This is the culmination of a long process. oneworld lounges were announced pre-covid but plans for the first one to open in Moscow fell through for obvious reasons.

Even now, this lounge may be a bit of a compromise in terms of size.

But first, before someone asks in the comments, we should answer the burning question:

Isn’t there already a oneworld lounge in Los Angeles?

On paper, yes. There is a oneworld-branded airport lounge in Los Angeles. It opened back in 2014 as we covered here.

However, this is really a Qantas lounge, I believe, and is managed by them. The oneworld branding is there, I assume, to make it easier for flyers with other airlines to know where to go.

The Seoul lounge is owned by oneworld directly. Management has been outsourced to Swissport via its Aspire subsidiary.

The new Seoul lounge is a conversion

It’s not just hotels that like to take an existing facility and rebrand it.

The oneworld lounge in Seoul used to be the JJ Lounge, built by Jeju Air. This space apparently closed during the pandemic. All of the fixtures and fittings look brand new, however, if you look at the images here.

Whilst using an existing lounge space obviously has its advantages, the lounge feels smaller than I believe oneworld would have wanted.

It is 555 square metres with capacity for just 148 people. Despite this, it has to handle passengers for seven oneworld airlines: American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways and SriLankan Airlines.

(British Airways no longer flies to Seoul. It is a route which has come and gone over the years, but it never seems to attract enough premium traffic to stick around.)

Despite the modest size, it does seem to have packed in a lot, including showers.

Who can access the oneworld lounge?

Standard oneworld rules apply. You can get in if you are flying in Business Class or First Class on one of the airlines above, or if you have Emerald or Sapphire status with any oneworld airline and flying oneworld Economy.

This means that a British Airways Executive Club Silver or Gold member could still get in if flying, say, in Economy on Finnair.

There is no dedicated First Class / Emerald area. It is a single shared space.

Is Amsterdam next?

There have been constant rumours that the British Airways and Aspire lounges at Amsterdam Schiphol, currenly being knocked together into one large space, will reopen as a oneworld lounge.

The fact that Aspire is managing the Seoul lounge for oneworld implies a good relationship between the two. Aspire was already managing the British Airways lounge on behalf of the airline.

We need to see if this comes to pass. Progress on the Amsterdam refurbishment appears glacial, with passengers being redirected to a converted cafe in the terminal.

You can find opening hours for the Seoul lounge on the oneworld website here. You will find it in Terminal 1, near gate 28.

It isn’t part of the official British Airways sale but the deals are definitely there if you start from Dublin.

New York is €1,535 (£1,321) for example.

Other cities with similar pricing (between €1,500 and €1,800 return) include:

• Austin​
• Boston​
• Chicago
• Dallas​
• Denver ​
• Fort Lauderdale​
• Houston​
• ​Las Vegas
• Los Angeles
• Miami​
• Montreal​
• Orlando
• Phoenix ​
• San Francisco​
• Seattle​
• Tampa​
• Toronto​
• Vancouver​
• Washington ​

Here’s a typical New York fare:

The cheapest option is Fort Lauderdale – this example is the equivalent of £1,185:

You’ll have to put up with several connections

If you thought that sub £1,300 business class flights from Dublin were too good to be true in the current economic climate, you’re right.

The biggest catch is that the vast majority of these itineraries involve at least one connection in London. You MUST fly to Dublin to catch the first flight or whole ticket is cancelled, although you can hop out in Heathrow on the way back.

That said ….

These deals are good for tier points

If you’re chasing status then booking these fares is a good way of picking up tier points on your way to the United States.

For example, a flight from London to Miami would net you 140 tier points each way, so 280 in total, with another 80 for the Club Europe connections to and from Dublin.

Some flights involve two connections which would get you additional tier points. The Fort Lauderdale example above can be routed Dublin – London – Philadelphia – Fort Lauderdale for example.

Some connecting flights are on Aer Lingus. These will NOT earn British Airways tier points unless they have a BA flight number.

You can’t take advantage of this deal along with the BA Holidays ‘double tier points’ offer, because this requires your trip to start in the UK.

How to book

These deals can all be booked at ba.com.

Remember that, because you are paying in Euros, it is best to pay with a 0% FX credit card unless you have a British Airways Premium Plus American Express. This earns double Avios (3 per £1) when spending at ba.com which should offset the 3% FX fee whilst also helping you reach your next companion voucher.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

How are things changing? Suites with doors, 4K entertainment, Bluetooth pairing and wireless charging are all becoming the norm rather than the exception. One airline is due to introduce the world’s first in-seat cooling and heating on a commercial aircraft and we’re also seeing ‘proper’ lie-flat business class seats being installed on single-aisle aircraft.

Here’s what ten of the world’s best airlines have planned….

Cathay Pacific ‘Aria Suite’ business class

Cathay Pacific teased its next-generation business class seat with a teaser video in September. The Aria Suite will be retrofitted to its existing fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with an introduction into service expected in the second quarter of 2024.

Teaser photos suggest warm colour palette with sand-coloured woven seat and wood-effect console-table. A clever sliding tray means storage is accessible even when the console table is in use whilst a personal light offers adjustable in-seat lighting.

Whilst unconfirmed, this appears to be a brand-new seat model featuring an innovative monocoque design that makes it lighter, and cheaper, to fly.

Door: Yes

Entertainment: N/A

Arriving: Q2 2024

Japan Airlines new flagship business class seat

Tokyo-based airline JAL is replacing its fleet of 13 Boeing 777-300ER with newer Airbus A350-1000s. This will bring brand new seats in all of its cabins, including First, business class, premium economy and economy.

The first A350-1000 has already been delivered and will start flying to New York JFK. 54 business suites are arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 forward-facing layout with rich burgundy leather seats and grey surrounds.

When it comes to high-tech innovations, JAL is the first airline to introduce Safran’s ‘Euphony’ headphone-free sound system built into the headrest of every seat. The technology promises “an optimum listening experience” that will let you watch films, TV and more without disturbing other passengers.

Door: Yes

Entertainment: 24″ 4K screen, Bluetooth enabled

Arriving: arrived!

Further reading: Japan Airlines unveils new First and Business class cabins, bookable soon with Avios

Saudia A321XLR business class seat

The first of Saudia’s 15 A321XLR aircraft are due to arrive in 2024, enabling it to open up long, thin routes where historically there has not been enough demand for a direct widebody flight.

Saudia has selected Thompson’s VantageSOLO seat for this aircraft, which currently also flies on JetBlue’s A321LRs. We saw a dummy at World Travel Market in November.

This business class seat is optimised for single-aisle aircraft and features an aisle-facing herringbone in 1-1 layout. It appears Saudia will also offer a business-plus front row with increased space and the option to buddy dine. The seat features woven grey upholstery, white marbled surfaces and chocolate brown armrests.

Door: Yes

Entertainment: 18″ screen

Arriving: 2024

American Airlines new Flagship Suite business class

American Airlines will introduce not one but two new business class seats in 2024, both of which it is calling the Flagship Suite.

Both seats will be introduced on new deliveries of Boeing 787-9 and single-aisle Airbus A321XLR aircraft in the coming year and tout privacy doors, more personal storage space and a chaise longue seating option.

The Flagship Suite on the Boeing 787-9 features a reverse herringbone layout with a grey woven fabric seat and grey surrounds. Wood-effect doors and a marble-effect tray table add some warmth whilst a red literature pocket adds a pop of colour.

Meanwhile, the A321XLR Flagship Suite features an aisle-facing herringbone in identical finishes and colours.

Door: Yes

Entertainment: N/A

Arriving: 2024

FlyDubai The Business Suite

Middle Eastern airline FlyDubai is making its first foray into all-aisle-access business class seating with the launch of what can only be described as an impressive cabin on its soon-to-arrive Boeing 737MAX aircraft.

This reverse herringbone seat from Safran is just one of a few lie-flat business class seats available for single-aisle aircraft with an exclusive cabin of just ten seats.

The seats feature a beautiful coral-coloured weave with sand-coloured surrounds and silver trim evoking the deserts of the UAE.

Door: Yes

Entertainment: 17″ 4K screen, Bluetooth connectivity

Arriving: Q1 2024

Malaysia Airlines new business class seat

A fleet of 20 new Airbus A330-900neos is due to start arriving in the Malaysia Airlines fleet in late 2024, and the airline is using it as an opportunity to introduce a brand new business class product.

Based on the same Collins Elevation reverse herringbone seat as the British Airways Club Suite, Malaysia Airlines will roll it out across the entire long haul fleet, including its A350s. The seat features lovely dark blue fabric as well as a characterful embossed batik pattern on the seat surrounds.

Door: Yes

Entertainment: N/A

Arriving: Q4 2024

Lufthansa Allegris business class

Is 2024 the year that Lufthansa’s Allegris business class finally takes to the sky? We certainly hope so. At least eight years in the making, the airline now hopes it will make its debut this summer, before a customised version also makes its way onto SWISS International Airlines in 2025.

Allegris features a staggering seven different business class seat options, ranging from centre throne seats to honeymoon pairs and unique bassinet seats. Notably absent is a privacy door, except in the front row business suites.

They are immediately identifiable in Lufthansa’s class navy and chocolate colour scheme. But what is truly impressive is the technology they are packing, with a world-first in-seat heating and cooling system that’s adjustable at every seat.

Door: No

Entertainment: 17″ (classic seat), 27″ (extra space seat), plus 10″ tablet

Arriving: summer 2024

Further reading: Lufthansa unveils its new ‘Allegris’ business class cabin

Air New Zealand new Business Premier seats

In 2024, Air New Zealand will start replacing its existing Virgin Atlantic-style herringbone business class seats for a brand new and improved Business Premier seats as the first of eight line-fresh Boeing 787-9 aircraft arrive.

The premium-heavy aircraft will feature 42 Business Premier seats as well as eight Business Premier Luxe suites with even more personal space and legroom as well as the option to buddy dine.

The seat’s warm, neutral greys will be accented by pink and purple in-seat mood-lighting as well as an expansive video screen and plenty of personal storage and space to spread out. Whilst there’s no door, an adjustable privacy screen is available.

Door: No

Entertainment: 24″ 4K screen, Bluetooth connectivity

Arriving: September 2024

Air India’s new business class makeover

Part of Tata’s takeover of the former national airline involves a full makeover of every single part of the business, including the introduction of a brand new fleet with all-new business class seating.

The rollout of the new seat will start on the airline’s existing Boeing 777-300ER aircraft but will encompass the entire fleet, with up to 22% of the long haul fleet expected to be completed by March 2024.

The new seat is based on Safran’s Unity model (also selected by JAL and Qantas) in a staggered 1-2-1 layout. The seat features warm grey upholstery and noise-dampening surrounds as well as copper-coloured accents.

Door: Yes

Entertainment: Bluetooth connectivity

Arriving: 2024

Emirates new business class

Emirates benefits from an excellent reputation thanks to its impressive A380s, but its Boeing 777 business class is less impressive (to be polite) with no direct aisle access and angle-flat seats.

That will change in 2024, when the airline begins a refurbishment program on the fleet with the introduction of an all-new business class seat. New aircraft deliveries, such as the A350 and 777X, will also get it.

Details have been kept firmly under wraps, but aircraft will go from 2-3-2 in business to an industry standard 1-2-1, with seats provided by Safran. Whilst Safran offers a handful of different seat types, this could be the same Unity model selected by JAL, Qantas and Air India.

Door: N/A

Entertainment: N/A

Arriving: Q3 2024

American Airlines drops Heathrow to Seattle

American Airlines is pulling its route between London Heathrow and Seattle.

The route launched in March 2021. It was done to support Alaska Airlines, which joined the oneworld alliance at the same time and which has a substantial hub in Seattle. The idea was that the American Airlines service would pick up connecting traffic from cities served by Alaska.

It had already been announced that Heathrow to Seattle would become a seasonal route from 2024, operating only in the summer months. The airline has now decided to pull the plug entirely.

The route will continue to be served by British Airways.

The Barbados Concorde will become part of a new departure hall

One of the retired Concorde aircraft which was saved from the scrapheap currently sits at Grantley Adams Airport in Barbados. This is a fitting home, as the aircraft was a regular visitor to the island.

The aircraft sits in a purpose built hangar and, along with some artefacts, was part of the (now closed) ‘Concorde Experience Barbados’ attraction.

Due to increased passenger numbers at Grantley Adams, the airport has decided to turn the Concorde hangar into an additional area for departing passengers.

Work is apparently underway, with ‘new seating, security screening, a commercial area and other amenities’ being installed to create a ‘pre-boarding area for selected flights’.

Here’s the thing though …. it seems that Concorde isn’t going anywhere. It’s not clear how it will be integrated into the new departure area, or whether it will still be accessible to anyone who is not flying out from the new terminal. It would be quite cool if it was accessible to departing passengers, since it may well get more visitors than it ever did as a standalone museum. Let’s see.

You can read more in this LinkedIn post.

A small tweak to the HfP forums

We made a small change to the HfP forums yesterday. You can now see, alongside the name of each poster, the number of posts they have made.

This feature wasn’t on our radar when the forum launched because, obviously, everyone started on zero posts.

Over the last two years, there have been a number of people who have become major contributors to the forums. Whilst we don’t want to go down the path of awarding status badges or the like, we hope that letting other forum users see that someone is a major contributor will give their posts some more weight.

We are also planning to remove the Covid Travel sub-forum in the coming weeks, to replace it with Car Rental and Airport Lounge forums. We’ll let you know when it is live.

If you are reading via our emails, you can check out the forum home page here. Most people, once familiar with the forum layout, find it easier to navigate via the ‘Recent Posts’ page here.

This is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK. You see all of the reviews here.

The AA First Class lounge is the last of the airline lounges to reopen at Heathrow (the rest that are shut will remain shut, we believe) and opened a full year later than virtually all the other lounges. The American Airlines Admirals Club lounge (review) has been open since late 2022.

Better late than never, I popped in on my way to visit family in Stuttgart last week as BA has recently moved those flights to Terminal 3. You can see a full list of BA’s short haul flights from Heathrow T3 here.

Note that this is a First Class lounge, not a Flagship First lounge. AA has been upgrading its top lounges for five years now, and whilst Heathrow was originally on the list to undergo refurbishment it has yet to happen. It’s not clear if the whole project has been dropped.

How to access the AA First Class lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3

You do not need to be flying American Airlines to access their lounges.

The only requirement is that you are flying a oneworld carrier (such as Finnair, American Airlines, Iberia, Qantas or British Airways), either on a business class ticket or First Class ticket – depending on lounge – or with the relevant status.

That means anyone with oneworld Emerald (ie. British Airways Executive Club Gold) can access the First Class lounge, even if you are flying an a hand-baggage-only British Airways economy flight. Unlike The Concorde Room in Terminal 5, you do not need to be flying in First Class.

If you have a British Airways Silver card or oneworld equivalent, or are travelling in business class on a oneworld airline, you could use the American Airlines Admirals Club lounge reviewed here – although we don’t recommend it.

You are allowed to bring one guest if you are entering via your frequent flyer status. If you are entering via your ticket class, you must be flying in First Class to bring a guest, who must be travelling on the same flight.

Where is the American Airlines First Class lounge at Heathrow?

Terminal 3 uses an alphabetic labelling system for the nine lounges that are now available at the airport. The First Class lounge is designated as ‘Lounge H’ (together with the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse and AA Admiral’s Club) when you exit security.

The majority of the lounges are all along one corridor. The Admirals Club / First Class lounge is just to the right of the Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges, and is slap bang in the middle of the corridors to the majority of gates.

The First Class lounge is open from 5:30am until 7pm daily.

Inside the American Airlines First Class lounge at Heathrow

The good news is that, whilst a full conversion to Flagship First is still on hold, AA did at least use some of the downtime whilst the lounge was closed to refresh it. That includes:

“The revamped space saw the install of a new fully fire-rated professional kitchen, providing American’s chefs with the capacity to produce an extensive buffet offering and a premium á la carte menu. The reopening also sees the return of American’s Champagne station, alongside top-of-the-range bean to cup coffee machines and an extensive wine and spirits list.”

Chairs and soft furnishings have also been replaced, which means it no longer looks as much like an old people’s home as it used to.

You check in in the same (large) lobby as for the Admiral’s Club:

…. but instead of proceeding ahead, turn around to your right and you’ll see the entrance to the First Class lounge:

I was surprised by the size of the lounge, which can seat up to 120. Immediately as you enter is a little sweets station:

If you prefer something a bit harder, a champagne station is also immediately available, stocked with bottles of Moet (white and rose):

The lounge is split into a handful of sections. Broadly speaking there is ground level at the front with a mezzanine level at the rear. The ground level section features a large bar-height dining / working area:

Opposite, you’ll find a row of armchairs:

To the far right is the buffet area, and adjacent to this you’ll find the dining room. This looked particularly dated previously so the addition of new tables and chairs makes a big difference, although the wall photograph of the Houses of Parliament still feels very noughties!

In front of the buffet are more dining tables and chairs, in a more casual set up:

The main difference is that staff will come and take your order in the dining room, and you also have access to an a la carte menu. That said, it was extremely quiet during my visit and the staff were happy to take orders from other areas too if you waived them over.

Towards the windows and the mezzanine you have another large area of casual seating with lots of armchairs and plenty of charging sockets.

and

Food and drink in the American Airlines First Class lounge

As mentioned, there’s a small buffet section as well as an a la carte menu. The buffet was fairly basic and featured chicken tikka masala, mac n cheese, steamed vegetables, soup and vegan mushroom stew:

Let’s be honest, it isn’t the most exciting offering:

You also have a choice of some pre-made salads and various mezze including hummus:

The a la carte menu is significantly more inspiring. It features an all-day breakfast and lunch menu so you can eat whatever you fancy. Choices are:

• Eggs benedict
• Eggs florentine
• Eggs royale
• Smashed avocado on toast
• American pancakes
• Waffles

Whilst on the lunch side of the menu:

• Cured pork
• Pan-fried cod
• Polenta cake
• Baked fennel citrus and pistachio salad

I wasn’t totally enamoured with any of the choices – in fact, I almost ordered my usual eggs royale at 4pm – but I decided to settle on the cured pork.

Top marks for presentation, although the meat did topple over as it was put down on the table:

Visually, this was much higher-end than I expected. Unfortunately the impression didn’t hold up as the meat was a little on the tough side, which was a shame.

I also wanted to try the apple crumble for dessert but sadly that was unavailable.

Conclusion

Overall, the American Airlines First Class lounge at Heathrow is a surprisingly big space although it can feel cramped thanks to the low-ish ceilings and lack of natural light.

The addition of new furniture has helped to modernise the space a bit but it’s a far cry from AA’s latest Flagship First lounges in the US and even its latest generation of Admirals Clubs. In comparison, the First Class lounge looks like a lounge from yesteryear thanks to its sea of beige and brown.

When it comes to the buffet, I would be tempted to simplify the offering to high-quality sandwiches and other cold items rather than offer hot items in addition to the a la carte menu.

I wouldn’t mind trying the breakfast items on the a la carte menu next time. If they can pull off a proper poached egg then I might pop in here more regularly in the mornings.

For now, however, you can still sit and eat in much more style in the Cathay Pacific First lounge next door – with no need to stare at a sea of beige.

Travelling from Heathrow Terminal 3? Here are your lounge options ….

Heathrow’s Terminal 3 has one of the highest concentration of premium lounges of any terminal in the world.

Our overview of the best airline lounges at Heathrow Terminal 3 is here, or you can read individual reviews of all the lounges here:

• American Express Centurion lounge review
• American Airlines Admirals Club lounge review (oneworld)
• American Airlines First Class lounge review (oneworld)
• British Airways Galleries First lounge review (oneworld)
• British Airways Galleries Club (business class) lounge review (oneworld)
• Cathay Pacific Business Class lounge review (oneworld)
• Cathay Pacific First Class lounge review (oneworld)
• Club Aspire lounge review
• Emirates lounge review
• No1 Lounge review
• Qantas London Lounge review (oneworld)
• Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse review

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (January 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

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 get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

What is Air France and KLM doing for lounge access in Terminal 4?

As we covered last week, Air France and KLM have been forcibly moved back to Terminal 4 by Heathrow. This started yesterday.

This is a blow for the airlines, even though Terminal 4 has historically been their home. Since the Air France KLM and Virgin Atlantic transatlantic joint venture went live, the ability to connect seamlessly from long haul to short haul in Terminal 3 has been an important driver of traffic. British Airways will now look more attractive for many people travelling from France or the Netherlands to North America.

The SkyTeam lounge in Terminal 4 – which was huge, see our last review here – closed during the pandemic. I don’t know if it has been fully ripped out or not – let me know if you know.

Air France and KLM are now using the Plaza Premium lounge in Terminal 4.

I reviewed the Plaza Premium lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4 and it is totally fine. Image below. It isn’t huge, however, and it was fairly busy when I was there last month. This was obviously well before Air France and KLM turned up.

Your chance of getting into Plaza Premium Heathrow Terminal 4 using American Express Platinum or DragonPass (you can’t use Priority Pass) has now dropped.

Is this sustainable long term? Probably not, but at the same time the old SkyTeam lounge is now too big without Delta passengers. I’m not sure if Air France and KLM would want to underwrite it given that they are only running short haul services.

Inside the American Airlines First Class lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3

As we covered last week, American Airlines has reopened its First Class lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3. It is the last airline lounge to reopen in the terminal.

The First Class lounge is a separate area to the Admirals Club lounge at Heathrow, which we reviewed here.

A friend of mine was there yesterday and sent a few pictures. He pinged me a few pointers:

• He got a very warm welcome 

• Champagne is offered on entry (Moët white or pink), similar to an AA Flagship Lounge

• It does (as I said last week) have a very utilitarian, old aged peoples home feel!

• There are no real changes from when he was last there four ago

• You can order from a menu (see below) or take food from a small buffet

• It’s a big space and didn’t feel crowded

• You get a good view of the aircraft at Gate 23

To be honest, there is no logical reason to use this lounge unless you want somewhere that it a little quieter than the alternative spaces. If you have access to the American Airlines First Class lounge, you have access to the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge (review) ….

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (January 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

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 get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

It is the last airline lounge to reopen in the terminal. It was still closed last December when I flew with American Airlines to New York (review here) to see the new joint BA and AA lounges at JFK.

The First Class lounge is a separate area to the Admirals Club lounge at Heathrow, which I reviewed here. The last time Rob visited, in 2015, he compared the decor to an old people’s home (photo below ….)

Fortunately, AA has said the lounge has undergone a ‘cosmetic refresh’ whilst it has been closed, although no new photos have been provided:

“The revamped space saw the install of a new fully fire-rated professional kitchen, providing American’s chefs with the capacity to produce an extensive buffet offering and a premium á la carte menu. The reopening also sees the return of American’s Champagne station, alongside top-of-the-range bean to cup coffee machines and an extensive wine and spirits list.”

The plans for a long-awaited full refurbishment and rebranding to a superior ‘Flagship First’ lounge – first mooted in 2018 astonishingly – still appear to be on hold.

The lounge offers space for 120 guests with access open to anyone with oneworld Emerald status (ie. BA Gold) on a same-day oneworld flight or anyone in Flagship First or oneworld First. Unlike The Concorde Room in Terminal 5, you do not need to be flying in First Class.

The lounge is open from 5:30am until 7pm, seven days a week.

How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards January 2024)

American Airlines no longer has its own UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn American Airlines miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to American Airlines miles at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 American Airlines miles per £1 spent on the card.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

American Airlines no longer has its own UK credit card.

It used to have a Visa card, issued by MBNA, which was known for its generous sign-up bonuses – once as high as 35,000 miles. The card was withdrawn in early 2018 as it was no longer seen as economic when the Government capped the charges that Visa and Mastercard could levy on shops.

There is, however, still a way to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles from a UK credit card. The route is via Marriott Bonvoy.

Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to American Airlines miles at the rate of 3:1.

The most efficient way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points in the UK is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend.

At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 American Airlines miles per £1 spent on the card.

You can apply here.

We wrote a full review of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card here.

American Express Membership Rewards cards are another option

For completeness, I should also mention that American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points can also be used to indirectly earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

It’s complicated though:

• you need to send your American Express points to Marriott Bonvoy at the rate of 2:3, and

• send your Marriott Bonvoy points to American Airlines at the rate of 3:1

The earning rate per £1 spent is poorer on these cards.

£1 spent gets you 1 Membership Rewards point. This gets you 1.5 Marriott Bonvoy points, which in turn gets you 0.5 American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

However, you will see that the Membership Rewards cards we list below do have generous sign-up bonuses. If you qualify, you could get a card from this list purely to trigger the sign-up bonus.

Click through for more details:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

American Express Rewards

The only ‘free for life’ Amex card which earns Membership Rewards Read our full review

If you have a small business, you should also consider:

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

Can you earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles from a UK Visa or Mastercard credit card?

Unfortunately, earning American Airlines miles from a Mastercard or Visa credit card is not possible.

Are you willing to move away from American Airlines AAdvantage?

There are attractive Visa or Mastercard options available for earning Avios or Virgin Points if you are willing to look beyond AAdvantage. This would get you access to all airlines in the oneworld (Avios) or SkyTeam (Virgin Points) alliances.

Both are equally generous. Importantly, nothing else on the market comes close, even if you are willing to look at Mastercard or Visa cards which offer shopping vouchers instead of travel rewards.

The two Barclaycard Avios Mastercards are the best option. Pick from the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard (usually 5,000 Avios bonus) or the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard (£20 per month, usually 25,000 Avios bonus).

You get 1 Avios per £1 on the free card and 1.5 Avios per £1 on the paid card. You also get an annual upgrade voucher for an Avios flight for hitting a spending target.

Because of the large British Airways short haul network, which has relatively low Avios requirements, these cards should work for you irrespective of whether you will earn additional Avios from flying.

Remember that, because British Airways and American Airlines are both in the oneworld airline alliance, most flights that can be booked with AAdvantage miles can also be booked with Avios.

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Bonus: 25,000 Avios

Read our full review

Sign-up bonus and earn rate:

• Get 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
• Earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent

Other information:

• Receive an Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £10,000 in a card year
• Upgrade a return BA flight for one person or two one-way flights for a couple
• Annual fee: £240, charged at £20 per month

Representative 80.1% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £20 monthly fee.  Interest rate on purchases 29.9% APR variable.

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 25,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous six months, have held any other Barclaycard credit card.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s Barclaycard account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous six months, you have had a British Airways American Express credit card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from the upgrade voucher and the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £10,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard, you receive a voucher entitling you to:

• book a return Avios flight for one person, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin (ie book Club World but only pay the World Traveller Plus Avios requirement)
• book a one-way Avios flight, or one leg of a return flight, for two people, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin

The voucher is valid for two years.  Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets, based on the cabin you fly.

The voucher cannot be used to fly in First Class.

The voucher can be used for anyone, as long as the booking is made from the Avios account of the cardholder.

You receive your voucher within five days of reaching the spending target.

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Bonus: 5,000 Avios

Read our full review

Sign-up bonus and earn rate:

• Get 5,000 Avios when you spend £1,000 within 90 days
• Earn 1 Avios per £1 spent

Other information:

• Receive an Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £20,000 in a card year
• Upgrade a return BA flight for one person or two one-way flights for a couple
• Annual fee: Free

Representative 29.9% APR variable

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 5,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 5,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card if you spend £1,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous six months, have held any other Barclaycard credit card.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s Barclaycard account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous six months, you have had a British Airways American Express credit card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from the upgrade voucher and the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £20,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, you receive a voucher entitling you to:

• book a return Avios flight for one person, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin (ie book Club World but only pay the World Traveller Plus Avios requirement)
• book a one-way Avios flight, or one leg of a return flight, for two people, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin

The voucher is valid for two years.  Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets, based on the cabin you fly.

The voucher can be used for anyone, as long as the booking is made from the Avios account of the cardholder.

The voucher cannot be used to fly in First Class.

You receive your voucher within five days of reaching the spending target.

The two Virgin Atlantic Mastercards are almost as generous – either the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard (free, usually no bonus) or Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard (£160, usually 15,000 points bonus).

You get 0.75 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.  You also get a 2-4-1 or upgrade voucher for hitting spending targets.

The only downside is that, with no short haul routes, you are unlikely to earn enough points purely from the credit card to get a good redemption. The cards are best suited to regular Virgin Atlantic flyers.

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

Bonus: 15,000 points

Read our full review

Sign-up bonus and earn rate:

• Get 15,000 Virgin Points after your first transaction
• Earn 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 spent
• Earn 3 points per £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic

Other information:

• Get a ‘2 for 1’ voucher, valid on cash or points tickets, when you spend £10,000 in a year
• Alternatively, claim an upgrade voucher or Clubhouse lounge passes
• Annual fee: £160

Representative 69.7% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £160 annual fee.  Interest rate on purchases 26.9% APR variable.

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 15,000 points sign-up bonus +

You receive a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points after your first purchase, however small.

There are no restrictions on earning the bonus if you are accepted.  However, you cannot apply for a card if you currently have, or in the previous six months have had, a Virgin Atlantic credit card.  You are free to apply if you have any other Virgin Money credit card.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £10,000 per year on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard, you can choose a benefit.  This is what you can pick from:

A 2-4-1 voucher, valid for two years, for a Virgin Atlantic cash flight or Virgin Flying Club redemption, in Upper Class, Premium or Economy

A return upgrade – on either a cash or points ticket – from Premium to Upper Class, or from Economy Delight/Classic to Premium.  You can either upgrade 1 x return flight if travelling alone or 2 x one-way legs of two return flights if travelling with someone else.

For elite members, Virgin Clubhouse lounge passes (require a same-day Virgin Atlantic or Delta Air Lines flight) – one pass if you are Silver, two passes if you are Gold

Here’s the small print:

If you are a Red (no status) member, you need to pay 50% of the points for your 2nd ticket if you redeem your 2-4-1 voucher in Upper Class.  This means that, for Upper Class redemptions for Red members, it is effectively a ‘2 for 1.5’ voucher. For Economy or Premium redemptions, it is a genuine ‘2 for 1’.

Taxes and charges need to be paid on the ‘free’ ticket as part of your 2-4-1 booking

Vouchers are valid for two years and you must fly the outbound leg of your trip before the expiry date

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

Bonus: None

Read our full review

Sign-up bonus and earn rate:

• The card has no sign-up bonus
• Earn 0.75 Virgin Points per £1 spent
• Earn 1.5 points per £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic
• Highest return per £1 of any free UK Visa or Mastercard

Other information:

• Get a ‘2 for 1’ voucher, valid on cash or points tickets, when you spend £20,000 in a year
• Alternatively, claim an upgrade voucher or Clubhouse lounge passes
• Annual fee: Free

Representative 26.9% APR variable

Apply here

See if you qualify for the sign-up bonus +

There is no sign-up bonus on the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard.

You may want to consider applying for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard instead.  This comes with a £160 annual fee but has a sign-up bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points.  You also receive a higher earning rate of 1.5 miles per £1 spent.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £20,000 per year on the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard, you can choose a benefit.  This is what you can pick from:

A 2-4-1 voucher, valid for two years, for a Virgin Atlantic cash flight or Virgin Flying Club redemption, in Upper Class, Premium or Economy

A return upgrade – on either a cash or points ticket – from Premium to Upper Class, or from Economy Delight/Classic to Premium.  You can either upgrade 1 x return flight if travelling alone or 2 x one-way legs of two return flights if travelling with someone else.

For elite members, Virgin Clubhouse lounge passes (require a same-day Virgin Atlantic or Delta Air Lines flight) – one pass if you are Silver, two passes if you are Gold

Here’s the small print:

If you are a Red (no status) member, you need to pay 50% of the points for your 2nd ticket if you redeem your 2-4-1 voucher in Upper Class.  This means that, for Upper Class redemptions for Red members, it is effectively a ‘2 for 1.5’ voucher. For Economy or Premium redemptions, it is a genuine ‘2 for 1’.

Taxes and charges need to be paid on the ‘free’ ticket as part of your 2-4-1 booking

Vouchers are valid for two years and you must fly the outbound leg of your trip before the expiry date

Other Visa and Mastercard options:

The HSBC Premier Mastercard and HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard allow you to convert into the following airlines. However, you need a HSBC Premier current account to take out these credit cards which requires a £75,000+ salary. For most people, the Barclaycard Avios or Virgin Atlantic cards will be a better option.

• Asia Miles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air MileageLands
• Finnair Plus
• Flying Blue (Air France KLM)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Miles&Go

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points. The site discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an independent credit broker.

• Dallas/Fort Worth from 4th April
• Charlotte from 4th May
• Chicago from 1st June

All three routes are seasonal, whilst the existing Dublin-Philadelphia flights will continue all-year-round. Dallas and Charlotte are major American Airlines hubs with lots of opportunities to connect.

The seasonal routes will operate until 27th October 2023. Oddly, AA doesn’t operate any direct flights from Dublin to New York.

Flights appear to be operated by a combination of Boeing 787 and 777, depending on the route. You can read my recent review of American’s Flagship business class on a Boeing 777 here.

American Airlines is part of the oneworld alliance and a transatlantic joint venture partner together with BA, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Finnair, so you’ll be able to earn and redeem Avios on these flights.

You may even find some low-tax redemptions when starting in Dublin, although be warned that American makes very few Business Class redemption seats available to partners such as BA.

You can learn how to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles from UK credit cards in this article.

How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards January 2024)

American Airlines no longer has its own UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn American Airlines miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to American Airlines miles at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 American Airlines miles per £1 spent on the card.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

There will be 26 daily flights from London Heathrow this Summer, serving 11 cities.

The daily schedule will look like this:

• Boston – 1 flight
• Charlotte – 3 flights
• Dallas Fort Worth – 4 flights
• New York JFK – 4 flights
• Los Angeles – 3 flights
• Miami – 2 flights
• Chicago – 4 flights
• Philadelphia – 2 flights
• Phoenix – 1 flight
• Raleigh-Durham – 1 flight
• Seattle – 1 flight

It’s a huge schedule, and you have to wonder how the lounge network and other back-end facilities will cope. Unsurprisingly, American is now the largest the US airline operating out of Heathrow.

You can see the combined power of the British Airways / American Airlines transatlantic joint venture here, compared to the relatively modest combined firepower of Virgin Atlantic / Delta Air Lines and of course United Airlines, which has no joint venture partner.

That said, there is increased competition from JetBlue as well as Norse Atlantic from Gatwick – which is set to announce additional UK-US flights soon – and of course indirect flights via European hubs.

It is important to note that American Airlines makes very, very little business class reward space available for Avios. It is not unusual to see zero seats available across the next 12 months on most UK routes. Don’t get your hopes up about finding a business class Avios seat on any of the services above.

Our recent review of American Airlines Flagship business class is here and our review of the (not great) American Airlines Admirals Club lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 is here. The AA First Class lounge remains closed.

If you want to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles from UK credit cards, this article looks at your options.

American Airlines is part of the BA, Iberia, Finnair and Aer Lingus transatlantic joint venture, which means that you may find yourself on an AA flight as part of any USA itinerary with these airlines.

It’s been a while since we looked at American Airlines in detail so it was good timing that BA and AA invited me to New York to see the brand new lounges at JFK Airport’s Terminal 8. You can see my review of the new top-tier Chelsea Lounge here whilst my report on the ‘BA Gold’ Soho Lounge is here. Note that initial feedback on the two lounges from passengers has not been great with multiple reports of teething troubles.

I’ve previously only flown American Airlines on short haul trips, so I was looking forward to experiencing their long haul product. AA often gets a bad rep in aviation circles but I’ve always received good service, including as a student when I accidentally booked myself on a flight to San Jose California rather than San Jose Costa Rica …. but that’s a story for another day!

American Airlines check in at Heathrow

American Airlines is currently flying from Heathrow Terminal 3. We will have to see if this is permanent, as AA and BA have played a number of rounds of musical chairs between Terminals 3 and 5. For example, all flights to New York were meant to fly from Terminal 5 last Summer.

When it comes to checking in, AA and BA share Zones D and E:

Anyone travelling in Flagship business or First can use the premium check in area in Zone D. This is shared with BA and split into a business and First area, although when I arrived they were waving passengers straight into the mini First area regardless of cabin class:

There was no queue so I was checked in very quickly and off on my way through the (admittedly nightmarish) security lanes at Terminal 3. Of all the terminals at Heathrow, Terminal 3 still seems to suffer the most from congestion with queues even forming at Fast Track.

Fortunately the exit from Fast Track security avoids most of the duty free maze and I headed into the American Airlines Admirals Lounge at Heathrow which I reviewed here.

On-board AA’s Flagship business class on the Boeing 777-300ER

Unfortuantely our flight was delayed slightly by a late arriving aircraft into Heathrow. I used the extra time to pop into the Cathay Pacific First lounge for a quick glass of champagne before heading back to the gate.

Terminal 3 has a unique process at Heathrow which boards people into holding pens before boarding actually starts. I’m not sure why it does this, but it does mean that once you go through you are stuck in the gate area.

This was a busy flight and with the delay it was incredibly busy (and hot) in the holding pen. Everyone was desperate to get on.

As it was a full flight I wasn’t able to get good photos of the cabin, so you’ll have to imagine it. On this aircraft, AA has a tiny, two-row forward business cabin behind Flagship First whilst everyone else is in a large, 11 row cabin to the right.

Whilst American Airlines recently announced a new business class seat called Flagship Suites, those won’t actually be flying until 2024 at the earliest. Instead, on this particular aircraft, you’ll find a Cirrus seat. It is a common ancestor to Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class Suite on the A350.

The good news is that everyone has direct aisle access. It is a herringbone layout, with window seats facing the window.

Whilst not the newest seat, I was still comfortable. Annoyingly, as you can see, I had selected a row with a missing window. If you have a choice I suggest you give row 11 a miss.

The seat is fairly conventional in its design. The padding on the seat was showing signs of over-squashage, however, and ought to be replaced. On the left I had a side console and storage area:

There is also storage underneath the side console, which was big enough to fit both of my massive size 10.5 Timberland boots (I was travelling for the brutal New York winter!)

Directly by your left shoulder (although fortunately not close enough to accidentally activate) were some seat controls, as well as some input and output sockets, a reading light and IFE remote. More on that in a bit ….

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of legroom. The foot rest goes all the way to the edge of the cabin, so it feels fairly spacious in bed mode. It is more of an open than enclosed design, which should appeal to anyone who hates the foot coffins now popular in business class seat design.

Waiting at my seat was a large pillow plus a quilted blanket (albeit wrapped in totally unnecessary plastic), a bottle of water and some Bang & Olufsen headphones, a menu and amenity kit.

I was pleased to see a bottle of water as this is not always a given. I did ask for another later on but the crew had run out and offered me a 2L bottle instead, which I gladly accepted.

The amenity kit is a new design from Shinola, a Detroit-based company. I wasn’t hugely blown away by it and actually prefer the older This Is Ground kits introduced in 2019. The Shinola kit is made of fabric and although quite large felt very empty. Inside were some ear plugs, an eye mask, disposable socks, dental kit, pen and hand lotion:

None of the products particularly stood out to me and I don’t think it’s a particularly memorable kit. BA’s The White Company kit is better.

In-flight entertainment with American Airlines

The in-flight entertainment screen swings out from the side. It would be unfair to compare it to the latest-generation screens, such as those on Virgin Atlantic’s new A330neos, but it does feel a little dated and the software wasn’t particularly smooth.

As mentioned above, American Airlines supplies Bang & Olufsen headphones to all business class customers. These are, without a doubt, the best in-flight headphones I have ever received on an airline.

Whilst I’m not an audiophile, what normally happens when I’m reviewing a flight is that I try the provided headphones before switching over to my own Sennheiser set. On this flight, I ended up using the B&O pair for the entire flight. They were extremely comfortable, with great noise cancellation and good sound – well, as good as can be when dealing with the low-quality files provided to airlines.

The only issue I had is figuring out where to plug them in. That’s because they feature a three-pronged plug, and the only three pronged socket you can see from your seat is one next to the seat controls:

As it turns out, this is not the plug. I spent about five minutes trying to turn the headphones and troubleshooting why they weren’t working. I even got my own headphones out to see if they were broken.

Eventually I asked the crew, who let me know that the audio connection is actually inside the storage unit that I couldn’t actually see inside. This is totally out of sight – you would not know it is there – and is quite possibly the stupidest design decision they could have made. I’m sure the crew must get asked how to use the headphones on every single flight.

Once I got it all to work I did enjoy watching a couple of films. There is a decent selection of new releases as well as a good back catalogue, so you should find something to entertain you.

The only other problem with the B&O headphones is that they are so nice that AA is worried you are going to steal them and therefore collect them about 30 minutes before landing. If you want to continue watching something then you are offered the economy earbuds.

If you want to stay connected, AA also offers inflight wifi. There are only two options:

• a two hour pass for $24
• a full flight pass for $29

The difference is so marginal that it doesn’t really make sense just to go for two hours. I tried it and managed to use it for basic messaging and emails as well as social media. It did drop out briefly so it is not 100% reliable.

Meal services on American Airlines Flagship business class

Once settled into my seat the cabin crew came round offering a pre-departure drink. I opted for the champagne. It is served in a thin plastic glass – the disposable kind you can buy for parties – which doesn’t exactly scream ‘premium’.

There was a hot towel service as well, which I’m always a fan of.

The crew were incredibly efficient and also took food orders during taxi. I quite like this – on a lot of recent transatlantic flights it’s taken an hour or so to even take an order so I can appreciate their desire to get things going, especially with a cabin as big as this.

Food was served within 40 minutes or so of take-off, which I thought was impressive. I had the prawn starter, which was delicious. It was accompanied by a decent salad which is rare to find on flights (BA loves a pasta or cous cous salad ….)

At this point they also came round with a post-take-off drinks service, which was slightly slow.

Once I had finished they brought my main. I’ve had a number of good beef dishes recently so I went for the braised beef:

Unfortunately, this was very dry and quite disappointing. I would not order this again.

Finally for the dessert, I went for the chocolate mousse. I know AA is famous for its ice cream sundaes but I just didn’t fancy it.

Once the meal service was finished the cabin crew made themselves scarce, and I didn’t really see them again until later. They were obviously available if you called the crew bell but I don’t recall them proactively checking on us.

If you were hungry throughout the flight you could pick up a range of snacks and light bites in the galley, and there was also a second meal service before landing. I chose the pasta salad with asparagus which was good:

Conclusion

All in all, I have to admit flying American Airlines long haul business class is a mixed bag.

When it works, it works really well. I was particularly impressed by the Bang & Olufsen headphones and the meal starter, for example. I also liked that the cabin crew tried to deliver the meal service as soon as possible after take-off.

Less impressive were the cheap plastic glass of champagne at boarding and the dry braised beef, which brought the experience down.

One thing – and this is purely down to geography – is that this flight is very much a ‘night flight’ during the winter owing to the very short days. We didn’t take off until after 6pm, which is well after sunset in the UK in December.

It meant that the entire flight was in darkness, and was treated as such. That meant that after dinner cabin lights were dimmed and you were clearly encouraged to sleep, even though I would rarely try more than a nap on a flight from London to the East Coast. It was a very odd experience and I’ve realised that I’d much rather be flying in daylight hours when going westbound.

If you want to try it for yourself, this HfP article tells you everything you need to know about how to redeem Avios points on American Airlines including the best ‘sweet spot’ redemptions.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

It is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK.  You see all of the reviews here.

Earlier this year, I went on a lounge safari of all the oneworld lounges at Heathrow Terminal 3 to update our reviews.

One lounge I couldn’t get in was the American Airlines Admirals Club, as it was still shut, so I thought I’d make the effort on my recent flight to New York. A review of American Airlines’ Flagship business class will follow.

The Admirals Club was very lightly refreshed this year, although I challenge anyone to spot the difference.

How to access the AA Admirals Club at Heathrow T3

You do not need to be flying American Airlines to access the lounge.

The only requirement is that you are flying a oneworld carrier (such as Finnair, American Airlines, Qantas or British Airways), either on a business class ticket or First Class ticket – depending on lounge – or with the relevant status.

That means anyone with oneworld Sapphire (ie. British Airways Executive Club Silver) can access the Admirals Club, even if you are flying an a hand-baggage-only British Airways economy flight.

You are allowed to bring one guest if you are entering via your status. If you are entering via your ticket class, you should be able to bring a guest who is travelling in Economy or Premium Economy on the same flight.

How to find the Admirals Club lounge at Heathrow

Terminal 3 uses an alphabetic labelling system for the nine lounges that are now available at the airport. The Admirals Club is designated as ‘Lounge H’ (together with the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse) when you exit security.

The majority of the lounges are all along one corridor. The Admirals Club is just to the right of the Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges, and is slap bang in the middle of the corridors to the majority of gates.

The Admirals Club is open from 6am until 7pm daily, except on Saturdays when it closes at 5pm.

Inside the Admirals Club lounge T3

I mentioned before that the Admirals Club shares the ‘Lounge H’ designation with the Virgin Clubhouse. That’s because the Clubhouse is upstairs whilst the Admirals Club occupies the ‘ground’ floor:

After having your boarding pass scanned you make your way down a corridor past the bathrooms and showers to the main seating area.

First up is a small area of seats which remained unused during my stay in the lounge, primarily I imagine because it’s attached to the corridor and feels very transitory:

The centrepiece of the lounge is a large round dining area:

The buffet is on the left (more on that later).

To the right you have more armchair-style seating. You do at least get some good views across the terminal:

There is also a decent light installation that turns a gloomy corner into something a bit more appealing and bright:

The Admirals Club is not quite as big as the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, but it is bigger than it looks. There is more seating behind the dining area, which is screened by a wall, including a small hot-desking area with a couple of TVs showing the World Cup (on mute):

There is also a ‘quiet’ area. I’m not sure it was any quieter than the rest of the lounge, which was fairly sedate at 4pm on a Monday.

Connectivity is very good throughout the lounge. There are an abundance of options, with sockets for both UK and US style plugs at most seats:

There are also seven or eight showers in the lounge. I had a quick peek, and found them to be very large and clean:

Food and drink in the Admirals Club lounge

A small buffet is provided. As the First dining room is still closed, all passengers will eat here:

When it comes to hot food you have a choice of three options: honey roasted gammon, potatoes and pasta. None of it looks particularly appealing:

Why is it that lounge caterers think that the perfect ratio of pasta to sauce is about 100:1?

On the other side of the table you have lighter options, including some sandwiches and a salad bar, which at least looked ok:

There are self-serve spirits and wines, plus soft and hot drinks. A prosecco is offered instead of champagne.

and

The highlight of the lounge dining is the freezer of Jude’s ice cream off to one side:

…. as well as a pick’n’mix style sweets station:

Conclusion

As the oldest oneworld lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3, the American Airlines Admirals Club lounge is showing its age. A light refresh earlier this year hasn’t done much to change that. If anything, the dark grey pleather armchairs make it feel even more like a depressing hospital waiting room, and the food isn’t much better.

This is now even more glaringly obvious given the brand new American Airlines and British Airways lounges in New York. Anyone flying from London to New York or vice versa would enjoy world-class lounges at JFK whilst slumming it at sub-par facilities in Heathrow. The difference between those lounges and this is night and day.

Will we see a refurbishment? Prior to covid, there were rumours that American Airlines was going to renovate and reopen the space as a Flagship lounge, which is meant to be better than an Admirals Club. That has not happened and from what I’ve heard appears to have been paused, at least for now, despite being long overdue.

My advice, for anyone with access to this lounge, is to skip it and head to the Qantas London Lounge or Cathay Pacific Lounges next door.

Travelling from Heathrow Terminal 3? Here are your lounge options ….

Heathrow’s Terminal 3 has one of the highest concentration of premium lounges of any terminal in the world.

Our overview of the best airline lounges at Heathrow Terminal 3 is here, or you can read individual reviews of all the lounges here:

• American Express Centurion lounge review
• American Airlines Admirals Club lounge review (oneworld)
• American Airlines First Class lounge review (oneworld)
• British Airways Galleries First lounge review (oneworld)
• British Airways Galleries Club (business class) lounge review (oneworld)
• Cathay Pacific Business Class lounge review (oneworld)
• Cathay Pacific First Class lounge review (oneworld)
• Club Aspire lounge review
• Emirates lounge review
• No1 Lounge review
• Qantas London Lounge review (oneworld)
• Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse review

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (January 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

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 get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

The Soho Lounge is the mid-tier lounge for British Airways and American Airlines passengers from the airport. As you’ll see it is anything but ‘mid-tier’ and could easily be confused with a ‘real’ First Class lounge.

The Soho Lounge is one of two new lounges at Terminal 8, which have opened in order to accommodate the increase in passengers following the move by British Aiways from T7 to T8. Click here to see my review of the Chelsea Lounge, which is the top-tier lounge facility in the terminal and replaces the British Airways Concorde Room.

A third lounge, called the Greenwich Lounge, will cater to business class passengers and British Airways Silver card holders, plus oneworld equivalents. This is not a new lounge but a rebrand of the existing AA Flagship Lounge.

As these lounges are a joint venture between American Airlines and British Airways they have been named – as you may have spotted – after three shared neighbourhoods between New York and London.

I was given a tour of the Soho Lounge on Tuesday, two days before it opened to the public.

How to access the Soho Lounge at New York JFK Terminal 8

Entry requirements for the Soho Lounge are a bit of an odd one, because all ‘real’ British Airways and American Airlines First Class passengers will be using the more exclusive Chelsea Lounge next door.

However, if you are flying First Class on another oneworld airline, such as Japan Airlines, you will end up in the Soho Lounge.

Fundamentally, the Soho Lounge caters for top British Airways and American Airlines status cardholders, regardless of their class of travel. It is effectively a British Airways Gold status lounge.

The following people get access:

• BA Gold cardholders
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum members, if travelling in Flagship
• AAdvantage Platinum Pro members, if travelling in Flagship
• oneworld First Class passengers
• oneworld Emerald members

As you can see, unlike the Chelsea Lounge, the Soho Lounge also caters for oneworld frequent flyers.

The lounge is open all day from 4:30am until 12:30am.

Where is the Soho Lounge at JFK Terminal 8?

The Soho Lounge is in a new extension to the terminal. It is very easy to get to, especially as JFK Terminal 8 is not as big as Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

It is directly opposite Gate 14. Just turn right as you exit security and you’ll see the signage. You need to take the lifts or the stairs up a floor.

The Soho Lounge is co-located with the Chelsea Lounge. You’ll see a bank of check-in desks for the Soho Lounge, which is straight ahead of you as you exit the lifts:

Inside BA and AA’s new Soho Lounge at Terminal 8

Inside the British Airways and American Airlines Soho Lounge you’ll find a large, light-filled space. This is a mid-size lounge with a capacity of 282 guests across 1,200 square metres.

Whilst the lounge is more or less one open space, it has been separated into individual zones that are functionally and stylistically different.

The first thing you’ll see as you enter is a staffed bar behind a casual dining area with forest green seating:

Next to this you’ll find a more formal dining area, around a centrepiece glass chandelier installation:

and

Straddling an internal wall is a large buffet area where you can help yourself to food and drinks. As I was there for a pre-opening tour this was not yet in use and I couldn’t see what was on offer.

On the opposite side, and along the window, you’ll find a raft of armchairs in groups of four overlooking the tarmac. When I was there, a British Airways plane had just landed and parked at Gate 14 downstairs:

Beyond this, tucked right into the corner, you’ll also find five individual open booths. These aren’t phone booths (there are a couple of those elsewhere) but they do afford you additional privacy.

and

After the dining area you’ll find another space with higher bar-stool style seating and a large hot-desking table made from petrified wood:

There are also two phone booths here.

As you can see there are plug sockets galore, with multiple options at almost every seat:

The final space is the most private of all and screened off from the rest of the lounge as I think it’s meant to be more of a quiet area. This is a cosy ‘library’ area (although there are no books!)

and

Around the corner are the bathrooms as well as four showers. I was pleased to see these are identical to the showers in the Chelsea Lounge, so you won’t be disappointed:

Toiletries are again by DS & DURGA.

Food and drink in the Soho Lounge, JFK Airport

Whilst no food was out during my lounge tour, I did manage to take a look at the menus.

As a reminder, there is a self-serve buffet. As far as I know, there is no a la carte menu, unless BA and AA decide to bring QR code ordering as they have at Heathrow.

There is a separate breakfast and ‘all day’ menu. On the ‘all day’ menu you have a choice of:

• Honey and roasted garlic chicken (hot)
• Miso pomegranate salmon (hot)
• Drip pan fingerling potatoes with herbs (hot)
• Coffee bean roasted heirloom carrots (hot)
• Runner bean and pesto trofie (hot)
• BYO salad bar
• Pre-made salads, including cobb, nicoise, waldorf and superfood salads
• Roasted tomato soup (hot)
• Chicken noodle soup (hot)
• Yoghurt station
• Charcuterie station
• Desserts such as cookies, brownies, lemon bars

It’s good to see there are no sad looking pasta dishes with the thinnest coating of sauces. Let’s see what it looks like in practice.

Conclusion

This is an impressive lounge, despite being the mid-tier offering and a notch down from the Chelsea Lounge next door.

In fact, I think you’d be hard pressed, from a design stand point, to tell the difference as both are reminiscent of high-end hotels. You can easily forget you are at an airport.

The Soho Lounge is bigger, of course, and it benefits from floor to ceiling windows along its length. It also features a self-serve buffet versus the Chelsea’s a la carte dining. You don’t have a choice of 17 champagnes either!

It is a night and day difference compared to its equivalent in London, the Heathrow and Gatwick Galleries First lounges. Taken together, the new British Airways and American Airlines lounges at Terminal 8 have got to be with the best, if not the best lounges at New York’s JFK Airport.

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (January 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

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 get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

It is the premier lounge for British Airways and American Airlines passengers at New York JFK Terminal 8 and opens on 1st December.

This lounge serves 17 different champagnes, including Krug. I’m not sure I ever expected to be typing ‘Krug’ and ‘British Airways’ in the same article.

The Chelsea Lounge replaces BA’s Concorde Room at Terminal 7. As part of JFK’s regeneration plan, British Airways moved in with American Airlines at Terminal 8 so that the ageing Terminal 7 can be redeveloped. As of 1st December, all British Airways flights will operate to and from T8.

In order to accommodate the additional influx of premium passengers from British Airways (and indeed Iberia, which is also moving in), the two airlines quickly realised they needed to significantly increase their lounge space. The existing American Airlines Flagship lounge was simply too small to accommodate all First class, business class and status passengers from the combined airlines.

The answer was to open two new international lounges and rebrand the existing Flagship lounge.

Going forward, there are now three lounges for long haul passengers at JFK Terminal 8:

• The Chelsea Lounge, for BA and AA First Class passengers
• The Soho Lounge, for BA Gold passengers (oneworld Emerald – review here)
• The Greenwich Lounge, for business class passengers and BA Silver cardholders (oneworld Sapphire)

The existing Flagship lounge has become the Greenwich Lounge, whilst the Soho and Chelsea Lounges are brand new additions to the terminal. I was given a tour of both new lounges on Tuesday, just before they opened to the public.

All three lounges have been named after neighbourhoods in both New York and London.

How to access the Chelsea Lounge at New York JFK

The Chelsea Lounge is a collaboration between British Airways and American Airlines. It is the first time BA and AA have worked together, from scratch, to launch a lounge.

As the most premium lounge at Terminal 8, the Chelsea Lounge is reserved for BA and AA’s top flyers. You won’t get access as an elite member of any other oneworld frequent flyer scheme unless you are flying in First Class.

Here are the eligibility criteria:

• Anyone flying in First (BA), Flagship Business Plus (AA) or Flagship First (AA)
• Anyone with BA Gold Guest List status, flying with BA or AA in any class
• Any AA Concierge Key members flying on Flagship itineraries

This is what the British Airways website says:

“At 5,000 Tier Points (and 3,000 Tier Points each year thereafter) our Gold Executive Club Members and one guest have access to our Chelsea lounge at New York JFK Terminal 8 when flying any class of travel with British Airways or American Airlines.

Customers flying with other oneworld airlines are unable to access this lounge.”

This means, for example, that a BA Gold Guest List member will not get access if flying with Iberia or Japan Airlines.

However, slightly oddly, a BA Gold Guest List member would get access if taking a short Economy domestic flight on American Airlines.

Where is the Chelsea Lounge at JFK Terminal 8?

The Chelsea Lounge is in a new extension to the terminal. It is very easy to get to, especially as Terminal 8 is not as big as Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

It is directly opposite Gate 14. Just turn right as you exit security and you’ll see the signage. You need to take the lifts or the stairs up a floor.

The Chelsea Lounge is co-located with the Soho Lounge. For the Chelsea Lounge, turn right again and you’ll be greeted by an exclusive reception area where BA and AA staff will check you in:

Inside the Chelsea Lounge at JFK Terminal 8

The Chelsea Lounge is the smallest of the new lounge spaces at JFK Terminal 8. It can cater for 128 passengers and is just under 900 metres square.

Once the staff have confirmed your eligibility, you are greeted by the signature bar inside the lounge:

It’s an impressive statement that sets the scene for the rest of the lounge which, as you will see, is very impressive. Flying in British Airways First class has never seemed more appealing.

Around the lounge you have barstools. To the right you’ll find some casual seating, whilst the rest of the lounge is to the left. Again, there is various casual seating options around the bar:

By the time the lounge opens you should also find a fireplace suspended in the centre, adding to the atmosphere of the space.

Connectivity is great – there are power sockets at virtually every seat:

Beyond this you’ll find a dining area:

and

To the right are a number of booths, plus a dark nap nook with some chaise longues:

and

Behind the dining room are the bathrooms and showers. There are three showers in total, which doesn’t seem like a huge amount, although there are a further four next door in the Soho Lounge too. Toiletries are from DS& DURGA.

and

Like the rest of the lounge, the showers set a new standard for facilities at a British Airways lounge and are a huge improvement on the NHS-style showers at Heathrow.

As you will have seen by now, the style and design of the lounge is fantastic. As the most premium lounge BA and AA have also used premium materials, including Italian marble and the hand-crafted glass chandelier from the Czech Republic. It is all very classy, and looks more like a 5 star hotel.

One thing you will have noticed is that the Chelsea Lounge has no natural light. There are no windows in this lounge, whilst the Soho Lounge features floor to ceiling windows along its length. Unfortunately, because of the way the building is built, there was no ideal way to split the space so that both had natural light.

That said, the designers have done an excellent job to create a warm and welcoming space through the use of lighting features. It was only about halfway through the tour that I realised there were no windows.

Food and drink in the British Airways Chelsea Lounge

Like the Concorde Room, the Chelsea Lounge is fully a la carte, so you won’t find a buffet here. If you want a more formal meal you can sit in the dining area; alternatively, you can order food to any seat.

The choice isn’t huge, to be honest. The ‘all day dining’ menu has five hot main dishes:

• Steak Frites
• Roasted chicken breast
• Butternut squash curry
• Lamb tagine
• Sole Meuniere

…. plus three salads. There are three choices of appetiser and four desserts.

I had a taste of some of the dishes available and was impressed. We will have to see what they are like during a normal service, however.

Afternoon tea is also available between 3pm and 6pm. There is also a separate breakfast menu.

When it comes to champagne, you’ll be able to choose from Krug, Ruinart or Moet & Chandon, with a number of different options available.

(Yes, you read that correctly. Krug Grande Cuvee is available in a British Airways lounge.)

It’s actually slightly bonkers. They are offering five different varieties of Moet & Chandon and SEVENTEEN different champagnes in total. There’s also Nyetimber.

You can even order one of two different champagne flights, each containing small glasses of three different bottles.

I checked with Rob and neither of us can think of any other airport lounge in the world with such a selection.

Conclusion

Credit where credit is due, British Airways and American Airlines have unveiled a truly and suitably first class lounge experience with the Chelsea Lounge.

When it comes to design the lounge is sophisticated and cosy. It is very stylish and would not look out of place in a luxury hotel.

We will have to see how the lounge works in practice with a full complement of guests, but first impressions are fantastic. The Chelsea Lounge is, easily, the best lounge in the British Airways network.

Click here for our review of the Soho Lounge, which is for British Airways Gold card holders.

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (January 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

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 get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

No-one told IAG’s IT department, however, and the move was grounded because of, I believe, IT integration issues.

These seem to be over. According to a LinkedIn post on Friday morning from a British Airways employee, which may have been leaked by mistake, Aer Lingus is now a full partner in the transatlantic joint venture.

The post was accompanied by this image, which implies that it is official:

The post states:

“We’re delighted to welcome Aer Lingus as our new Atlantic Joint Business partner ….. To you and your business this means greater connectivity options and seamless travel between Europe and US.”

Assuming this is true, it means that all five airlines will be able to co-ordinate scheduling and pricing on flights between Europe and the US.

In such a joint venture, all revenues are pooled and re-distributed based on an internally agreed formula. When you buy a flight to New York on British Airways, part of your fare goes to Iberia, American Airlines, Finnair and now Aer Lingus.

This is good news for those of us in the UK. As part of the joint venture, transatlantic Aer Lingus flights will now give full Avios and tier points. Aer Lingus flights previously did not earn British Airways Executive Club tier points so this is a big improvement.

This will be particularly good news for readers in the Manchester area, with the direct Aer Lingus services to New York and Orlando now earning British Airways tier points.

If you collect American Airlines, Iberia or Finnair miles or status points, this announcement will also benefit you. Aer Lingus flights, at least the transatlantic ones, will now earn in these programmes too.

As of the time of writing (10am) none of this is reflected on ba.com. The tier point calculator still shows zero tier points in British Airways Executive Club for flying from Dublin to New York on Aer Lingus:

The Aer Lingus page of the partner airlines section of ba.com hasn’t been updated either – but then that page still talks about Stobart Air as an Aer Lingus franchise partner, which went bust over a year ago. The bankrupt Air Italy is also still listed as an airline partner!

You need to assume that the Aer Lingus partnership with United Airlines is now on the way out. This will remove one of quirks of the Avios programme – you were able to earn Avios by flying to the USA with Star Alliance member United, as long as you credited them to Aer Lingus AerClub.

We will update this article if/when we get the official announcement (EDIT: nothing had turned up by Friday evening, if you’re reading this via email on Saturday). Don’t rush off to book anything until we have more details.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

It isn’t part of the official British Airways sale but the deals are definitely there if you start from Dublin:

• Denver from £1,223 with British Airways
• Los Angeles from £1,187 with Finnair
• Miami from £1,192 with American Airlines
• Mexico City from £1,220 with Iberia
• New York from £1,137 with British Airways
• Toronto from £1,205 with British Airways

Other cities with similar pricing include:

• Austin
• Cleveland
• Chicago
• Las Vegas
• Montreal
• Nashville
• New Orleans
• Orlando
• Phoenix
• Portland, Oregon
• Salt Lake City
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• Seattle
• Washington DC

Given the time of year, the deals are particularly good if you like to ski, with Denver and Salt Lake City for the Rockies.

You’ll have to put up with several connections

If you thought that sub £1,300 business class flights from Dublin were too good to be true in the current economic climate, you’re right.

The biggest catch is that the vast majority of these itineraries involve at least one connection, if not two, and that’s before you include the flight to get to Dublin in the first place. From the UK, you are looking at fares with two to three connections.

Remember that to qualify for the deals you can’t book a connecting flight from London or other UK airports as this will re-price the fare. You need to book the transatlantic sector from Dublin and then book a separate flight to Dublin.

This involves a bit of risk as you will be self connecting – collecting your luggage in Ireland before checking in again. You will need at least a few hours to do so; if you are particularly risk averse you may want to spend the night in Dublin and explore the city.

That said ….

These deals are great for tier points

If you’re chasing status then booking these fares is a great way of picking up tier points on your way to the United States.

For example, a flight from London to Miami would net you 140 tier points each way, so 280 in total.

For £1,192 you can get the following itinerary in the sale:

• Dublin to Philadelphia (140 tier points)
• Philadelphia to Charlotte (40 tier points)
• Charlotte to Miami (40 tier points)

…. for a total of 220 tier points, each way, or 440 in total. You can add an extra 80 if you include positioning flights to Dublin on British Airways in Club Europe.

That gets you within spitting distance of British Airways Silver status, including lounge access, at 600 tier points. You would only need an additional 160 tier points, easily done with some of the longer short haul flights in Club Europe. A complete list of Club Europe flights that earn 160 tier points is here.

Note: I don’t think that any Aer Lingus flights are included in this offer, but if one does pop up, remember that it will NOT earn British Airways tier points unless it has a BA flight number.

How to book

According to the fare rules you’ll need to book by the 20th September, which is the same time as the British Airways sale ends. In reality the flights will probably not last that long.

Flights are available throughout January, February and March. As these are all part of the oneworld transatlantic joint venture you should be able to book them via the British Airways website even if they are operated by American Airlines, Finnair or Iberia.

Remember to pay with a British Airways Premium Plus American Express if you have one, since that earns double Avios (3 per £1) when spending at ba.com. Failing that, American Express Preferred Rewards Gold offers double points (2 per £1) on all airline spending.

Being able to upgrade British Airways tickets using Avios is a well known feature of the programme as I wrote in this article.  There is also a full page on ba.com explaining how it works.

Whilst upgrades from World Traveller / Economy are restricted (the cheapest ticket class – Q, O and G – cannot be upgraded), virtually any ticket in World Traveller Plus or Club World can be upgraded using Avios.

The only condition is that an Avios reward seat must be available in the class to which you want to upgrade.  The upgrade comes out of the same ‘bucket’.  The only other rule is that you cannot upgrade at the airport or on board with Avios – it must be done in advance.

As an example of pricing, it currently costs 40,000 Avios to upgrade a return World Traveller Plus ticket to New York to Club World on peak days or 48,000 Avios on off-peak days.

What fewer people know is that you can also upgrade British Airways flights using American Airlines miles.

Our full guide to earning American Airlines miles from UK credit cards is here.

Upgrading British Airways tickets using American Airlines miles is not as lucrative, because you are restricted to upgrading full fare tickets except in Club World.  It CAN be done, however, which makes it an option for using up any AA miles you have accrued.

All the details can be found here on the American Airlines website.

Only full fare World Traveller (Y, B class) and World Traveller Plus tickets (W class) can be upgraded using AA miles.  Whilst it says ‘full fare Club World’, it also says it includes C, J, D and R booking classes – and R is one of the non-refundable Club World booking classes.

Here is another snag:

You must book your BA ticket via American Airlines in order to be able to upgrade it using AA miles.  Alternatively, there must be one AA flight (which can be a codeshare, but must have an AA flight number) in your booking.

The pricing is reasonable and on a par with using Avios.  A World Traveller Plus to Club World New York upgrade would be 25,000 American Airlines miles return as the chart shows.

One other benefit (admittedly of less use if you live in the UK) is that AA lets you upgrade up to three flights per upgrade ‘fee’.  If you are flying from the US via London to, say, Athens you could upgrade both for the cost of just one.  British Airways would charge you for each leg separately if you upgraded with Avios.

Iberia flights can also be upgraded using the same method.

This is clearly not something that would interest everyone, but if you travel for work on flexible fares, have a few American Airlines miles sitting around unused and have the ability to ticket your British Airways flights via aa.com then it may be of use.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

When do Avios expire?

Avios (British Airways miles) expire after 36 months of inactivity.  I don’t mean flying activity, I mean ANY mileage earning or spending activity at all.  It is very unlikely that an active collector like a Head for Points reader would be caught out by such a long time frame!

You can reset the clock with Avios with a simple action such as:

• buying 1,000 Avios via this page
• doing a Membership Rewards transfer from your American Express points account
• transferring some points from a hotel loyalty programme
• making an online shopping transaction via the Avios e-store

Note that moving miles across from Iberia, Qatar Airways or avios.com does not reset expiry. I am not certain if Nectar transfers do or not – it isn’t clear since these are two-way transfers which can be immediately reversed.

It is worth noting that if you are in a British Airways household account which contains a Gold, Silver or Bronze member, the Avios points of all members of that Household Account are protected even if they pass the three year point.  This is the specific wording from the BAEC terms and conditions:

18.1.18. Notwithstanding Clause 18.1.16, in the event a Household Account has a Gold, Silver or Bronze Tier Member who has earned or redeemed Avios points within the last 36 consecutive months then the Avios points balance of the other Household Account Members shall not be subject to expiry in accordance with Clause 14.4. In the event a Household Account ceases to have as a Household Account Member any such Gold, Silver or Bronze Tier Member then the provisions of Clause 18.1.16 shall apply.

When do Virgin Points expire?

This is a simple answer – they don’t.

Following a policy change in September 2020, at the same time as the currency was renamed from Virgin Flying Club miles to Virgin Points, Virgin Points no longer expire.

When do British Airways On Business points expire?

One to keep an eye on, though, is British Airways On Business.

On Business is the scheme for small businesses (or even one-man bands) which earns points for your company on cash ticket purchases. This is on top of the Avios points earned by the traveller.

I wrote an introduction to British Airways On Business here and here. You can get 1,500 bonus points for signing up via my referral code, which is in the article.

The key is that On Business points have a ‘hard’ expiry date of two years from the December after you earn them.  This cannot be extended – you must spend them within two years. If I take a flight today, those points will expire on 31st December 2024 unless I spend them, and nothing can stop that expiry.

When do Lufthansa Miles & More miles expire?

Lufthansa Miles & More works the same way. Your miles expire 36 months from being earned, at the end of the next quarter, whatever other activity you have in the meantime.

This is one downside of using Miles & More as your default Star Alliance programme since it is very possible – if you only credit a few Star Alliance flights a year – that your miles may start expiring before you have built up enough for a decent redemption.

If you have a Miles & More credit card then your miles are protected from expiry. Unfortunately, there is not currently a Miles & More credit card available in the UK.

Your miles are also protected if you have Miles & More status.

When do Flying Blue miles expire?

Perhaps the most complex of the Western European frequent flyer schemes is Flying Blue, the Air France / KLM programme.

Unless you have status, you need to take a revenue flight with Air France, KLM or one of their SkyTeam or other airline partners every 24 months or you lose your miles earned from flying – whatever other activity you may have had in the meantime.  Oddly, there are separate rules for miles earned via partners – any partner activity in 24 months keeps those alive.

Here is the text from the Flying Blue website:

“All your Miles are valid for life as long as you take an eligible flight on Air France, KLM, Aircalin, Kenya Airways, TAROM or other airline partners at least once every 2 years, or if you’re an Elite or Elite Plus member, or if you make a purchase with an eligible co-branded credit card at least once every 2 years. These “Overall extending activities” extend the validity of all Miles 2 years from the date of the activity.

You can also extend the validity of Miles earned with all other partners (car rental partners, hotel partners, and experience partners) for 2 years by earning Miles with any of these other partners. These “Partial extending activities” with other partners will extend the validity of Miles earned with any of these other partners by 2 years from the date of the activity. Please note, “Partial extending activities” do not extend the validity of Miles earned from “Overall extending activities”.

Whilst you can protect your Flying Blue miles by holding a co-brand credit card, there is no such card offered in the UK.

It is possible to transfer Flying Blue miles to the Accor Live Limitless hotel programme if they are about to expire and you cannot spend them quickly.

When do American Airlines miles expire?

If you have any American Airlines miles – and this is probably the most popular US scheme with HfP readers because of the ability to redeem on British Airways – take clear note of AA’s expiry policy.  Your AA miles disappear after just 24 months of no activity.

If you have no immediate plans for your miles, make sure you transfer a few hotel points to American Airlines or credit a British Airways flight to AA every so often in order to keep them alive.

The rules are on the AA website here. Interestingly, miles do not expire if you are aged under 21.

How can you stop your airline miles expiring?

One way of tracking expiry dates is by using AwardWallet to monitor your miles and points balances. I explained how AwardWallet works here.  If you pay for the premium version it will show you the expiry date of your miles alongside your total and send you warning emails as the date approaches. The free version allows you to track expiry dates on a small number of accounts.

The key takeaway is to keep on the ball. You don’t want your hard earned miles to disappear in a puff of smoke.

If your miles are about to expire, I wrote this article on what to do with small ‘orphan’ amounts of miles in the major airline schemes.

PS.  If you want to know about hotel point expiry rules, I wrote a series of articles on the topic in 2019. Do not take these article as accurate, however, as some schemes are still running with temporary pandemic rule changes. I will update these articles as soon as all pandemic policies are removed.

• Accor Live Limitless expiry rules
• Hilton Honors expiry rules
• IHG One Rewards expiry rules
• Marriott Bonvoy expiry rules
• Radisson Rewards expiry rules
• World of Hyatt expiry rules

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Before we go into the details, let’s run over how these vouchers work.

• If you earn 2,500 British Airways Executive Club tier points in your membership year, you receive a ‘Gold Upgrade For Two’ voucher, known as a GUF2 in the trade

• If you earn 3,500 Tier Points you will also receive 2 x ‘Gold Upgrade For One’ (GUF1) vouchers, which can be used for yourself on two trips or for yourself plus a companion on one booking

The GUF vouchers let you upgrade a British Airways cash or Avios ticket by one class (more details on ba.com here).

Irrespective of whether you book a cash or Avios seat, you can upgrade it to the next category as long as there is either:

• Avios availability in the higher cabin, or

• ‘A’ cash tickets for sale in First Class, ‘I’ cash tickets for sale in Club World or ‘T’ cash tickets for sale in World Traveller Plus

All of the flights on your booking are upgraded, including any domestic connections. You can apply a GUF voucher at any point – it does not need to be used at the time of booking.

Gold Upgrade vouchers can now be used on American Airlines

You can now use your GUF2 and GUF1 vouchers on American Airlines, although there are three catches:

• the vouchers can only be used on American Airlines if the booking contains a transatlantic sector. You can use it for a domestic American Airlines flight as long as it is a connection to a transatlantic service.

• you cannot upgrade an American Airlines reward flight, only a cash booking

• you cannot upgrade an Economy booking to Premium Economy

• your American Airlines ticket needs to have been issued by British Airways, which means that your ticket number will start 125-

Because AA has different fare categories to BA, you will need ‘C’ class tickets to be for sale in Business Class in order to process the upgrade. First Class continues to require ‘A’ availability.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Here is an example taken from ba.com from the London to New York route, although the same applies to other routes too:

As you can, the screenshot shows zero tier points earned if you have a fully flexible Business Class or First Class ticket.

When I was first shown this, I assumed it was an error. (Yes, I know, we all thought BA’s IT was infallible.)

However, the second reader had actually taken a flight in fully flexible Business Class, and sent me a screenshot from his BAEC account:

In this case, he had flown on Finnair but it was booked under the American Airlines flight code.

As you can clearly see, he was in ‘D’ class (fully flexible Business Class) which earned Avios but no tier points.

This is totally bizarre and makes no sense. I am still convinced that it is a BA IT error, but potentially a deeper problem than just a display error in the BA tier point calculator.

This issue will hopefully get fixed and reverse itself automatically, but for now you should keen an eye on your BA account if flying on fully flexible American Airlines tickets.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

It is by far the easiest way of seeing Avios and Virgin Points reward seats across an entire year without having to search individual dates.  It is the only service of its type with Virgin Atlantic availability. Regular readers will have seen us using SeatSpy screenshots in recent articles to highlight examples of good Avios availability.

We have been running a special offer with SeatSpy to offer HfP readers 30% off a ‘First Class’ plan – read on to see what that offers. This offer will end on Friday 13th May.

As well as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, you can also search for award availability with KLM, Air France, American Airlines and United Airlines. Etihad is also available although still marked as ‘Beta’.

British Airways data now refreshed every 40 minutes

SeatSpy recently moved to a brand-new data collection system for Avios. This has put an end to the issue of ‘ghost availability’ which would occasionally appear.

Avios data in the system is currently being refreshed every 35-40 minutes. It is as near to real time as you’re going to get from a third party and means that it is highly likely that BA will still have the seats when you search at ba.com.

It works surprisingly well. I got an email a few weeks ago via a SeatSpy alert that four Club Europe seats to Salzburg had opened up for February 2023 half term, when we have a ski trip booked. It seemed like someone had booked these seats as soon as they opened up but had now decided to cancel. Within five minutes I was able to book them, bagging seats on what is often the most expensive weekend of the year for short haul flights.

You can also choose to receive WhatsApp alerts as well as an email when seats open up. ‘First Class’ members can also receive SMS and Telegram alerts.

Save 30% on ‘First Class’ membership

Until Friday, SeatSpy is offering a discount of 30% on ‘First Class’ membership to HfP readers when you commit to an annual plan:

• First Class membership is £4.66 per month under this offer (£6.66 normally)
• Premium membership is unchanged at £2.49 per month

The discounted rate is locked in for life.

You can sign up here.

Note that:

• there is no discount if you sign up for a month-by-month plan (First Class is £7.99 per month, Premium is £2.99)

• both plans have a 14-day free trial so you can set up test alerts and see how it goes

How do the tiers differ?

The two key differences between ‘First Class’ and ‘Premium’ are:

• ‘First Class’ members are sent availability alerts as soon as seats are found, whilst ‘Premium’ members receive alerts once per hour. It is up to you to decide if being up to 59 minutes behind other people will mean the seats you want are gone.

• ‘First Class’ members can have an unlimited number of saved alerts whilst ‘Premium’ members are limited to four active alerts

The latter one is likely to be the big differentiator. It is very easy to use up your quota of four alerts, especially if there are multiple airports you could use for a flight (eg San Francisco or San Jose) or you have a lot of potential holiday ideas.

You can search for multiple flight classes in one alert. You don’t use up two alerts by looking for either Business Class or First Class.

New features

SeatSpy has added a few new features recently worth flagging:

• you can specify different date ranges in the same alert for outbound and return flights. You can specify, for example, outbound flights between 1st-3rd October and return flights between 8th-11th October. This would previously have required either two alerts or a search covering 1st -11th October, which would have generated a lot of useless responses (eg outbound flights on the 10th).
• you can now create ‘open jaw’ alerts, where your return flight is from a different airport to your outbound one – again, this reduces the number of alerts you need to create
• you can now add a secondary e-mail address for alerts so that, for example, they can be sent to your home and work email or to you and your partner
• First Class users can now set up unlimited notifications on Telegram

There is one feature which is not yet available. SeatSpy has not yet found a way of identifying the additional Avios availability in Business Class made available to British Airways Premium Plus cardholders when using companion vouchers issued after 1st September 2021.

Whilst frustrating, availability when using a ‘new style’ 2-4-1 voucher in Business Class is good so SeatSpy isn’t necessarily necessary. Your chance of getting the seats you want is already decent. The only bit of information we don’t have yet is when the number of additional seats peaks – it is likely to be 3-4 months before departure as this is when cash prices are lowest.

Conclusion

If you’re thinking about signing up for SeatSpy, our special reader offer of £4.66 per month for ‘First Class’ may be enough to tempt you to commit for a year.

You can sign up here. Remember that this exclusive HfP offer ends on Friday.

This is despite the fact that the CDC extended the mask mandate until 3rd May as recently as last week as Omicron sub-variant BA.2 makes its way through the US population.

However, the new ruling means that this is no longer the case, and the US government issued a statement:

“Today’s court decision means that the CDC’s public transportation masking order is not in effect at this time. Therefore TSA will not enforce its security directives requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time.”

Given the mandate’s short extension, the administration is unlikely to challenge the decision. The mandate has had dwindling support and the Democrats cannot afford to alienate middle American voters as the country prepares for midterm elections this Autumn.

Airlines are making masks optional

Virtually all US airlines have now issued statements that wearing masks on board aircraft will become optional, unless a destination requires it.

That means that you will no longer need to wear masks on British Airways and Virgin Atlantic flights to or from the USA. Both airlines have confirmed this on social media.

It makes the the US one of the first (and certainly the biggest) long haul destination where masks are no longer required. However, you still need to take a lateral flow or PCR test before heading to the United States.

Delta, American Airlines, United and other US carriers as well as Amtrak are similarly choosing to make masks an optional part of the travel experience.

Airlines and passengers are happy

Airlines are likely to welcome the move, despite the political way in which it happened: Airlines4America, a lobby group, said it was “encouraged by the lifting of the federal transportation mask mandate”.

The mask mandate came up against considerably opposition in the US where the issue was split along partisan lines. The order was challenged by the ‘Health Freedom Defense Fund’ in Florida where US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled in favour of the plaintiffs.

Mizelle was appointed to the District Court in 2020 by Donald Trump; the American Bar Association rated her as ‘Not Qualified’ for the job based on her lack of experience: “since her admission to the bar Ms. Mizelle has not tried a case, civil or criminal, as lead or co-counsel.”

Despite the political nature of her appointment and of the plaintiffs, airlines will be happy to be rid of the mandate given the issues they have had enforcing it. Cabin crew are also likely to be sighing in relief now that they no longer have to challenge the maskless. In the last year, the TSA jailed 22 people for violating the mandates and issued 2,709 fines totalling $640,000.

It is by far the easiest way of seeing Avios and Virgin Points reward seats across an entire year without having to search individual dates.  It is the only service of its type with Virgin Atlantic availability. Regular readers will have seen us using SeatSpy screenshots in recent articles to highlight examples of good Avios availability.

SeatSpy is offering HfP readers 30% off a ‘First Class’ plan – read on to see what that offers.

As well as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, you can also search for award availability with KLM, Air France, American Airlines and United Airlines. Etihad is also available although still marked as ‘Beta’.

British Airways data now refreshed every 40 minutes

SeatSpy recently moved to a brand-new data collection system for Avios. This has put an end to the issue of ‘ghost availability’ which would occasionally appear.

Avios data in the system is currently being refreshed every 35-40 minutes. It is as near to real time as you’re going to get from a third party and means that it is highly likely that BA will still have the seats when you search at ba.com.

It works surprisingly well. I got an email two weeks ago via a SeatSpy alert that four Club Europe seats to Salzburg had opened up for February half term, when we have a ski trip booked. It seemed like someone had booked these seats as soon as they opened up but had now decided to cancel. Within five minutes I was able to book them.

You can also choose to receive WhatsApp alerts as well as an email when seats open up. ‘First Class’ members can also receive SMS and Telegram alerts.

Save 30% on ‘First Class’ membership

SeatSpy has offered a limited-time discount of 30% on ‘First Class’ membership to HfP readers when you commit to an annual plan:

• First Class membership is £4.66 per month under this offer (£6.66 normally)
• Premium membership is unchanged at £2.49 per month

The discounted rate is locked in for life.

You can sign up here.

Note that:

• there is no discount if you sign up for a month-by-month plan (First Class is £7.99 per month, Premium is £2.99)

• both plans have a 14-day free trial so you can set up test alerts and see how it goes

How do the tiers differ?

The two key differences between ‘First Class’ and ‘Premium’ are:

• ‘First Class’ members are sent availability alerts as soon as seats are found, whilst ‘Premium’ members receive alerts once per hour. It is up to you to decide if being up to 59 minutes behind other people will mean the seats you want are gone.

• ‘First Class’ members can have an unlimited number of saved alerts whilst ‘Premium’ members are limited to four active alerts

The latter one is likely to be the big differentiator. It is very easy to use up your quota of four alerts, especially if there are multiple airports you could use for a flight (eg San Francisco or San Jose) or you have a lot of potential holiday ideas.

You can search for multiple flight classes in one alert. You don’t use up two alerts by looking for either Business Class or First Class.

New features

SeatSpy has added a few new features recently worth flagging:

• you can specify different date ranges in the same alert for outbound and return flights. You can specify, for example, outbound flights between 1st-3rd October and return flights between 8th-11th October. This would previously have required either two alerts or a search covering 1st -11th October, which would have generated a lot of useless responses (eg outbound flights on the 10th).
• you can now create ‘open jaw’ alerts, where your return flight is from a different airport to your outbound one – again, this reduces the number of alerts you need to create
• you can now add a secondary e-mail address for alerts so that, for example, they can be sent to your home and work email or to you and your partner
• First Class users can now set up unlimited notifications on Telegram

There is one feature which is not yet available. SeatSpy has not yet found a way of identifying the additional Avios availability in Business Class made available to British Airways Premium Plus cardholders when using companion vouchers issued after 1st September 2021.

Whilst frustrating, availability when using a ‘new style’ 2-4-1 voucher in Business Class is good so SeatSpy isn’t necessarily necessary. Your chance of getting the seats you want is already decent. The only bit of information we don’t have yet is when the number of additional seats peaks – it is likely to be 3-4 months before departure as this is when cash prices are lowest.

Conclusion

If you’re thinking about signing up for SeatSpy, our special reader offer of £4.66 per month for ‘First Class’ may be enough to tempt you to commit for a year.

You can sign up here.

It’s difficult to overstate just how important this joint venture is for both BA and AA. London to New York brought in revenues of over $1 billion for BA alone in 2018.

American Airlines is likely to earn a similar amount from the route, as all transatlantic profits are shared proportionally between British Airways, American Airlines, Finnair and Iberia.

And this is just one of the routes covered by the joint venture …..

How do Joint Ventures work?

When you book a flight to New York on British Airways, British Airways does NOT get your money.  It goes into a big pot, together with all the money that American, Iberia and Finnair (and soon Aer Lingus) receive for selling flights between Europe and North America.  This money is then shared out between the airlines using an unknown formula.

Clearly, this removes most incentives for competition between the airlines.  The only real competition is working out how to juggle the formula in order to take more than your fair share from the overall pot …. after all, if you agreed to pool your salary with everyone else on your street and split it later, you wouldn’t be queuing up to do any overtime.

For obvious reasons, joint ventures like this must be approved by competition regulators. In addition to revenue sharing, JVs allow airlines to co-ordinate schedules and pricing.

The AA/BA Joint Venture is up for renewal

The transatlantic Joint Venture was originally approved in 2010 for a ten year period. In 2018, the Competition & Markets Authority began its investigation into a possible renewal.

In May 2020, it published its provisional findings and found that there was not sufficient competition on select routes between Europe and the US.

The CMA proposed that that the joint venture would have to surrender slots if a competitor wished to launch flights to selected destinations. These included Boston, Dallas, Miami and Philadelphia.

If no other airline wanted to launch flights to these destinations then the joint venture would have to fly a minimum required number of seats per year on the routes. It could not cut capacity in order to force up fares.

This plan has now been junked

Given the disruption caused by covid, the Competition & Markets Authority extended the joint venture in September 2020, for another three years until March 2024.

It felt that no long-term predictions could be made based on 2020 schedules and that it needed to let the aviation industry settle down again, hence the 2024 extension.

The new plan assumed a gradual airline recovery from 2021 onwards. Unfortunately that never materialised, with UK/US flight numbers actually lower in 2021 than 2020.

The Competition & Markets Authority has therefore decided to extend the interim measures by a further two years until 2026:

“Due to the continued impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the aviation sector and the fact that material recovery is taking longer than was anticipated in 2020, the CMA wants to ensure that the remedies made available under the 2020 Interim Measures continue to be available for 2 additional years. As a result of these unprecedented circumstances, the CMA is not in a position to complete its investigation in advance of the expiry of the 2020 Interim Measures in March 2024. A tender process will take place in autumn 2023 for the remedy slots for the additional 2 years.”

Current ‘remedy’ flights operated by Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic to Boston, Dallas and Miami will continue for an extra year until March 2024. United took over the second pair of London – Boston remedy slots last year. A tender will soon go out to see which airlines wish to bid for BA and AA slots to operate competing Boston, Dallas and Miami routes until March 2026.

Delaying the decision for a further two years will let British Airways and American Airlines off the hook in the short term. In the medium term, the deferral is more of a threat. The CMA will come down harder if it looks like competition on transatlantic routes has reduced.

Oddly, British Airways and American Airlines will be hoping that JetBlue and Norwegian 2.0, AKA Norse Atlantic Airways, succeed with their new transatlantic services. It will show that new entrants can enter the transatlantic market and that BA/AA – together with the Virgin / Delta joint venture – are not a block on competition.

You can read more on the CMA website here.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

This allows you, for free, to get elite status across the entire SkyTeam alliance – including Delta, Air France and KLM – by matching your British Airways status.

Even if you never plan to fly with SkyTeam, doing the match could even help extend your elite benefits with British Airways if another oneworld airline was willing to match your ITA status.

The offer runs to 15th April and you can apply here. Your new status will last until 15th April 2023, if I understand the wording correctly, although it is a little vague.

I did the match last year when it ran. I’m looking forward to checking out KLM’s Crown Lounge in Amsterdam later this month on a flight to London, using my SkyTeam Elite Plus status.

Which 24 airlines are being matched?

It isn’t just British Airways status that is being matched. ITA is accepting applications from 24 airlines:

• Aerolíneas Argentinas
• Air Europa
• Alitalia
• Air France/KLM
• American Airlines
• ANA
• Czech Airlines
• Delta Airlines
• EL Al
• Emirates
• Iberia
• Korean Air
• Lufthansa
• Middle East Airlines
• Qatar Airlines
• Royal Jordanian
• Saudia
• Singapore Airlines
• SWISS
• TAP
• Tarom
• Turkish Airways
• United Airlines

The absence of Virgin Atlantic is annoying, but of course it does not fly to Italy.

Some of the above airlines, such as KLM and Delta, are already members of SkyTeam. This is a little odd as airlines usually avoid poaching from their alliance partners.

Which airlines are in SkyTeam?

If you match your British Airways or other status to ITA Airways, your status will get you benefits with the following members of the SkyTeam airline alliance:

• Aeroflot (if it returns)
• Aerolineas Argentinas
• AeroMexico
• Air Europa
• Air France
• China Airlines
• China Eastern
• Czech Airlines
• Delta
• Garuda Indonesia
• ITA Airways
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• MEA
• Saudia
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Xiamen Air

How I do apply for the ITA status match?

You can apply for your match here.

Enter five random numbers where it asks for your postcode.

It will literally take you 1 minute to do. Once you’ve registered for Volare, all it wants you to email is a copy of your British Airways Executive Club status card (an online version is accepted) and a copy of your passport.

There is no requirement to send information on your flight history or to book any flights with ITA Airways.

ITA has an app which shows a ‘virtual’ membership card, which can also be exported to your mobile wallet. You don’t need to wait for anything to arrive in the post (if it ever will – I have never received anything).

Will you get lounge access if you match from BA Silver?

Yes.

British Airways Silver is being matched to ‘Premium’ in Volare. British Airways Gold is being matched to ‘Executive’ which is the top tier.

Both ‘Premium’ and ‘Executive’ are ‘Elite Plus’ when it comes to SkyTeam alliance-wide status, which gets you lounge access with a guest at SkyTeam operated lounges.

Looking at the rules, which are complex, it seems that you do not get a guest at third party lounges. This would include the Plaza Premium lounge at Heathrow Terminal 2 which is currently being used by ITA.

There are reports of some lounges not accepting ITA status yet, so be warned. I will report back after my Amsterdam trip.

Conclusion

You have nothing to lose by requesting a status match from your British Airways Executive Club account to ITA Airways and its new Volare programme.

Elite members of 24 other schemes can also jump in.

At the very worst, you might be able to use it to match back to another oneworld or Star Alliance programme if your British Airways status slips.

Full details of the status match, and how to apply, are on the ITA website here.

This will benefit anyone connecting to or from a British Airways short haul flight. It will also give American Airlines a breather whilst its Terminal 3 lounges are closed for refurbishment.

The following routes will operate from Terminal 5 from 27th March to 30th October:

• Dallas – Fort Worth
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• New York JFK

The following routes will remain in Heathrow Terminal 3:

• Boston
• Charlotte
• Chicago
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• Raleigh – Durham

It isn’t clear what the long term plan is for American Airlines at London Heathrow. Before covid, there was talk of introducing a US immigration station in Terminal 5C and moving all British Airways and American Airlines departures to the United States to the satellite.

You can read more about the terminal switch on the AA website here.

You can learn how to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards in this HfP guide.

How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards January 2024)

American Airlines no longer has its own UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn American Airlines miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to American Airlines miles at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 American Airlines miles per £1 spent on the card.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

This is good news for anyone flying in from the US on an AA service. British Airways and Cathay Pacific passengers will also be able to use the lounge when long-haul services into Terminal 3 resume.

This is one of the very few lounges at Heathrow that I have never been in, so I can’t tell you anything interesting about it. According to the AA website, facilities include showers, valet ironing (!), a business centre, a bar, a buffet and a la carte dining.

The opening hours are 6.30am to 2pm. You will find the lounge on Level 2 once you exit the customs area, which involves taking the lift or stairs up.

To use the lounge, you need to have flown into Heathrow on American in First or Business Class or have British Airways Gold status or equivalent. BA Silver cardholders do not get access if they are not flying in First or Business.

Equivalent rules will apply to British Airways and Cathay Pacific passengers when they resume long-haul flights to Terminal 3.

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (January 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

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 get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

The move is part of a $13bn improvement project at the airport. It will see JetBlue expanding from Terminal 5 to cover the space previously occupied by Terminal 6 and Terminal 7. As part of the process, Terminal 8 will be expanded at a cost of £250m.

Somewhat shockingly, it appears that the building work has not been delayed by Covid because British Airways has announced that it will be moving into its new home on 1st December 2022.

11 months and counting

Significant work is ahead. Despite breaking ground in early 2020, this is what the site looked like in November 2021:

The new building work will see five new widebody gates plus four widebody remote stands being built, plus upgrades to the baggage handling system.

The most visible changes will be to the premium facilities. These are being reconfigured entirely, with both BA and AA sharing lounges and more.

A new, Heathrow First Wing-style premium check-in service will replace the current Flagship First check-in experience and cater to both AA and BA customers:

Business class customers will also have a new “thoughtfully designed” dedicated area.

Three new lounges are on their way

Once through check-in, the airlines are completely re-imagining the lounge spaces. Three new lounges will emerge with seating for a total of 1,000 passengers.

The top lounge will become an exclusive retreat. Although access rules have yet to be announced, it is likely to be those travelling in First only, potentially with Concorde Room cardholders too. This is essentially a combination of the current Concorde Room and Flagship First dining spaces and will feature a champagne bar, fireside lounge and a la carte dining room:

A second premium lounge will be open, most likely for anyone with BA Gold or oneworld Emerald status and will feature a wine bar, cocktail lounge library and buffet. “Sweeping airside views” are also promised.

Finally, the current AA Flagship and Concourse B Admirals Club lounges will become a single business class lounge. Although not confirmed, we assume this will be open to anyone flying business or with BA Silver (oneworld Sapphire) status.

Conclusion

The loss of Terminal 7 is not hugely detrimental. Flying has changed a lot in the 52 years it has been open and in many ways it was no longer fit for purpose.

Whilst it’s sad to say goodbye to the Concorde Room branding, these new lounges look like genuine upgrades to the current British Airways and American Airlines lounges at JFK. Finnair and Iberia will also be using these new facilities.

With such a vast volume of premium passengers it will be interesting to see how they can create intimate and cosy lounge spaces. One of the criticisms of the current British Airways lounges at JFK, only recently refurbished, is that they feel like a soulless IKEA restaurant.

To facilitate the work, Flagship First check-in will close from 1st February for construction. However, this should have minimal impact on BA customers who will continue to use the Terminal 7 facilities until the move in December.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Cathay Pacific is the latest airline to re-open its Heathrow lounge – despite not operating any flights from the airport at present – but one airline is notably absent.

The American Airlines International First Class lounge has remained closed since the start of the pandemic, despite the up-tick in transatlantic travel since the US reopened its borders to tourists.

American Airlines passengers are currently being sent to the Cathay Pacific lounges which – to be fair – are undoubtedly the best oneworld lounges at Heathrow T3.

When I was there on Thursday, one of the lounge attendants informed me that the American Airlines lounge is currently closed and undergoing renovation, with plans to open in the Spring.

Will Heathrow get a Flagship lounge?

In 2017, American Airlines launched its new premium lounge offering, called Flagship lounges.

Like all US carriers, American has a bit of a problem with access. US airport lounges are still technically ‘clubs’ which sell annual membership subscriptions. You cannot get access with AA status if flying in domestic economy, even though under oneworld rules AA is obliged to give access to British Airways status holders. Even holders of First Class tickets on domestic US routes cannot get access.

As a result, Admirals Clubs are generally poor. The margins on those flights simply aren’t high enough for AA to spend more on the lounge offering. You are even expected to pay for the majority of the drinks.

To counter this problem, American Airlines launched its new Flagship lounge concept in 2017 to complement the existing Admirals Club network. These are open to a smaller subset of passengers – those flying on long haul or transcontinental business/first class flights or with status.

Currently, AA has opened Flagship lounges at its key hubs:

• Chicago O’Hare – Terminal 3 (opened in September 2017, temporarily closed)
• Dallas – Terminal D (temporarily closed)
• Los Angeles – Terminal 4 (opened in January 2018)
• Miami – Concourse D (opened in November 2017)
• New York JFK – Terminal 8 (opened in May 2017)

A Heathrow Flagship Lounge was one of the key priorities when the concept was first launched, with a tentative opening date in 2018.

That never happened. 2018 came and went and the old American Airlines International First Class lounge – already dated in 2015 – was still in place. As Rob wrote in his review:

“It gave me too much time to consider the state of the furnishings, which were frankly pathetic and look as it they escaped from the reception area of a 1970’s office block.”

Nothing changed in 2019 either, despite the American Airlines website insisting that a Heathrow Flagship Lounge was “coming soon”. Nothing was going to happen in 2020 or 2021 with Heathrow Terminal 3 closed and transatlantic travel way down, either.

Fast forward to 2022

It now looks like Heathrow could finally be getting its long-overdue Flagship Lounge. Whilst the lounge attendant wasn’t specific, it would be odd to refurbish a lounge and not bring it up to spec with the latest offering, especially as all the planning and design had presumably already been done years prior.

Assuming everything goes smoothly, we could see a new Flagship Lounge open at Heathrow this Spring.

What’s special about a Flagship Lounge?

Nothing, really, except that it matches the premium standards of international lounges by other airlines. The following amenities are listed on the AA website:

• Chef-inspired meals
• Personalizes service
• Speciality cocktail bar
• Premium wine table
• Expansive seating
• Shower suites

Inside the lounge you can also find Flagship First Dining which is a full serviced restaurant for First Class passengers only. Even oneworld Emerald (ie a BA Gold card) won’t get you access to this bit.

Here are some pictures of the AA Flagship Lounge in Miami from 2018 (thanks to Jason):

and

and

…. and some pictures of the AA Flagship Lounge in Los Angeles (thanks to Susan):

and

and

The first impression is very positive. Both lounges appear to be very spacious with a large amount of seating and food which is a marked improvement on an Admirals Club.

Fingers crossed that AA and oneworld flyers will have something better to look forward to at Heathrow very shortly.

(This wouldn’t exactly be tricky. JP Morgan Chase is valued at 35x more than American Airlines. It would be a rounding error to acquire it.)

One day, of course, the huge fees that US retailers have to pay to accept credit cards will be cut by 80% to the levels seen in Europe and Australia. One day, US residents will also wake up and see that constant devaluations have made mileage credit cards poorer value than the 2% cashback credit cards common in the States.

Until then, the banks will continue to see airlines as no more than a conduit for issuing the frequent flyer miles which are the No 1 carrot required to sell credit cards in the US.

American Airlines is shaking up AAdvantage

American Airlines announced a major shake-up of its frequent flyer programme last month. Nothing changed in terms of redemption costs, but there has been a cultural shift in how you earn status.

This is a radical move by American Airlines, especially as historically their management strategy has been ‘copy whatever Delta is doing but don’t execute it as well’. For once, American is taking a lead.

The reason I am writing about this for a UK audience is that you can be sure that all other major global airlines will be looking at this and wondering if it is somethng to copy.

For the first time, you can earn American Airlines status purely on the back of credit card spending. You don’t need to spend a penny (or a cent) on flights, although of course the status won’t be a lot of use to you otherwise …..

This is how it works. To earn status, you need:

• Gold (equal to BA Bronze) – 30,000 points
• Platinum (equal to BA Silver) – 75,000 points
• Platinum Pro (equal to BA Gold) – 125,000 points
• Executive Platinum – 200,000 points

You can earn points in two main ways:

• $1 spent on an American Airlines credit card earns 1 point
• $1 spent, excluding taxes and charges, on an American Airlines flight earns 5-12 points depending on your AA status

The devil is in the detail

There are a couple of interesting quirks:

• If you already have status, it is far easier to retain status. If you are Executive Platinum, you’re earning 12 points per $1 spent on AA flights. This makes is FAR easier for you to hit the 200,000 points needed to retain Executive Platinum. Someone just starting out with American Airlines will only be earning 5 points per $1 spent on AA flights. In the long run, this will hurt AA because they won’t see the next generation coming through.

• Whilst you can earn status purely on credit card spend, there are extra benefits – including, crucially, the lounge passes and the upgrade certificates which are the core of any US frequent flyer scheme – which are only unlocked by flying 30 American Airlines segments per year. We will now see mileage runs replaced by segment runs, as high card spenders look for the cheapest and quickest routings to hit their 30 annual flights.

In truth, American Airlines has stuffed its frequent flyers

In putting together this new structure, American Airlines has sharply increased the amount of travel you need to earn status. Covid be damned.

The headline to this article is “American Airlines now lets you earn status from credit card spend”. In truth, I should have written “American Airlines now forces you to spend on an AA credit card to keep your existing level of status”.

This is bad news if you live in the UK, of course, since we don’t have an American Airlines credit card here.

For example, simplifying it slightly, pre-covid you would earn American Airlines Platinum Pro status by spending $9,000 on AA flights.

Going forward, a Platinum Pro member who spends $9,000 will only earn (9,000 x 9 per $1) 81,000 points. Because requalification now requires 125,000 points, a Platinum Pro member would need $44,000 of credit card spend to earn the additional 44,000 points to hit 125,000.

What you won’t know, reading this in the UK, is that the American Airlines co-brand credit cards in the US are poor. There is a large opportunity cost if you move spend to AA’s cards versus other cards in the market.

With various cards offering 2% cashback in the US, you can even put a firm cash value on the spend you need to divert to AA. In our example above, a Platinum Pro member who moves $44,000 of card spend to AA credit cards in order to retain status would be losing out on $880 of cashback.

Conclusion

I DO believe that status should be offered as a credit card reward.

What I don’t believe is that – as American Airlines as done – the best way to go about it is to increase the qualification levels for status and force flyers to make up the difference with card spend!

If nothing else, giving status as a credit card perk makes sense. With low profit margins on UK credit cards due to cap on interchange fees, giving out Avios or other reward points is expensive.

Offering 1 British Airways tier point for, for example, every £100 spent on the British Airways American Express card would be a game changer.

It wouldn’t even represent a huge cost to BA. By definition, anyone without a Silver card isn’t flying a huge amount so the cost of lounge access etc is minimal. At 1 tier point per £100 most people would need a mix of card spend and flying to reach Silver or Gold which may also drive additional flight bookings.

For the hotel companies, giving away status as a card perk is even more of a no-brainer. The cost of your free breakfast, upgrade, bonus points etc is paid by the franchise owner who runs the hotel you are staying at, not the brand owner.

If you really don’t believe that we will see ‘status for card spend’ in the UK, remember that BA’s sister company, Iberia, already gives away Silver status (equivalent to BA Bronze) if you spend €9,000 per year on its Icon credit card. Over in Spain, the future is already here.

If you want to learn more about the new American Airlines programme, there is a special website here. If you want to learn how to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles from UK credit cards, we have a special guide here.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – January 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback credit card

2% cashback on all your business spend for 3 months (1% thereafter) and no annual fee Read our full review