The HfP chat thread – Thursday 12th November

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• BLG says:

  12 Nov12 November 12:21

  I have reached IHG Spire Elite via MS spend through bendy and now want to try Beardy again, It was working in March with no fees is that still the case. Thanks.

  • My Cat Voted For Biden says:

    12 Nov12 November 16:50

    yes, if you’re using our friend ernie with the bearded one (via bendy)

    • Will says:

      13 Nov13 November 04:57

      Do these need the paid for bendy cards? Or will a free bendy avoid the 1.5% bendy fee?

  • James. says:

    12 Nov12 November 17:20

    Why not IHG to Ernie via Bendy. Beardy to IHG. Ernie withdrawal to Beardy. Saves on the Bendy limits.

    • S says:

      12 Nov12 November 23:48

      Any clues on Beardy?

• memesweeper says:

  12 Nov12 November 12:35

  yes, yes, maybe

  • 747_Brat says:

    12 Nov12 November 13:09

    Thanks memesweeper for confirming.
    Cheers.

• Den says:

  12 Nov12 November 12:36

  This week – The embargo 1130 announcement Have I missed it?

  • Den says:

    12 Nov12 November 12:44

    Oh just seen your update – No update!

• Track says:

  12 Nov12 November 12:37

  LNER says no to New Year Eve in London ))

  In addition to the normal Christmas closure on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December, there will be no trains to or from London King’s Cross between Sunday 27 December and Wednesday 30 December inclusive.

  • Harry T says:

    12 Nov12 November 12:48

    Yeah, seems like an odd time to do this! Guess it’s flying for those who want to visit.

    • ChrisC says:

      12 Nov12 November 22:26

      It’s absolutly the best time to do this as the number of passengers is vastly reduced at this time of year so less people to disrupt.

      There is a huge amout of work done on the rail network over Christmas all across the country.

      The King’s Cross works include complete replacement of all the track and signals as well as opening up a previously unused tunnel outside of the station which will improve reliability and allow aditional services
      It would take months of weekend closures to do the same amount of work that will be carried out durign the closure.

      There were closures over other weekends this year and will be more next year. Dates available on the network rail website.

      Short term gain for long term gain.

  • Nick_C says:

    12 Nov12 November 13:03

    Not really LNER’s decision. Engineering work.

    “We are getting in touch to make you aware of the major Network Rail planned engineering works that will be taking place along our route to deliver the East Coast Upgrade in December 2020.

    There will be significant disruption to our services to and from London King’s Cross station from Thursday 24 December to Sunday 3 January:

    • In addition to the normal Christmas closure on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December, there will be no trains to or from London King’s Cross between Sunday 27 December and Wednesday 30 December inclusive.

    • A reduced number of services running on Thursday 24 December and between Thursday 31 December and Sunday 3 January, with some extended journey times.

    As a result, we strongly advise customers not to travel to or from London from Sunday 27 to Wednesday 30 December. In addition, where possible, to avoid travel to or from London on Thursday 24 December and between Thursday 31 December to Sunday 3rd January.

    These works are the latest part of the East Coast Upgrade, the ongoing £1.2bn Network Rail investment into the East Coast Main Line that will improve capacity, create faster journeys and increase reliability on long-distance services.

    The upgrade is planned to continue through the first half of 2021 with services significantly disrupted for extended periods, including a nine day period of very limited services between Grantham and Peterborough from Saturday 16 to Sunday 24 January 2021. More Information about the East Coast Upgrade and engineering work throughout 2020 and 2021 is available here.

    Thank you in advance for your patience, we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

• Harry T says:

  12 Nov12 November 12:49

  I have a BA future travel voucher from a cancelled BA holiday (£300 deposit). Can I use this to pay for flights that cost less than £300? What will happen to the balance afterwards – will I receive an FTV for the remaining value (£300 minus £150, say)?

  • ChrisC says:

    12 Nov12 November 13:17

    yes and yes

    but I have seen reports that if the balance is a small amount (less than 20 quid comes to mind) then BA will actually refund this rather than issue another voucher for a small amount

    • Harry T says:

      12 Nov12 November 13:56

      Thanks, Chris!

    • Jack says:

      13 Nov13 November 07:26

      I was issued a new voucher for £10.12 so, no refund here!

• Jimmy says:

  12 Nov12 November 13:07

  What is the optimal combo of offers here? What kind of prepaid cards do they sell?

  • Peter K says:

    12 Nov12 November 13:46

    Have a look at the last few days comments and there is a lot there on it. Follow the info from Rob in the blurb at the top to get it.

• Ray says:

  12 Nov12 November 13:15

  FYI – I have a platinum card for 3 years, called them up just now to ask about retention offer/cancellation and they’ve given me 50,000 MR points 🙂 happy days, I recommend everyone with a platinum to see what they can do for you.

  • Sandgrounder says:

    12 Nov12 November 13:35

    Is that your first retention offer Ray or did you get one earlier in the year as well?

    • Ray says:

      12 Nov12 November 13:44

      First one and I just paid the 575 fee in October, what have other received?

      • Andrew says:

        12 Nov12 November 14:21

        In the late Spring they were giving 20,000 points (but that was when double value was on for cashing in, so equated to 40,000 today if you wanted to take the cash). Reports are that if you’ve had the retention bonus once you can’t get it again, although one person seemed to have slipped through the net and got it twice, but seems to be the only one.

        • MD says:

          12 Nov12 November 15:58

          Not true at all, I got 20000 MR points in Spring plus the double points on spend, then 40000 more in Sep-Oct. I’ve seen several other people on here say they got both.

      • Super Secret Stuff says:

        12 Nov12 November 14:23

        Very impressive retention offer. For gold most people get earn 2 additional points per £1 OR spek 1k to get 5k MR points. Sometimes more but not always.

        Platinum has a big range of offers, your is by far the highest I’ve heard of.

  • Mco says:

    12 Nov12 November 15:21

    I cancelled mine a few days back and got nothing. Had it for 2 years.

• BrightonReader says:

  12 Nov12 November 13:32

  @Rob

  Do you have any info re Kimpton’s no longer doing dynamic reward pricing?

  Was looking to book Manchester Clocktower for several stays through next year and all nights come up as 45k even though cash prices can still be low – meaning some very poor redemption value – around 0.002p per point for some dates! (I calculate based on the BFR)

  Other IHG hotels in Manchester still applying dynamic pricing,

  • Anna says:

    12 Nov12 November 14:28

    @BrightonReader – it will be interesting to see if this changes again moving forward, however cash deals are so good it doesn’t make sense to use points at the moment. For example, if you book through Emyr, even if it’s just one night, you get all the associated benefits including breakfast plus $100 room credit, which together can be worth as much as the room rate given it’s not uncommon to see rates below £100 pn. I don’t know if you’ve stayed there already but they are also very generous with the social hour and raid the bar credits for status members!

    • Anna says:

      12 Nov12 November 14:32

      A stay there also triggers to the extra free night certificate if you’re due to renew Ambassador membership or thinking of joining.

  • Lady London says:

    12 Nov12 November 14:46

    I do hope this means hotel programs are not applying dynamic pricing except when they win from it. Somehow to bring in a collar but not a cap as soon as we get a rare period when dynamic pricing is working the other way seems a bit mean.

    If they want to reduce themselves to the lack of desirability of Accor hotels as there’s sure never to be an ‘uoaide’ ‘gaming element’ in bothering to direct stsys IHG’s way then this is tgevway to go, IHG

  • Rob says:

    12 Nov12 November 15:22

    Interesting, first time I’ve heard of this.

    • Anna says:

      12 Nov12 November 17:50

      Yes – there’s decent competition from the Indigo and CP which are as low as 17k points on some nights, so it wouldn’t make sense for anyone wanting to use points to pick the Kimpton unless they had a specific reason for doing so!

      • Lady London says:

        12 Nov12 November 18:26

        I noticed the last time I considered IHG that from a certain length of time ahead each hotel maintained a kind of “rack rate” whether for points, cash, or both. Then when still not busy a shorter time ahead, better rates appeared (cash or points or both, could be at different times). These better rates would normally disappear close-in but didnt always during Covid – sometimes even still available on the day itself.

        You may be simply be looking too far ahead. Also so as to preserve brand positioning, the higher the brand the more likely they are to maintain display prices but discount through more discreet channels such as offers to Amex or Harrods cardholders or via Emyr.

        • BrightonReader says:

          12 Nov12 November 19:24

          Kimptons have, until recently been dynamic pricing like the rest of them.

          I got the de Witt Amsterdam for next May for 35k per night. I booked that last June. Booked an additional night in September and it was 45k so it can’t be I’m booking too far ahead – unless they have recently changed their pricing on far in advance bookings.

          The cash rate now is the same as they wanted when I did those bookings they just want 55k points now

          But their cash prices are still dynamic

      • BrightonReader says:

        12 Nov12 November 18:47

        I was looking at the Clocktower because people said they had good experiences there.

        I did have a couple of bookings there for this year but of course they went out of the window hence wanting to try for next year.

        I went with the Holiday Inn at an average of 15k per night for appox 0.007 p per point.

        • Anna says:

          12 Nov12 November 18:53

          I would still highly recommend the Refuge restaurant at the Clocktower for both food and surroundings, and if you do decide to book through Emyr at some point, the $100 credit would pretty much cover dinner for 2!

        • TGLoyalty says:

          12 Nov12 November 20:52

          Do you mean 0.7p as if you can get the HI for £10.50 then I’d use cash. If the rate is £105 then what are they smoking!

        • BrightonReader says:

          12 Nov12 November 22:34

          £105 is the usual rate for the 1st weekend in October as there is an annual event in Manchester I attend that weekend.

          105/15000 = 0.007

          It’s the BFR rate so cancellable (I use that rate to calculate the p per point value as it offers the same cancellation privisions)

        • BrianW says:

          12 Nov12 November 23:10

          I enjoyed my first stay at the Clocktower last month, it was impressive, including the Refuge as @Anna states and also the fitness facilities they have available. Good location too.

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