Bits: save 15% on easyJet Plus, No1 Lounge at Birmingham opens, CP Edinburgh rebrands

News in brief:

Save 15% on easyJet Plus membership

Over the weekend we ran a review of the easyJet Plus membership scheme, which you can read here.

Reader Dave pointed out in the comments that there is currently a 15% discount available for new easyJet Plus members.

Use code EJMC001 by 31st December 2021. This is, in theory, an offer for Mastercard cardholders but I’m sure you have one somewhere in your wallet. There is no requirement to pay with a Mastercard.

The code takes the fee for new members down from £215 to £183 for your first year. It cannot be used to discount a membership renewal.

The easyJet Plus website is here.

No1 Lounge at Birmingham Airport reopens today

If you are flying through Birmingham Airport this Christmas, your lounge options have just increased.

As well as the main Aspire Lounge which Rhys recently reviewed here, the No1 Lounge is scheduled to re-open today. See the images above and below.

It will be open from 5am to 10m daily, except for Tuesdays and Thursdays when it will be closed. This may be linked to the schedules of some of the long haul airlines which use the lounge for their passengers.

Remember that No1 Lounges is now part of the Priority Pass lounge club programme again.

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 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 is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with two free visits to any Priority Pass lounge.  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.

There is no word yet on when the premium Clubrooms lounge, also operated by No1, will open.

You can find out more, and book places for cash, on the No1 website here.

Crowne Plaza Edinburgh Royal Terrace rebranding

Crowne Plaza Edinburgh Royal Terrace is leaving the brand, in a move which will leave the city without a Crowne Plaza hotel. It has only been part of the chain for eight years.

Edinburgh retains InterContinental The George and Kimpton Charlotte Square, the latter also being a Crowne Plaza in an earlier life.

The hotel may be leaving the brand, but it isn’t leaving IHG. It will rebrand as a voco in early 2022. voco is IHG’s ‘soft’ brand for hotels which are high quality but can’t meet the brand standards required to carry another name. This will be the second voco in Edinburgh after the recently opened Haymarket hotel.

Crowne Plaza Edinburgh does not have a great reputation, and doesn’t even have a restaurant open at the moment – the only meal available is breakfast. The gym is also closed.

Here is the most recent TripAdvisor review:

“Booked 2 nights in a King Deluxe room and have to say it bore no resemblance to the photo on the site. Strange layout with a big heavy door in between bed, hall and bathroom. Tired, old and chipped furniture and old carpets. Very hard bed and old lumpy pillows. Not where I’d choose to spend £400+ of my hard earned money. I feel duped by the lovely pictures on the site.”

For something better, our review of Kimpton Charlotte Square is here.

Thanks to Alan for this.