Free Upgrade On Heathrow Express For Star Alliance Gold Card Holders

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If you’re a Star Alliance Gold Card holder (e.g. United MileagePlus Premier Platinum) Heathrow Express would like to know that it values your custom so much that it would like to offer you a free upgrade to “Business First Class” when you ride the train to/from London Paddington.

The Offer

As promotions go this one is just about as simple as it gets:

• Step 1 – buy a standard class single or roundtrip fare
• Step 2 – board the train and choose a seat in the Business First Class carriage
• Step 3 – produce your Star Alliance Gold Card along with your ticket when the train attendant walks through the carriage.

Heathrow Express

The travel time between Heathrow and London Paddington is just 15 minutes so, for the time being, the Heathrow Express is by far and away the quickest way to get into London…although don’t let anyone tell you that Paddington is in central London – it is not. It’s close enough to central London to have a “Zone 1” underground station but you will still be a cab or underground ride to places like Bond Street, Westminster, Trafalgar Square, and Covent garden.

The Business First carriage of the Heathrow Express offers complimentary newspapers and magazines, a personal table, a power socket at each seat and on-board TV, but considering how short the journey is most people will probably just care about the wider seats and the extra legroom that the Business First Class carriage also offers.

Don’t Forget

Make sure you use a credit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees and that will earn you bonus points for travel when booking your Heathrow Express ticket(s).

Suggestions:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve – 3 points/dollar
• Chase Sapphire Preferred – 2 points/dollar
• Amex Green Card – 3 points/dollar

A good cashback card is also a good option…but be careful as a lot of US-issued cashback cards will charge you a foreign transaction fee.

Bottom Line

We’ve seen this promotion come and go quite a few times over the years but it’s always nice to see it return. There’s no end-date set for this offer to expire and you can find full details through this webpage.

Considering we’re only talking about a 15-minute journey this isn’t a promotion to get overly excited about but a free upgrade is a free upgrade and it may come in useful during busier times.