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The HfP chat thread – Sunday 20th December

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We have decided to run this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions.  With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

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 at home, 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 it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

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.

Category

General

Comments (229)

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

  • martyn ford says:
    20 Dec20 December 11:17

    QR has just changed the time of a leg of a booking I have in May by 7 hours. Can I just sit and wait on the option of claiming a cash refund nearer the time?

  • Sk123 says:
    20 Dec20 December 11:58

    Has anyone stayed a Le Meridien Mina Seyahi in Dubai? If yes, would you recommend it for a family with two kids in their early teens?

    • Darren says:
      20 Dec20 December 13:43

      The Royal Meridien is a good option, plenty of dining options.

    • NC says:
      20 Dec20 December 17:26

      Not if you value sleep. Barasti Bar is deafeningly loud.

    • southlondonphil says:
      20 Dec20 December 18:15

      Not stayed at the Meridien Mina Seyahi itself but have stayed at the Westin next door, it’s definitely a ‘resort’ complex rather than a business hotel/conference centre so plenty of options for families. You can easily walk through the shared grounds (or along the beach) between the hotels to use the pool or visit the restaurants at the other hotel – I believe it might also be possible to ‘cross bill’ restaurant spend and some paid-for leisure facilities in the Westin to your Meridien room account (and v.v.) for points-earning though I never actually tried this myself.
      Le Meridien has a Beach Club, Barasti Beach which is open to the public, with a separate pool, beach loungers and “that music that the young people like” 🙂 very ‘chill-out’ style during the day, but more of a pool-party ‘clubbing’ zone in the evenings and the noise can be an issue when staying at Le Meridien (less so next door).
      There’s a tram stop outside Le Meridien which will quickly get you to Dubai Marina and JBR/The Walk and connections to the Metro, and the Waterparks at Wild Wadi Jumeirah and Atlantis Aquaventure are about 15 minutes in a taxi.

  • Benilyn says:
    20 Dec20 December 13:14

    FWIW the IHG hotel I wanted to stay at with my UK Free Night only opened up spots 4 months out (I would see an extra day added everyday), I emailed them asking to book for November and they opened it all up up to 12 months. And that was with me telling them it would be 4 Free Night + 2 reward bookings i.e. no cash bookings. Worth a try!

  • BuildTheWall says:
    20 Dec20 December 13:41

    Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Austria have banned flights from UK due to the mutation of COVID virus. Germany is considering reducing frequency.

  • Baji Nahid says:
    20 Dec20 December 14:04

    Can we see Dubai/UAE banning the UK Over the strain?

    • Pangolin says:
      20 Dec20 December 14:09

      Good question. I was just about to ask the same thing!

    • Andrew says:
      20 Dec20 December 14:16

      I would imagine so yes. And unless your travel is for a permitted reason you shouldn’t be going anyway.

    • Rob says:
      20 Dec20 December 14:54

      Depends if they are confident that their testing requirements are good enough (which technically they are not).

  • Pangolin says:
    20 Dec20 December 14:08

    While Curve now seems to be passing through all the MCC codes, when I top up Rev directly using M&M (no Curve) it still gets coded as 6012, so no fees/interest and it counts as a purchase.

    Other people have reported this as not working, however. Anyone else managed this successfully? I surely can’t be the only one here who’s able to top up w/o charges!

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 Dec20 December 14:13

      I tired after you mentioned and you were correct There’s now no fee with M&M directly

      I went back to late 2019 and there was.

    • Small Shop says:
      20 Dec20 December 15:03

      Be cautious about how much you do it, particularly if you use the revolut balance for bank transfers instead of shopping, because they (revolut) shut you down eventually.

  • Mikeact says:
    20 Dec20 December 14:18

    I appreciate that this daily ‘chat’ includes ‘anything else on your mind’, but I doubt Rob was thinking of numerous personal problems/issues when he set it up, and I guess there are more appropriate forum’s around for that anyway. Can we not just get back to anything whatsoever related to travel. If not then I will switch off and concentrate on the main articles.

    • Small Shop says:
      20 Dec20 December 15:01

      Yes, this is a points and miles website, not a support group, and not a place for 16 page essays about how upset you are when someone disagrees with your political opinions.

      • Anna says:
        20 Dec20 December 15:06

        In case you missed it, the people who run this site put this at the top of this section:

        “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 at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.”

        • Small Shop says:
          20 Dec20 December 15:21

          Some of us are saying we don’t think that’s a good thing, that’s all.

        • Mikeact says:
          20 Dec20 December 15:23

          @Anna. I assume your comment was directed at me as the original poster. And of course I did not ‘miss’ the section at the top, hence my ‘anything else on your mind’ comment. I stand by everything else I mentioned.

          • Small Shop says:
            20 Dec20 December 15:27

            Your original comment was bang on the money

          • Anna says:
            20 Dec20 December 15:38

            But it’s not your site, @Mike so I don’t see why you feel that you have the right to dictate what people post on it. I’m fairly confident that no one will mind if you “switch off and concentrate on the main articles” though!

          • Small Shop says:
            20 Dec20 December 15:50

            He is expressing his opinion or his preference, not dictating anything.

            You’re exhibiting what has made the HfP comments a cess pit lately: either being upset by a different opinion or expecting that people with a different opinion shouldn’t voice it.

            You can you say you like a a more wide ranging “community” discussion, just as much as he can say he doesn’t enjoy it.

            You’re saying he should shut up because his opinion differs from what you think is the opinion of HfP.

          • Not Angry says:
            20 Dec20 December 15:58

            The original comment was very calm and mild. Not at all like dictating to people.

            It helps to read other people’s writing to yourself in a neutral voice, not an angry shouty one.

          • James says:
            20 Dec20 December 20:34

            Just read past those comments or go elsewhere Mike, if you don’t like them. Isn’t that what you and too many others on here snerringly say when people commsnt on the ill informed or conspiracy theory fueled nonsense spouted on here as fact.

    • Lee says:
      20 Dec20 December 15:07

      Nothing going on with main articles

    • Mikeact says:
      20 Dec20 December 15:48

      So @Anna, if we’re going to have a free for all, I’ll raise a couple of concerns on my mind
      1 Anybody with a foolproof way of trying to slow down the traffic on our busy 40 mph local highway.
      2 And what is the best way to get rid of 1000’s of worm casts on my lawn
      3 Our Mountain Ash is suffering from Ash Dieback …is there anything at all that can be done to save it
      For starters.

      • Ming The Merciless says:
        20 Dec20 December 21:02

        Stiff bristled broom best way of getting rid of worm casts.

        Never let it be said I don’t add value…

    • Nick_C says:
      20 Dec20 December 16:59

      I agree Mike. Some of the stuff on here over the last couple of days would have been better posted on Mumsnet. But its still worth trawling through the comments, because there is some real gold underneath all the dross.

  • Anna says:
    20 Dec20 December 15:12

    Tomorrow’s article for potential new readers should possibly be, “Don’t bother coming on here and asking how you can get a refund for your BA/Virgin Xmas flight which hasn’t been cancelled”.

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

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