The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 31st March

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

We are running 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

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

James says:

31 Mar31 March 11:34

Does Qatar have its own check-in counters in Terminal 5? I’m wondering whether I can use the BA First Wing to check in (not flying first, but have OneWorld Gold status)?
- Nick Burch says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 11:38
  
  The first wing can no longer check you in for Iberia flights, as those got moved back to Iberia computers (had been BA ones with some hacky fixes for a while). IIRC American do have one counter in the first wing though, or at least they did before Christmas when I last flew through.
  
  I think you’ll need to checkin at the Qatar counters, then walk over to the first wing with your BPs to go through security and into the lounge
Anna says:

31 Mar31 March 12:14

Got flights to Berlin booked in December but finding the choice of hotels slightly underwhelming. Regent – good location but no lounge and not accepting free night certificates (which has annoyed me slightly!). WA – again no lounge (according to available rooms on the Hilton website). IC – location not convenient. Hilton – has a lounge (though apparently it only opens at 11 am), well situated for the Neues Museum but not sure it has the wow factor?!
Any thoughts? No preference for points or cash but would like to stick with Hilton/Marriott/IHG for status reasons.
- Anna says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 12:18
  
  RC looks ok but Marriott is the worst offender at the moment for making its best prices non-refundable!
- Patrick Cold says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 12:20
  
  I use the WA and think it`s a terrific hotel.
  - Anna says:
    
    31 Mar31 March 13:04
    
    What sort of status recognition do you tend to get? I am HH gold, like a lot of people! (though free breakfast is usually extremely good at Hiltons, IME).
  - Kevin D says:
    
    1 Apr1 April 00:25
    
    Me too. Agree.
- Louise K says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 12:23
  
  Hotel Am Steinplatz is very nice for a smaller boutique feel. Great bar and breakfast was very nice too.
- GaryC says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 12:32
  
  I like the IHG Indigo East Side Gallery. It’s very comfortable, modern, nice rooftop bar with views over the old Berlin wall. I love the “fake grunge” bars over the tracks behind Warschauer Strasse station, which are very close by (can’t remember the name of the area), but they may not be to everyones taste.
  - Pete M says:
    
    31 Mar31 March 13:18
    
    My BF lives in Berlin, but when we want to splurge on a stay-cation, we really do rate the Marriott very highly.
- Harry T says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 13:40
  
  Berlin Marriott actually has a good reputation. Hotel Am Steinplatz is well reviewed amongst the Marriott fans, but may be a little out of the way, depending on your plans and preferred mode of transport.
  - Rob says:
    
    31 Mar31 March 14:44
    
    Marriott is fab, possibly the best Marriott in Europe. We have reviewed. Good lounge, good Potsdamer Platz location.
- Michael C says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 13:53
  
  Is that for you Xmas market trip, Anna? We’ll do the one in Nuremburg around mid-Dec in case you fancy “popping” over! We’ll be based in Munich, and also not overwhelmed: have gone for decently-priced somewhat uninspiring Hilton..but good location for airport / trains, and a lounge, however minimal!
  - Anna says:
    
    31 Mar31 March 15:03
    
    Xmas markets yes, but also the Nefertiti bust has been on my wish list forever! The rest of the Egyptian collection is supposed to be very good as well. We’ve only got 3 days, but planning a much longer road trip around Europe some time to see other German cities.
    We enjoyed the Sofitel Munich when we went a few years ago, the pool was gorgeous as was the breakfast!
    - Rhys says:
      
      31 Mar31 March 15:42
      
      Berlin is one of my favourite cities. I would move there in a heartbeat.
      - BJ says:
        
        31 Mar31 March 16:03
        
        Seriously ? Pollution is horrendous.
      - The real John says:
        
        31 Mar31 March 16:59
        
        London is worse
    - Chris Heyes says:
      
      31 Mar31 March 17:16
      
      Anna Yes good taste I did the Tutankhamen the first time it came to London,
      was stopping in a swapped Time-Share at the Time very impressed
      So impressed we went to Egypt to see the full items, got permission to go round the not on show items as well, but no photos allowed back then. which was a shame as some hadn’t seen the light of day then
      Stopped at a very nice posh Hotel in Egypt can’t remember the name now
      But back then it was perfectly safe to just walk about
  - Phil says:
    
    31 Mar31 March 15:12
    
    We always stay in the Aloft in Munich. It’s one city where I never want to be in the hotel. I just want comfort and connectivity and the Aloft has that in spades. You can be in the Augustiner Keller or Braustubn in 10 minutes or Marienplatz in 10 minutes. Wiesn is only a ten minute walk away as well.
    - Blair says:
      
      31 Mar31 March 17:34
      
      Regent isn’t that bad on points though. And points booking at Regent include breakfast. Full breakfast too, not a fobbed off pastry and drink. Plus the Ambassador benefits apply during 2021 so you should see a room upgrade in the app within a few days of booking. Marriott is a very good Marriott, Westin is a good Westin too, but the Regent has lobby level wow factor.
- r* says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 20:17
  
  I went to the Hilton in 2019 and am booked in dec for the christmas market this year. The location is pretty good, its right next to one of the chrismas markets. Not sure what time the lounge opened but happy hour was absolutely rammed, ppl were standing around holding their plates cos there was no chance of a table. I thought it was a reasonably nice hotel tho.
  - Michael C says:
    
    1 Apr1 April 05:44
    
    @r* is that for Munich? Cheers, if so, always good to hear from experience!
James S says:

31 Mar31 March 12:30

What is the best way to handle a KYC check request if you’ve been moving large sums in and out purely for the purpose of MS, just be honest? What are the outcomes of this?
- The Savage Squirrel says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 13:14
  
  Ultimately with KYC, investigations and frozen accounts, you’ll always get all your money back in the end unless you (a) give dishonest answers or (b) have been doing something illegal; so present whatever picture is most favourable to you while not doing either (a) or (b). Worst that happens then is an institution closes your account and does no further business with you; which is just the risk you take.
Pete M says:

31 Mar31 March 13:22

The report on HfPers, sorry “Elite minority of frequent flyers [who] ’cause most of aviation’s climate damage'” was mentioned on the first page, but I found the graph in this Guardian article rather interesting: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/31/elite-minority-frequent-flyers-aviation-climate-damage-flights-environmental.

TLDR: almost half of people in England did not fly internationally in 2019.

For some reason I thought the number of people not flying out from the UK at least once a year would be a lot lower. Certainly explains why the focus groups are probably telling Boris keeping the borders “shut” is a vote winner…!
- Paul Pogba says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 15:29
  
  I think it’s easy to forget there’s lots of people out there struggling to pay their mortgage/rent that are grateful for a week in a shack or caravan at Butlins.
- Andrew says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 21:59
  
  I really don’t like it when there’s mixing of stats.
  
  The story flips between England and UK as if the writer isn’t entirely sure of the difference, it also excludes domestics for the UK, but includes domestics for the 90% of the rest of the world.
  
  Perhaps the 50% of UK residents who never use buses are the same people who never fly?.
- bazza says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 23:05
  
  The so called “Elites” look down their noses at the people who do not travel abroad and proclaim to be big on environmental issues! Terrible people.
  #meg&arry
Nigel W says:

31 Mar31 March 13:31

Just checking, the issues regarding Amazon gift cards from Morrisons hasn’t occurred, like it did a few weeks/months ago?
- mark2 says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 13:52
  
  The main problem is finding some in stock. I managed to find 7 off £100 which topped up successfully.
  As with any other gift cards, check the activation slips before leaving the store.
- Tom says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 14:20
  
  I have bought 12 x £100 and 3 x £250 and had zero problems.
- Reney says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 18:16
  
  I brought £25 first in its own transaction and make sure the receipt said activated and loaded it up when I got home l. then went back for £100*2, no problems in all instances. I was one of the people who had problems last time. Morrison won’t help and had to claim via amazon, took a couple of days and lots of photo sent.
  - Sean says:
    
    31 Mar31 March 19:37
    
    I just bought 1*£250 and 1*£100. £250 activated fine, £100 did not – had to go to customer services for refund (with manager who was moaning about the £100 cards as said had loads of probs with them at xmas). Somehow managed to put my debit card in the machine for refund -don’t know how that happened.
Jason says:

31 Mar31 March 13:33

Can I upgrade a flight for someone else using Avios? I am looking to upgrade my parents from WTP to CW using Avios if possible. I understand booking a reward flight for someone else is possible but I could not find any comments on upgrading someone else.
- Number9 says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 13:46
  
  Put your parents in your household account or friends and family list and upgrade away to your hearts content.
david says:

31 Mar31 March 13:34

With Alaskan going One World today can we now book reward flights with Alaskan on BA.com.
- Alex says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 17:06
  
  I’ve seen some availability pop up so i guess, yes
  - david says:
    
    31 Mar31 March 19:27
    
    Just found it !
Lev441 says:

31 Mar31 March 14:08

Question about top ups to Hargeaves Lansdown SIPP
Do they accept curve payments?
Does the Tesco debit card attract points?
- Sam says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 14:38
  
  Yes to curve backed by WE. Solihull seems to have stopped working. No idea about Tesco
  - Lev441 says:
    
    31 Mar31 March 15:34
    
    Thanks!