Well it’s not strictly travel-related, but it is on topic of point-earning, credit card offers and VIP lounge. If you also enjoy occasional (or frequent) outlet shopping, you may find some useful information in today’s post.
Our protagonist today is the Bicester Collection, which owns the famous Bicester Village in the UK, eight villages in Europe and two in China. The guide below applies to the UK and European outlets.
[Exclusive Benefits]
The first thing you need to sort out is the VIP Pass, which entitles you to 10% off select shops and product lines. The VIP pass used to be for select customers only, notably holders of China’s UnionPay and some other premium credit cards.
It has now turned digital, and is much more public. You could simply generate a QR code here which will be your VIP pass for 24 hours.
There are other important privileges available, and you can refer to the Mastercard World Elite partnership here.
- Reserved VIP parking
- Hands-free shopping
- The Apartment (VIP lounge)
I don’t drive, but the other two perks are very useful which I’ll review later.
Moreover, Accor members can get 50% off or even free Shopping Express ticket, which is Bicester’s bus service. I don’t think it’s still running in the UK though (since the train station was built), but it is still a thing in Europe.
[Earning Points]
In addition to the VIP pass, Bicester very often has cashback offers on credit cards issued by say, American Express, MBNA, Lloyds, Barclaycard and Virgin Money. The cashback can be as high as 20%, and you also get 5% back via Airtime.
And that’s not all – you can earn airmiles and hotel points on your purchase. Some of the partners are:
- British Airways 5 points / £4
- Virgin Atlantic 1 points / £1
- Cathay Pacific 1.25 points / £1
- Singapore Airlines 1.25 points / £1
- Flying Blue 2 points / £1
- Lufthansa 1 point / £1
- Accor 3 points / £1
- Melia 5 points / £1
If your purchase is in Europe, replace £ with €. Interestingly the most profitable option is Accor by a big margin, as the rebate is as high as 5% (£) or 6% (€), whereas for others it’s between 1% and 2%.
In order to earn points, you have a few options.
- Present your receipts at the Guest Services by the train station
- Send you claim using Bicester’s eService, by sending receipts and relevant docs by email
- Register your card with BA online to earn Avios automatically
The BA route is the most convenient as you can basically forget about it after registering your cards. I did this and the Avios posted to my BA account within two days. I tried to double dip and sent a claim using their eService later, but unfortunately their system is smart enough to identify that I’ve already earned with BA!
Therefore, do not register your card on BA’s portal if you want to credit to other partners. I also find the online claim process tedious, so try dealing with it physically at the village if possible.
There are sometimes booster promotions from certain partners. Accor has a ongoing double points offer that runs until August 31, which is equivalent to a 10% or 12% rebate!
[VIP Experience]
To book the VIP experience including parking, hands-free shopping and lounge access, you need to email the dedicated team at least 48 hours in advance quoting your eligibility (e.g. from Mastercard World Elite). To make sure there’s availability I’d suggest to book as early as possible.
There was a chauffeur waiting for us the at Bicester Village train station. We were transferred to The Apartment in a Mercedes-Benz V-class and it was exclusively for the two of us!
The Apartments is located at the other end of the village, which is about half a mile way.
Once they’ve confirmed your details, the staff will arrange the VIP pass and hands-free shopping for you in the form of two QR codes. Now it’s time to go upstairs for a coffee and some photos before the shopping spree!
There’s a balcony where you can overlook the shops and shoppers.
Don’t expect anything substantial like in an airport lounge. Here is the menu of soft drinks:
The cappuccino and matcha are great.
As you rely heavily on QR codes (VIP pass, hands-free and Bicester’s membership), it’s a good idea to save the screenshots beforehand. Hands-free works perfectly, but it could take up to an hour for them to arrive so plan wisely.
We were leaving by train so they sent all my purchases to the Guest Services at the station. I picked it up and 10 seconds later I was already on the platform – it’s an amazing hassle-free experience.
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