Home » Airline Groups (Page 2)

Category Archives: Airline Groups

Use BA’s companion voucher on Iberia flights

7 January 2024 / Leave a comment

I was never a fan of the British Airways Premium Plus Amex card, mainly because I was, for the most time, a solo traveller. Its companion voucher went through a major overhaul in 2022 though which made it much more appealing, and I will take a close look it today.

The Travel Together Ticket issued by the Chase British Airways Visa Signature card is, as far as I know, exactly the same, so the following discussions hold for both.

To earn the companion voucher, you need to spend £10,000 in a card year. The voucher is issued right after you’ve met the spending criteria, and valid for two years from that date.

Applies to redemption tickets on BA, EI and IB metal
The cardholder must travel
The origin can be anywhere
Works on one-way, return and open-jaw itineraries
Works on all cabin classes
Save 50% in Avios for one or two persons
Full taxes and charges are still payable

There are two major improvements: firstly, solo travellers can use it for 50% discount; secondly, it’s extended to Iberia and Aer Lingus flights too.

Unfortunately due to the constant efforts of BA to devalue Avios, long-haul redemptions are, very often, no longer very good in value even when the voucher is applied. For short-haul redemptions the math works out better, but in absolute terms you aren’t saving a lot.

The best way to use this voucher lies with Iberia, as they have a very generous redemption chart.

A one-way flight from Madrid to New York, in business class, costs only 34,000 Avios. For South America it’s 42,500 or 51,000 Avios. This is incredibly cheap compared to BA.

Taxes and fees are also very reasonable. For Madrid – Buenos Aires return it costs 102,000 Avios + £236.30 – superb value! Note that the chart above is for off-peak dates, and it will cost more in peak season.

With the companion voucher applied, departing from Madrid in off-peak season, you will pay the following figures for a return trip per person:

New York – 34,000 Avios + £215.60
Bogota – 42,500 Avios + £224.20
Buenos Aires – 51,000 Avios + £236.30

Note that you need to book on ba.com rather than iberia.com to use the voucher. You could add your positioning flight to / from Madrid in the same booking with the 50% discount applied too. However:

Don’t add London – Madrid to the same booking, otherwise it incurs the hefty APD
Don’t mix with BA flights, otherwise it increases the cost significantly

My recommendation is to book e.g. Madrid – New York – Madrid – London using the voucher, and then sort out London – Madrid separately. Here’s my trip to Bogota:

It costs 48,875 Avios + £244. As it’s an open-jaw booking, it’s not possible to do it online – confirm online that there’s availability and then call BA to book it, mentioning that you want to use the companion voucher.

Xiamen and Kenya redemptions live on Virgin Atlantic

24 December 2023 / Leave a comment

Virgin Atlantic has been working very hard since it joined Skyteam at the beginning of this year, and more and more partner awards are available for redemption online which makes our life easier.

Following ITA Airways and AeroMexico, Kenya Airways is now the latest addition. With its hub in Nairobi Kenya Airways gives you some connection options in Africa.

They have a fifth-freedom route in Asia, between Bangkok and Guangzhou.

China’s Xiamen Airlines is also worth a mention. They are notoriously stingy about reward availability and rarely release any seat to their own members, let alone to its partners. Therefore although Xiamen’s redemption has been available online with VS from the beginning, availability is near non-existent.

Xiamen seems to have made a turn in its business strategy recently and launched a few very aggressive sales. Considerable amount of award seats are now bookable as well.

Beijing:

Hong Kong:

Singapore:

Taxes and fees are very low as you can see from the pictures above, but airfares tend to be cheap in China / Asia so it’s still worth comparing both options. Availability appears to be in economy class only.

Free LoungeKey pass with AirHelp on flight delays

23 December 2023 / Leave a comment

We wrote about AirHelp Plus recently, which is an interesting insurance option that offers direct cash payout on flight and baggage delays. My recent Ryanair flight was delayed by more than one hour, and I already have a first-hand experience with one of their benefits.

Upon landing I received an SMS from AirHelp telling me that they’ve issued me a lounge pass. It’s a pass from LoungeKey valid for the next three months at any location globally. You can search available lounges here.

Like Priority Pass, LoungeKey also belongs to the Collinson Group, so you’ll see a lot of coverage overlap between them. Remember that however, Priority Pass issued by American Express is longer valid at non-lounge experience, and that’s where LoungeKey has its edge. For example:

Hong Kong – Putien Restaurant, dining menu set
Singapore – TranSpa, head massage etc
Kuala Lumpur – Travellers Bar & Grill, all-you-can-eat for three hours
Tokyo / Osaka – Botejyu, 3,400 JPY credit
London Heathrow – Big Smoke
London City – Cabin Bar
Paris CDG – Yotel three-hour stay
Frankfurt – Be Relax Spa, 30-minute massage

Since the pass is valid for three months you should have a good chance of using it. There’s an ongoing promotion for the AirHelp Plus Complete subscription: use code AHPCXMAS for €5 off until January 7th.

Emirates Skywards 2,000 miles sign-up bonus

22 December 2023 / Leave a comment

Emirates started a strategic partnership with China’s Ctrip just days ago, and launched a couple of inaugural promotions:

Eligible Ctrip members can fast track to Emirates Silver / Gold status after just one flight. I’m afraid this is probably irrelevant to the majority of our readership.

If you aren’t an Emirates Skywards member yet however, you could sign up using the invitation code CTRIP, to earn 2,000 miles immediately upon registration.

Red by Dufry Platinum upgrade via status match

18 December 2023 / Leave a comment

This is an interesting and unusual status match opportunity. Red by Dufry is inviting many eligible members to match to their (top) Platinum status.

The offer’s landing page is here, which is hosted by statusmatch.com.

You need to have qualifying elite status with a hotel or an airline
If approved, you will be granted Platinum status for one year
Application is free
There’s no deadline currently

You can find qualifying programs and statuses here.

For airlines, all elite tiers are included. For example BA Bronze and AF Silver are both accepted.
For hotels, the lowest elite tiers are excluded. For example Hilton / Marriott Silver aren’t eligible, but Gold and Platinum are.

In summary the match is very easy, but to be honest I still don’t understand what the requalification criteria are – I barely used Red but was never downgraded from Platinum although it’s been a few years now.

Red by Dufry owns hundreds of duty-free airport stores all over the world, mainly in Europe and Americas. As a Platinum member you are entitled to 10% discount on your purchase, and you can also earn 1 Avios per £1 / €1 spent.

You also get free lounge access at Zurich and Basel airport.

New Marriott / Singapore partnership that fast tracks you to Star Alliance Gold (but with a catch)

17 December 2023 / Leave a comment

Marriott Bonvoy has had long-standing partnerships with airlines including United and Emirates. A new name has just been added to the list – Singapore Airlines. You can view the promotion details and link your accounts here.

[Marriott Bonvoy]

Gold: Two flights within six months for Krisflyer Silver
Platinum and Above: instant Krisflyer Silver, and four flights within six months for Krisflyer Gold
Booking class G and award tickets are excluded

Matched / upgraded status is valid for 12 months. As the challenge starts immediately once you’ve linked your accounts, wait till you have relevant flight plans.

One biggest catch is how a “flight” is defined. I’ve seen at least three response emails from SG already, and here’s one of them on China’s FlyerT forum:

In addition, a few data points concerning the ongoing Infinite Journey promotion they have with Shangri-La confirm that it is indeed based on bookings not segments. This is bad news as you can’t complete the challenge in one return trip of four flight segments.

(Update: we’ve now received a data point and a reader was upgraded after one PNR of four segments.)

If you are based in Singapore / Southeast Asia it is still relatively easy (and cheap).

There’s also a “hack” for European residents, as SQ has a fifth-freedom flight between Milan and Barcelona.

Four one-ways cost about €400 (with the discount offered by Trip.com). KrisFlyer Silver is next to useless. Krisflyer Gold however, gives you extensive benefits including priority check-in, extra baggage allowance and business lounge across the Star Alliance network.

[Singapore Krisflyer]

Silver: stay three nights within 6 months for Marriott Silver
Gold: instant Marriott Gold, and stay ten nights within 6 months for Marriott Platinum

If you are currently Marriott Platinum and above, you could complete the Krisflyer Gold challenge, and at some point link back for the Marriott Challenge, if they allow it.

[Shangri-La Circle]

In case you have Shangri-La Jade membership that’s due to expire, you should participate in the Infinite Journey promotion first if you haven’t done so already. Similarly you’ll get Krisflyer Silver and then need to fly three times in four months to upgrade to Gold.

After 12 months you could then re-do the challenge through Marriott’s offer – their terms explicitly say that previous status match promotions don’t preclude you from being eligible.

My review of Valiant Lady, Virgin Voyages

12 December 2023 / Leave a comment

This is the review of my first ever cruise trip – Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady Barcelona route for 7 nights. I wrote a guide on virgin point redemption and cruise benefits a while ago, and it is finally the exciting time for me to start the journey!

[Before the trip]

Once you’ve made your booking you can download the Virgin Voyages mobile app, as all the cruise details and planning happen in here. Remember to link reservations if you know someone else on the same trip, as you’ll receive a bottle of champagne as a gift.

Although you could make dinner reservations well in advance, only very limited slots are open before sailing so it’s unnecessary. Remember to do online check-in two days in advance, and once you are on board book your dinner and activities as soon as possible.

From this moment on the app only works with onboard wi-fi though, which is inconvenient whilst you are doing shore activities. The app is slow and can crash very often.

[Boarding]

After staying one night at the W Barcelona hotel, we are ready to get on the ship. The cruise terminal is next to the WTO centre.

Virgin promises a VIP boarding lane for Sailing Club members but I didn’t see any. Not that it upsets me in any way, as the boarding is quite swift.

I was handed two wristbands. The red one acts as a key fob which you need throughout your trip. The blue ribbon is a sign of your Sailing Club status – however you really don’t need it, as all your Sailing Club benefits are coded in your fob already.

On the first evening there’s a special social event for all solo passengers. They organise a Whatsapp group where people discuss and organise things to do, so it shouldn’t be too boring even if you are travelling alone.

By my rough estimate – half of the passengers are American, and ~30% are British or Irish.

[The Room]

Each of us four has a room to our own, and we paid 360,000 Virgin points in total. They three are at level 13 and 14, all in the Central Sea View Terrace which is the best room type that’s redeemable with points.

Don’t underestimate the value of being “central”. Valiant Lady is over 300 metres long, and I easily score a few thousand steps simply by moving around the ship for my daily routines. Being close to the centre of the ship saves you a lot of time.

I on the other hand won a bid at £180 for an upgrade to an XL Terrace room, which is 4sqm larger.

The bedroom has very little difference but the bathroom is much more spacious. £180 for seven nights is a fair price to pay in my opinion.

The only downside is, all XL Terrace rooms are located at the front or the rear of the ship. Even worse mine is at the lower eighth level and right above the Red Room which is a theatre / dancing hall – my wall pulsated hard during some performances! Fortunately all events finish at 11pm so it barely bothered me – in fact I slept very well throughout the whole trip.

The balcony is cool.

The satellite TV has a few live channels but reception is poor. There are quite a few movies / dramas though including latest releases, similar to an in-flight IFE.

The gifted champagne and my ice coffee:

Towels are replaced and drinking water is replenished daily by the housekeeping team. They don’t provide complimentary toothpaste or shaving kit.

[Facilities]

Valiant Lady has 17 decks / levels. Guestrooms are between Deck 8 and Deck 14. Restaurants and facilities are mostly on Deck 5, 6, 7 and 15.

Designs are different but they all have the boldness and vibrancy in common which is in the blood of Virgin’s branding.

There are many bars both indoors and outdoors, so you can always find a spot to snack or work easily.

This terrace on Deck 7 is my favourite spot.

The casino, which I assume is a main revenue stream for the cruise company.

Also a few board games to choose from:

Shuffleboard and Power Hockey for the sportives:

Arcades as well with all the classic games installed for the old-fashioned:

[Gym]

There are two larges gyms on Deck 15, where you can find many treadmills, bicycles and other equipment. I tried out some exercise classes: yoga, bike and roller massage.

The yoga class is nothing to write home about. However the view in the classroom is amazing!

It’s worth mentioning that headcount is very limited for these classes, so make your booking as soon as possible.

There’s a 250m track on Deck 16 for running and jogging.

The white Virgin logo, backed by the vivid red painting, adds a big wow factor and personality to the ship.

There are two pools on Deck 15.

As you can see it’s more of a relaxation area, and no one actually swims here. There’s a big pool party on the Scarlet Night which is a lot of fun!

And a basketball court:

[Entertainment]

There are non-stop entertainment programs every day, some of which require pre-booking. On the first night we watched the (slightly underwhelming) magic show:

An acrobatics-blended theatre performance:

Unfortunately The Ship Show was fully booked so we weren’t able to check out this signature program. Other programs include talk shows, Drag, live DJ, dancing party, drawing lessons and makeup lessons.

It is an adult-only cruise, in other words a haven free of screaming and run-around kids!

[Dining]

Virgin Voyages is an all-inclusive cruise (food and soft drinks are complimentary), and I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed. Speaking of “all-inclusive”, we are not talking about mediocre buffets, instead you’ll sit down for a fine dining experience.

Pink Agave

Mexican restaurant which is generally regarded as the best one out of the six. The design is probably inspired by submarines.

I can’t speak highly enough of the prawns, salmon, seabass, duck and steaks that we’ve ordered! This is the only restaurant that we visited twice – not that the other restaurants were bad, but we just didn’t have enough time.

Extra Virgin

This is an Italian restaurant. To be honest I’m not a big fan of Italian and suggested to skip it, but I’m very grateful that we didn’t!

The steak is simply incredible and even better than that of Pink Agave’s, and I’ll place it side by side with the steaks I had in Argentina. The creamy Spaghetti is also very impressive.

We ordered so much here making it look like a buffet, and we were a little bit embarrassed. The waitress was super professional and polite, always wearing a nice smile.

The Test Kitchen

The Test Kitchen has a very interesting concept which provides experimental cuisine. The restaurant’s layout resembles that of a laboratory.

There’s one set menu of five or six courses for everyone. The portion is quite small, which is expected as it’s more something for you to taste.

The cuisine here might not be the best, but it’s a unique experience that you don’t buy easily elsewhere. They are also the only restaurant which changes the menu mid-week.

Razzle Dazzle

British pub food mostly, so nothing exciting here.

It is however one of the only two restaurants that make breakfast, and the quality is awesome. I especially like the rainbow churros.

Gunbae

Korean barbeque – Gunbae means “cheers” in Korean (very similar to Chinese and Japanese). Service here is the best, food on the other hand is worse than an average barbeque restaurant you find in London.

The rule here is they gather six people at the same table and play games. If you want to socialise with strangers you might like it.

The Wake

Seafood steakhouse, least memorable out of the six in terms of service and food.

One party can only make one lunch or dinner reservation per day. Don’t worry though, as there are many other eateries available. The Galley takes half of Deck 15 and is open 24 hours.

Breakfast is more or less what you expect at an European hotel restaurant, and I think they should add an international flavour to it.

Lunch / dinner is much better. There are food stalls for ramen and tacos.

The pizza restaurant on Deck 7 is yummy.

They have Spanish tapas and Greek mezzes served in the bar restaurant, but we didn’t get the chance to try this time.

Each restaurant has some premium dishes that require a surcharge. My friend who came last year ordered some and was underwhelmed, so we didn’t pay for anything this time.

Based on London’s prices, you can easily consume £100 worth of food and drinks a day, which earns you back that 80,000 points in a week already – even better if you come in a pair.

[Sailing Club]

It turned out to be a very wise move to match to Sailing Club beforehand. All benefits (barring the non-existent Priority Boarding) are very handy:

Premium wi-fi: powered by Starlink and fast enough for video streaming. Upgrade from free wi-fi costs $30 a day.

$100 bar tab credit: alcohol pricing is very reasonable (beer $6.6 / cocktail $10 – $20), and we struggled to use up the credit

$10 daily coffee credit: enough for two barista coffees (filter coffee is free)
Laundry: one (large) bag
Exclusive cocktail event: on Day 2 all Sailing Club members are invited to the event on Deck 17 for cocktails and live music performance

I’m proud to say, besides the £180 for cabin upgrade, I didn’t spend a penny on the cruise!

[Shore Activities]

Our trip had four stops, each for one day except for Ibiza where the ship parked overnight.

Toulon:

La Spezia:

Ajaccio:

Ibiza:

That’s my first-ever cruise experience with Virgin’s Valiant Lady. With the full capacity at 2,500, our trip has a comfortable load of 1,700 people but I was informed that the next one has 2,200! I wouldn’t hesitate to return next year, but if the occupancy remains high I’m not sure if they’ll open up point redemption again.