Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Plaza Premium loses management of the Cathay Pacific lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

Plaza Premium confirmed to us this week that it is no longer managing the Cathay Pacific lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3.

We had heard rumours of this from readers in the last couple of weeks, along with more worrying reports about a deterioration in food quality and service.  I don’t know who has replaced Plaza Premium – Accor manages the nearby Qantas lounge so it could be them – or who initiated the move.

Plaza Premium dropped from management of Cathay Pacific lounge Heathrow

The Cathay Pacific First Class lounge was, by far, the best option for a British Airways Executive Gold member flying out of Heathrow Terminal 3I reviewed it here.  You’d be a mug to use BA’s Galleries First lounge, which I reviewed here.  Let’s hope that the recent feedback reports are only a transitional blip.

Before anyone asks, if you have a British Airways Executive Club Silver card then I tend to recommend the Qantas lounge in Terminal 3, purely on grounds of scale.  The Cathay Pacific Business lounge is smaller but quieter.  Unless you are looking for a specific drink, item of food or magazine there is no logical reason to go near the American Airlines or British Airways lounges.


How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

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 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

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

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

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 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

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.)

Comments (137)

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

  • Anon says:

    LOT have a bid for upgrade option – anyone had any success with this and know what a good offer is to get to business from Warsaw to Singapore? No idea what loads are like and never flown them before.

    • Pangolin says:

      Their business loads (especially Eastbound) tend to be quite low. TBH you have a good chance of the bid being accepted even if you offer the minimum.

  • BlueHorizonuk says:

    OT: Rob I got a notification from twitter when you posted something last night about GUF changes. But clicking on it the tweet was deleted.

    What was it!!! LOL

  • TripRep says:

    OT: what’s the best travel FX deals at the moment, got an Amex spend target to hit, but only needing £300ish USD.

  • BlueThroughCrimp says:

    Been to Vilnius a couple of times.
    It’s a nice place, and when the City Fiesta is on at the end of August / beginning of September there’s a really good atmosphere around, with a huge range of stalls of local produce along one of the main streets.

  • Benylin says:

    OT: Wilko £10 back for £40 spend posted for 4 purchases, bought Amazon vouchers.

    • Anna says:

      Mine posted within 3 days, £10 back for GAP and Domino’s spend also appeared pretty quickly.

      • Roger says:

        Anna, got your split spend on GAP credited successfully?
        I still need to wait for few more days before I can chase Amex

        • Anna says:

          Yes it’s appeared now but took a few days longer than the credit to one of my other cards even though the orders were placed a few minutes apart.

  • Benylin says:

    OT: got this from Air France:
    GIVE THE GIFT OF TRAVEL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

    For a limited time only, purchase an Air France gift card and receive a free additional £20 when you spend £100 or more!*

    • BJ says:

      I was going to post this but was not sure if it was targetted. Under 200 left.

  • Matt says:

    Does anyone know what the lead times are for launching new routes? Flying ISB-LHR at the end of Feb and I’d love to fly direct rather than faffing around in the Gulf as I have done for the last eight years…

    • Rob says:

      In general it happens at the end of the season, most likely nearest Sunday to 31st March when the world airline timetables all switch overnight.

      • Nick says:

        Rob, slight correction… it’s always the last Sun in March, not the closest to the 31st… so it would be 25 Mar rather than 1 Apr, for example. Same day the clocks change, if that helps.

        As for BA’s new routes, note that PIT begins with next year’s summer schedule, so I would be amazed if ISB were sooner. Although stranger things have happened!

  • Craig says:

    OT: Amex Platinum car rental insurance, does this have to be paid for on the Platinum or is any Amex OK?

    • Alan says:

      Any is fine

    • Alan says:

      *Any card (doensn’t even have to be Amex)

    • Craig says:

      Many thanks.

      Also, if I book directly with Avis can I earn Avios using my BAEC number? It is pricing about £15 cheaper than through the BA website.

      • Alan says:

        I mainly use Hertz I’m afraid – I’d have thought you could still earn them but not sure if at a different rate or not.

      • Vivian says:

        yes you can as long as your BAEC number is entered onto your Avis profile.

    • Rob says:

      Any card you want. No requirement to use an Amex.

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