The HfP chat thread – Friday 28th May

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James says:

28 May28 May 09:53

Is the new BA Business seat config on 777 1-2-1?
- Rhys says:
  
  28 May28 May 09:54
  
  Yes, Club Suite is 1-2-1 on all aircraft so far.
  - James says:
    
    28 May28 May 09:56
    
    Thanks Rhys! Just bagged 2 CW for Barbados with a Companion Voucher thanks to the 09:30 news!
James says:

28 May28 May 09:57

Anyone stayed at Hilton Barbados Resort? Thanks in advance.
- mutley says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:11
  
  Its not great, Ok as a points redemption for a couple of days, best Hotel value in terms of room size and facilities I’ve been at is Bougainvillea close to St Lawrence Gap and next to Sandals
  - Rob says:
    
    28 May28 May 10:13
    
    The Hilton is pretty much in Bridgetown – it’s not a resort in that sense.
    
    Remember that Marriott now has the Elegant Resorts properties available for redemption and they are all-inclusive.
    - James says:
      
      28 May28 May 10:32
      
      Wish I had that many points! Haha
  - FatherOfFour says:
    
    28 May28 May 11:48
    
    +1 for Bougainvillea, though I’d guess they don’t take Hilton points!
John says:

28 May28 May 10:04

Bit of a downer for anyone thinking of heading to Dublin etc this summer.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0528/1224365-covid-19/
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:10
  
  They really need to suck it up and start vaccinating their at risk with any and every jab they can get their hands on.
  - John says:
    
    28 May28 May 12:12
    
    True, but Dublin doesn’t control supply of vaccines arriving into Ireland, and disruptions continue, often at very short notice.
    
    https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.rte.ie/amp/1224146/
YC says:

28 May28 May 10:17

What are good second cities/countries to tag to a Maldives trip? Looking for easy transits. Sri Lanka is a potential option but not sure if 3 days would do it justice
- Rob says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:20
  
  Middle East, India
  - Jonathan says:
    
    28 May28 May 10:22
    
    India?!? The way things are there right now ?!?
    - Rob says:
      
      28 May28 May 10:27
      
      He’s not planning to go next week …
      
      Going to India involves getting ill anyway, covid is just another random option and you may even prefer mild covid (post vaccination) than a few days on the loo due to some other Indian ailment ….
      - Anuj says:
        
        28 May28 May 16:37
        
        As long as you stick to bottled water and only eat at restaurants, not street stalls, you should be ok. Avoid salad and fresh fruit as it may be washed with tap water
- 747_Brat says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:24
  
  Kerala or Puducherry, India
  Kandy & Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka
  - meta says:
    
    28 May28 May 10:33
    
    It’s a 4h30 flight to Singapore and from there you can pretty much go anywhere in SE Asia. I’m doing Singapore and Thailand after Maldives.
- SteveJ says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:31
  
  For 3 days you’re better off with a city. Istanbul, Mumbai, Dubai or Doha likely the best bets
- BuilBackBetter says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:54
  
  If India, I’d suggest Rajasthan in winter. Some fabulous palaces managed by Taj group.
- YC says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:58
  
  Thanks all. Good ideas – BH homework for me
- BP says:
  
  28 May28 May 11:47
  
  Easy transits 🙂 that is history.
  
  I am avoiding multi city/country trips.
  
  Too many hoops, too many restrictions and too many tests.
  
  I am only booking point to point flights to one destination.
  
  If you over complicate it you have less chance of going.
  - YC says:
    
    28 May28 May 12:32
    
    Its for 2022 so being optimistic. But thats what I said for 2021 in 2020!
  - BP says:
    
    28 May28 May 22:48
    
    There’s a fake BP! I’m the real BP!!!
- Tracey says:
  
  28 May28 May 12:16
  
  Easier option would be to choose 2 Maldives resort, maybe one a beach villa and one in an on water villa.
Blair says:

28 May28 May 10:19

CTA question: travelling from England to Northern Ireland. NI Gov website says:
“If you’re travelling from within the Common Travel Area and staying overnight in Northern Ireland, you should take a rapid lateral flow device test (LFD) before you begin your journey.
You should only travel if the test is negative.
You should also take an LFD test on days two and eight of your stay.”
Is this just advice? The only legal instrument I can find relates to non-CTA arrivals.
- Pete M says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:45
  
  That is my understanding – I am not planning to do anything in a couple of weeks unless things changed.
  - John says:
    
    28 May28 May 12:16
    
    Wouldn’t worry about *non* mandatory tests. Bigger issue is hotels being heavily booked up, including people heading over border from ROI. At least some good news for hard pressed hoteliers.
- Sukes says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:48
  
  Yes guidance only, there is no legal requirement to take Covid tests before & after arrival to NI for a trip originating in rest of UK. You do not need to fill out any pre trip forms, & no one will stop you to ask why you’re here. There was guidance to self-isolate for 10days but they scrapped that yesterday. If you do want to test you can now get free NHS lateral flow tests in NI in the same way as England has had available for some time.
Jonathan says:

28 May28 May 10:21

Is anyone else having problems using the curve app on iOS ?

I can’t see anything, and it tried telling me that I’m contacted to the internet when I am. This might because they released an update for the app yesterday, and I updated the app
- PMG says:
  
  28 May28 May 10:31
  
  They tweeted something on their support channel about 10 mins ago:
  
  “Currently having an issue with the Curve app? Don’t worry, we’re on it. We’re experiencing some unexpected downtime, but our engineers will get systems back up ASAP Flexed biceps Please DM us if you have any questions!”
John says:

28 May28 May 10:23

Can’t change underlying card on curve, anyone else with problems? App updated yesterday
Jim Jo says:

28 May28 May 10:30

Been approved for the HSBC WE and got a text saying I will receive the “Credit card agreement within 48 hours to sign and send back via email”, but haven’t received anything for a few days now, calling and they said just wait, it doesn’t sound like they can even see the application online.. Anyone had similar experiences?

Thanks
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  28 May28 May 12:57
  
  Hsbc are stuck in the 1980’s. You’ll receive a fax soon.
- Polly says:
  
  28 May28 May 18:23
  
  Yes, had to go into branch, ask them to print off the form again, sign it and then they scanned it in. Only then did l get the card issued. Had waited for 2 diff forms in the snail Mail. They are hopelessly out of date w their systems.