The HfP chat thread – Monday 28th December

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J says:

28 Dec28 December 14:51

I’m guessing this might have already been mentioned by someone, but on my BA Amex I have: ‘Save to Card to get a £200 statement credit on eligible spend of £200+ online at onefinestay by 31/3/2021’
- Anuj says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 15:09
  
  Yes, unfortunately they have a three night minimum in the UK although apparently not in Japan but I’d check the terms to see if it needs to be charged in £
  - Genghis says:
    
    28 Dec28 December 16:38
    
    Or Bali, apparently.
Guy says:

28 Dec28 December 15:25

Any advice appreciated….

Looking to do an Africa trip for our honeymoon and was trying to find the best way to use our 2-4-1 BA voucher. I have one idea but have a feeling its not feasible. We were thinking of flying into Nairobi and then out of Jo’Burg/Cape Town but even though they are in the same Avios area the return leg has to be physically closer than the outbound?

Thanks
- chef says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 15:33
  
  im not sure it does, my understanding is that the distance between the open jaw has to be shorter than either flight?
  - Guy says:
    
    28 Dec28 December 15:56
    
    Thanks – I’ll give them a call just to double check
    - Genghis says:
      
      28 Dec28 December 16:40
      
      That routing would be fine. Just needs booking on the phone. Trouble is getting good seats on the CPT leg (JNB has much better availability).
      - Harry T says:
        
        28 Dec28 December 16:46
        
        FYI my October flights to CPT are showing club suite Seat maps.
        
        Getting F redemption seats to CPT requires blowing someone at BA, I think. JNB much better, as you say.
- Sean says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 15:33
  
  I thought the only restriction was that the distance between the two Points of arrival/departure (eg nairobi to cape town/joburg) had to be less than the other 2.
- dezbez says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 19:36
  
  Guy – there are some rules around using the voucher but I’m not sure if that’s one. I think the rule you are thinking of is that the distance between the two locations has to be less than the distance of either from the origin. Someone more informed/ knowledgeable/ experience will be able to confirm. Also, Rob has written articles on this – you should be able to search these relatively easily.
  - Genghis says:
    
    28 Dec28 December 19:51
    
    Less than the distance of both of the flown legs. Using “origin” could be confusing as you can fly from and back to different airports so as long as on BA metal (with 241).
Boi says:

28 Dec28 December 15:30

Hi. Any suggestion on the best way to get my Hilton day use credited? Even though the stay was completed it has been marked as cancelled (but charged on cc). I tried emailing Hilton but got no reply.
For those who managed to sort it did you manage to get the 10k points which were also an incentive to me?
- chef says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 15:35
  
  ring them on 08000 93930123
- Matthew says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 16:33
  
  Same happened to me. The hotel manually added the 10,000 points when I said it was missing. I filled in the missing stay form on Hilton website for the stay credit/points. They immediately said no stay credit as cancelled. I replied with a copy of my ‘folio’ receipt and it was credited in 24hrs.
  - Rob says:
    
    28 Dec28 December 17:28
    
    Happened to Rhys as well. Weirdly all the ones I did posted OK.
    - Not Angry says:
      
      28 Dec28 December 17:53
      
      Does day use count as a status qualifying stay?
      
      ie would 15 days out of the home office in 2021 get diamond?
      
      What about consecutive days? I know 2 consecutive nights would = 1 stay, but would 2 consecutive day use bookings be treated the same?
      - Rob says:
        
        28 Dec28 December 18:53
        
        Yes it counts.
        
        However they no longer count double – that deal ends 31/12 – so you’d need 30 days.
        
        In my experience, two back-to-back day rooms at the same hotel count as two stays. I only did this once, however, so it may have been a fluke although I found supporting evidence on Flyertalk.
      - Not Angry says:
        
        28 Dec28 December 20:28
        
        I meant specifically does it count as a stay, not just a night, because 15 stays in 2021 would get diamond.
        
        You’re saying it qualifies as a night (30 gets diamond) but I wondered if it also qualifies as a stay.
      - Not Angry says:
        
        28 Dec28 December 20:32
        
        Normally of course I know that a 1 night stay counts as 1 night and 1 stay for qualification purposes, but I wondered if day use may not count as a stay. 15 separate visits at day use rates is a very cheap route to diamond.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        29 Dec29 December 00:17
        
        Yes qualify as both a stay and a night.
      - Not Angry says:
        
        29 Dec29 December 11:20
        
        Cool. Bargain!
TheThunderer says:

28 Dec28 December 17:00

Please could you remind me the best number to phone BA on at midnight to grab reward flights 355 days out? Thank you
- Eugene says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 17:39
  
  I use the US or India. Find numbers via Mr Google
John says:

28 Dec28 December 17:08

New Hilton Promo for Q1 is out. 2K a night plus 5K per 5 days. Not bad if you combine milestone to get 4K a night. Good for cheap stays or if you switch between own account and OH.
- John says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 17:08
  
  2K per stay, sorry
- Harry T says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 19:08
  
  Thanks. Looks fairly rubbish, which doesn’t bode well for the promotion Marriott may decide to run…
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    29 Dec29 December 00:18
    
    Not bad for a cheap 1 night , which I suspect there will be lots of in 2021
Max says:

28 Dec28 December 19:45

Is there any news on whether Spain is sticking with its British ban until 5th January or possibly bringing the date forward?
- Chrisasaurus says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 20:15
  
  Hard to see any argument for bringing it forward?
- Nic says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 20:34
  
  I presume it will stick until 5th Jan because this is the “end” of the celebratory year for most people in Spain. 6th is Epiphany, a national holiday, when the gifts are given to the kids. I doubt there will be much hunger for civil service action before then.
Bob says:

28 Dec28 December 21:02

Virgin credit card voucher qs:

1. Can it be used on a booking originating outside UK – say JFK to LHR?

2. If used to upgrade a redemption booking made in premium to upper class, would additional taxes and fees be due?

Thanks
Secret Squirrel says:

28 Dec28 December 21:33

Has Creation stopped direct to Revolut?
- Alex says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 22:02
  
  It has been charging cash advance fees, hasn’t it? I tried I remember once directly and once via bendy and gave up.
  - Chrisasaurus says:
    
    28 Dec28 December 22:42
    
    Always has done
  - Aston100 says:
    
    29 Dec29 December 00:48
    
    Interest only
- Crafty says:
  
  28 Dec28 December 22:33
  
  Did it this evening without issue…
- Aston100 says:
  
  29 Dec29 December 00:48
  
  No
- Track says:
  
  29 Dec29 December 08:09
  
  Limits, limits..
  
  Both, Creation and Revolut do not like this.. and it is on their radar. Perhaps that 700/week limit on Creation side is to prevent people getting in trouble and triggering KYC reviews.