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The new HFP chat thread – Monday 10th August

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We have decided to run this new daily chat thread on Head for Points.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions.  It is unlikely that the news flow will be so big over the next few weeks that we will need many ‘Bits’ articles, however.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind.  At this tricky time, and given that many of you are stuck at home self-isolating, we want the HFP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as its keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

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Old chat threads are hidden from the HFP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

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Comments (187)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Diydegsy says:
    10 Aug10 August 10:28

    Looking for a 5 night stay next March somewhere hot with a beach, the choices because of points etc are Intercontinentals in Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, or Oman anyone recommend one over the other any thoughts much appreciated?

    • TGLoyalty says:
      10 Aug10 August 10:34

      Is the cost/points of IC Doha on the beach too high? It’s a nice property with St Regis next door.

      My understanding of Abu Dhabi is it’s pretty run down.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        10 Aug10 August 10:35

        Oman was going through some refurbs but was also pretty run down worth checking how far along they’ve got.

        • Rob says:
          10 Aug10 August 10:57

          Jumeirah is opening a beach resort in Oman this Autumn which should be good.

      • Diydegsy says:
        10 Aug10 August 10:51

        Hi yes forgot about that one in Doha that could be an option as well thanks.

        • Diydegsy says:
          10 Aug10 August 10:52

          That was a reply to TGLoyalty

        • Rob says:
          10 Aug10 August 10:56

          Kempinski is very nice, out on the Pearl. Stayed there last year for a couple of years. Must better than the St Regis which was shambles when I was there, admittedly 4 years ago.

        • Andrew says:
          10 Aug10 August 11:04

          Sharq Village Doha (a Ritz Carlton) is excellent – private beach, pools, very high standard rooms in small villas around the grounds, has a bit of a Medinat Jumeirah vibe about it. Also close to the airport and souk and museums – whereas the IC beach resort is quite a trek.

    • pauldb says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:15

      In the opposite direction there are the ICs in Cancun and Cozumel.

      • Anna says:
        10 Aug10 August 12:00

        The Cozumel one does look very nice but might be a bit of a trek for 5 days unless you can get a direct flight.

      • Getting itchy feet says:
        10 Aug10 August 12:45

        I went to both of these a couple of years ago, both stays on points, wasn’t expecting much from Cancun but upgraded to a nice room on the top floor with large balcony. Pool, lounge and gym were Ok, spa was very good, beach (well the sand!) was amazing.
        Cozumel was much nicer.. yes it’s a bit of a trek but worth it, the room, bathrooms and views are very memorable. Gym great, snorkelling from the beach, boats trips further afield and quick easy taxi into the town for more authentic food. Only downside was the drunk middle aged Americans, not sure it’s that’s regular feature or not!

  • Rob says:
    10 Aug10 August 10:38

    Morning All

    Has anyone got any experience transitting the new Istanbul airport? I plan to fly in and overnight somewhere nearby before getting another flight to Asia the next day, 2 seperate tickets.

    I did this before at the old airport which had a good selections of airport hotels. Howerver there only appears to be one Raddison hotel nesar the new airport and getting into the city needs to be done by taxi (70+km I believe)

    Are there plans to build a metro station at the airport?

    Thanks

    • ankomonkey says:
      10 Aug10 August 13:03

      Was due to transit the new IST, but Covid led to my booking being cancelled.

      They do plan to build a metro line to the new airport, but it’ll be a couple of years yet before it’s ready. There are buses to various central points (HAVAS I think and one more provider). It took no more than 30-40 minutes when I did it, but it obviously depends on exactly where in the city. And I had no problems doing this as a non-Turkish speaker!

      There is a Yotel on site at the new airport. Reports suggest it’s relatively expensive (as is the Radisson nearby).

      • Rob says:
        10 Aug10 August 16:03

        Thanks ankomoney

        I may have to re-think this then as the lack of convenience minimises the appeal. It used to be excellent at the old airport.

  • Nick says:
    10 Aug10 August 10:55

    So my first hotel stay in months is going to be… the delightful Milton Keynes. Other than ‘don’t’, does anyone have any suggestions? I generally trust this forum’s suggestions. Currently looking either the DT at the stadium and hope there’s no game on (judging by the prices I expect not) or the Novotel slightly north of the town, but not knowing the area I wonder if there’s a better option I’m missing.

    On a related note, does anyone know how Hiltons are doing breakfast in ‘new world’? The website is unhelpful, just saying it’s ‘not the usual’.

    • Spursdebs says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:17

      I wouldn’t worry about there being a game on at MK Dons no fans allowed! I do know that the shops and food places are open around there.

      • Spursdebs says:
        10 Aug10 August 11:21

        Sorry Nick missed the bit about not knowing area, the hotel is next to a shopping complex of various shops and restaurants think there’s a cinema. Plenty of parking and it’s all quite new. As I said atm no fans allowed and who knows when that’s changing. I’ve been in hotel it’s fine for what it is and you can walk very easily to shops and food places etc if you want to.

      • memesweeper says:
        10 Aug10 August 11:55

        MK Dons have no home fans anyway and now away fans are banned… games there are going to be weirder than normal…

    • Bob says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:55

      Staying there next week, called the hotel and the breakfast situ is currently sit down with items from menu ordered to the table – inc hot dishes. Seems to be the case with Doubletrees as advised the same from the DT in Lincoln. Other Hilton properties may differ, HGI in Luton said breakfast would be served to the room apparently although they’re not reopening till next week.

      • ankomonkey says:
        10 Aug10 August 13:07

        Are DTs still giving out the cookies at check in, or are they a Covid risk? My kids think DT hotels are amazing, just because of the free cookie 🙂

    • Anne says:
      10 Aug10 August 20:03

      DT by far the best hotel option in MK IMO. I used to stay in MK for work on a weekly basis before I gave in and moved here instead. Another decent option nearer the town centre is the Holiday Inn but I’d go with the DT given the choice. Novotel is in a residential area and really nothing to shout about.
      Food options around DT at the stadium are decent or Holiday Inn is a stones throw from the shopping centre so reasonable options there too even with current restrictions.

      I stayed at DT Chester a couple of weeks ago and breakfast was very basic cold buffet but with hot breakfast muffins (egg, sausage, bacon) cooked to order. Much better than I expected though!

  • Magarathea says:
    10 Aug10 August 11:05

    Hi. Can I check if I have got this all right? Any feedback would be appreciated.
    I have a 2-4-1 reward trip booked in First from Leeds Bradford to Abu Dhabi via Heathrow in March 2021. The Amex Comp Voucher is valid until Jan 2022. My IHG hotel booking in Abu Dhabi is booked with points and is therefore cancellable. The LBA to LHR domestic legs were cancelled a few weeks ago and the long-haul flights were cancelled last week. I will likely be cancelling the trip unless the Covid situation improves significantly. Am I correct in thinking that –
    1. There will be no BA cost if I decide to cancel this trip? i.e. I’ll get a full refund?
    2. If I decide to continue with the trip, re-routed flights will not depend on BA reward flight availability?
    3. I don’t need to make a decision on my flights until much nearer the date of the trip? This will give me time to gauge the Covid situation.
    4. As I will probably be flying out from Manchester now, as part of BAs duty of care, BA should pay for a taxi to take me to Manchester airport instead of LBA? I live close to LBA.
    5. Similarly, assuming I fly into Dubai instead of Abu Dhabi, as part of BAs duty of care, BA should pay for a taxi to take me to and from Abu Dhabi and Dubai?
    I am aware that BA will initially baulk at the taxi costs. Many thanks in anticipation.

    • Harry T says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:24

      1) you are entitled to a full refund.
      2) I have seen mixed reports. Some people have been rebooked into revenue classes, others have been told there needs to be award availability.
      3) you can make a decision at your leisure but will possibly be in trouble if there is no award availability if you want to reroute or change dates.
      4) I don’t think you will have any luck persuading BA to do this. I am unsure what the specific EC261 advice would be regarding this but I don’t think you will have any luck from a pragmatic perspective.
      5) I don’t think BA would be responsible for your transit from Dubai to AUH if you ask to change your flight to Dubai.

      • pauldb says:
        10 Aug10 August 11:30

        I’m a bit more optimistic. You shouldn’t need award availability and in practice it certainly shouldn’t be a problem if you rebook with -3/+14 days. The less likely danger is the flights selling out.

        BA are obliged to reroute you from LBA to AUH. If there only offer you MAN and/or DXB (ie not another airline that will fly you indirect LBA-AUH) just make sure you never accept this is a voluntary change. Ultimately you may have to make a claim against BA for the taxi cost, and accept there is some risk.

        • Anna says:
          10 Aug10 August 11:45

          Someone on here a few weeks ago had their LBA connection cancelled and managed to get BA to re-route them on (I think) KLM, can’t remember where they were going. The right to re-routing is absolute, and in the same class of travel, regardless of how you paid for your seat.
          BA might think it’s better to send you to MAN in a taxi than put you on another airline. They did this for us last year at a coast of £300 from MAN to LHR rather than put us on a direct flight from MAN.

          • Anna says:
            10 Aug10 August 11:46

            *cost! They clearly had an agreement with a taxi firm at MAN as the payment issue never came up, so LBA to MAN shouldn’t be an issue.

    • Secret Squirrel says:
      10 Aug10 August 19:48

      AUH on BA has been cancelled until late March 21.

  • Kai says:
    10 Aug10 August 11:15

    Tesco pet insurance 3000 points promotion – it’s been 10 weeks and still haven’t received the points. Emailed their customer service and was told I have to give them the promotional code?! Does anyone have any idea? Thanks.

    • Rossy says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:44

      I’m still waiting for mine after a similar timescale. Frustrating that you have to chase them up, one would have hoped they’d be credited automatically.

    • Rob says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:47

      Our article has a link to the MSE article which should still be there as the deal runs to 31/12. It is an MSE special.

      • Kai says:
        10 Aug10 August 12:35

        Yes mentioned that, but they didn’t buy it and insisted in me providing a code!

        • K says:
          10 Aug10 August 14:17

          I complained and complained. They wouldn’t budge. In the end gave me £25 refund for the trouble and I cancelled the insurance.

          • E says:
            10 Aug10 August 17:20

            I contacted Tesco bank as my points haven’t turned up either. They said it was now the beginning of the month following 90 days after the policy was taken out, rather than the 80 days quoted. The person I spoke to insisted I would get them though because they had my Clubcard number on the policy…beginning to think I’ll need to escalate the complaint.

  • Rossy says:
    10 Aug10 August 11:26

    Does anyone know if Revolut are likely to raise concerns if regular payments are made to ERNIE?

    • Ashish says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:31

      Yes. You get warning for larger payments to government savings and investments accounts before block happen

      • Rossy says:
        10 Aug10 August 11:35

        Do you happen to know approximately what qualifies as a “larger payment”? Does that mean regular “smaller” payments are fine?

        • Anna says:
          10 Aug10 August 11:47

          I’d like to know this as well. Would £300-500 per month be ok?

        • BS says:
          10 Aug10 August 11:49

          I regularly do £1000/ month divided up in to £250/ week and was fine.
          Due to a windfall I did a one-off £5000 and got a warning.

          • Secret Squirrel says:
            10 Aug10 August 19:59

            What are you guys using to top up Revolut to pay into Ernie?

    • Secret Squirrel says:
      10 Aug10 August 19:50

      Why use Revolut to Ernie, cut out the middle man.

  • Alan S says:
    10 Aug10 August 11:29

    We have a booking for Kuala Lumpur in November, headed out in First and back in Club World. BA have obviously now downgraded the outbound to Club World.

    Going by what I can find online and trawling through the HfP chat, I think these are our options – what am I missing? Need some help to sense check my own research!

    1. Accept change – by my reckoning we should receive/need to dispute a refund of 75% of the taxes & Avios, which equals c £637 and 178,000 Avios (75% of 119,000 x 2, despite a 241 voucher being used).

    The obvious issue with this whether or not we’ll be able to get into Malaysia in November anyway, or whether we want to travel. The Club World product on a 787-8 looks fairly average too, and the dream to fly in F for the first time was to get the Concorde Lounge experience (who knows what that looks like in November).

    2. Some talk on Flyertalk that a couple of people managing to get BA to open up availability in F to Singapore and transferring the flight to there. No idea whether they’d do that for an Avios/241 booking, but seem to have for others.

    3. Cancel for a full refund. That’ll release my 241 voucher too, but that currently has an expiry of May 21, which may make it difficult to redeem (based in Scotland, so even a short haul European trip doesn’t really make sense).

    4. Take a future travel voucher, which I believe would roll everything up and extend the 241 to 30th April 2022. My concern with this is that as far as I understand we’d need to find open Avios availability in F outbound and CW return (rather than them forcing the seats open). Is that right?

    • pauldb says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:37

      You’ll only get the downgrade compensation if you fly of course.
      I doubt you can force them to open avios seats to SIN, but there is plenty of November F/J availability.
      If you take an FTV, this can be used for a different route: even a shorter one or a Club trip that will then trigger a refund of the unused avios.

    • Rhys says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:46

      We actually plan to run an article on this tomorrow, so sit tight!

    • Sean says:
      10 Aug10 August 11:56

      You do not get 75% of taxes back.

    • meta says:
      10 Aug10 August 12:05

      Based on EU regulations, you can also ask to be put on another airline in F to KL. More chances that BA will agree quickly if it is oneworld partner, but if nothing suitable at your times you can request another airline. Someone here reported a few weeks ago that they got JAL F when Tokyo flights got downgraded.

      • Alan S says:
        10 Aug10 August 12:29

        Worth knowing too.

        The issue may be that options are limited, except with maybe Malaysia Airlines. Whether I could get BA to recognise their Business Suite as First Class might be another matter, but it’s clearly a step up from normal business without being called ‘First’.

      • pauldb says:
        10 Aug10 August 13:04

        There is nothing in the EU regs that gives you rights to a reroute for a downgrade.

  • Martha says:
    10 Aug10 August 11:33

    Good morning all and thank you for your comments.
    Does COT work with curve + creation?

    • Connor says:
      10 Aug10 August 12:20

      Capital on Tap blocks most financial transaction, so unfortunately that won’t work. It works with Ernie though, but they definitely don’t like it and have shut accounts down in the past for it.

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      10 Aug10 August 12:58

      Which way around? To pay it off, yes…

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