The HfP chat thread – Sunday 28th February

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• MilesOnPoint says:

  28 Feb28 February 10:01

  Managed to bag some Avios seats in Club (+2for1 Voucher) for LCY-JMK in late June.

  Does anyone have recommendations for Mykonos? We’ve never been before

  • david says:

    28 Feb28 February 11:18

    The Grace and the greek salad at Nammos.

    • MilesOnPoint says:

      28 Feb28 February 12:00

      Thanks David, will take a look

  • babyg says:

    28 Feb28 February 13:24

    hmmm thats not actually a bad use of points/vouchers…. i might check that route out too!

    • Andy says:

      28 Feb28 February 14:19

      38k avios + 35£ is not cheap either though, plus out of LCY BA flies in 2-2 config so you will have somebody sitting right next to you unlike Club Europe out of LHR/LGW. Also no lounge at LCY for at least a few more years it seems. Standard economy on the outbound might be a better deal.

      Hopefully once travel bounces back BA will also add Santorini and Sicily/Sardinia routes out of LCY, perfect for those based in East London like me!

      • MilesOnPoint says:

        28 Feb28 February 18:09

        34k Avios off peak (17,000 per person) represents good value IMO vs cash price of £550pp return in CE.

        Convenience and small size of City appeals and I’d rather spend minimal time at airport at the moment vs busy lounge at T5 & schlepp to Heathrow. Oneworld Emerald means we can select row one on Embraer 190 so legroom is solid, and as Rob said in previous review, catering in LCY Club tends to be a cut above as it’s the main differential. Arriving back into City also good as you’re in a taxi within minutes of landing

        • Genghis says:

          28 Feb28 February 20:08

          Most of the benefits you’ve mentioned also apply to Y. The only differential of J really is the meal, at least on the ex-LCY leg, and at a delta of 8,500 avios and £15 for that leg alone on your 241, it needs to be one hell of a meal for two.

          And surely you’d want 2CD for the legroom?

        • MilesOnPoint says:

          28 Feb28 February 20:36

          @ Genghis

          I suppose I view the redemption as good value in a general sense, economy wasn’t available on the outbound from LCY so the difference in Avios is a moot point in this instance (would certainly have considered Y out, J back if it had been available)

          Appreciate that Club offering ex-LHR is greater re: blocked middle seat/lounge but the person “sitting right next to me” is my wife which for me is a good thing but YMMV…

          Quite right re: 2C/2D, I meant to say “first rows” we are booked in 2C/2D for the outbound but inbound 1A/1B as row 2 already taken

• JRC says:

  28 Feb28 February 10:06

  Signed up for the Business Gold and card arrived on Friday. Added to my Amex account but can’t see the normal spend tracker- “spend £5k to trigger 50,000 MR points”. Hope it will still track but should I be worried?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    28 Feb28 February 10:37

    Trackers are hit and miss.

    It’ll probably appear at some point in the future.

  • Jay says:

    28 Feb28 February 10:45

    +1, I was just looking at this and about to online chat to double check the bonus had triggered. Do an chat, get it confirmed and then copy and keep the chat contents in case there is an issue.

• Rachel R says:

  28 Feb28 February 10:16

  Hate to ask as it always starts something but anyone else having problems with curve backed by IHG for NSI this weekend?

  • Red Flyer says:

    28 Feb28 February 12:07

    Nope I bagged some premium bonds ok last night using the same with the white card.

  • memesweeper says:

    28 Feb28 February 14:19

    nothing is working bendy + inti today for me… no idea why

  • Lady London says:

    28 Feb28 February 14:27

    nsi reported as temperamental with curve multiple times in past ten days or so. might possibly not affect older setups.

• Chrism20 says:

  28 Feb28 February 10:16

  Having a bit of an issue with BA website this morning. Avios lights for late April cancelled as I expected them to be.

  Have tried to rebook them for late June using the website and it’s saying there are no flights available but when checking all four sectors as a new booking it is letting me book avios seats.

  Late June is still off peak from what I can see so I’m not sure what the issue is. I’m assuming this will need to be a phone call to resolve.

  Is the best time to call still first thing in the morning?

  • Amit says:

    28 Feb28 February 10:58

    Hi Chris, had the same problem and had to call to rebook. Got through within a few minutes this morning

    • Chrism20 says:

      28 Feb28 February 14:51

      Thanks will give them a call tomorrow first thing

• Martha says:

  28 Feb28 February 10:18

  Hi.
  When do COT points become redeemable?
  Many thanks

  • John says:

    28 Feb28 February 11:19

    I find when I have paid my bill

  • Peter K says:

    28 Feb28 February 12:21

    It’s not when you actually pay your balance off, I think it’s the day after your balance payment needs to be made by, IIRC.

  • The Savage Squirrel says:

    28 Feb28 February 15:58

    Yes it’s the day after the monthly direct debit payment hits the account. Paying off early does not “unlock” them early.

• Gavin says:

  28 Feb28 February 10:19

  Got a long term hotel stay coming up, wonder if anyone can sense check my thinking here to maximise points. Am Hilton Diamond / IHG Gold, although with the hotels I am staying at status benefits are fairly meaningless. My goal is to get enough IHG points for a redemption (only got 5k at present but the offer gives 2k / 2 nights) and to keep topping up my Hilton stash by maximising the 2k per stay.

  My options (budget dictated) are Holiday Inn Express and the Hampton by Hilton and they’re effectively the same price. I am going for a mix of 1 night at the Hampton and 4 nights at the HIX to maximise the various points offers. Then repeat.

  • Anna says:

    28 Feb28 February 10:37

    Presume you’ve got the free IHG credit card if you’re gold? If you get to Spire via nights or spend you get a choice of benefits, one of which is 25k points, which would boost your balance.

    • Gavin says:

      28 Feb28 February 10:45

      Yes, gold by the free card which I’ve not held since 2017 – thanks IHG It! I definitely won’t get as far as spire, probably platinum is a stretch. I’ve only got 5k points in IHG, so really I just want to have enough for a regional level redemption.

      • Lady London says:

        28 Feb28 February 14:30

        Hilton has similar promo(s) on and will give you free brekkie. Do your numbers really stack up to balance it in favour of IHG? on a good day Hampton redemptions can be 15-18,000.

        • Gavin says:

          28 Feb28 February 15:25

          Free breakfast at HIX / Hampton so it’s much of a muchness. Hampton is a cold breakfast bag!
          I suppose it’s more a case of wanting to earn some IHG points to get to a redeemable total, given same price, location and no status benefits likely at a Hampton.

          The first 4 nights at the HIX should get me enough points with my current balance for a night somewhere

  • kitten says:

    28 Feb28 February 15:33

    ps IHG has a 3for2 promo on right now so that might change how you book.

  • Harry T says:

    28 Feb28 February 19:41

    You’ll almost certainly earn more points as Hilton Diamond.

• Roger says:

  28 Feb28 February 10:42

  For Virgin Current Account (15000 points) offer can you use Revolute as a donor account? Since it has sort code and account number however it does not feature in the bank current account switching service, I am not sure if it will count or not.

  • Jay says:

    28 Feb28 February 10:47

    No, the donor bank must be part of CASS. Open a Monzo account, add 2 direct debits and then switch or add DD’s after you have switched.

    • Autoswitcher says:

      28 Feb28 February 11:02

      Monzo doesn’t work for this, tried with the FD offer and it failed.

      • Jay says:

        28 Feb28 February 13:42

        I did Monzo twice and they are part of CASS so no reason not to work. If bank advises that cannot do switch, normally due to incorrect details eg. debit card number etc.

  • Red Flyer says:

    28 Feb28 February 12:16

    Is Starling ok to do the same for this?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      28 Feb28 February 13:22

      Yes just switched mine.

• KBuffett says:

  28 Feb28 February 11:33

  Does anyone think Singapore will open up in October? I’ve got some BA 241 to use, and want a decent cabin to burn them on. Singapore is an option I’m considering

  • Andrew says:

    28 Feb28 February 13:09

    I hoping to go to Singapore this year too, but spectacle as they have a near New Zealand level of zero tolerance to covid.

  • Lady London says:

    28 Feb28 February 14:32

    50/50

  • Dubious says:

    28 Feb28 February 14:34

    Currently you can only visit for tourist purposes if coming one of 5 countries and spent the previous 14 days there.

    Otherwise you need to be coming for non-tourist reasons and spend 14 days in quarantine.

    There are/were also some green lanes with other countries in the region but some of these are now suspended.

    There’s work underway to encourage more business leadership type meetings in the country but no audible talk about opening up to tourism.

    Personally I suspect opening up will be very gradual – unlikely to suddenly open the gates until domestic vaccination is more progressed and even then I think it’s likely to be more targeted on business travellers and families.

    October is worth a punt for people from the UK but still not assured.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    28 Feb28 February 15:56

    If u have had your vaccine second shot by then, don’t see why wouldn’t allow.

    • Polly says:

      1 Mar1 March 07:30

      We were thinking the same. Got F 241 for SIN end of October, and with both jabs they might allow transit by then. Otherwise it’s all cancelled again…

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