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The real Swiss Tony wrote:

Single data point so not too useful in isolation, but on the Tuesday between Christmas & New Year, we used the No. 1 lounge at Gatwick South around 8am. No queue at all and they didn’t have the sign out telling PP customers to “do one”.

And also remember that Pizza Express in LGW (S) is part of the Priority Pass network. You’ll each get £18 to spend there and it’s a big old venue so should get a table easy enough.

Thank you 😃

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Good morning. Will be at LGW south 6am on Thursday. I wonder what my chances would be getting into a lounge with (Amex issued) Priority Pass without pre booking?
I don’t think I will be able to get into the club room with the PP without paying £15 each pre booking fee? Alternatives are No.1 lounge Gatwick and My Lounge.
If anyone has been recently managed to get in and what food offering was like, please let me know. Thanks so much.

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Went to Dishoom Covent Garden last month and they didn’t take Amex. Hopefully they do now 🙏

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jonr405 wrote:

Great thank you! @Waffles1

sm wrote:

Good evening. I was not invited to renew my RJ status when it expired last year and had an email saying my account was now inactive after no activity for 18 months.
However I did renew my husbands RJ status, as he did receive an invitation and received an email today to keep miles active since it had been 15 months of inactivity. My question is if we do nothing, will his account be deactivated? Was thinking of donating his 1000 miles to the King Hussein Cancer Foundation as mentioned in the email we received but not sure if having zero miles will also be a problem?
Thanks in advance.

@sm – The RJ account goes dormant after 18 months of non-activity, this will expire your miles (but honestly they’re not worth much anyway). The account will automatically reactivate once you do some activity such as posting a flight. I do not know if miles donation counts as an activity I’m afraid

Thanks jonr405. Silly thing to ask – when the account is dormant does it mean your RJ ‘status’ is no use?
I’ve seen that you can buy some 1000 miles for US$35 which I might do to keep account ‘active’. Thanks again.

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Good evening. I was not invited to renew my RJ status when it expired last year and had an email saying my account was now inactive after no activity for 18 months.
However I did renew my husbands RJ status, as he did receive an invitation and received an email today to keep miles active since it had been 15 months of inactivity. My question is if we do nothing, will his account be deactivated? Was thinking of donating his 1000 miles to the King Hussein Cancer Foundation as mentioned in the email we received but not sure if having zero miles will also be a problem?
Thanks in advance.

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Thank you Sandy M and Mouse!

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Matt wrote:

It’s a tight connection, but do-able at HEL – I think the minimum connection time is 35 minutes or something like that.

Your bags will be checked through, you just walk to the next gate.

If it goes wrong then Finnair will put you on the next available flight – you’re protected. No EU compensation for delays caused by the JL flight running late though.

I would happily book this with one exception – if you absolutely have to be back on time (wedding/funeral/cruise/etc) then allow a longer connection – the risk of delays is clearly higher with a shorter connection, even if most of the time it will work.

That’s good to know. Thank you Matt.
It doesn’t seem an option to pick which connecting flight you get – so not sure how you choose a different one 🧐 ?

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Good afternoon all. This sounds a really silly question, but I’m about to book cash flights to Tokyo PE from LHR. On BA.com there’s a good fare on the return but it’s indirect. Having never taken a direct flight before 🫣 I’m not sure if this is correct.
Flying HND-Helsinki on JAL arrives 1510 and then it lists a Finnair flight to LHR at 1600. Surely that sounds too tight? 50 minutes!Do the bags automatically go onto that flight and then you run for the final leg of the return journey? And if anything goes wrong with the connection then you’re covered as it’s in one booking?
Thanks in advance 🤓

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kjt wrote:

sm wrote:

Good morning. Looking at booking premium economy cash fare direct flight LHR-HND for mid-end of May. Prices are currently around £2150 each ( with ANA best prices ) Does that sound about right and fares unlikely to drop? ANA do seem to have better reviews that say BA! Thanks in advance.

Sounds about right . I have done ANA in PE a couple of years back . Seat assignments are free and you get lounge acccess at LHR ( Singapore Lounge ) and the ANA lounge at HND .
For a similar price you can also get Air China business class with a transit in PEK or PVG. They also use their A350 on most London flights . Open jaw flights are usually priced the same . Again they have free seat assignments . I have done both .
The A350 does LGW to PVG and PEK. Also LHR to PEK and TFU .

Thank you kjt!

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Carlos_Fandango wrote:

sm wrote:

Good morning. Looking at booking premium economy cash fare direct flight LHR-HND for mid-end of May. Prices are currently around £2150 each ( with ANA best prices ) Does that sound about right and fares unlikely to drop? ANA do seem to have better reviews that say BA! Thanks in advance.

About right in my opinion. If you are minded, there were some deals departing from ARN-HND a few weeks back that were cheaper.

Thank you

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Good morning. Looking at booking premium economy cash fare direct flight LHR-HND for mid-end of May. Prices are currently around £2150 each ( with ANA best prices ) Does that sound about right and fares unlikely to drop? ANA do seem to have better reviews that say BA! Thanks in advance.

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Can you pay in advance the self assessment payment on account due on 31/7/26 to make use of Tesco pay+ while is earns points? Thanks

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phantomchickenz wrote:

Yes

Thank you so much

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Good evening. If you buy an economy basic BA flight where it states “ Allocated seats or pay to choose anytime” and you have RJ status ( matched to Silver Jay ) would it permit you to choose seats 7 days out? 🧐 thank you in advance.

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JDB wrote:

sm wrote:

Good morning. Probably a silly question but on the curve cashback merchants if it doesn’t specifically say “online only” does that mean the offer would credit when purchasing in store? For example I have Uniqlo, Nike and Superdrug offers on my curve but it does have a mini link on the details page saying ‘shop now’. 🧐 thanks in advance

These offers don’t track on the basis of specific merchant codes (as Amex requires) but rather the name of the merchant, so in principle it shouldn’t make any difference which channel you use.

Thanks so much JDB 😀

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Good morning. Probably a silly question but on the curve cashback merchants if it doesn’t specifically say “online only” does that mean the offer would credit when purchasing in store? For example I have Uniqlo, Nike and Superdrug offers on my curve but it does have a mini link on the details page saying ‘shop now’. 🧐 thanks in advance

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Hello . My platinum renewal is due in 3 weeks – do you think if I transfer out all of my points ‘ready’ for possible cancellation does this make a difference to the likelihood of a retention offer? Thanks

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phantomchickenz wrote:

Always read the small print, and satisfy yourself.

“This new Cardmember offer is only available if you have not held a personal Membership Rewards® enrolled American Express® Card within the previous 24 months. If you currently have this Card, or have held this Card, or any other personal Membership Rewards enrolled American Express Card within the previous 24 months, you will not be entitled to the new Cardmember offer.”

Thank you for this. I noticed it it’s different when you click through a referral link. 🧐

New Cardmember Offer – 100,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points:
The 100,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points will be awarded onto your Account if you are a new customer and you have applied after midnight 27 August 2025 and before 11:59pm BST 14 October 2025 and once you have been approved and you have spent and charged £10,000 within the first six months of Cardmembership. Cardmembership begins from Card approval. Please note that it can take up to one month for bonus points to be awarded to your Account. You must apply for The Platinum Card® by 14 October 2025 to be eligible for this limited time offer.

Please note that your offer is correct at the time of viewing. This offer may change or become unavailable at a later date if you return to this page. The 100,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points will be awarded onto your Account if you are eligible for the new Cardmember offer*, and once you have been approved and you have spent and charged a minimum of £10,000 on goods and services purchased and charged to your Account within six months of Account opening. If you have already applied for the Platinum Card® without using this referral, you will not be eligible for this offer. Cardmembership begins from Card approval. All introductory offers are subject to change and can be withdrawn at any time. Your offer could be subject to change if your Card is lost, stolen or replaced. Please note, bonus points will appear in at least two instalments of 20,000 and 80,000 and can take up to one month to be awarded to your Account once you have met the required spend.

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Scott wrote:

“new customer” means not held the relevant disqualifying card(s) for 24 mths.

Thanks Scott – so not having a membership reward point earning card in the last 24 months should be ok?

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We stayed club room RCD June 2024 – lovely service and club lounge was well worth the money. No alcohol until happy hour I think. Breakfast there is smaller but more peaceful or at main restaurant Caravan which has larger selection. Happy hour canapés were substantial and almost like a meal.

Service excellent. The friendly servers in the lounge make a point of remembering your name and any preferences. My daughter has a nut alefty and the chef came out and made her something just for her.

Location good walkable to some shops and eateries – if it wasn’t so hot would’ve gone further.

They did let us check in early at 9am but not sure about late checkout as our returning flight was in the morning.
Hope that helps.

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Good afternoon. I am referring my daughter for platinum card 👏🏻 as she has not had a membership point earning card for over two years but has had the blue BA card in the last year.

I noticed on the referral link it states the welcome bonus 100k is for ‘new customers only’.
On live chat, -they confirmed it would be fine, but I remember reading on these wonderful forums that someone said live chat isn’t reliable? Sorry if it’s a daft question. Thanks very much.

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seanng wrote:

Same here – still need to wait a couple of months for the 25k bonus to show up on the balance

Please can I ask if you did the account switch to get the bonus? Or did it just appear? Thanks.

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Good morning.I was given a complimentary hire car through Enterprise whilst my car was being repaired after breaking down and being recovered by BMW roadside assist. At Enterprise they asked to see my current car insurance and said they would ‘mirror’ it for the cover including excesses. This was £350.
Unfortunately picked up a large chip on windscreen whilst driving. Enterprise subsequently have charged me £350 even though I argued glass was only £140 excess on my policy.

Forgot completely about platinum Amex cover but I’m thinking it’s too late now anyway and the hire car wasn’t paid for as such? Thanks in advance

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Good morning. Quick question re: Barclays Avios rewards. I joined the rewards scheme early July 2025 ( shortly after opening a premier current account ) but did not perform the account switch yet as a couple of helpful posters mentioned they got paid it without switching so wanted to wait and see 🙏

“Avios prem joining bonus +25000” undated entry appeared at top of the list on my app ( since July ) when I check activity but hasn’t been paid yet. Two lots of regular monthly amount of 1500 has however been paid to date.

On my welcome email it says it will be credited after the fourth month if performing a current account switch within 3 months of joining the scheme.
Has anyone recently received the bonus without actually preforming the switch please?
Thanks so much.

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Received the email and can see it was awarded Avios from credit card and the 1500 Avios rewards – but looks like the 25,000 bonus for premier account opening is not there.