Book Virgin Chauffeur service for 17,500 points
Like many other airlines that wanted to impress their premium passengers onboard and off the plane, Virgin Atlantic used to offer free chauffeur service to Upper Class customers. The service has died down over the years though, and they no longer offer it in-house, but have partnered with a third-party provider and it is not to free to anyone anymore.
However, it is still possible to book the chauffeur service with Virgin points. It has a very limited audience though: only Upper Class reward tickets (booking class G) are eligible, although upgrade from paid Premium tickets are booked in the same class so I believe they qualify too.
You can read about the benefit here.
- It’s available at UK and US airports
- You pay 17,500 points per way
- It covers a 75-mile radius from the airport
- In the US it’s possible to pay $3.5 per mile if your travel distance exceeds 75 miles
I live near Heathrow, so Uber or Bolt costs me only £30 therefore the benefit doesn’t really apply. However, if you live further away it might start to make sense.
As you can see, the 75-mile radius covers almost the entire Southeast, as well as many other counties around London (I never realised England was so small).
If you already have a Virgin ticket, you could make a dummy chauffeur booking online to see what kind of car and service to expect. If I remember correctly their partner is Tristar, which was acquired by Addison Lee in 2020.
17,500 points isn’t cheap, but if you travel from far and especially with many bags, it may be a great redemption choice.
My review of Delta Premium Select on Boeing 767
I’m booked on Premium Select with Delta for coming back to London from Seattle. I don’t really collect Delta miles, and although they’ve partnered heavily with Virgin Atlantic you can’t use VS miles to upgrade Delta flights, so I’m stuck with no upgrade 😛
VS Gold is given Sky Priority status on Delta flights, which entitles me to the fast track lane at Seattle airport. But the airport is very quiet on this Tuesday so I didn’t take advantage of it.
Having spent some time in the Sky Club and Centurion Lounge, I take the shuttle train to terminal S to board my flight. Compared to many other airlines Delta appears to value premium passengers more, at least when it comes to boarding: Premium Select passengers board after Delta One and Diamond, but before Platinum and Sky Priority.
Pretty nice logo:
Turn right and it’s our destination: the Premium Select cabin.
Premium Select, or in more common terminology Premium Economy is a relatively new concept to Delta. If I remember correctly many of their long haul planes don’t even feature this cabin yet, but a so-called Comfort Plus which is essentially still Economy.
Premium Select is generally well regarded by the aviation enthusiasts, and some even call it Business Minus instead. My colleague was also quite jealous that I’ve got the chance to try it out, so I had high expectations.
The first impression is indeed quite positive. Boeing 767 is narrower than other wide-body planes, which means there are fewer seats in a row. In the case of Premium Select, there are two seats on the left, right and in the middle respectively, so only six seats in a row.
Although the seats are not necessarily wider, it does feel much nicer and more relaxed than the eight-seat across Premium Economy cabin on other aircrafts.
My first-row seat has two windows and HUGE legroom.
Cushion, blanket and headphone are available which is pretty standard. There’s also a very basic travel kit which is the same as what’s offered in the Main Cabin (Economy). The earbuds and eye mask look very cheap and you may prefer to bring your own.
A moment later we are up in the sky.
The dining tray pops up automatically from the left armrest with a button pressed. The control panel below the right armrest is used to adjust the seat and footrest. USB sockets are also available. The seat looks very new.
The IFE doesn’t contain that many latest blockbusters, but is super abundant and diverse. For example, all episodes of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and The Matrix are included. Usually IFEs are lacking in horrors and thrillers, but they’ve got Malignant, Old and Last Night in Soho here. I’m genuinely impressed by their offer.
Unfortunately the dinner is a U-turn. It is basically a “chicken or fish” situation with no dedicated menu, and I believe it’s the same food as in Main Cabin. The only difference is free alcohol drinks.
Breakfast is a bagel and fruit bowl.
This is how the seat looks like with max inclination.
I’m bad at taking photos, and the picture above doesn’t do the seat justice. One objective fact is, I slept for full five hours after taking a melatonin pill, which is probably a personal record.
Going to the bathroom is the worst experience of this trip. There are only four bathrooms in the middle of the aircraft which are shared by all Premium Select and many Main Cabin passengers. You can imagine how the queue is like after dinner.
I think very highly of the cabin, seat and IFE of Premium Select, but they could definitely make more effort in improving the food and other soft amenities. My overall experience is better than when I flew with BA or Virgin, so I’d recommend it if it falls within your budget.
Save at least 20% on IHG hotels with WSJ+
IHG offers negotiated discount rates to many partners, and you may save quite some money if you dig around a little bit before making a booking. For example, we wrote about two partner rates previously:
A friend just introduced me to another IHG partner program with Wall Street Journal, which I’m gonna look into today.
Basically if you are a Wall Street Journal subscriber, you are automatically enrolled into their WSJ+ rewards program, which comes with member-only access to exclusive offers and events.
One of the offers is a special IHG partner rate.
It appears to be a new benefit that started in April, and is valid until the end of 2023 (for now). Basically this special rate guarantees at least 20% off at participating IHG hotels globally, and:
- You must book at least 5 days in advance
- You can cancel free of charge 3 days prior to check-in
- At least one night needs to fall in Thursday – Sunday
To check the price or book, go to IHG’s website and enter corporate code 787056050. If the partner rate is available for a given hotel, you should see the Your Preferred Rate sticker as in the image below:
For an upcoming Friday, here are some London hotels with their partner rate and Advance rate:
- Crowne Plaza Embankment: £228 / £252
- Hotel Indigo Tower Hill: £167 / £184
- InterContinental O2: £191 / £209
Although not always the case, the WSJ+ partner rate is very often cheaper than the Advance rate, and the latter is non-refundable.
The WSJ+ partner rate can potentially save you a lot of money on IHG stays. Note that however you may be asked to present proof of WSJ membership upon check-in. It appears quite cheap though (at least for the first year / months), as I’m seeing a “£52 for 52 weeks” option on their website, which is a bargain considering the hotel savings.
Use Amazon Currency Converter to earn £5 voucher
While I was placing an order today on Amazon, I saw a new promo message about their Currency Converter service.
You can check out the offer here. Basically by placing an order using the Amazon Currency Converter by July 31st, you’ll receive a £5 off voucher on your next purchase of £50, to use by September 30th.
You probably have never seen Amazon Currency Converter before, as it only shows up when the chosen card’s set currency is different than the sales (i.e. GBP). I have a U.S. credit card saved in my Amazon account which is probably why I was targeted for this promotion.
If you change the currency of your payment card you should see the option too.
The problem is it’s not cheap. In the example above, it charges me $123.60 for £100, whereas according to Google £100 = $120.05. The actual handling fee here is $3.55, or 2.96%.
However, in order to trigger the offer you only need to buy something cheap. I went for a £15 item in the end, which is essentially equivalent to paying 50p for a £5 voucher, which isn’t a bad deal I suppose.
Daily Getaways: 20% Marriott discount and great hotel deals for Northern Europe
Daily Getaways is an annual online sales event hosted by the U.S. Travel Association. Various travel packages (mostly hotel related) are available for purchase across a couple of weeks, usually with a very heavy discount.
Although it targets the U.S. market, some of the deals, specifically hotel point packages, are very worthy even if you reside elsewhere. Note that when you purchase you must fill in a U.S. billing address, so you need a payment card issued in the U.S., or that doesn’t verify billing address.
There are a few deals to be had next week.
July 26th – Choice Privilege
- 14,000 points = $84, qty: 1,147
- 28,000 points = $155, qty: 1,561
- 42,000 points = $220, qty: 1,300
- 55,000 points = $285, qty: 1,590
This is way cheaper than how much Choice usually sells their points, and given there are more than 5,000 packages on sale you should be able to grab some easily.
Choice has their main footprint in the Americas, and thus isn’t a popular or well-known program in Europe. However they do have some low- or mid-range properties in Europe, and with their strong ties with Nordic Choice you can redeem points on luxury hotels in Northern Europe too.
The great news is, most of the Choice hotels in Europe costs between 12,000 points and 20,000 points per night, which means under this deal you pay no more than $104. There are quite a few options in London and Paris for example, although they are only two-stars and three-stars.
The same pricing apply to those five-star hotels in Nordic Choice though, including The Thief in Oslo that typically costs €400 per night:
Unfortunately availability is scarce, but there are many other hotels with wide-open availability that are around the €200 mark.
Choice points don’t expire as long as there’s account activity in any 18-month rolling period.
July 27th – Marriott Bonvoy
- $100, qty: 1070
- $250, qty: 252
- $500, qty: 200
You can buy these e-giftcards at 20% discount. They can be used at most Marriott-branded hotels upon check-out to settle any charge, and they never expire.
It is effectively 20% off on top of whatever other discounted rate you are using. As it’s only a payment method, you earn all points and credits as usual.
July 29th – World of Hyatt
- 30,000 points = $396, qty:2
- 50,000 points = $660, qty:6
- 80,000 points = $960, qty:8
The price has gone up significantly this year, whereas the availability dropped to a ridiculous level. Although the packages are still a lot cheaper than when Hyatt sells points, it would be extremely hard (or lucky) to get any of them.
My review of American Express Centurion Lounge, Seattle
I wrote about the Amex Centurion Lounge at Denver which wasn’t very impressive. There’s one in Seattle as well, and I’m gonna give it another try after having spent some time in the nice Sky Club.
It’s just one minute away from the Sky Club, with a very recognisable entrance.
Bad news upon entry: the lounge is already full. But fortunately I don’t have to wait long as I’m on my own.
It is indeed very crowded:
But I’m assigned a pretty comfortable seat.
There’s also some reserved seating which are presumably for Centurion members.
A couple of more photos of the decoration.
More seats are available in the bar area, but still limited.
All alcohol drinks, including cocktails are free.
The buffet menu for hot food:
- Spicy collard greens
- Carolina beef grifts
- Grilles asparagus
Again I’m a bit disappointed at the quality of this lounge, and neither of the two Amex Centurion lounges that I’ve visited in the States are anywhere near the standard of the London one.
Hyatt Europe offer: 2,500 bonus points or double elite qualifying nights
Hyatt has had different forms of promotion in different regions this quarter. The one in Europe has been going on for a while, but I didn’t find the registration link until recently.
There are two different targeted offers:
Stay between June 8th and September 5th at Hyatt properties in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Southwest Asia to participate.
If your account address is in one of these regions, you are likely to be eligible for one of the offers. Good news is that reward night counts too.
My review of Delta Sky Club, Seattle
I’m finished with my Seattle trip, and will be flying with Delta for the first time. I read some good things about the Sky Club at Seattle and I’m very excited in trying it out.
The Sky Club is located at Concourse A and hard to miss. All concourses are connected post-security, so although my flight departs from Concourse S it doesn’t stop me from visiting the lounges.
According to Virgin Atlantic’s website, I’m entitled to Sky Club access automatically when flying back to the UK on Delta as a Flying Club Gold member. My boarding pass fails the scanner though, then the staff go on a little discussion before telling me Delta’s partnership with Virgin has terminated a couple of days ago?!
I’m so astonished and know that’s impossible. After exchanging a few words I realise that they are talking about Virgin Australia. Anyway they don’t seem well trained on the reciprocal benefits, and I decide to just flash my Amex Platinum instead. This time it works like a charm.
An array of lenticular cards by the entrance.
The Seattle lounge is generally regarded as the best Sky Club that Delta has. The lounge is huge with two floors, and leaves a very good first impression on me.
Seattle is one of Delta’s main hubs, but the lounge is not as busy as I thought.
Further down the line is more workspace.
A view of Delta aircrafts.
Some memorabilia of Seattle SeaHawks, an American Football team sponsored by Delta.
The second (first) floor:
The upper floor is quieter, but food is only offered downstairs.
The following hot food is on offer:
- Ivar’s clam chowder with bacon
- Spicy tofu stir fry
- Steamed brown rice
- Roasted green beans
- Teriyaki chicken
If you haven’t got to taste Seattle’s specialty Clam Chowder yet, there is one last chance! The Teriyaki chicken isn’t cooked right and tastes salty instead of sweet, but I actually prefer it this way.
A limited selection of beer and wine is complimentary, but most alcoholic drinks are payable. I read somewhere that redeeming Delta miles on Champagne is a good idea, but I didn’t check.
Desserts:
The chewy marshmallow looks very similar to a Chinese snack that I liked when I was a kid.
The bathroom might have been inspired by a few horror movies…
I want to take a look at the Amex Centurion lounge as well so didn’t spend all the time here. The Seattle Sky Club didn’t disappoint me, and is well worth a couple of hours before your flight.