The HfP chat thread – Saturday 5th June

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TJ says:

5 Jun5 June 16:54

Has anyone managed to redeem at the Kimpton Fitzroy for 40k points or less under the dynamic pricing model (need to use a free night voucher). I can see availability for 46k and above and just want to gauge whether it’s worth holding out.
MilesOnPoint says:

5 Jun5 June 16:57

Very happily settled by the pool at The Langley, in the sunshine.

Booked on points pre-increase earlier this year. No upgrades available as Marriott Gold but the hotel is pretty much at capacity.

Happy with classic room on 1st floor of the Brew House, with exposed oak beams.
We will avoid the breakfast chaos (per previous reviews) and order ours to the room.

The casual dining option (Churchill bar) has outdoor terrace tables available, no pre-booking required. We were unimpressed by Cedar (formal dining) on our last visit here.

The excellent spa is operational, we have an access slot booked for tomorrow afternoon.
- Harry T says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 17:18
  
  Have a great stay 😊. Is the outdoor pool open yet?
  - MilesOnPoint says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 17:37
    
    Thank you @Harry, the outdoor pool is indeed open 😎. Bliss in this weather
    
    Comfortable sun loungers (20 in total + 6 Rattan chairs), spaced out for distancing. Pool is a pleasant temperature and plenty of towels available. Food not permitted by the pool apparently but complimentary iced water is available.
    
    NB. For those with families The Langley seem to have relaxed swimming hours for kids (lifeguard said anytime but have to be accompanied) but everyone enjoying themselves so I certainly don’t mind. Rules may be different for indoor pool.
- Anna says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 18:07
  
  We had 2 nights there last week – Harry T I replied to your comment over on the other thread! Marvelled at being able to swim outside in England.
  
  Miles on Points – for a very pleasant and much less pricey breakfast, walk through the park (or take the arboretum route) to the cafe at the Langley Park visitor centre, which serves a variety of breakfast options from 9.30 am. Full English for £7.50, sausage/bacon & egg baguette for £4!
  - Harry T says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 18:43
    
    Thanks everyone 😊. Is the outdoor pool heated? My last stay was in March 2020 (lol) so I’m very excited to stay in the summer.
    - MilesOnPoint says:
      
      6 Jun6 June 00:01
      
      The outdoor pool is indeed heated, just the right temperature for swimming (albeit the design of the steps into pool make lengths a bit awkward).
  - Babyg says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 21:30
    
    Not sure I fully understand the logic of staying in a hotel that you feel you need to eat out because the food is too pricey?
    - Lady London says:
      
      5 Jun5 June 22:46
      
      hotel=sleep
      restaurant=food
      bar=drink
      🙂
      not always all found acceptable in the same place !
      - Babyg says:
        
        6 Jun6 June 00:38
        
        if its a £7 full english type vibe youre after, just stay at one of the establishments that includes that in the price…
    - Mike says:
      
      6 Jun6 June 06:47
      
      The logic that eating outside the hotel is cheaper and therefore you can save money. Money being a finite resource
- A says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 18:17
  
  Also at the Langley on points this weekend and was also enjoying the outdoor pool this afternoon! Hope you are enjoying yourself
  - A says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 18:18
    
    Reply fail to @MilesOnpoint
    - MilesOnPoint says:
      
      5 Jun5 June 23:57
      
      Yeah, lovely thanks @A. My wife & I enjoyed a nice walk around the grounds after chilling by the pool and had a good meal on the outdoor terrace of the Churchill bar (order the lobster croquettes & the freshly made sourdough w/ onion butter, delicious)
      
      @Anna, fair point. We did go to cafe in the park last time tbf. Food is good but the coffee is well, not great. I think we may end up back there again tomorrow morning for a bacon roll though if we fancy a walk.
      
      The Langley seem to have changed room service breakfast menu to £30pp or bust (rather than having a la carte choices for circa £14/15 each). Not ideal.
Yorkieflyer says:

5 Jun5 June 17:03

Do we know when the Radisson award chart prices change? I recall it was June?
- Rob says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 20:59
  
  Oddly no. No confirmation I’ve seen.
Tom H says:

5 Jun5 June 18:03

Anyone else following what is going
on over at OMAAT? I know BJ is, is ben right to keep going or is it too much? (Rob feel free to delete as highlighting another blog)
- ChrisC says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 18:33
  
  If you mean the redesign then it is a total disaster as far as I’m concerned.
  
  The comment feature is just awful with extra clicks and scrolls to get to the comments and restricted to the right hand 1/3rd of the screen !!
  
  HfP and OMAAT are the only two blogs of this nature that I read for travel news etc.
  
  It’s going to be only HfP from now on as I think the OMAAT redesign is that bad.
  - Tom H says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 18:38
    
    Agree the new design is dreadful. But I was referring to the on going saga with the marriott property in Greece
    - ChrisC says:
      
      5 Jun5 June 18:45
      
      Oh not read that as those posts don’t interest me.
  - Rob says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 20:56
    
    I put some comments on Flyertalk about the redesign. What throws me is how they ended up with it. Money has clearly changed hands, but anyone sensible would have created something like ours. Either Ben got too involved or the people he paid had no genuine experience. Even small stuff (which is big stuff) like the font and the shade of black are wrong. Moving the blog off the home page is clearly a decision Ben made, however.
    
    I do like the logo though.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 18:42
  
  In what way?
- Yvo says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 18:45
  
  I’m sure most of us keep an eye on other blogs, I’ve been following it and yeah. Bit of a mess.
  Not sure it needed this much airtime.
- Jimbob says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 19:02
  
  Got to enjoy a good spat played out in public. Generally the truth is somewhere in the middle.
  
  Fortunately can’t see Rob or Rhys delving to such depths
- YC says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 19:13
  
  I think Ben tends to be reasonably fair in hotel assessments. If he has been mistreated badly (which sounds like it) and u have a voice in the travel sphere, why not use it. I’m sure I would
  - Freddy says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 19:24
    
    He should just scrap that redesign. This ongoing saga at that Marriott property is completely blown out of all proportion. On a cynical day I’d say it was clickbait at best
    - Lord Doncaster says:
      
      6 Jun6 June 00:18
      
      That site does seem to revel in conflict tbh…
- Lord Doncaster says:
  
  6 Jun6 June 00:16
  
  The colours are atrocious…i need to put a pair of sunglasses on just to look at it
Keely says:

5 Jun5 June 18:08

Just had an email to say my flight to Malta on 30 June has been cancelled. Do BA know something we don’t? So disappointed was really hoping to get away ….
- GEORGE says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 18:28
  
  Just had mine cancelled as well – so disappointing – they seem to be running fewer flights until early July. Is there a deadline of when we have to either accept/reject the re-booked flights by?
  - Keely says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 18:59
    
    I don’t know…tempted til wait til next travel review (24 June I think? ) and then see what my options are ….
    - George says:
      
      5 Jun5 June 19:33
      
      That sounds very sensible. The way the email is worded from BA sounds as though we have been booked onto that flight so I assume a seat is reserved?
      - ChrisC says:
        
        5 Jun5 June 19:40
        
        Yes they have reserved you a seat on the new flight but if it does not suit you aren’t forced to take it and can have a full refund or be rebooked to other dates of your choosing,
      - Keely says:
        
        5 Jun5 June 20:21
        
        It doesn’t seem on this occasion that I have been booked into alternative flights …I’ll just wait to see …if Malta is open I’ll be making them book me onto another carrier!
Anna says:

5 Jun5 June 18:14

Is the Premiair thingy back open at MAN yet? Thinking that as we have an 8 pm flight we could probably get a decent amount of use out of it before our very cheap Ryanair flight!
- Freddy says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 19:27
  
  Their own website says closed. I’ll send my search fee invoice in the post
  - Anna says:
    
    5 Jun5 June 19:57
    
    Thanks – do you accept Amex?!
    I was hoping Rob or Rhys might have some insider knowledge about re-openings!
- Blair says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 22:06
  
  Not till mid-July holiday season, is what they told me during my latest regular hounding of MAG re what is reopening when.
ChrisC says:

5 Jun5 June 18:25

Managed to book one of the West coast deals for next March

Bit of a palava as twice the website wouldn’t accept my chosen route so I called them up. Obviously a few people having problems as after checking the agent said it was due to AA pricing structure so I gently pointed out that BA Hols were allowing it to price up but not pay but hey ho.

When she asked what hotel I was booking I said the IBIS at CDG and she asked if I had called yesterday – I hadn’t but said there was a deal on at the moment so obviously other people are calling up about it

I changed the first leg to be CDG-LHR-JFK on BA rather than the CDG-JFK on AA that I preferred so bear that in mind if trying to book this deal. Sometimes the first leg needs to be on BA.

Anyway for €1198 / £ 1030 I have the following for next march

Night in IBIS CDG

Then Club / business flights CDG-LHR-JFK-SFO-JFK-LHR-CDG earning 640 TPs (not including positioning flights)

Very happy Chris at the moment and thanks to Rob for publicising the deal.
- Lady London says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 21:53
  
  Well done ChrisC on that deal!
Anna says:

5 Jun5 June 18:42

For Frankie and N who recommended malagacar – many thanks, I have just managed to reserve an SUV for 2 weeks in August for 448 euros to collect at 1.00 am! It’s slightly disconcerting that I didn’t even have to give payment details – do they not have problems with people booking then failing to turn up? I know they have a name and flight number but presumably they don’t wait to ambush customers in the arrivals hall?!
- Anna says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 18:49
  
  There’s a 35 euro fee for pick up out of office hours but I think that’s pretty reasonable.
- N says:
  
  5 Jun5 June 22:50
  
  They’ve never taken payment details in the years and years I’ve used them – don’t worry!
  
  There should be someone at the arrivals Hall waiting for you. Otherwise, call their office and they’ll send a bus to you (2 min ride). All v v easy.