The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 11th November

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• Nigel W says:

  11 Nov11 November 08:40

  To double check, is the Airtime Rewards x Morrisons offer work for gift cards?

  • Andrew says:

    11 Nov11 November 11:25

    It did up to March.

    Be mindful though that with this kind of scheme there’s nothing to stop the proprietors filtering the transactions to exclude specific items now or in the future. It all depends at which point in the system the transaction, value and link is triggered.

    It’s not the same as the standard Amex schemes either, and you might have to allow 180 days for settlement for some transactions.

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      11 Nov11 November 18:06

      Agree, I’ve found Morries tillpoints well coded in the past, not a lot gets past them.

• Anna says:

  11 Nov11 November 08:59

  Mr & Mrs hotels – it seems that these are available to book on points but NOT with the IHG MC free night certificate – does anyone know if that’s permanent? Some properties are charging over 60k points for reward nights so it would be good use of the certificate.

  Also on this, I made an enquiry at Middleton Lodge near Richmond about whether breakfast is included in the reward rate. The response I got suggested the staff aren’t yet aware of points booking options so some explaining might be required while the get used to the process!

  • Anna says:

    11 Nov11 November 09:04

    Hmm – the website for Linthwaite Hall in Cumbria says that rates “usually” include breakfast so maybe there is some kickback starting!

    • Janet Thomas says:

      11 Nov11 November 09:46

      I’m pretty sure I have read that the free nights can’t be used. It seems that the hotels themselves have little knowledge of how IHG works. A word of warning if your hotel is cancelled, you might have a battle getting your points back. I had a night booked for 4th Nov (night before Lockdown) and received standard cancellation e-mail from IHG the day before which read as if I had made the cancellation! Phoned hotel who confirmed they were not accepting guests that evening. Checked my account & ‘night reversal’ entry read “0 points”. Lengthy phone calls to IHG customer services were very frustrating. Finally got a result after sending an e-mail and points were added manually.

      • Anna says:

        11 Nov11 November 10:03

        Hi Janet, there did seem to be a glitch at first with Mr & Mrs cancellations, but both @meta and I have managed to do this successfully online in the past few days so it’s possibly something they have now resolved. I agree that hotel staff don’t seem to have been briefed much about the changes!

  • Rob says:

    11 Nov11 November 09:25

    IHG pays full cash to Smith for redemptions (as opposed to $25 or so for redemptions at its own hotels) so hell will freeze over before you can use a card certificate there.

    • Anna says:

      11 Nov11 November 09:37

      What’s the difference between them paying for a points night and for a certificate free night? Wouldn’t it cost them the same?

      • marcw says:

        11 Nov11 November 10:43

        On IHG affiliated hotels, yes. But not on MrMrs hotels, where IHG pays cash whether you pay with cash or points. That’s why you cannot use the certificate.

        • Rob says:

          11 Nov11 November 11:30

          If you spend £10k on your card, IHG has received – AT BEST – £80 from Creation for the 20,000 points you earned. Why are they going to be happy paying out £250 on top to Mr & Mrs Smith if you redeem your voucher for a top price hotel? £50 to InterCon Park Lane they can live with.

          On the other hand, if you spent 70,000 points on a direct redemption at a Mr & Mrs Smith hotel, IHG will have been paid £280ish by the hotels that issued those points. In this case, handing over £250 to Smith is fine.

        • Anna says:

          11 Nov11 November 13:35

          It makes sense when you put it like that – I was looking at it from the angle that I get way more points from the IHG card than I do from hotel stays!

  • Genghis says:

    11 Nov11 November 11:04

    I paid 80k for a barn suite in the Cotswolds for next summer. Looks nice.

    • meta says:

      11 Nov11 November 11:14

      Regarding breakfast. I think that it shows as normal cash booking in properties’ systems. I got a separate confirmation email from Eckington Manor which showed full cash rate. So if breakfast is included for cash rates, then it is also for reward booking.

      • Lady London says:

        11 Nov11 November 16:17

        I would get it in writing from the hotel if I were you.
        Things can change between booking and staying and unless you can prove it, they may try to subject you to new rules. Which, funnily enough, are mostly less generous than old rules.

        • meta says:

          11 Nov11 November 18:40

          Yes, have it in writing. Eckington Manor confirmed that breakfast is included. Currently due to covid, it needs to be ordered 2 days before and is delivered to your room. Restaurant reservations are mandatory prior to arrival.

• RB says:

  11 Nov11 November 09:16

  How long after receiving the American express rewards credit card can I can cancel Amex Gold and know that my MR points are safe?

  • Rob says:

    11 Nov11 November 09:24

    For total security, make 1 purchase on ARCC and check that the points went into the same MR account as your Gold card. This confirms that the two cards are flowing into the same place and Amex hasn’t accidentally created a 2nd MR account. After that, cancel away.

    • Doug M says:

      11 Nov11 November 11:00

      That seems the norm to me. I’ve had a variety of Plat/Gold/Green over the last couple of years, and despite being on the same online account it always generates a new MR account until I phone. Stopped bothering until I cancel now, just have the separate accounts.

      • Harry T says:

        11 Nov11 November 11:28

        I ended up with separate MR accounts for my Gold and Plat cards, which caused issues when I merged them via amex CS. It reset my Gold card 15k tracker so it was a tight hassle to get the 10k points!

        • Sam says:

          11 Nov11 November 12:52

          I just got off the phone with amex to cancel gold credit card and the agent noticed my new platinum was under another MR account, she requested the merge but would it reset my £4k spend bonus on the platinum card?

        • Rob says:

          11 Nov11 November 14:50

          Shouldn’t do, the two things are totally separate.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          11 Nov11 November 16:05

          @Sam I’d wait til you get your 20k points!

    • RB says:

      11 Nov11 November 12:56

      Thanks – when I called them last week to cancel gold was offered:

      3k MR for £3k spend in 3 months
      (Not worth it as just singed up to BA Premium and just hit the target there
      Downgrade to green card £60 pa not really worth it
      Or get ARCC

• DZOO says:

  11 Nov11 November 09:20

  Anyone know whether the extra MR point on Gold offer is targeted or a retention offer? TIA

  • Harry T says:

    11 Nov11 November 09:25

    Which offer?

    • DZOO says:

      11 Nov11 November 10:28

      I read on an earlier days’ chat that someone was getting 2MR/£1 on Gold Amex for a limited period…

      • Nick says:

        11 Nov11 November 10:43

        That was someone who was offered a bonus when they called asking to cancel their card, so in a sense it is targeted. Most people will have an offer on file for this circumstance, but it may not be the same for everyone (depends on your ‘customer value’ to Amex). That said, there seems to be more variety in Plat offers than Gold.

        • Sina says:

          11 Nov11 November 10:53

          I was offered 5k MR points and 3X points for 3 months on my gold charge card! I’ve heard different offers so it might be targeted…

      • Harry T says:

        11 Nov11 November 10:57

        Oh yes, I’ve got 2 extra MR per pound for three months as a retention offer.

• Harry T says:

  11 Nov11 November 09:25

  Signing up for Airtime Rewards for the first time – anyone got a referral or promo code, and what does that get me?

  Also, any tips for maximising the use of this? I have Curve, free IHG, Halifax Clarity.

  • Harry T says:

    11 Nov11 November 09:27

    Haven’t got the Morrison’s offer!

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      11 Nov11 November 18:10

      New accounts I believe won’t get the morries offer.

  • 747_Brat says:

    11 Nov11 November 09:53

    E8HLJK4E
    Cheers. Thanks.

• Paul Irving says:

  11 Nov11 November 09:39

  My short video review of the ‘Holiday Inn – Kensington Forum’, possible the worse IHG property in the UK

  https://youtu.be/d79vkDG3C90

  • Andrew says:

    11 Nov11 November 10:12

    It’s closing soon for a full refurb

    • Rob says:

      11 Nov11 November 10:14

      It’s not. It is closing for total demolition. Council approved two new tower blocks (1 hotel, 1 residential) to take its place last week.

  • Aston100 says:

    11 Nov11 November 10:15

    Biscuits and Human Waste, were my two takeaways from that video.

    I think I dodged a bullet as this was one of 3 IHG hotels in the area I was recently considering. Luckily I ended up at the Indigo which was fairly decent.

  • Andrew says:

    11 Nov11 November 11:45

    It’s a shame how things change. It was the hotel I stayed in when I first worked in London back in 1994.

    Boss comes out and asks everyone “Does anyone want to work in West End Branch for the next two weeks”, they are really short of staff. Everyone’s coming up with excuses for not going on relief. I say “sure”. Boss then goes “That’s great Andrew, I’ll let them know to organise the flights and hotel. Do you want to come home at the weekend or spend it in London?”

    Cue evils from my colleagues that I’m getting a trip to London and whining that they thought the boss meant West End, Edinburgh…

    For someone whose trips to London usually meant looking for discount codes on Teletext then dialling 40 40 40 to stay a weekend in the Regent Palace Hotel, a fortnight in The Kensington Forum was absolute luxury.

    • Rob says:

      11 Nov11 November 11:54

      For those readers under 40, the Regent Palace Hotel – which is the building now converted into a multi-use office and retail complex near Piccadilly Circus, inc Whole Foods and the Zedel restaurant – was the best-known ‘cheap but a dump’ hotel in Central London for a long time in the pre-internet era. It was no doubt fine in its day, but its day was a long, long time ago.

      • Carol says:

        11 Nov11 November 12:11

        We had a weekend paid for by my employer in the early 90’s – it was a surprise and disappointment to discover there was no en-suite. We had to use a shared bathroom ☹️

      • Lady London says:

        11 Nov11 November 16:20

        It had a terrible, terrible reputation.

    • xcalx says:

      11 Nov11 November 15:10

      Back in the early Seventies as a 15 year old apprentice work sent me and 2 other lads on a weeks induction course in London we stayed at a YMCA think it was Stockwell or Brixton area. That was slumming it.

• Axel says:

  11 Nov11 November 09:51

  Confirming Workspace Day bonus is now live! Got the 10000 point bonus for my Workspacesday use booking yesterday in Edinburgh. Day rate was £31 85 along with snack n drink.

  • Axel says:

    11 Nov11 November 09:53

    Google Hilton Workspaces Day rate bonus

    • pauline says:

      11 Nov11 November 10:10

      Hi
      Which edinburgh hotel did you use? – do you have to phone to book or can you do this on line? Does this count towards a stay award?

      • Axel says:

        11 Nov11 November 10:26

        Booked on Hilton App. Cash only, so deselect option for points when booking. Awarded one stay and double nights.

        Hampton West End, 4 hours parking in Fountainpark free then they kindly let me use their car park for an hour. Diamonds get allocated spaces.

        • Rob says:

          11 Nov11 November 10:44

          Can book via app or online. Simply set check in and check out to same day. Gets you 2 elite night credits and double base points if you are registered for the current promo.

    • Rob says:

      11 Nov11 November 10:21

      We have an article on this written, it should run tomorrow. I can confirm it works – a friend sent me a screenshot.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      11 Nov11 November 11:27

      Do you need to register?

    • babyg says:

      11 Nov11 November 13:09

      this is awesome.. thanks!

  • John Caribbean says:

    11 Nov11 November 10:18

    I tried to call two in Bristol, one was closed, the other went through to the US call centre.
    They advised I had to book it on dayuse.com/UK which doesn’t seem correct

    • meta says:

      11 Nov11 November 11:09

      On that note, does Amex Hilton offer work cumulatively? I know that Marriott one does.

      • Rob says:

        11 Nov11 November 11:23

        Yes

  • pacman says:

    11 Nov11 November 12:25

    Garden Inn Doncaster Racecourse available for £31.20

    • pacman says:

      11 Nov11 November 12:28

      Hampton Leeds £28.60

    • the_real_a says:

      11 Nov11 November 17:34

      Garden Inn Doncaster is a new build hotel and very comfortable. Huge desk and comfortable work chair. Ask nicely if you have status and they will give you a room with floor to ceiling views of the races. £5 parking – breakfast is good. Service is northern and exceptional.

• 747_Brat says:

  11 Nov11 November 09:56

  I am new to Airtime Rewards. Does someone know if you can redeem Airtime Rewards to pay broadband providers like BT, Sky etc.?
  Thanks.

  • Ryan says:

    11 Nov11 November 11:09

    They currently don’t support BT or Sky

    Most of the other big networks are on there though

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