My Review of the iGA Lounge, Istanbul Airport
When planning my inbound trip to London from Istanbul, I really wished to fly Turkish Airlines as I was hoping to try out their renowned business class lounge at IST – and not to mention that their product in the air is generally deemed a lot better than BA. Unfortunately, their flight ticket was THREE times more expensive, so I had to stick to BA instead.
(more…)Marriott UK & Europe PointSavers Hotel List
Similar to the Pointbreaks promotion that IHG used to run, Marriott also has a regular promotion named PointSavers which offers discount on award night redemption.
My Review of JW Marriott Ankara
There aren’t many destinations welcoming UK tourists at the moment, and for most of them you have to self-isolate after returning. Considering this, Turkey is probably the best choice, or at least for me.
(more…)The Amex airport and lounge benefits that you don’t know of
American Express Platinum is one of the most premium credit card product out there which is publicly available. One benefit that many people value most is airport lounge access.
Amex has a dedicated webpage listing all participating lounges. The mostly known and used ones are probably Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, and Centurion lounges. However, this list isn’t really exhaustive, so I’ll list a few more options which you may find useful. The list blow is not limited to airport lounges, but also other ones plus fast track services.
Obviously all benefits are applicable to the Centurion card as well, if not at all enhanced.
[United States]
Plaza Premium is one of the major lounge partners with American Express. What you probably don’t know however, is that they operate most of Virgin Atlantic’s clubhouses. Actually all five clubhouses overseas (except the London flagship) are operated by Plaza Premium:
- New York JFK
- Boston
- Washington DC
- San Francisco
- Johannesburg
You don’t need to be flying with Virgin Atlantic or Delta, and can bring one guest.
I went to the London Clubhouse recently which was swarmed with Delta passengers and it wasn’t the nicest experience one could expect. I was at the Boston one a few years back (when it was still operated by Virgin itself) and it was pleasant.
Note that Flyertalk has reported frequent access restrictions, which is unsurprising given how many Amex Platinum cardholders there are in the US.
[United Kingdom]
If you hold Amex Centurion or Business Platinum, you could use fast track security when departing from London Heathrow. Note that it doesn’t apply to personal Platinum cardholders.
You could also use the Business Premier lounges when travelling on Eurostar. It applies to all lounges across the Eurostar network, not just in the UK.
[Germany]
When flying Lufthansa, Swiss or Austria, Amex Platinum cardholders could use the Lufthansa business lounge regardless of the class of travel, or Senator lounge when flying business class; and Centurion cardholders could use the first class lounge.
The benefit was trialled at Munich and Frankfurt initially, and now extended to many global locations including Berlin, London, Paris, Milan, Dubai, New York and Boston.
According to Wikipedia, Centurion cardholders enjoy complimentary access to Deutsche-Bahn first class lounges when travelling by train.
[Canada]
Pearson Priority Security Lane (fast track) at Toronto Pearson Airport’s Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.
[Belgium]
Fast lane is available to Platinum and Centurion cardholders at Brussels airport.
[Austria]
Fast track service is available to Platinum and Centurion cardholders at Vienna airport.
[Italy]
Fast track service is available to Platinum and Centurion cardholders at the following airports:
- Rome / FCO
- Milan / MXP
- Milan / LIN
- Naples / NAP
- Turin / TRN
- Palermo / PMO
- Catania / CTA
[Spain]
Fast track service is available to Platinum and Centurion cardholders at any AENA airports. The exhaustive list is here, which includes many, if not all Spanish airports, such as:
- Madrid
- Barcelona
- Seville
- Valencia
- Ibiza
- Palma de Mallorca
- Gran Canaria
- Tenerife
Instructions say you must generate a QR code first via the Amex Experiences app. However, anecdotes suggest you can also show your (non-Spain-issued) card for the staff to take down the details manually.
[Scandinavia]
Fast track service is available to Platinum and Centurion cardholders at the following airports:
- Stockholm / ARN Terminal 2 & 5
- Gothenburg / GOT
- Malmo / MMX
- Helsinki / HEL
[Australia]
Platinum / Centurion cardholders can access Virgin Australian domestic lounges with one guest with a same-day departing flight.
Note that some of these benefits may be limited to cards issued by certain countries only. For example, the Eurostar benefit is limited to UK- and France-issued cards, and the staff at St Pancras do always check.
BA Sale – Get Oneworld Sapphire for less than £600
British Airways is running yet another sale. Like its previous rounds, such sales are usually a very good way to get BA, and thus Oneworld elite status relatively quickly and at low cost.
IHG 50% off UK and Europe sale!
IHG has been running a “More to See” promotion for a while, and I just realised that it has been upgraded from “buy 2 get 1 free” to “buy 1 get 1 free”!
Can you check in your hand luggage when flying British Airways on HBO?
When it comes to honouring elite members’ benefits, different airlines may interpret it very differently even if they belong to the same alliance. On the one hand, Cathay Pacific allows Ruby passengers to select any seat for free at the time of booking; on the other hand, Sapphire and Emerald passengers can use only “fake” or third-party lounges when flying Qatar Airways.