The HfP chat thread – Monday 19th October

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• Tarmohamed says:

  19 Oct19 October 02:04

  If it helps anyone… currently staying at JW Marriot Grosvenor House. Booked via Emyr for £315 for superior king. Have been upgraded to executive king and given lounge access. Had dinner at the Steakhouse, I wouldn’t have another steak here again. A medium steak was dry and I flavoured. The wife didn’t eat hers at all. Cheesecake was excellent, would come back only for that. The room is as you’d expect, nothing special tbh. £315 for the room, £175 for dinner total £490. Less amex £400 and £75 room credit = £15 for the night. Add parking across the road for £36 for 24 hours. Looking forward to breakfast and late checkout for 4pm. Might try afternoon tea if anyone can recommend? The steak has ruined my appetite.

  • Ikaz says:

    19 Oct19 October 07:21

    Also stayed there over the weekend. We tried the filet steak and the angus sirloin, both medium rare. The texture and cooking of both were good and neither was dry, but the sirloin was the tasty one, it was really good!
    Afternoon tea did look good, but we didn’t try it.

    • Tarmohamed says:

      19 Oct19 October 08:04

      Maybe we were just unlucky then.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        19 Oct19 October 08:54

        Did you send both steaks back?

        Tbh only place I had a terrible steak I sent it back and the next one was still shite.

        • Tarmohamed says:

          19 Oct19 October 09:24

          The wife sent hers back and it came back the same. I didn’t bother sending mine back as I cut all the edges off and ate the very middle where it was still pink. The edges were well done. The Mac n cheese was good though.

        • Aston100 says:

          19 Oct19 October 09:49

          Hah, one time the third steak was just as bad as the first two but the wife was starting to get angry *with me* so I had to put up.

  • Kai says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:39

    Did you visit the lounge? Wondering what the offering is like at the moment.

  • flyoff says:

    19 Oct19 October 10:41

    Do you use the executive lounge? If so how was it? I was wondering whether to pay extra for a room with lounge access.

    • Tarmohamed says:

      19 Oct19 October 16:04

      I did use the executive lounge. There are very limited canapés during the day in the fridge; we didn’t get to try them as had run out. Nespresso coffees, packaged snacks, crisps and corn etc. Also some alcohol and soft drinks. No hot buffet due to covid. Open 6am ish to 11pm ish.

      We had the afternoon tea, id recommend it but set out 2-3 hours for it otherwise you’ll be rushing. It’ll be worth it, was for us.

      Steak – some people have had good experiences, I personally wouldn’t come back here, but if you’re using the room credit and amex cash back, you’ve not really wasted your money have you?

    • Tarmohamed says:

      19 Oct19 October 16:09

      We booked superior king and upgraded to executive link without lounge access. I asked for lounge access and they didn’t blink an eye, it was okay sir we can do that for you. Jasper is the person at the front desk who you go to… seems to be in charge.

  • RobL says:

    19 Oct19 October 15:44

    I am planning to use the Amex offer here with a view to having a great steak dinner. Should I be put off by this?

    • Tarmohamed says:

      19 Oct19 October 16:05

      some people have had good experiences, I personally wouldn’t come back here, but if you’re using the room credit and amex cash back, you’ve not really wasted your money have you?

• Tarmohamed says:

  19 Oct19 October 02:11

  *unflavoured.

  If there are any steak fans, I get mine from the link below. Salt and pepper on each side and in the fridge overnight. Opposite side of bbq coals broiled for 30 minutes (medium rare) and then sear each side on top of the coals.

  https://hillfarmfinest.com/shop/steaks/tomahawk/

  • Johnny Tabasco says:

    19 Oct19 October 07:39

    Without wanting to get into a tedious ‘how to cook steak’ swing off it’s pretty obvious that method is for certain cuts of steak only. Furthermore I doubt many of the Brits are in position to fire up the bbq for a bit of steak in the Winter. I’d urge people to shop for their meat locally rather than online (as long as the local vendors are happy to answer your questions about the meat they sell and how and where it is sourced .

    • Tarmohamed says:

      19 Oct19 October 08:04

      Agreed local produce all the way. This online website is actually farm about a 10 minute drive from me; so local for me.

      • Johnny Tabasco says:

        19 Oct19 October 09:40

        Good stuff!

    • cinereus says:

      19 Oct19 October 12:32

      There’s no argument. Unless it’s a primo cut and you have a proper parrilla, the only sensible answer is always sous vide or reverse sear.

      • Johnny Tabasco says:

        19 Oct19 October 12:44

        Ah yes. sous vide cooking. How suck to all the fun and sensations out of food preparation in one swoop.

        • cinereus says:

          20 Oct20 October 01:04

          Sounds like you’ve never done it. It’s just using science to improve the quality of the food same as why we often use gas or induction over chopping down some trees. You finish in a pan/on a grill like normal. And you still have plenty of time to make a perfect espagnole for your demi-glace as well as any other parts of the meal.

  • Aston100 says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:51

    That is a halal steak that you’ve linked. Did your hotel provide a halal steak too? upon special request or is all their meat halal by default?

    • Tarmohamed says:

      19 Oct19 October 16:06

      Certain cuts are halal, different every day. We were told rib eye, New York strip and fillet was halal yesterday.

      Breakfast – pick 1 item per person of the a la carte menu.

    • Tarmohamed says:

      19 Oct19 October 16:07

      And all chicken is halal by default.

• Baji Nahid says:

  19 Oct19 October 02:46

  once you get your companion voucher, do you then start collecting spend for the next 10K immediately or does that start when you hit your new amex card year?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    19 Oct19 October 02:51

    No, Only when you hit your new card year.

• Mart says:

  19 Oct19 October 05:39

  Anyone got any ideas for a pre Xmas break 10 days ish we usually arrive back home Xmas eve ( we hate the frantic week or 2 before Xmas day)
  The Mrs has finally turned a corner after a long delayed operation.😅Fully recovered.
  We were thinking of Barbados but I think the quarantine changes don’t seem worth it.
  Even just the hope of going somewhere would cheer her up so anyone with a mystic ball we are open to advice ?

  • Anna says:

    19 Oct19 October 06:42

    Glad your partner has recovered, I am sure a sunshine break would do her the world of good. I think Maldives and Seychelles are decent options at the moment, test required before travel and 5 ? days in (an approved) resort in Seychelles but apparently you’re free to move around within the resort. Obviously in Maldives you are generally confined to one resort anyway. Someone mentioned there’s a similar set up in St Lucia the other day. I’ve also heard from other sources that people have been having successful holidays in Mexico just now.

    • meta says:

      19 Oct19 October 07:33

      Mexico and Dominican Republic require no covid testing at all. I think only random testing at the airport.

  • Paul says:

    19 Oct19 October 11:32

    Whilst Barbados is a bit of hassle and extra cost, its a very safe place to visit from a Covid and non covid perspective.. What made you decide it wasnt worth it?

    • mart says:

      19 Oct19 October 16:08

      its the if test positive on the second test quarantine at my own expense,whats that likely to cost?

• Andrew says:

  19 Oct19 October 06:53

  It seems Amex offers only get posted on a Monday these days and today’s most interesting one is Holland & Barratt – spend £20, get £5 3 times. For all your sports nutrition and vitamin needs!

  • Peter K says:

    19 Oct19 October 07:20

    Interesting.

  • Michael C says:

    19 Oct19 October 07:31

    Thanks Andrew – was due to stash up on Mr Men vits this week anyway!

  • Anna says:

    19 Oct19 October 07:37

    Thanks, I get quite a lot of stuff from then. My offer is online only which might be worth noting. Valid till January though which is handy.

    • Andrew says:

      19 Oct19 October 07:49

      Yes online only – should have said that. Also stackable with 15% off £25 spend – TAKEOFF15 code.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        19 Oct19 October 08:56

        Thanks for the code.

        online only makes it slightly less valuable though as I like to split payments across cards to hit the offer.

      • Nick_C says:

        19 Oct19 October 12:43

        DMVITS gets you 20% off

      • Nick_C says:

        19 Oct19 October 13:26

        And 25HBREV gets you 25% off. But of course, it would be completely unsporting to use a Revolut discount code and then pay with Amex.

• Vicky says:

  19 Oct19 October 07:33

  I won the 24,000 Avios through the Tesco draw a couple of months ago. Haven’t received the points and I’ve tried contacting Tesco who say it’s nothing to do with them and I need to contact Avios. Contacted Avios and they said it’s nothing to do with them as it was a Tesco promotion. I even tried BA who said nothing to do with them. Any idea on how long the points usually take to arrive in your account?

  • Anna says:

    19 Oct19 October 07:39

    What a pain! I would submit a complaint to Tesco, it WAS their promotion and they should really be chasing up the missing avios.

• Sarah says:

  19 Oct19 October 07:48

  I’m looking to book a holiday inn for convenience reasons. Cash price is $292 or 27500 points which I thought was a good deal in points but having looked at the cash and points, it says the following:
  22500 + $42
  17500 + $84
  12500 + $104
  Not sure if my maths is correct but is using 12500 points + $104 the best option?

  • BuildTheWall says:

    19 Oct19 October 08:19

    Using Rob’s valuation of 0.4p a point, 5000 points roughly equal $25. The option to pay 27500 points is the best.

    • Sarah says:

      19 Oct19 October 08:33

      Thanks

  • marcw says:

    19 Oct19 October 08:47

    Yes your maths are correct. You are using just 12.500 to save $190.
    but it depends really how many IHG Points you have. If you dont have that many, you are more conservative than if you had let’s say, 6 million points.

    • Sarah says:

      19 Oct19 October 09:24

      Thanks I have a slight shortage of points as that’s why I looked at this option in the first place as I’d never really considered it before. I have a whole load of bookings for next year using all points and I’m now considering if it’s worth re-looking at them too.

  • Sandgrounder says:

    19 Oct19 October 08:52

    You can frequently buy IHG points for half a cent each in the regular 100% bonus sales when buying 52k or more (26+26 free for $260, they are a bit more expensive below 26k). Here you are buying 5k for $42, 10k for $84 or 15k for $104. I’d use all points for this one myself.

    • Sarah says:

      19 Oct19 October 09:24

      Thanks I might wait on the next bonus points offer and purchase more

    • Genghis says:

      19 Oct19 October 10:07

      Exactly. IMO the analysis isn’t about which produces the highest pence per point of value, but which options are greater than the replacement cost of the points.

• Pete C says:

  19 Oct19 October 08:07

  Morning all, pricing up a one-way reward redemption HND -> LHR this morning and I see the taxes and fees appear as £27.63 in economy but a whopping £3,710 (!!) in business. Surely this is an error on the BA system?

  • meta says:

    19 Oct19 October 08:18

    Have you clicked through to the final page? Sometimes it does that. I had it once showing as £38k, but it priced correctly before final page. Could it be that BA does this deliberately? Surely not…🙄

    • meta says:

      19 Oct19 October 08:19

      *at the final page

    • Pete C says:

      19 Oct19 October 08:31

      Thanks @meta and @Ikaz – panic over

  • Bob says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:58

    There is a definite pricing glitch on the HND – LHR route. WTP and CW is correct for both Avios and the fees once you click through but not for WT. In the 50% sale it was showing 17.5k and £100 when it should’ve been 9750 and around £30! Even now its showing as 35k one way when it should be 19.5k. Called BA last Monday to book a seat in WT and initially they refused saying I was wrong and the online price was correct etc but then the agent looked it up on his account and realised there is an issue with ex HND pricing. Ex KIX is correct interestingly for all cabins no issue. So he’s held the flight, got approval from his manager to honour the Avios sale price but still waiting for the fares team to amend the taxes!

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