New British Airways business class lounge at New York JFK airport about to open

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• Boi says:

  26 Apr26 April 11:16

  OT:
  Which visa/master card would you apply for if you qualify for all (incl HSBC Premier)?
  I dont mind miles or hotel points( I collect both) , just want the best deal all things considered.
  I can also meet spend targets.
  Currently I have hilton and free virgin.

  • Michael says:

    26 Apr26 April 11:22

    IHG premium card. Decent sign up bonus, double points and elite mid tier status.

    • BJ says:

      26 Apr26 April 11:36

      +1

    • Mark2 says:

      26 Apr26 April 12:13

      and free night when you spend £10,000 in card year

    • memesweeper says:

      26 Apr26 April 13:39

      +1 to the IHG

      But I have both — sufficient spending can justify that.

• Will Avery says:

  26 Apr26 April 11:26

  The BA JNB news really is a case of NSS. It was very handy to have a third service to use Avios on last Nov but our flight had 50 pax according to the crew. Could argue that is a launch dip but ask yourself how people get to JNB to a 7:30 am flight when it is a hub for Southern Africa? Surely BA knew this or was it just a temporary filler? I’d love to know what goes through a route planner’s head with that one?

  • David says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:16

    What’s NSS?

    • Nick_C says:

      26 Apr26 April 13:38

      No s*** Sherlock

      • Will Avery says:

        26 Apr26 April 15:01

        Thank you 🙂

• Waddle says:

  26 Apr26 April 12:11

  Sorry for the very OT:
  I need to pay a friend a large amount of money and they’ve asked to use PayPal. I understand I can fund the transaction with my Amex. Does a friends and family payment on PayPal come through as a points-earning purchase? Have people had any issues with this and are there fees involved?

  • Anna says:

    26 Apr26 April 12:41

    I’m pretty sure there’s a fee involved if you use a credit card to do this, it would depend on Amex’s terms and conditions.

    • Julie says:

      26 Apr26 April 13:09

      Anna not sure if you have seen it but I replied to your comment re return taxes for US 2-for-1 in yesterdays bits article. Only saw it this am. Hope it helps.

  • Genghis says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:24

    I’ve read some horror stories about Paypal’s AML / KYC procedures. Tread carefully

    • Tilly71 says:

      26 Apr26 April 18:17

      Exactly, be very careful as PP can lock your account up for similar.

  • Peter K says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:25

    I have paid small (£200 or under) amounts with amex on PayPal with no fee from either PayPal or amex. It went through as a purchase. This is a relatively new thing. Be aware that paypal can get funny about too much going through as friends and family as they make no money from it

• Optimus Prime says:

  26 Apr26 April 12:31

  OT though JKF related.

  We’ve just cancelled 2 reward tickets in Business class MAD-JFK. Outbound MAD-JFK on 4th May IB6251, inbound JFK-MAD on 10th May IB6250.

  Hope someone can take advantage of them.

  • Michael says:

    26 Apr26 April 12:45

    i’m not sure if they always go back into the inventory.

    • Optimus Prime says:

      26 Apr26 April 13:20

      The customer services lady they would but who knows…

• Craig says:

  26 Apr26 April 13:13

  OT BA 241

  Does this work if I book my return flight from a different airport? We want to fly from London to Johannesburg but will be coming back from Mauritius. I am assuming this won’t work with the 241 but just wanted to check

  • Genghis says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:23

    You can do what are called “open jaws” using the 241 but you need to book on the phone.

  • BJ says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:25

    Yes, it will work because that is a legitimate open jaw.

  • Craig says:

    26 Apr26 April 15:32

    excellent – thanks for the responses

• Nick M says:

  26 Apr26 April 13:17

  OT – does anybody know how IHG reward availability works? (And if there is a way to monitor any changes at a specific hotel other than manually searching each day)

  My CC night has just hit my account, and I have a hotel in mind… they didn’t have availability when I checked a few weeks ago, then they did, but now they don’t again – I have some flexibility with dates, but need to get childcare in place as soon as possible

  • Peter K says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:28

    The free credit card night is cancellable and goes back to your account (within the 1yr useable period). Book the hotel room you want, then if not convenient you can cancel the night and get it back straight away again to use elsewhere.

    • Nick M says:

      26 Apr26 April 14:03

      Thanks – I didn’t have the certificate (or sufficient points) in my account when the availability opened up frustratingly

  • Rob says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:48

    They are obliged by contract with IHG to put up 5% of standard rooms, but after that it is up to the hotel. It is a game, basically, because when the hotel is under 95% occupancy they get peanuts ($25-$50) and when it is at 95% they get full rate. At times it can make sense to open up more rooms for redemption, even with the peanuts payment, because if they hit 95% then all the other redemption rooms are worth a lot more.

    Starwood had a lawsuit a few years ago with a hotel that was deliberately faking room occupancy to hit 95% and so trigger full payment on redemption nights.

    • Nick M says:

      26 Apr26 April 14:02

      Ok thanks – so basically, best to do a quick search each day on the dates I’m considering and hope something opens up?

      (Or book a load of refundable rooms for that date and hope they add more reward availability before the CC statement is due?!)

    • EwanG says:

      26 Apr26 April 14:43

      Rob – it would appear that the Credit Card free night inventory is separate from the ‘normal’ redemption inventory. There might be a link but I don’t think the CC night is a subset of the other, because I can find dates when the CC night is available yet a points redemption is not, and vice versa.
      Nick, you’ll have to keep checking. If there is another hotel nearby with CC night availability, you could book that and cancel the booking if availability appears at your preferred hotel. You can cancel and reuse before the expiry. Before your free night cert expires you can book a night post expiry, but you will forfeit the cert if you cancel.

      • Nick M says:

        26 Apr26 April 17:00

        Oh – I hadn’t realised this… I’ve only been searching for Reward Nights using the app – do I need to do something different to use the certificate?

      • EwanG says:

        27 Apr27 April 08:57

        @Nick – in the app, click on your name (top right) and under ‘available to redeem’ it should say the number of points you have but also 1 free night, click on the free night to find the validity dates for making the booking.
        If you go into ‘find a hotel’ and enter your destination and move onto the next page, under ‘rate’ you should be able to select ‘IHG Rewards Club Premium Credit Car…” rather than ‘Rewards Nights”
        It’s slightly different in a desktop browser, the free night should appear above ‘account activity’ and you can click through from there.

      • EwanG says:

        27 Apr27 April 09:01

        Oh and sorry in my initial reply I’d not thought this through. If you were to use your free night to book the contingency room at another hotel, you’d not be able to see availability any longer at your preferred hotel using the free night cert, as it will have been consumed already. In which case it would be better to make contingency booking using points, unless you really want to use the cert on that booking. Hope this is clear!!

      • Nick M says:

        27 Apr27 April 17:45

        Excellent, thanks

• Genghis says:

  26 Apr26 April 13:22

  OT does anyone have any recommendations for a two centre holiday in Europe with a one year old baby (spending IHG, Hilton, Marriott, Radisson or hotels.com vouchers), taking in a city and beach / mountains?

  Thinking Lisbon and Algarve or Ljubljana and Bled / Rovinj.

  Thanks

  • BJ says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:40

    Valencia and Seville or Barcelona. I really like Valencia 🙂

  • memesweeper says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:44

    Valencia, city then mountains, then beaches. You can tack on Stiges/Barcelona very easily.

    • memesweeper says:

      26 Apr26 April 13:45

      posted that before seeing BJ’s reply! might be on to something with Valencia then…

      • BJ says:

        26 Apr26 April 18:11

        🙂 It could work in conjunction with Madrid which would open up possibility of a longhaul aircraft in business class.

  • Nick M says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:59

    I’ve been looking at Marriott Praia D’el Rey (Cat 5) for my travel package… I think it is about an hour away from Lisbon

  • KBuffett says:

    26 Apr26 April 14:14

    Conrad Algarve as one?

  • Dave says:

    26 Apr26 April 15:31

    Munich/Vienna and Salzburg. Easy to travel between them on the train.

  • Fc99 says:

    26 Apr26 April 17:30

    Bilbao and San Sebastián (and the surrounding areas) have all of those. Im not sure how reliable the summer weather is though

  • Lady London says:

    26 Apr26 April 21:03

    You could stretch it and do Florence and then Bellagio, which is lake, kind of mountains-ish (well, it; high above the lake and the drive up there from Como can be stunning). I am not sure of the tolerance of 1-year-olds for car journey length from Florence though. Could substitute Florence for, say, much closer by Bologna/Parma/Modena area if you;re more into food than art. Some very nice places to stay in all of these which will have both luxury and good help with children.

    • Shoestring says:

      26 Apr26 April 21:10

      Florence in the summer? Are you completely crazy? 🙂

      It was bad enough when I lived there for a year, must be hellish by now.

      Florence these days = November-February unless crowds everywhere wouldn’t bother you. March-October you’d be better off going somewhere else.

      Bologna/Parma/Modena as you say would be OK or even Verona

      • Genghis says:

        27 Apr27 April 12:27

        Thanks all. Some good suggestions.

• Ian says:

  26 Apr26 April 13:57

  If me and my partner are both First ticketed and we met a couple of friends at Heathrow who are travelling economy with another airline can we sign them in to the Concorde room?

  • Michael says:

    26 Apr26 April 14:13

    Not unless you and/or you partner are gold.

    • Michael says:

      26 Apr26 April 14:26

      Actually ignore that – i might be wrong. I’ll let someone else answer.

      • BlueHorizonuk says:

        26 Apr26 April 15:09

        I believe you can take them in regardless of status

  • Anna says:

    26 Apr26 April 15:35

    I’m pretty sure that to get in the Concorde lounge you have to be travelling on a F ticket or have some kind of very elite status with BA!

  • ChrisC says:

    26 Apr26 April 16:11

    Which ‘other airline’ are your friends flying on. I’d assume Iberia as they are the only 2 airlines using LHR T5.

    CCR is not a one world lounge so the usual guest access rules don’t apply. If your friends were flying BA you could guest 1 person each but not if they were on IB

    You could take the in the the F lounge though.

    Bud if you have status with BA then different rules apply

  • Lady London says:

    26 Apr26 April 21:06

    not sure about the other airline bit.

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