News: new Virgin and Mandarin Oriental Amex deals, BA launches Grind coffee on short-haul

News in brief:

Virgin Atlantic launches a new American Express cashback deal

Back in April we saw what I think was the first ever Virgin Atlantic American Express cashback deal – at least, it was the first one we’d written about.

It seems to have gone well, because it is back.

There are two versions circulating, which may or may not show under the ‘Offers’ tab on your cards:

• get £150 cashback when you spend £800 with Virgin Atlantic

• get £250 cashback when you spend £1,500 with Virgin Atlantic

The £800 version is new, and possibly an attempt to woo solo travellers to Premium or a couple to Economy.

You must book by 16th August and depart from a UK airport. Cumulative spend is OK.

I am fairly certain that taxes and charges on Virgin Atlantic redemption flights WILL trigger the cashback as long as you hit the £800 or £1,500 threshold. They go through your credit card in the usual way. American Express will get details of the underlying flight but is it smart enough to weed out redemptions?

The cashback will NOT trigger on the purchase of Virgin Points because this is handled by a third party intermediary.

Remember to opt-in via your ‘Offers’ section before booking. It obviously won’t show on any British Airways cards.

You can check prices on the Virgin Atlantic website here.

Mandarin Oriental launches an American Express cashback deal

The luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel group has also launched another American Express cashback offer.

You will get £100 cashback when you spend £500+ by 10th October. Cumulative spend does NOT count.

As usual you need to opt in, if targetted, via the Amex website before booking.

It seems that you can earn the cashback multiple times (the wording is ‘valid every time’) so you could split a more expensive stay across cards held by you and your partner. Splitting one transaction across multiple cards in your name risks getting you into trouble with American Express ….

Participating properties are: Paris, Munich, Hong Kong (x2), Tokyo, Madrid, Singapore, Geneva (image below), Zurich, London (x2), Boston, New York, Miami and Luzern.

If booking, get a quote from our hotel booking partner Emyr Thomas first. He can access additional benefits, for the same price as the Best Flexible Rate, as he is a Mandarin Oriental Fan Club appointed agent. There is no booking fee and you pay at check-out as usual, which will trigger the cashback.

British Airways starts serving Grind coffee

British Airways has switched its short haul coffee supplier to Grind.

As of yesterday, Grind will be available on flights to/from Heathrow and Gatwick, but not London City.

Three new sachets have been developed exclusively for British Airways. You can choose from Flat White, London Black and Decaf Black. A ready-to-drink Iced Caramel Latte will be added to the High Life Shop menu.

It seems, at least for now, that Union will retain the coffee contract for the British Airways lounges.

You can find out more on the Grind website here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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:

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

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.

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