Bits: 500 Avios from Tesco, Aer Lingus launching Philadelphia, new Amex Hong Kong lounge

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News in brief:

500 Amex points or Avios when you spend £10 at Tesco

A few readers have been in touch about a very generous offer which has appeared on their American Express online statements.

Once you have registered, you will get 500 Amex points, or 500 Avios, when spending £10 or more at Tesco by 3rd December.

Neither one of us has this offer (unfortunately), but it’s worth checking your Amex account for it, across all of your cards. The offer is valid once for the first 50,000 members who save it to their card so it can’t be that rare!

Aer Lingus to launch Philadelphia this week

There are strong rumours that Aer Lingus will launch a new route to Philadelphia this week. It will run four days a week from March 2018, using a Boeing 757.

This would be another excellent low-cost Avios redemption from Dublin to the US. As a reminder – although we will run through all this again when the route is officially confirmed – business class redemptions for Avios on Aer Lingus tend to have under £100 of taxes and charges.

Centurion lounge hong kong

First American Express lounge opened in Hong Kong

American Express has opened its first ‘Centurion’ lounge outside the US.

A few years ago Amex launched its own proprietary lounge network after they lost their deals with several major airlines who used to let Platinum card holders use their lounges.

Until now these Centurion lounges were only at selected US airports, but with the opening of the Centurion lounge at Hong Kong International Airport Amex has started its global extension.

Platinum (and Centurion) cardholders can use the lounge for free and bring up to two guests.

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.

Category

Aer Lingus and AerClub, American Express Membership Rewards, American Express Platinum card, British Airways and Avios, Tesco Clubcard

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

Genghis says:

4 Oct4 October 13:47

OT. 5k Virgin points just posted for keeping Virgin White and spending £1k
- Jonny says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 14:56
  
  they’re investigating this for me as I should have received the extra 5k (which they acknowledge)
- Justin says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 21:19
  
  I must have missed this, is this offer public or targeted?
  - Rob says:
    
    4 Oct4 October 21:28
    
    You need to call and threaten to cancel.
N says:

4 Oct4 October 14:17

OT: Cancelled my Plat and BAPP over the past few days – no retention offer of any sort.

Then hit the SPG sign-up in about 4 hours!
- Genghis says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 14:24
  
  I’ve only ever been made a retention offer once on SPG Amex double points for 3 months.
- EwanG says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 20:55
  
  This is a bit hit and miss!
  
  I cancelled my Plat on Sunday. Tried to do it on chat but was informed that was not possible and must call. Agent on phone offered an extra 1MR per £1 as retention but I did not accept.
Chick says:

4 Oct4 October 14:28

Seem it only loads if you have the basic BA card.
the real harry1 says:

4 Oct4 October 14:29

£15 Amazon worked fine – contactless as well
Stephen says:

4 Oct4 October 14:40

OT: I am looking to book award 2 business seats with ANA (via Virgin FC) and there is absolutely nothing for the whole of 2018 (up to September) for Tokyo, flying out from Brussels, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Paris, Frankfurt or Munich! Is this a joke?! Is this how it is supposed to be?
(I have used both United and ANA award search tools) — I am so frustrated!
Sussex Bantam says:

4 Oct4 October 15:14

OT – is there any experience on churning the Lloyds card to get another bite of the “double points for 6 months” cherry ?
- Alex W says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 15:26
  
  I’ve done it but have had the 2nd card since January and still no points have posted yet! I’ve already had £200 compo though, probably due some more.
  - Liz says:
    
    4 Oct4 October 15:29
    
    My 26 wk time frame for missing points is up tomorrow – I’ve been told my points will all magically appear at the next statement which is the 18th – I won’t hold my breath!
  - Sussex Bantam says:
    
    4 Oct4 October 16:11
    
    Thanks Alex – how long did you wait between cancelling and reapplying ?
    - Alex W says:
      
      4 Oct4 October 16:16
      
      It was >6 months. I also got the 2+ years interest free again, which could be worth about £300 per year with a £10k limit. I invest the cash elsewhere.
Chris says:

4 Oct4 October 15:35

OT one for anyone – possible to book a single using the Avios upgrade voucher?

My return seat disappeared underneath me as I was booking it which sucks, but still availability out on BA001 which I may as well use the voucher on if I can but site only seems to want to allow returns?
- the real harry1 says:
  
  4 Oct4 October 15:36
  
  yes – people often do this then add the return (by phone) later
  - Chris says:
    
    4 Oct4 October 15:47
    
    I can’t see how to select a one-way fare after selecting the voucher. I’m talking Avios voucher here, not 241
    - Genghis says:
      
      4 Oct4 October 15:51
      
      Anything that isn’t a simple return requires a phone call. My experience is that they’re very good
    - Charles says:
      
      4 Oct4 October 15:51
      
      You need to call Avios to book one way.
    - Mikeact says:
      
      4 Oct4 October 17:07
      
      Not sure where you thinking of travelling, but for what it’s worth, check out the ‘charges’ versus a round trip. In my case, it is so annoying re a trip to N America shortly with my wife. As it’s red eye back to the UK, I found a couple of Club World seats which would be ideal, but the BA charges are just totally out of sync with US carriers, so I’m using my Flying Blue stash for a couple of Delta Business seats, for a few Dollars each, likewise going out from AMS. The voucher will have to wait to be used for somewhere worthwhile.
Chris says:

4 Oct4 October 16:07

Thanks all