The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 1st June

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Sandra says:

1 Jun1 June 14:09

Edinburgh for a couple of nights – Kimpton, The George or Waldorf Astoria? They are all pretty much around the same price although we’d get the Amex Hilton £50 back on spend on 2 cards, not renewed IHG Ambassador yet but will if it’s Intercon. The Kimpton has the benefit of its own parking (albeit £35/night!) but other than that is there anything that makes one stand out over the others for those that have been recently please? Have never stayed in a Kimpton and my only Waldorf experience is London a couple of years ago and it wasn’t great.
- Kai says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 14:53
  
  Waldorf London is not a Waldorf Astoria.
  
  I prefer Kimpton to WA, but haven’t stayed at the Kimpton yet.
  - Kai says:
    
    1 Jun1 June 14:54
    
    haven’t stayed at the IC yet*
    - meta says:
      
      1 Jun1 June 15:12
      
      If you have it, there is also Amex offer for £100 off at IC/Kimpton for £350 spend.
      - Sandra says:
        
        1 Jun1 June 15:37
        
        Meta – No that hasn’t appeared on either of my cards unfortunately. I thought it might as, so far as I can remember, have never used Amex with IHG always Creation IHG Black since it came out and Mastercard before that.
- Phil says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 15:28
  
  You can park at my house and I’ll give you a lift to the hotel for £15 per night!
  - Sandra says:
    
    1 Jun1 June 15:38
    
    Ha, ha, might take you up on that!
    - Phil says:
      
      1 Jun1 June 16:30
      
      I live near Cameron Toll, so easy to find from the Ring Road and I have off-road parking. I’m sure Rob/Rhys can give you my email address.
    - Anna says:
      
      1 Jun1 June 16:33
      
      We parked either on the street on in a nearby multi-storey which was a bit cheaper but quite a lot of hassle! The Kimpton was lovely and has a pool, but as someone else pointed out the other day, the staff were a bit hit and miss about status perks like free drinks, so you might have to give them a nudge! If you’re celebrating something let them know as you will get extra goodies in your room!
- Peggerz says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 16:49
  
  Hi Sandra.
  Between IC George and Kimpton Charlotte, I’d choose the latter mainly because of the more relaxed atmosphere. The Kimpton is on a lovely square at the west side of George Street, Lots of bars resto’s nearby and Kimpton also has two good eateries, Aizle & Baba. There is also a spa/pool.
  The WA Caledonian is an old railway hotel at the bottom of Lothian Rd/Princes Street and is a bigger structure. I’m sure they still have their own car park, if not there is an NCP 5 mins away. Again, there is a spa and pool , Mark Greenaway restaurant and chef Dean Banks takes over the Pompadour from 9th June – both highly rated chefs. The WA is a more traditional hotel so it depends really on what you’re looking for and fits your status levels.
  I know you’re bringing the car, but all these hotels are v central for Waverley train station or the tram from Edi Airport. And Edinburgh is more a walking city.
  - Sandra says:
    
    1 Jun1 June 18:52
    
    Thanks everyone for your opinions, very helpful. Kimpton seems to be the favourite!
  - Chrism20 says:
    
    1 Jun1 June 19:29
    
    Waldorf still has a car park. Pretty sure its around £25 per day although the last twice I have stayed it’s been waived.
    
    The NCP at Castle Terrace is £32 per 24hrs, however there is another two little NCPs a couple of minutes away at Grindlay Street and Spittal Street which is £13.50 for 24hrs (£9 for 24hrs at the weekend) when using the NCP app although you need to prebook them as they both only have around 20 spaces.
AnotherUser says:

1 Jun1 June 14:26

I’m hoping to pay my council tax on amex, at my local co-op (which does offer Paypoint). I’m guessing it’s more complex than going up to the cashier to buy a banana and pay a 4-figure bill! Do I get my council tax barcode scanned and pay the tax off in chunks?
- Ryan says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 14:28
  
  I paid my bill off in £200 chunks, which I believe is the limit
  
  the cashier offered to do more than one chunk so we did 4 x £200 in one payment
  - AnotherUser says:
    
    1 Jun1 June 14:40
    
    Thanks – so just go in at a quiet time, and ask the cashier nicely to do as many £200 chunks as possible?
    - Ryan says:
      
      1 Jun1 June 14:50
      
      “Ahh might as well get the majority of it out of the way, whilst I can”
      Usually does the trick i got 4 x £200 done (£1,100 bill)
      But then, I did say that to 3 different shops…
    - Genghis says:
      
      1 Jun1 June 14:55
      
      Yep. I paid all mine off for 21/22 in March to hit an Amex sign up bonus. Normally I wouldn’t and only pay when due as you never know when another 10% back at Co op offer will come along from LBG brands.
      - AnotherUser says:
        
        1 Jun1 June 15:30
        
        Thanks!
mutley says:

1 Jun1 June 14:30

I was clearing out my late uncles house and garage recently and came across a tin with thousands of paper air miles in it from back in the day, any chance of trying it on with BA to try and covert to Avios?
- Raveon says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 14:35
  
  Close to zero I would say, but no harm in asking. I would be interested to hear the response.
- Alan says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 15:39
  
  No there was a final redemtion date, must have been around 20 years ago. I just made it after counting 17,000 airmiles worth of vouchers, all in ones and fives.
- Andrew says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 16:06
  
  In 2004 they told me they were valid unless there was a printed expiry date.
  
  I never did get round to posting them. Won’t it be Avios that you contact rather than BA? (Same organisation, different hats).
Tical says:

1 Jun1 June 14:31

Any experience with getting a first dose your vaccine of choice in the UK and a second one abroad? How does one convince the NHS app to accept proof of the 2nd dose so that the barcode can be generated?
- ChrisC says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 14:55
  
  Given that the app shows the details of the vaccinations from your medical records there is no way for you to enter details of a vaccination carried out abroad.
- Aaron says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 15:07
  
  You’d have to ask your GP I think and give them proof of the foreign vaccine. The central system, as I understand it, relies on bulk uploads from the vaccine centres but I’m not 100% on that.
- Tracey says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 15:16
  
  Somehow you will need to persuade your GP to give you some documentation that you have been fully vaccinated. They should be able and willing to add your second vaccine onto your record, but it won’t be in a form that allows the odd certificate to be generated. The longer term strategy is for foreign vaccines to be entered almost as a dummy booking on your record, but I don’t think that is possible yet.
- Tony1 says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 21:58
  
  Other way around info
  
  OH got 1 dose in UK, but had to get 2 extra ( different from UK jab ) in Spain. On health record as fully vaccinated !
  - Tracey says:
    
    1 Jun1 June 23:19
    
    That’s odd, most of the people I’ve seen get a second that matches the first as best we can. I don’t think the protocol suggests starting again with2 more doses.
AnotherUser says:

1 Jun1 June 14:38

The Kimpton has a pool, which we enjoyed. Staff are good, as is the location. Restaurant and bar are nice. The room we had was pleasant but on the small side for Edinburgh (especially given what the price would have been if paying cash rather than points). Got 2 free drinks as Spire.

Prices for the Kimpton can be higher than the Radisson Collection Edinburgh (no pool, but I preferred it when I stayed pre-Covid – more of a city centre hotel feel) and can be close to the Balmoral (definitely nicer than the Kimpton, IMO). Worth looking at prices elsewhere, unless points/offers tied you to the three you mentioned.

Hope you enjoy the place you choose!
- AnotherUser says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 14:50
  
  That was a reply to Sandra. Don’t know why it hasn’t threaded
  - Sandra says:
    
    1 Jun1 June 15:02
    
    Thanks, hadn’t considered The Balmoral so will have a look and at the Radisson too.
    - Peggerz says:
      
      1 Jun1 June 16:59
      
      The Radisson Collection on George IV Bridge was covered in scaffolding and tarps when I passed last week. It did not look open.
      - AnotherUser says:
        
        2 Jun2 June 00:35
        
        Thanks Peggerz – I hadn’t realised that!
Dayle says:

1 Jun1 June 14:54

Has anyone ever had issues with not getting the NatWest rewards from shops such as Morrisons? We have 10% and looking to stock some redeemable giftcards…
- Andrew says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 15:06
  
  Seems to be only available online and not in store as per the terms.
  - Dayle says:
    
    1 Jun1 June 15:21
    
    Good spot… I thought I had checked but can see .com
Cat says:

1 Jun1 June 14:55

Hi all, I’m not sure if anyone has tried this and reported back already, but if anyone has the Leading Hotels of the World statement credit offer showing on their Amex, but can’t use it straight away, it’s possible to book a stay and pay in advance – the statement credit worked for me. I booked the Landmark for my sister and brother-in-law’s anniversary, but they didn’t want to risk getting into trouble for using someone else’s card (that sort of thing stresses her out, bless her), so Emyr contacted the hotel and said that I wanted to pay for them in advance. The statement credit is now showing, despite the fact I didn’t pay at checkout.
Hope that helps someone!
Karen says:

1 Jun1 June 15:13

Has anyone else had a fraud alert on their Creation black IHG card for 2 transactions for Amazon Web Services, for £0 and £0.71? I thought it was just me and card cancelled. Until additional cardholder received same. Plus my mother on her own card, plus both of my parents (main and additional). So five cards cancelled and replaced. Just wondering if it is more a systemic or just coincidental.
- Harry T says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 16:36
  
  I only have the white Creation IHG card but haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.
- Connor says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 21:06
  
  Sounds like a verification charge to me. Do they all use the cards on Amazon?
- Joseph Heenan says:
  
  2 Jun2 June 08:08
  
  I had this, exactly same amounts, just on main card and not the additional one.
  
  Card is 2 years old so I was presuming the number has been stolen somewhere. Replacement is on the way.
  
  If it really has happened at a mass scale I’d imagine it was someone trying to mine Bitcoin on AWS with someone else footing the bill. It seems Creation’s fraud system is on the ball though. I’m guessing the transactions were initial card registration verification.