathrow’s Christmas ad

Heathrow Airport has released an incredibly sweet Christmas ad, reminding us all that Christmas is about spending time with your loved ones.

If you haven’t seen it on TV, I strongly recommend taking a look (click below, it may not display if you are reading this outside our website).  This ad will definitely make it into my top five Christmas ads this year …..

Free Uber ride up to $65

If you are heading to the US between now and New Year, American Express and Uber are running a holiday season promotion giving you two free Uber rides up to $65 each from selected US airports.

Simply enter the code AMEXAIRPORT before ordering your Uber and select an American Express card for your payment.  The code is accepted OK on UK registered Uber accounts.

This offer is valid for Uber rides before 31st December 2016 from the following airports:

LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
McCarran International Airport (LAS)
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)

If you don’t already have an Uber account, sign up using the code ‘uberheadforpoints’ (enter it on the Promo Code page once you’ve downloaded the app) and you will receive a £10 free first journey – UK rides only.

Harrods

Decent Harrods / American Express promotion

Finally, Harrods has launched a new cashback promotion with American Express.

This may – or may not – be showing under the ‘Offers’ section for one or more of your Amex-issued Amex cards on the online statement page.  If it is there, you need to load it to your card.

You will receive £30 cashback when you spend £100 in one transaction before Christmas Eve.  The offer terms state that gift cards are excluded but I’m not sure if that would be correct in practice.  Airport stores are excluded.

Whilst you’re in Knightsbridge, many people will have an offer for £20 back on a £100 transaction at Harvey Nichols.  This offer also runs to Christmas Eve.  I believe that there is also a House of Fraser cashback deal out there.


Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

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

Nectar American Express

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

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Amex Platinum Business American Express

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express card

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

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

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

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Comments (112)

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

  • mark2 says:

    Only if they have got a separate merchant ID for gift cards which is possible but unlikely.

  • Stu_N says:

    Thanks Anika – that will do me very nicely on a US trip next week.

  • Paulthetaxman says:

    Is the Apple concession counted as Harrods spend?

    Can you split a purchase across multiple cards?

    If yes – merry Christmas for me!

    • Tom H says:

      I d be interested in this, any one tried it? And is it available just once per card or can you do multiple transactions

    • BLT says:

      When they ran this offer 3 years ago, I went in to harrods and bought 8 x £50 gift cards then bought an ipad with the gift cards. Got the statement credits from Amex and therefore a half price ipad.

      • Paulthetaxman says:

        I think the difference here is they say gift cards are excluded from the offer (although I don’t see how they can track this via an onsite purchase).

        Maybe someone can confirm if they’ve bought gift cards using this offer specifically and if it worked.

        • BLT says:

          It says the same in all Amex promotions. If you buy the gift cards in store Amex have no way of tracking the transaction different to a normal purchase. This is the same for Harvey Nics, HoF, Currys, Amazon etc

          • Andrew says:

            I can confirm that gift cards sold in store do count as I did this yesterday.

  • blueskies says:

    OT Etihad offer via The Times

    The Times newspaper has teamed up with Etihad to provide an incredible offer whereby booking a single roundtrip flight in Economy Class will get you Etihad Guest Silver status. Book a flight in Business or First Class, and you will receive Etihad Guest Gold status.
    Must be booked by 24th Nov,could always signed up with a new email adress if you are already enrolled?link to book is found on secretflying.com

  • SLS says:

    Thanks. Heading to NY in two weeks will definitely be taking advantage of the uber offer!

    • roberto says:

      FWIW of you’re coming into EWR and staying midtown do your self a favour and let the train take the strain. The traffic is a nightmare and the airtrain/path option is so much quicker.

  • lucinda says:

    Used the harrods offer yday. Worked perfectly – bought 4x £100 gift cards on 4x amex at a quiet til then walked to menswear and bought a new moncler jacket
    In fact by the time i’d walked to the menswear section i’d already got 4 emails confirming the offer had been accepted.

    They also scanned my harrods loyalty card for the gift cards and obviously later for the jacket so maybe i double dipped there.

    • Andrew says:

      The Harrods rewards card swipe for gift card purchase is just to link it to your account so if you lost the gift card they could find its number, then cancel and reissue.

      • Rob says:

        You will get Harrods Rewards points for spending the gift card but not for buying it.

    • Cristiano says:

      I’m quite new to the Amex and their offers. I received recently the offer for harrods 30£ back on 100£. But to get this offer 4 times you have 4 Amex, right? or am i missing something?
      Thank you!

      • Alan says:

        Yes, most of the offers are only for use once (Shop Small a notable exception), but if you have multiple cards you can often get it on each one.

  • Tom says:

    Will the Amex / Uber offer work with Uber family accounts?

    Family accounts work like ITunes family accounts, whereby the ‘head of the family’ pays the bill.

    So if one of my family members enters the promo code, and chooses the Family profile which is my Amex card,any thoughts?

    Tks

  • Bryan says:

    Slightly OT – but it looks like Amex are sponsoring Black Friday on Amazon, but there are (as far as I know) no Amex/ amazon offers.
    Are we expecting anything from them? Or am I being a bit too hopeful?

    • Genghis says:

      Is it not part of the +3% cash back on Amex cash back platinum card at Amazon?

      • Rob says:

        Yes, it is linked to that offer which I mentioned last week.

        • Alan says:

          Thanks, Rob – past my first 3 months now on that card so of no use to me know – much have realised that when I first read it and put it out my mind!! Cheers though.

    • Frank says:

      Not related to credit cards, but I’ve got two offers in my Amazon account. One is £6 back for spending £40+ on a gift card (just bought one for my self online), and the other is £5 for topping up the account balance with £100+. So basically spend £151 but pay £140… not the best deal but it’s still money!

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