Bits: 25% off No 1 Lounges, Amex finally supports Android Pay, new BA celebrity safety video

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• Cate says:

  21 Jul21 July 12:35

  I’ve just had an email from BA saying I have till the 23rd of July to buy something through their shop for a 500 avios bonus.

  • ankomonkey says:

    21 Jul21 July 13:15

    I’ve found Lakeland great for offers like this. I live close to one so can click&collect for free. I can buy a packet of reasonable biscuits for a couple of quid, end up in profit and either eat or gift the biscuits.

    • Cate says:

      21 Jul21 July 19:03

      …I think I could manage a packet of biscuits for 500 avios :-). Thanks for the tip.

• Fenny says:

  21 Jul21 July 13:23

  OT but lounge related. I’ll be flying out of LGW on a 5.30am Easyjet flight. Which lounges are likely to be open at 4am to get coffee?

  • Phil says:

    21 Jul21 July 14:20

    You’ll be able to find opening hours online.

  • Paul L says:

    22 Jul22 July 00:03

    Easiest way to find out would probably be to use the loungebuddy app to list all the lounges you can access (based on status / cc). You will then just need to click on each lounge to check the opening times.
    You can do similar on the prioritypass and loungeclub websites if that is how you are getting access.

• Jon says:

  21 Jul21 July 13:27

  It will be a long time before anyone tops Virgin America’s safety video.

  • Rob says:

    21 Jul21 July 16:16

    Here we go:

    https://youtu.be/DtyfiPIHsIg

    Not sure the CAA would allow that here.

    The key with this one is that it isn’t trying to be funny, just entertaining.

• Phil says:

  21 Jul21 July 14:02

  OT- do I need to have a preferred rewards Gold charge card to get the gold rewards credit card from AMEX? I currently have the Gold charge card but I don’t plan to keep it beyond year 1.

  • Mzungu says:

    21 Jul21 July 14:31

    I think you’ll find that the Gold Credit Card is described as a Companion Card, as in companion to the PRGC. Having said that, I asked AMEX on the phone if I could keep the Gold Credit Card when I cancel the PRGC, and I was told I could… for a £36/year fee 🙁
    I’m pretty sure it would also prevent you from churning the PRGC for a bonus, if that’s your intention, as you would still be holding a MR earning card.

    • Phil says:

      21 Jul21 July 14:35

      Thanks for sharing your experience. To be honest I mainly just don’t see PRGC being worth the annual fee however I slice it! The 20,000 MRP welcome bonus was certainly nice though! I’m probably not a big enough spender to justify even £36 p.a. for the Gold credit card so will stay with the free BA AMEX.

    • Rob says:

      21 Jul21 July 16:11

      You can now apply for an Amex Rewards Credit Card as a stand-alone product – see https://headforpoints.com/hfp/amex-gold-credit-card-purchases/ – which will keep your MR points alive.

      • Alex W says:

        21 Jul21 July 16:29

        Do any of these credit cards allow you to get the bonus for referring others for Gold/Plat charge card?

        • Rob says:

          21 Jul21 July 18:34

          No idea. Unlikely.

        • Andrew says:

          21 Jul21 July 19:40

          I have the Gold Charge and Gold Credit Cards and I only have the option to refer under the Charge Card, not the Credit Card.

        • Alex W says:

          21 Jul21 July 21:19

          Ok thanks.

• Stephen Lee says:

  21 Jul21 July 14:07

  Doesn’t work with Amex card issued by MBNA (Virgin). Maybe only Amex cards issued by Amex.

  Steve

  • AVM says:

    21 Jul21 July 16:00

    Correct!

    • Mikeact says:

      22 Jul22 July 11:59

      My Lloyds Debit card fine, my Lloyds Amex card not fine.

  • Alan says:

    22 Jul22 July 17:53

    Indeed – might be worth Rob amending to make clear only Amex-issued Amex.

    Also only takes longer than contactless card with iOS, Android works nice and quickly 😛

• john says:

  21 Jul21 July 15:44

  OT: curve card doing through as a debit card again at Guildford counciltax. Originally it worked as debit, then went to credit only, now its working as debit again and refused as credit card!

  • Roger says:

    22 Jul22 July 06:40

    If one hopes that curve goes through as debit card, does one need to select card type as Maestro or Mastercard when doing online?

• Ben says:

  21 Jul21 July 17:03

  Just wanted to note that Apple Pay or Android Pay is not slower than other cards.

  There’s a way on iPhone to ensure you get through the gate faster by double tapping the home button when the phone is locked: http://www.wired.com/2015/09/double-press-the-home-button-to-launch-apple-pay/amp/

  • Lumma says:

    21 Jul21 July 17:39

    I don’t understand why anyone uses Apple/android pay for London transport. The system treats the phone and physical card as being seperste, so if there’s any point that you pay for transport with the card (due to having flat battery or something), it won’t count towards the daily/weekly cap

    • anikaanika99 says:

      21 Jul21 July 17:53

      I’ve used Apple Pay for London Transport for a while but had way too many embarrassing moments at the oyster gate. Even when launching Apple Pay prior to getting to the gate it would only work 3 times out of 4 …

      • Leo says:

        22 Jul22 July 19:00

        It’s annoying for those behind phone users at the gates, knocks everyone’s timing off – there I said it!

        • flyforfun says:

          23 Jul23 July 00:33

          Just like George Clooney in Up in the Air avoids queues with families in, I try to avoid queues with people trying to use their phones at TFL barriers. It is noticeably slower and more people seem to have an issue with it than a credit card or oyster. After having to use my CC for a bit, I’m sticking to the oyster card for speed – despite what TFL keep shouting on their speakers!!

    • F says:

      22 Jul22 July 05:44

      I was told by the help desk that it should all count towards the same cap but obviously didn’t work this way. But if you were mixing and matching occasionally you can call to fix your pricing

  • Alan says:

    22 Jul22 July 17:54

    Don’t even need to unlock with Android – https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/18/android-pay-debuts-in-the-uk-no-need-to-unlock-device-when-you-tap-for-sales-under-30/

    Agree risk re flat battery with phone vs using card though…

• JamesB says:

  21 Jul21 July 22:56

  Hi Rob, in the bits post the other day you provided the link to the main curve android article. Is your referral code still working and is the blue card still free? If so, I’ll use it. Is the £200/month ATM allowance for earning points or miles on a monthly calendar basis or card anniversary basis? Thanks.

  • Rob says:

    21 Jul21 July 23:55

    Yes, the code still works, thanks. And, yes, Blue is still free.

    The £200 is per calendar month, I just checked the FAQ. Note that the rules say “you MAY be charged a 2% fee on subsequent withdrawals” …. they don’t seem to be doing it so far, at least for £ withdrawals.

    • JamesB says:

      22 Jul22 July 00:07

      Cheers, will apply in the morning. In unlikely event it comes in before the end of this month I should manage £600 of the target spend on virgin white visa via ATM which is a good result in itself.

    • JamesB says:

      22 Jul22 July 08:14

      Rob, just a heads up for you. I just signed up for curve but it may be that the application process has changed slightly since app updates people have commented on recently. I worked through it very slowly and there was no place to add a referral code that I could see nor was there any page resembling the screenshot in your article showing where to enter it. The card did show as free though. On completing sign up I sent them a support message explaining this, gave them your code and asked if they could apply it manually, I will let you know their response.

      • JamesB says:

        22 Jul22 July 11:27

        Good news Rob, already got a response from curve and they have applied your code to my account Thanks again.

      • Alan says:

        22 Jul22 July 17:57

        Interesting, they said they were going to change the app to make the use of a referral code more obvious to new users signing up – perhaps this was only in the last day or so?

  • the_real_a says:

    22 Jul22 July 00:01

    The T&Cs say its £200 per calendar month. The app now shows your limits and usage against them.

    (My referral code if Rob does not get back to you JGOKM)

    • JamesB says:

      22 Jul22 July 08:17

      Sorry tra, Rob got in first but there may be an issue anyway as you will see from my comment above.

      • JamesB says:

        22 Jul22 July 18:42

        I think I’m losing my marbles 🙁 I see it in your screenshog but I would swear it wasn’t there early this morning.

        • Alan says:

          22 Jul22 July 18:43

          When did you last update the app? IIRC they recently added functionality to make adding a referral code more obvious…

      • JamesB says:

        22 Jul22 July 20:11

        @Alan, before 7 this morning. The page is the same as TEA shows but I just don’t recall the referral text despite it now being blatantly obvious. However, all’s well that ends well, Code was applied manually by CS.

        • Alan says:

          22 Jul22 July 20:15

          Glad to hear all sorted 🙂 They seem to be continually developing the app, Back In Time pretty nice (and loving their choice of Flux Capacitor as the icon for it!)

  • Alan says:

    22 Jul22 July 17:58

    The Curve app now tells you how much of your daily/monthly/annual limits you have used, with links to the Fair Use Policy. Just go menu > Curve Card Limits

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