The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 25th May

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Sina says:

25 May25 May 14:42

Amex referral – anyone knows if the yearly referral limit resets when you transfer from Platinum to Gold charge card? I’ve got 15k MR points on my gold at the moment.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  25 May25 May 15:18
  
  nope same MR account.
  - Sina says:
    
    25 May25 May 15:43
    
    Thanks!
- Rob says:
  
  25 May25 May 19:10
  
  No, because it is per MR account not per card.
LST says:

25 May25 May 14:49

My favourite Marriott redemption is no more. Have booked many times to Westin Costa Navarino on points, booking a standard room for ten nights for a family of four (kids are both under 7). Large rooms with two Queen beds or a king and a sofa bed were ideal and has the bonus the last two times of being upgraded to a suite.
They have now capped maximum occupancy to three, meaning we can either book two rooms (double the points) or a suite (for the same number of points plus £400 a night).
It was good whilst it lasted!
- Jonny says:
  
  25 May25 May 15:06
  
  Might they be flexible if you ask? Particularly given you have stayed multiple times in the past. I’ve been in a similar situation elsewhere and the hotel has been able to accommodate an extra child subject to me absolving them of any health and safety liability within the room or something like that.
  - Anna says:
    
    25 May25 May 18:11
    
    +1 – how does a room with 2 Queens only sleep 3 people? I’d book anyway and then email the hotel saying you are actually bringing 2 children as this has never been an issue in the past.
  - LST says:
    
    25 May25 May 19:13
    
    I emailed reservations, they were very clear that maximum occupancy is now three – if we turn up with four we are on the hook for a suite.
    On our previous trips I would think the vast majority of families who were staying were probably sharing rooms, so maybe the management have seen an opportunity to get some more cash in?
- Paul says:
  
  25 May25 May 19:59
  
  I love Costa navarino
  - George K says:
    
    25 May25 May 21:20
    
    Same – hoping to be there for early June after a botched points booking last year. Hotel went up in category *and* peak/offpeak pricing was introduced, meaning it’s less of a good deal these days (on points anyway!)
pauline says:

25 May25 May 14:53

Planning to stay a couple of days in Porto before hopefully transferring to SS DV in October. Any suggestions for a suitable hotel? thanks
- Dan says:
  
  25 May25 May 14:59
  
  The IC is good. Rob did a review.
  - meta says:
    
    25 May25 May 15:24
    
    IC Porto is fantastic. There is also a new Curio Collection (Hilton) in Gaia which seems good, but a bit further away. If you’re a first timer then definitely IC Porto.
  - pauline says:
    
    25 May25 May 15:34
    
    thanks found it !
- Richie says:
  
  25 May25 May 15:29
  
  The Yeatman
  - pauline says:
    
    25 May25 May 15:35
    
    looking at this too – what room would you recommend?
    - meta says:
      
      25 May25 May 15:40
      
      Both IC and Yeatman are on FHR and I believe Emyr can also get you a deal with both which includes breakfast plus property credit, upgrade and early check-in/checkout.
      - Dan says:
        
        25 May25 May 15:51
        
        Yes. Emyr did well for me at IC Porto.
  - Toppcat says:
    
    25 May25 May 16:40
    
    I found the Yeatman pretty uninspiring. Clearly the restaurant and view are fantastic, but I didn’t much care for the decor/atmosphere in most of the spaces.
    
    Armazém Luxury Housing, on the other hand, I was hugely impressed with. Small, and a bit more ‘interesting’ but beautiful rooms and great breakfast.
- YC says:
  
  25 May25 May 16:04
  
  Maison Albar looks good too (also on FHR). Cheaper than IC and Yeatman
- Rich says:
  
  25 May25 May 16:27
  
  Currently at the Boeira Garden – Hilton Curio. A bit further out, but quiet, relaxing grounds and very new. 10 min walk downhill to the river, a bit of a slog back up. Tram or Uber better for upper Porto.
  
  IC is very central for exploring on foot.
  - meta says:
    
    25 May25 May 16:30
    
    How are you find Boeira Garden? I’m thinking of trying it out in August as have done all the usual.
    - Rich says:
      
      25 May25 May 16:37
      
      It’s still finding its feet a bit – only reopened last week and pool opened today. Very very quiet, I saw one person at breakfast today and two tables yesterday.
      
      Note that the villa you see in the photos isn’t the hotel – that’s offices. Hotel is in a brutalist concrete building opposite! But really new and clean inside. Bottle of port, chocolates, upgrade and free breakfast as a Gold. Didn’t bat an eyelid when I turned up at 9am to check in
      
      I think it’sa really nice location if you don’t mind not being in the centre of Porto. Really relaxing garden.
      - meta says:
        
        25 May25 May 17:07
        
        Thanks. Yes, I realised that about the building. Porto is not on the radar of the average British tourist, so I hope it stays quiet. I’m probably going to split it with IC Porto.
      - Anna says:
        
        25 May25 May 18:14
        
        It’s definitely on my radar as I have ventured across the border from northern Spain into northern Portugal many times while visiting the area, but never managed to get as far as Porto! Have now booked cheap easyJet flights for next summer and going to start and end the trip there.
      - MrHandBaggageOnly says:
        
        25 May25 May 18:31
        
        We stayed at Boeira Garden for two nights last August before transferring to the centre of town for our next three nights, except that after two nights in the centre we’d had enough and were back at Boeira Garden for our final night as we missed it so much. We thought being in Gaia might be too far away, but I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again on a return to Porto – if you don’t want to walk there are plenty of cabs/Ubers. Also worth noting our teenagers were equally happy to return. It’s a great hotel with lovely staff.
      - Rich says:
        
        25 May25 May 18:58
        
        @MrHandBaggageOnly Your Tripadvisor review was one of the things that persuaded me to stay here!
747_Brat says:

25 May25 May 14:53

Trying to put Solihull into credit to pay our friend Che, but the “Make a Payment” button has been greyed out with a message “There is no need to make a payment at this time”. Is this something new? Never had this before!
- 747_Brat says:
  
  25 May25 May 14:55
  
  The app has the same issue!
  - Sina says:
    
    25 May25 May 14:57
    
    if you don’t have a balance, you can’t pay anything, this was always the case.
    - 747_Brat says:
      
      25 May25 May 15:00
      
      Thanks Sina.
      So if I make a transaction and use up some of my credit limit, it will allow me to make a payment?
      Sorry never had this issue before, probably because I always put the card in credit when I had some used-up credit limit.
      - Sina says:
        
        25 May25 May 15:03
        
        yes, or you could possibly save the link to the payment page on desktop for use in future?
        
        Personally, I’ve never done it but it seems possible.
      - 747_Brat says:
        
        25 May25 May 15:04
        
        Great tip! Thanks again.
- mark2 says:
  
  25 May25 May 15:30
  
  The last page of your statement contains the details to pay through FastPay.
- StevieKicks says:
  
  25 May25 May 17:02
  
  You can just do a bank transfer to get it into credit anytime
  - Aston100 says:
    
    25 May25 May 19:35
    
    This.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    25 May25 May 21:42
    
    And what sort of fun is that?
- Crafty says:
  
  25 May25 May 23:14
  
  You really don’t need to put the card in credit constantly. The cash fees are minuscule compared to your gains, so long as you pay off within a couple of days. By putting your account into credit, which it should not be, you risk drawing attention to your exploitz.
- Char Char says:
  
  26 May26 May 00:10
  
  You must have a balance to pay by card.
  Why would you do this anyway? They will block your card if you do this regularly.
Phil says:

25 May25 May 14:55

My EDIMUC return flight for July/Aug were cancelled a few weeks ago. Subject to entry criteria for Germany in Austria I still want to go and it would appear EDILHRMUC with BA and EDIFRAMUC with LH continue to be available. I’m going to request that easyJet reroute me on either of those options in and around my original flight itinerary. My assumption is that this would be covered by EU261 but am guessing easyJet will refuse. Has anybody had any positive experiences of easyJet agreeing to reroute on different airlines and/or MCOL with easyJet?
George K says:

25 May25 May 15:14

Have you seen the Double TPs for BA Holidays offer? Is it possible to add hotel/car to a flight-only booking and qualify? (Offer valid 9 June – 30 September)
- Paasan69 says:
  
  25 May25 May 15:19
  
  T&C’s says this:
  
  3) For the avoidance of doubt this offer does not apply to any British Airways flight only bookings made without a hotel or car or where the hotel or car is added to a booking in a separate transaction.
  - George K says:
    
    25 May25 May 15:48
    
    Thank you!
- AJA says:
  
  25 May25 May 16:04
  
  Cancel your flight for a FTV and then rebook including hotel or car, applying FTV towards the new cost. Note car or hotel need to be same length as holiday.
- WaynedP says:
  
  25 May25 May 16:59
  
  Ha, interesting one for me.
  
  Booked a CE BA Holiday to ZTH back in Feb on a bet that Greece would be open and inviting by then.
  
  160 TPs comfortably ensure I’ll retain Bronze up to Dec 2022, although that’s already been gifted to me by BA due to Covid extensions.
  
  Booked for two for 7 nights so on the face of it, would qualify for double TPs meaning +160 would actually earn me coveted Silver for the rest of this year and out to Dec 2022, so got really excited at first.
  
  Then realised flight out is this side of 30 September, but flight back is just after 30 September – so will BA only double up outbound TPs not inbound TPs ?
  
  Even if BA IT awards me full +160 TPs, I’ll still be one flight short on BA metal to qualify for Silver, although that could be a relatively cheap hop to MAN and back to fix, I suppose.
David says:

25 May25 May 15:18

Does anyone know if there’s a Healthcare worker code for Marriott that works in the states ?
- Harry T says:
  
  25 May25 May 16:11
  
  Used to be QWO but they don’t appear to have extended the rate. Presumably because the states is pretty much business as usual now.
  - David says:
    
    25 May25 May 16:53
    
    The Hyatt one is worldwide – but I don’t have status with them.
The Lord says:

25 May25 May 16:11

NHS vaccine booking system for England now taking bookings for 31 years olds