See The BRIT Awards by spending your IHG Rewards Club points

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• Sina says:

  12 Jan12 January 04:04

  O/T Does anyone know if I get room upgrade at Fairmont monte carlo (accor) with gold card, if I booked through BA and not direct? or is this only when I book direct?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    12 Jan12 January 10:48

    It’s a 3rd party booking which won’t be eligible for points or status benefits but the hotel might still give them. I would book with the expectation that you will get nothing

    • Lady London says:

      12 Jan12 January 19:49

      Plus Gold on Accor is not top level. Top would be Platinum. Even as a Plat – in Europe @TG_Loyalty’s comment would apply. Plus you are not booking direct

      Fairmont may surprise us as new to Accor though. I’d say your best chance is to drive up to the hotel in your Baby Bentley, have gorgeous young companionship, be extremely pleasant and you might still get nothing.

      This is Monte Carlo after all.

• Anna says:

  12 Jan12 January 07:44

  OT (but Hilton!) I’ve got a stay at the Conrad St James in May and on my reservation it says breakfast will be served in the executive lounge (I am HH gold) – will this mean we get general lounge access or will they only let us in for breakfast?! Though if they are still offering room service breakfast for just the tray charge we may well go for this anyway.

  • Waddle says:

    12 Jan12 January 07:53

    Have you booked an executive room? Those have lounge access included regardless of status. Otherwise it could just be a default message and you’ll be having breakfast in the restaurant. I’m just guessing though. Have no experience with Conrad St James.

    • Anna says:

      12 Jan12 January 08:24

      No just a standard room as it’s only 1 night, that’s why I was surprised to see the lounge specified.

      • memesweeper says:

        12 Jan12 January 08:42

        I was in a Hilton (not Conrad) last week and it was breakfast in the lounge for all Gold/Diamond guests. I got a lucky club room upgrade anyway but this should not be expected. The St James Conrad is likely to have an al la carte breakfast if you skip the lounge.

  • BJ says:

    12 Jan12 January 10:11

    Just ask them to clarify your breakfast options at check in. I do this regardless of which Hilton I am staying and it has always resulted in me getting any option they had. I don’t think the like getting off to a bad start by telling guests they cannot have this or that. IME DT Westminster is a substantially better hotel than CSJ but unfortunately they closed their lounge which is a deal breaker.

    • Anna says:

      12 Jan12 January 10:58

      👍

  • Tilly says:

    12 Jan12 January 14:46

    We stayed 1 night at the Conrad St James during the August bank holiday last year. Am also gold but had breakfast in the restaurant, not lounge – wasn’t offered the lounge and I didn’t ask. The restaurant is a buffet but they let me order from the a la carte because of an allergy – they were worried about cross contamination. Excellent service. Enjoy your stay there.

• Shoestring says:

  12 Jan12 January 08:41

  Anybody else interested in Melia points? I’m happy now with my strategy here, though wouldn’t mind some collective insight into convertibility to Avios.

  So my strategy is 1. to keep a watch out for Amazon Melia 50% off promotion on CamelCamelCamel – it seems UK Amazon offers this twice a year in general.
  2. build up a healthy Amazon balance through Morrisons/ Amex 10% off, Monese free giveaway Amazon credit (over £100 since I joined 6 weeks ago, probs get repeated as Monese seem keen to show investors they have an active user base 🙂
  3. other Amazon free credit opps eg buy £50 giftcard get £6 free credit, used one of these yesterday
  —> then when the 50% off Melia opp comes up next, buy a chunk primarily for use on Melia hotels, double dipping because my Amazon credit will come with a 10%+ discount built in. You can renew the 1 year expiry on Melia points just by buying a handful of points anytime.

  Yesterday I tried to convert 1000 Melia points to Avios – failed – ISTR this is to be expected until you actually buy a hotel room on points – is this right?

  • memesweeper says:

    12 Jan12 January 08:44

    Rob previously reported that an immediate conversion Melia -> Avios failed.

    Some have reported luck with a delay after purchasing and a booked then cancelled redemption. But I’d set your expectations that you’ll have to spend the points on a Melia hotel room.

    • Shoestring says:

      12 Jan12 January 08:47

      I should add I primarily want them for cheap hotel rooms – the Avios would just be back up possibility, doesn’t work out much better than 1p/ Avios.

    • Rob says:

      12 Jan12 January 09:55

      Happened to me. Once I had booked and completed a stay which used 90% of my bought points, I could send the rest to Avios.

  • Shoestring says:

    12 Jan12 January 08:45

    as an aside, some excellent deals on Levis jeans in the last few days, I bought quite a few pairs for myself & sons (5x 501s this morning, maybe another 15 pairs last couple of days and 2 weeks ago to keep us going next few years, prices varying from £21 yesterday to £34 this morning but factor in my Amazon discount + another 10% discount on top and you can take over 20% off headline price, ie £21 = under £17 and £34 = under £27 – for genuine Levis original 501s 🙂

    • JRC says:

      12 Jan12 January 09:26

      Amazon discount + another 10% off? You bought the Levi’s from amazon via Morrison’s gift cards? Don’t quite follow the extra 10% off

      • Shoestring says:

        12 Jan12 January 09:37

        1. Amex 10% on Morrison’s/ Amazon giftcards (not forgetting Tesco similar)
        2. another 10% bonus off on clothing from a site that cannot be named

    • Rob says:

      12 Jan12 January 09:54

      You know for £500 you can have them made to measure in the atelier just behind Liberty? All work done on site.

      • Shoestring says:

        12 Jan12 January 10:00

        heh heh! I will have to get the 36W 36L made to measure (they were the £21/ pairs, got 6 in Black 501 Originals) as I am 34″ leg 🙂

        my wife has a supplier she gives a lot of work to who no doubt will do it for not too much

      • BJ says:

        12 Jan12 January 10:32

        Haha, 300 Thai Baht plus price of the Levis at Central in Silom, Bangkok. That was quite a few years ago so figure on 500 Baht now. They measure you up, take a large pair of the shelf and 1-3h later depending how busy they are, you have a perfect fitting pair. Can probably be done at any Central, the Mall location if you ask them. Probably worth shopping around as prices vary from Central to Central depending on individual store promotions. I would avoid the likes of Paragon and Embassy and go for smaller Mall locations such as Silom or those away from central areas.

    • Bootlace says:

      12 Jan12 January 12:14

      Aren’t you a bit old for jeans ?

      • Lady London says:

        12 Jan12 January 20:07

        Not with those measurements.

        Before Rob deletes this comment (apparently our Malaysian discussion has disappeared) let me hasten to add that its more a question of size and fit than age. Some sizes and fits take more work to make look good than others. And as any girl will tell you, some brands of jeans will do much more for any challenges in your measurements than others. Failing that, a trip to Bangkok as BJ suggests 🙂

        • Shoestring says:

          12 Jan12 January 20:17

          heh heh! I’ve been 36W 34L for about 20 years 🙂

          My son got into an old pair of my black 34W 34L Levis at Oct half term at our place in the sun and they fitted him nicely (he’s a big strapping 19YO now, what with all his gardening work) – not sure I could squeeze in, 36″ a bit comfier lol

  • BJ says:

    12 Jan12 January 10:15

    £100 amazon voucher from L&G for a guaranteed over 50 policy if you have not had one in last 18 months. £70+ profit depending when they decide to send you the voucher.

    • Shoestring says:

      12 Jan12 January 10:23

      cheers

      got 3x MSM life insurance policies going as well for family members, no age limit, also £100 Amazon

      • BJ says:

        12 Jan12 January 10:45

        This offer is direct from L&G website for their over 50 plan. No need to go via 3rd party.

        • Shoestring says:

          12 Jan12 January 10:52

          same with MSM

    • xcalx says:

      12 Jan12 January 10:26

      @BJ Thanks for your replies yesterday I have posted this in that article also

      Thanks BJ and Anna. Sorry for not replying yesterday, was at the football (don’t ask)
      I should have been clearer this is only a one way booking to connect with a cruise to Tampa.
      The Agent was insistent that only one leg could be booked in CE so chose the LHR-BCN leg.

      I should have ended the call prior to booking as the guy was useless but it had taken hours of waiting on the phone to get conected to this “special department” to use the voucher. As it stands now I have 2 x pax LBA-LHR in economy then 2 x pax LHR-BCN in CE.

      However I am not ticketed because he said he could not take payment that day because of a system error that would not allow ticketing from any Canadian airport plus EDI and LBA and would be in contact when the problem was sorted. I will be ready now with your information when/if he rings back.

      • BJ says:

        12 Jan12 January 10:43

        Welcome, but don’t wait for Dick to ring back. Get on the phone and hopefully get a competent agent to sort it out. Whatever you do don’t cancel because that invalidates the voucher. You have got to call and get them to make any changes to keep the voucher live. Reports confirm your story that calling them is a real pain these days but you have no choice. The agents are mostly great, Anna never had a problem. I had same problem as you one time only and it was a guy so possibly same one. I was sure he got it wrong so I called back and the next agent fixed it in a few minutes.

        • xcalx says:

          12 Jan12 January 10:59

          Thanks again I will ring on Monday when they’e open. I did challenge him saying that I understood that both legs would be in CE he went away and came back saying only before or after longhaul flight can a UK leg be upgraded using a Lloyds voucher

        • Anna says:

          12 Jan12 January 11:49

          +1, you’ll be very lucky if anyone actually rings you back anyway!

  • Doug M says:

    12 Jan12 January 10:56

    Not a fan of buying points, leaves you restricted compared to cash. However, you do the research and feel it stacks up for you, good luck.
    As a Melia related aside I booked two river views rooms at Melia in Berlin for < €100 each. New Year sale combined with 20% code and 5% app discount.

• BSI1978 says:

  12 Jan12 January 09:00

  O/T – happy Sunday all 👋🏾

  Seeking some recommendations for accommodation in Gran Canaria (or Lanzarote) early February for a few days of sun/heat.

  Not overly concerned about brand, but ideally beach front, and/or some rooms with private terraces would be ideal.

  TIA

  • Craig says:

    12 Jan12 January 15:09

    Stayed at the Hotel Costa Calero when it was an Iberostar, at least I think that’s what chain it was. Not beach front but lovely sheltered areas around the pool from the constant Lanzarote wind.

• RTS says:

  12 Jan12 January 10:06

  Just curious… Does anyone know whether BA and other major UK airlines have rerouted their flight paths so that it avoids the gulf?

  • Russ says:

    12 Jan12 January 14:06

    No idea. Think we’ll get a clearer view of how things will proceed within the next 10 days.

  • John says:

    12 Jan12 January 18:22

    Just look at flightradar24

• Shoestring says:

  12 Jan12 January 10:07

  oh dear – piece on local BBC TV news now that Virgin Connect/ Flybe service Newquay-LHR might get moved back to Gatwick (no schedule published after March) – nothing definite yet

  not so good for tourism if it happens

  • Rob says:

    12 Jan12 January 11:18

    Virgin may want its slot back ….

  • Lady London says:

    12 Jan12 January 22:30

    Could be worse? Let’s hope they keep it. If VS ever publishes through fares that start in Newquay ahead of a long one, IIRC Newquay has certain Inverness-like advantages.

• Steve says:

  12 Jan12 January 10:45

  O/T Marriott status – I didn’t get enough nights last year to hold on to titanium elite status, only made it to gold which I’d have anyway via Amex Plat. Called Marriott Bonvoy re: soft landing as a few folk last year were either given soft landings or somehow retained their existing status. Told this will happen again this year too.

  Pleased as status drops happen by March often at the end of Jan/early Feb and I have bookings planned for April and Platinum will be very handy. Thanks to Rob for your status match/mattress run article back in 2018, I’ve had £000’s of value in return.

  • Jason says:

    12 Jan12 January 11:35

    Thanks steve so are they saying everyone will only drop just one tier

    • Steve says:

      12 Jan12 January 12:18

      Yes, thats what they said, spoke to two different CS agents last week to confirm. As its not in writing im not taking it as a given but the signs are looking good. Apparently its a Marriott legacy policy, Starwood on the other hand avoided soft landings

• AndyW says:

  12 Jan12 January 11:09

  OT – curve to virgin, financial type transactions ok in people’s experience?

  • Grant says:

    12 Jan12 January 11:32

    Yes

    • Munch says:

      12 Jan12 January 17:26

      Any problems paying Brighton?

      • Grant says:

        12 Jan12 January 19:54

        No

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