Bits: IHG UK sale at 9am, triple Avios registration hiccups, HfP lounge review links

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News in brief:

IHG flash sale starts at 9am

IHG, owner of the Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental and Indigo brands amongst others, is launching a 72-hour flash sale at 9am today.

This will ONLY cover hotels in the UK.

I don’t have any further information except that the discounts will be “amazing” (says IHG) and that you need to stay between 4th January and 27th February 2017.

The landing page for the sale is here. The InterContinental O2, pictured below, may or may not be included.

As the sale requires you to be an IHG Rewards Club (free to join) member to book, I would imagine – but check the small print – that rooms are guaranteed to qualify to earn points and stay credit. This could make it a cheap way to tick off some of your targets for the Spring ‘Accelerate’ promotion, especially if you are targeted for an extra bonus for a stay in January.

Registration issues for ‘triple Avios’

I wrote about the new British Airways ‘triple Avios’ promotion yesterday.

Many of us were getting odd messages when registering. During the morning, BA changed the website to say that UK and US residents must wait until Thursday to register. If your BA account lives elsewhere you can register now.

If you tried to register yesterday and got the confusing ‘Thank you for registering / you are not registered’ message, try again tomorrow.

Plaza Premium Terminal 4 two

Our UK airport lounge reviews collected

Following a reader suggestion, I have put together links to all of our UK airport and train lounge reviews in one place.

Going forward, you can easily find a link to a UK lounge review by going here. I haven’t included our overseas reviews because they are a rather eclectic selection. The UK listing is fairly comprehensive for the South East – I apologise for the weaker coverage elsewhere.

This is what we have so far:

Heathrow: Club Millesime T5 Arrivals, British Airways Concorde Room T5, British Airways Galleries First T5, British Airways T5 Arrivals, Aspire T5, Plaza Premium T4, Etihad T4, SkyTeam T4, Qatar Airways T4, Cathay Pacific T3 (and video and video), American Airlines T3, British Airways Galleries T3, Club Aspire T3 (and a video), Emirates T3, No 1 Lounges T3, Virgin Atlantic T3, Aer Lingus T2, Plaza Premium T2, Plaza Premium T2 #2, Plaza Premium T2 Arrivals, Lufthansa T2, Air Canada T2, United Airlines Business and First T2, Singapore Airlines T2

Gatwick: No 1 Traveller North, My Lounge North, My Lounge North #2, No 1 Lounges South, No 1 Lounges Clubrooms South

London City: First Class / Private Jet Terminal (and a video)

Luton: Aspire

Stansted: Escape

Southend: SkyLife

Edinburgh: No 1 Lounges, British Airways

Eurostar: St Pancras

Trains: Euston, Kings Cross, Paddington, Liverpool, Manchester Piccadilly

The photo above is from the Plaza Premium lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4.

Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, here are the three options to get FREE airport lounge access via a credit or charge card:

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta and Eurostar lounges. Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

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 Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with two free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £20. You get two more free visits for every year you keep the card.

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus. Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network. Guests are charged at £20 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer. Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.