The HfP chat thread – Monday 1st February

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• Aliks says:

  1 Feb1 February 10:32

  I need to make a payment to a holiday company in the Dominican Republic. They only accept Paypal and checking online it seems like Paypal really gouge international payments.

  Anyone got recommendations for best way for me to pay through Paypal?

  • Amy says:

    1 Feb1 February 10:34

    curve card

  • kitten says:

    1 Feb1 February 11:04

    are you really sure this vendor is safe? Paypal only…. Dom. Rep… what are your enforceable rights if it goes wrong?

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      1 Feb1 February 11:35

      +1

    • Aliks says:

      1 Feb1 February 11:49

      Not a lot of rights, but I have checked that they have a good reputation online. They been running eco wildlife tours into the mountains for 9 years – one good way to check this is to look at archive,org (aka the waybackmachine).

      Amy I think curve is still going to attract a 2% debit card fee even if it avoids the 4% currency markup. Is there anything better?

      • Amy says:

        1 Feb1 February 11:53

        get curve metal, free overseas payments

      • N says:

        1 Feb1 February 11:54

        what 2% debit card fee?

        use paypal, using your curve. just make sure you are billed in local currency by paypal (you may need to click through a few links to make it do this). i also quite enjoy making a note of how much paypal wanted to charge me in GBP then comparing it to the GBP charge on my curve when the tx goes through

        • Jonathan says:

          1 Feb1 February 12:00

          PayPal won’t let you chose to be billed in local currency anymore so you’re compelled to be gouged by their terrible conversion rate.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    1 Feb1 February 12:15

    I remember their mobile app converts using their rate which is usually pretty bad. Try using the desktop site which might give you an option to pay in vendor’s local ccy. Atleast your fee won’t be higher than 3.5%

    • Paul says:

      1 Feb1 February 14:33

      @Jonathan. There is still the option the avoid PayPal’s horrendous currency conversion fees and for your card to be charged in local currency. They are experts at hiding this option but it still exists

      • Ryan says:

        1 Feb1 February 17:45

        We’ve been swerving the PayPal USD rate for ages on eBay… saving well over 5% by using curve / revolut

        I can only dread to imagine how many people ‘cant be asked’ to change it and get ripped off each time

      • Jonathan says:

        1 Feb1 February 20:02

        They’ve removed the ability to change billed currency entirely as of middle of last year (assuming your PayPal account is U.K. registered). All the old methods to dodge it are now gone & they’re user agreement specifically authorises them to apply DCC to all transactions from outside your home country.

        • Magic Mike says:

          1 Feb1 February 20:34

          Maybe I don’t have a UK account then, as I was able to make a USD payment through PP on Curve last October…

        • kitten says:

          1 Feb1 February 21:01

          are you sure that’s legal? existing statute saying DCC should not be compulsory should override such contract conditions

        • Jonathan says:

          1 Feb1 February 21:53

          “When your payment is funded by a debit or credit card and PayPal determines currency conversion is necessary, you consent to and authorise us to convert the currency in place of your debit or credit card issuer.”

          PayPal have got far too big for their boots now & it’s nigh on impossible to deal with a human being if there are issues so I just refuse to use them anymore.

        • Paul says:

          1 Feb1 February 23:10

          Sorry – that’s simply not correct. I have a UK registered Paypal account and have the option in the app to use Paypal’s DCC or be billed in the source currency. I’ve checked just now and the option is still there

• gerry says:

  1 Feb1 February 10:53

  Hi All, IHG are offering bonus point packages allowing you to earn up to 5000 more points per stay, only issue is trying to find what hotels are offering them, so far I have found 1, any suggestions on how to easily find. Potential easy way to retain status.

  • Rob says:

    1 Feb1 February 11:02

    Book via this page: https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/hfp/ihg-bonus-points-package/

    It’s not perfect annoyingly because you still see ALL hotels (so 102 for London) BUT it puts a clear banner at the top showing if the 5k rate is available.

    • GERARD CREAMER says:

      1 Feb1 February 11:17

      Any recommendations on London hotels offering 5K bonus points rate

      • Rob says:

        1 Feb1 February 12:42

        Tell us which ones are showing it and we’ll pick a favourite!

    • kitten says:

      1 Feb1 February 11:25

      btw I believe you can change your profile on IHG so you only get shown brands you ticked when you log in, such as Intercontinentals only or Kimpton

      • gerry says:

        1 Feb1 February 11:42

        Got that, have you managed to find any offering the 5k bonus promo ?

• HughM says:

  1 Feb1 February 11:03

  Priority Pass arrived today, replacing Lounge Club under Amex Gold. It seems the two free visits are personal to the holder: anyone else is charged £20. Another difference from the old scheme is the need to register using a number and code. This does not work. I’ll shelve it for now. Any thoughts?

• Super Secret Stuff says:

  1 Feb1 February 12:00

  A very bad new offer day on Amex, not good given the amount of offers that have expired in the last week!

  Hopefully they get there act together soon

  • Andrew says:

    1 Feb1 February 15:11

    Agreed, I thought being a Monday and the first of the month might bring us some interesting offers, but no, just the usual 5% off over-priced e-commerce start-ups we’ve never heard of.

• Buxton says:

  1 Feb1 February 12:09

  I have a 2-4-1 LGW-KGS in late July this year booked and want to add on a third person, can they do that? And if so would it be with Avios or cash…or should i just book my mother in cash anyway for simplicity in case it gets cancelled?

  • ChrisC says:

    1 Feb1 February 12:27

    No they can’t add her to the booking.

    So it would have to be a separate booking whether it was cash or avios.

  • Stu N says:

    1 Feb1 February 12:27

    You’ll have to make a separate booking – you can’t add a third person to a 2-4-1 booking.

  • Chris Heyes says:

    1 Feb1 February 13:00

    Buxton We always travel as 3 and using a 241 It must be a booking for 2 plus a separate booking for 1
    Unfortunately the same online or by phone
    They can book three whilst on phone but will be two bookings

    • Anna says:

      1 Feb1 February 13:41

      There’s one exception to this – if there is a child on the booking, you can have all three names on the same PNR. So if I’m using avios for 3 of us, I can use a 241 for one adult and one child, and add the 2nd adult to the booking as a 3rd passenger. Not even all BA staff are aware of this!

      • Anna says:

        1 Feb1 February 13:44

        To clarify, you have to do this in one go, you can’t add the 3rd person later.

• RichardYorkshire says:

  1 Feb1 February 12:19

  I just wanted to say Thankyou for the comments yesterday regarding home insurance. I had already got some quotes but after someone mentioned that you can get some avios via the BA store, I thought I would give it a go.
  I went through the BA store and got the exact same price as I did a few days ago but now received an email saying I have 3000 avios points on the way.

  Easy does it.

  • Aston100 says:

    1 Feb1 February 12:32

    Was it through Aviva?
    I think I mentioned yesterday that I’ve had positive first hand experience when making claims for home, car and health insurance in recent times with Aviva.
    In the case of the car insurance, this was a hit & run who eventually turned out to be a non-insured chavette. Aviva sorted everything immediately and the legal cover kicked in too, to get my excess paid back. I wasn’t even aware that claims against non-insured drivers were covered.
    Home insurance – had a leak through the roof that damaged the boiler (in the loft). All sorted within 6 days, including repair to the roof and subsequent repair to the boiler. This was in December.
    Health Insurance was really easy, with a dedicated health assessment team who advise on the best options going forward.

    Can’t recommend them enough, even if they did cost a bit more than other insurance companies for my requirements.

    • Harry T says:

      1 Feb1 February 19:16

      My current car insurance is with Aviva because they gave me the best quote! Haven’t had cause to use them but I’m very reassured by your reports.

• Rob says:

  1 Feb1 February 12:36

  Question for someone in the know.

  If I book a refundable hotel room now, cancel the credit card, then cancel the hotel room nearer the time (covis rules dependant). What happens to the refund? Will I have trouble trying to get it back again?

  Thanks

  • Aston100 says:

    1 Feb1 February 12:40

    In the case of Amex, the refund sits on your Amex account, against the cancelled card and can be transferred to your bank account if you contact Amex.

• Aston100 says:

  1 Feb1 February 12:39

  So, because Harry and Anna are going to Snowdonia (presumably separately, but who knows) and wherever they go, lockdowns tend to follow, I need somewhere else to visit within the UK this summer, just in case my rescheduled (x2) trip to Asia gets cancelled yet again.
  I’ve done Yorkshire last year and Lake District not so long ago. Need something similar to those (Snowdonia would have been a great fit) – outdoors and not too far from civilisation for creature comforts.
  Any recommendations? Was thinking Inverness > Fort William and suchlike, but that would involve flying and I don’t know if that is going to happen from my local airport (BHX).

  Thanks in advance.

  • kitten says:

    1 Feb1 February 12:48

    Bath, Frome, Bristol areas around there have some nice places, good outdoors, food

    • memesweeper says:

      1 Feb1 February 13:05

      +1 dual centre, Bath + Cotswolds is on my to do this this summer

      I’ve had good weekends in Edinburgh, Stratford-upon-Avon, Cambridge

      • Aston100 says:

        1 Feb1 February 13:44

        ***+1 dual centre, Bath + Cotswolds is on my to do this this summer

        I’ve had good weekends in Edinburgh, Stratford-upon-Avon, Cambridge***
        Thanks.
        I’ve done Edinburgh half a dozen times in the last 10 years (mostly for the festival).
        Stratford is not far from me, so wouldn’t feel right (IMO) to pay to stay overnight.

        However, Bath + Cotswolds sounds interesting. I’ve done a couple of overnights in Bristol for work, so have briefly visited the waterfront and drove over the suspension bridge. Is there more to see in Bristol?
        Most importantly – seeing as you are visiting too, do you have a track record of lockdowns and issues following in your footsteps? 🙂

        Thanks.

        • memesweeper says:

          1 Feb1 February 18:00

          I have a track record of lockdowns following in my wake… but I’m not, AFAIK, a superspreader !

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          1 Feb1 February 18:36

          I grew up in Bristol. There’s a good few days there

          Yes there’s a lot along the waterfront, especially if interested in industrial/maritime heritage.
          Bristol actually has the most interesting suburbs of any city … take a walk from the centre to Clifton up Park Street, past the museum (which is a bit of a mini Natural History Museum) and Whiteladies Road. You’ll go past the zoo too which is pretty decent.
          Ashton Court Estate is just over the suspension bridge, while the Mendips and Cheddar are less than 20 miles away and glorious. Bath and Wells are both very pleasant too.

          And of course of HfP I suppose I should mention the aerospace history at Filton.

    • kitten says:

      1 Feb1 February 13:25

      Manor at Castle Coombe springs to mind as one. Pretty sure Rob did a review here about 3? yrs ago but it won’t have changed. Four Seasons Hampshire (not stayed there), Chewton Glen (I personally hated it but spa nice during the week). Roger Saul (Mulberry) had something Bradford on Avon-ish

      • Rob says:

        1 Feb1 February 14:44

        Whatley Manor is worth a look too.

  • Phil says:

    1 Feb1 February 13:04

    Personally I would recommend a road trip around the Highlands. The following itinery can be easily covered in 5-7 days.

    GLA > Loch Lomond > Oban > Glencoe > Ballachulish > Ben Nevis > Skye > Torridon > Ullapool > Dornoch > Cairngorms > Dunkeld > Troassachs > GLA.

    • Anna says:

      1 Feb1 February 13:14

      +1 – been to most of these and spend a week in Perthshire most years. Quiet roads mean you can cover a lot of distance in short periods. Also driving north from England is much less stressful than going south!

    • Genghis says:

      1 Feb1 February 14:05

      We’ve booked two nights in Stirling, 4 nights in Skye (there’s at least 3 days of stuff to do there and that’s at a fast pace) and one night in Stirling trip. Relatively easy to drive up.

      • Tracy says:

        1 Feb1 February 14:25

        Stirling is a very good choice. I might be biased though as I live there 😂

        • BJ says:

          1 Feb1 February 16:17

          Yeah, Stirling is a great town. An easy stroll up Dumyat from the University campus is a nice way to spend an afternoon and the views are grand.

      • BJ says:

        1 Feb1 February 16:26

        I can see problems with the Islands beeing no go areas but possibly an exception for Skye as it is heavily dependent on tourism. If you can I recommend you do the loop going via ferry from Mallaig (have a picnic at Morar Sands if weather is fine) and come back via bridge. Watch out for the tour buses, nearly got hit by one last twice we were there.

        • Genghis says:

          1 Feb1 February 16:41

          Cheers BJ. Added Morar Sands to itinerary. We were planning on getting the ferry to Mallaig and having a nice lunch before the drive back to Stirling.

      • kitten says:

        1 Feb1 February 16:53

        I loved Stirling. We did pretty much the same in reverse
        Stayed at a really nice Alasdair Sawday B&B in Dunvegan near the Three Chimneys where we also ate. Luckily we were there on weekdays when we could get in. I loved the hotel setting at Flodigarry – crumbling then but beautiful. Got a feeling money will have taken it over since would love to go back.

      • BJ says:

        1 Feb1 February 17:00

        @Genghis, if you are hitting Mallaig for lunch be sure to book what takes your fancy as it is very busy due to customers off the Jacobite. There are reportedly some decent places but I cannot recommend any because we like to support the Mission tearoom when passing through and it’s essentially just that and not even very good to be honest. The Sands are just a few minutes south of Mallaig, turn right just after crossing the bridge over the River Morar to access the car park. Sand is soft white powder, it’s gorgeous and last summer the temperature hit about 80 a few days.

        • Genghis says:

          1 Feb1 February 20:25

          Thanks you very much for the tips, BJ.

      • Liz says:

        1 Feb1 February 22:02

        My daughter went to Stirling Uni and never came back home. She moved in with her boyfriend. It’s a great place. We always recommend a visit to Stirling Castle. Make sure you catch the free tour guide for an initial talk. The castle inside is painted as it would have been – i prefer this to Edinburgh Castle. Then you can climb the 264 steps up the Wallace Monument. Bridge of Allan close by is also lovely.

    • Aston100 says:

      1 Feb1 February 14:23

      ***Personally I would recommend a road trip around the Highlands. The following itinery can be easily covered in 5-7 days.

      GLA > Loch Lomond > Oban > Glencoe > Ballachulish > Ben Nevis > Skye > Torridon > Ullapool > Dornoch > Cairngorms > Dunkeld > Troassachs > GLA.***

      Hi Phil,
      I’m considering flying into INV and doing Inverness, Aviemore and Fort William. Approx 7 nights total.
      Is it a waste to add Oban & Loch Lomond, with a view to flying back from GLA? i.e. is it better to save those for a separate trip in the future?

      • Phil says:

        1 Feb1 February 15:30

        If you think you’ll do a second trip then I’d leave them over for the next trip. If you are flying into INV I’d do something like:

        INV > Ullapool > Dornoch > Cairngorms/Aviemore > Ben Nevis/Fort William > INV

        I’d highly recommend getting north of Inverness. If you can try to stay a night at the Ferry Boat Inn at Ullapool and book a loch facing room.

        A second trip from GLA could look like:

        GLA > Oban > Glencoe > Ballachulish > Skye > Cairngorms/Aviemore > Dunkeld > Perth > GLA/EDI.

        • Aston100 says:

          1 Feb1 February 16:04

          Thanks Phil.
          I think I’ll leave Inverness and Aviemore for a future trip.
          Currently, pricing and availability looks better for a trip in & out of GLA.
          Pondering something like this (8 nights):
          BHX > GLA – pickup car and go straight to Loch Lomond area (arrive around midday). 3 nights here.
          Drive to Fort William and spend 3 nights here exploring the vicinity. Perhaps a side trip to Skye.
          Depart Fort William on the 7th morning and drive into Oban. A few hours here and then drive to Stirling to get there in the evening. 1 night here.
          We have a couple of things we missed out on from the last visit to Stirling so will spend the 8th day catching up on those in Stirling before driving off to Glasgow to arrive there in the evening.
          8th night in Glasgow. Spend the 9th day in Glasgow before dropping the car and catching the evening flight back to BHX.

          Thanks again.

        • BJ says:

          1 Feb1 February 16:28

          And I recommend the Seafood Shack in Ullapool.

    • BJ says:

      1 Feb1 February 16:11

      In 5-7 days to do all that you would only be seeing it through the windscreen (wipers in the west!). Not that this would be a bad thing but it would mean missing out on so much more.

      • Aston100 says:

        1 Feb1 February 16:22

        Hence my current plan of 3 days in Loch Lomond and 4 days in the Fort William + Oban areas. Do you think this is still insufficient?

        • BJ says:

          1 Feb1 February 16:32

          No, that would work great but be warned the locals around Loch Lomond were not amused with the overcrowding last summer and the roads ended up getting blocked off IIRC.

        • Wollhouse says:

          1 Feb1 February 16:36

          Agree with your thinking- and the comment re seafood shack in Ullapool. Ft William as a town (IMO) is not pretty. There is so much to see and do and part of the hoy is giving yourself time: the distances don’t look far, but they’re windy roads. If everyone is staying in the UK, the roads might be busy and you’ll go even slower. If you’re driving up, consider the Borders. Often overlooked as people whip through on their way to the highlands. Peebles and Melrose are lovely – fantastic hiking, Glentress if you like mountain biking, Floors Castle, horse riding- stunning and not as touristy. I’m biased, I live in the Borders and think it’s tough to beat. Oh, and we rarely get midgies!

        • BJ says:

          1 Feb1 February 17:06

          Agree with @Wollhouse Borders would be a good and less busy option, could be combined with Edinburgh, the Fife Coast and St Andrews up to Dundee.

        • Andy says:

          1 Feb1 February 17:22

          @wollhouse the borders is great! I have family in Innerleithen and I’m often up there visiting. Well I was before Covid! One problem with the UK in general is that for a non driver like myself it’s tricky and expensive to get around compared to a lot of countries. Which is why being stuck holidaying here is such a bind for me!

        • Magic Mike says:

          1 Feb1 February 20:38

          I’m not convinced Wee Jimmy isn’t going to try and ban the English again, so won’t be booking anything north of the border. Northumberland or North York Moors are both lovely though.

  • Anna says:

    1 Feb1 February 13:13

    Lol! Well I’m not having another caravan holiday this year so that’s a safe option.
    Northumberland is a great place to visit if you don’t mind the weather, and obviously not going to be subject to Welsh or Scottish rules! If you’re using points, the Indigo in Durham is lovely. The Marriott is not as nice but did treat us very well as gold members the one time we stayed. There’s a decent Indigo in Newcastle and also a CP which we haven’t tried yet. Good food options in both cities and you’re still near plenty of fantastic scenery and walking options.

  • Charlieface says:

    1 Feb1 February 14:27

    Loch Lomond, East Trossachs and Argyll are eminently doable without flying, and I highly recommend

  • Tracey says:

    1 Feb1 February 17:14

    You were going to Wales, so you could try the Gower. Alternatively, the New Forest is meant to be nice.

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