The HfP chat thread – Sunday 27th June

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• HH says:

  27 Jun27 June 17:29

  All my Amex offers have disappeared from my Gold charge card, now showing 0 offers. Anyone else experiencing this issue?

  • Sandra says:

    27 Jun27 June 18:13

    No, mine still there including the ubiquitous Sweaty Betty unfortunately, although I am desperately hoping that when it expires in 12 days that one will disappear for good 😊

    • Andrew says:

      27 Jun27 June 18:52

      We will never be rid of Betty!

      • Tw33ty says:

        27 Jun27 June 20:24

        Only way to get rid off it, is to use it. It the latest marketing ploy.

• DJ says:

  27 Jun27 June 17:41

  Booked 3 reward nights with IC Park Lane – Classic room only.

  I have Spire Ambassador status. Is it possible to pay additional fee to upgrade the room? If it was possible, how do I email them? Emailed London at IHG dot com a few days back, but never received a reply. Thanks

  • Rob says:

    27 Jun27 June 17:44

    Can only be done via talking to the hotel. IHG centrally can’t do it.

    • Yuff says:

      27 Jun27 June 18:17

      Do they do interconnecting rooms?

      • Chrisasaurus says:

        27 Jun27 June 18:54

        Yes they do but they can’t guarantee you’ll actually get one – they will make a note and the advice is to arrive early…

        Frankly absurd for a five star hotel but it is what it is

        • Yuff says:

          27 Jun27 June 19:33

          I’ll call them.
          Annoyingly their lounge is still closed

    • DJ says:

      27 Jun27 June 19:32

      Thanks, just phoned them and offered £40 a night for the Mayfair Deluxe room.

  • Ikaz says:

    27 Jun27 June 18:54

    I got an upgrade as spire ambassador there last month on points (I purchased Ambassador during my stay though, that could have influenced the upgrade). I used that email to contact them before my stay and they were responsive

  • Kai says:

    27 Jun27 June 20:17

    I received a double upgrade on my free night reward. Personally I wouldn’t really go back even if paying points, and make sure that they offer the £15 credit as I had to chase it a couple of times.

• David says:

  27 Jun27 June 18:42

  All BA systems are down – check in website etc – have asked if they have checked they haven’t switched it off at the wall.

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    27 Jun27 June 18:55

    Based on the advice they give when their website falls over on me mid-transaction just tell them to try clearing cookies and cache and try again

• Phil says:

  27 Jun27 June 18:58

  It’s totally down. My software engineer partner said it’s a back end server problem. Error 500 Internal Server Error. Connection Time Out.

  Oops! Maybe the cleaner unplugged the server to plug in the vacuum cleaner!

• AY says:

  27 Jun27 June 19:05

  Stayed at the Hotel Café Royal (lovely hotel btw) two weeks ago, to take advantage of the Amex offer on my platinum card. Not tracked, anyone else had this issue? Should I just call Amex, never been in this situation before.

  • Memesweeper says:

    27 Jun27 June 19:54

    Yes, in my experience hotels track immediately or never.

  • KBuffett says:

    27 Jun27 June 23:04

    Do you know if they have car parking facilities or valet?

    • AY says:

      28 Jun28 June 05:27

      No car parking or valet parking available. I used just park to park in Q park Burlington street. Around 5 mins walk.

• LS says:

  27 Jun27 June 20:05

  Anyone recommend any good hotels in Iceland for my 10 day foray returning from a red list country. My budget is almost exactly £175/night!

  • meta says:

    27 Jun27 June 20:18

    With Hilton you have 3 options. The cheapest being Hilton Nordica. It might work out cheaper buying points. Then you have the Radisson at reasonable cash rates, but also available on points. Other than that check Travelzoo as they had promos for various Icelandic hotels. I’d also stay in Rejkyavik as further you venture out it becomes more expensive and not many options.

  • Aaron says:

    27 Jun27 June 20:44

    I’m sketching out a trip for 7 days but haven’t actually confirmed anything yet. If you could stretch to hiring a car you could do a 10 day ring-road trip with a few days in Rejkavik either end. The hotels outside Rejkavik don’t seem to be particularly good or value for money but there is plenty under £175. I don’t there there is 10 days of things to do in Rejkavik so moving around would be a better option. Food and alcohol seems to be VERY expensive.

    • meta says:

      27 Jun27 June 21:01

      My only suggestion is that you book rooms with breakfast included. It will be significantly cheaper than buying it separtely.

      • meta says:

        27 Jun27 June 21:01

        Also stock up in supermarket in Rejkyavik for alcohol and drink in the room.

        • Sandgrounder says:

          27 Jun27 June 21:18

          Re the booze, stock up in the duty free shop on arrival. And consider doing what the Icelanders do and take a packed lunch while you are out and about.

        • Laura says:

          27 Jun27 June 22:45

          Best prices are duty free on arrival at the airport!
          You can’t buy booze in the super markets, it’s like other Nordic countries and have to go to the state run shops

        • Lord Doncaster says:

          28 Jun28 June 00:02

          Nationalised booze shops? How quaint

        • mark2 says:

          28 Jun28 June 07:41

          In most, if not all Canadian provinces, all alcohol is sold through shops run by the provincial governments. They are usually very well-stocked with knowledgeable, helpful staff.

    • Sandgrounder says:

      27 Jun27 June 21:11

      I did 5 nights in the Nordica last year, it was a bit outside the centre but walkable. I was upgraded to an exec room but the lounge was closed, I got a food platter and two drinks a night in the bar to compensate. Points rates aren’t anywhere near as generous this year vs cash. Food and alcohol are expensive by UK standards, but almost all of the tourist attractions are free. You could fill 10 days with day trips from Reykjavik and not run out of things to do, but it’s worth travelling around, at least spending a few days elsewhere. You are absolutely right, the prices you pay for some very average hotels outside the city are daft.

• roberto says:

  27 Jun27 June 20:31

  I see Portugal now needs UK visitors over aged of 13 and above needs to be double jabbed or they have to quarantine on arrival for 14 days.

  Double jabbed adults and double jabbed parents with kids under 13 don’t need to quarantine.

  Plenty of people gonna be affected with this.

  • Char Char says:

    27 Jun27 June 20:48

    What a joke!

  • bafan says:

    27 Jun27 June 20:52

    Trying to get ahead of Frau Merkel and that idiot Macron continuing the whinging this week about UK arrivals.

    • Lord Doncaster says:

      28 Jun28 June 00:05

      I’m surprised Macron hasn’t made a move on Frau Merkel yet…

  • Anna says:

    27 Jun27 June 20:57

    Hasn’t it been mentioned before that Portugal currently holding the EU presidency has to be seen to be toeing the (Christlich Demokratische) party line?

    Spain & Greece in for a bumper summer then, unless they submit as well.

    • GaryE says:

      27 Jun27 June 21:16

      Does this rule also include Madeira?

      • Ikaz says:

        27 Jun27 June 22:07

        You are still good for Madeira if you believe the Independent’s article on the subject

  • Babyg says:

    27 Jun27 June 22:41

    yeah ive had the double jab, but my wife hasnt.. we are due to fly on July 11th so she will be abit stuffed, some reports say its currently for June 28 – July 11..no idea if it will be lifted July 12th…. bit of pain… feels like eurovision all over again, no love for the UK …

• Karen says:

  27 Jun27 June 21:40

  First long haul flight from Gatwick on Friday to the Caribbean. Overall everything was excellent, just very quiet so couldn’t ask for more. No fast track security “ crew only” but normal lines fine. Aspire lounge table service with single use paper menu. Staff were amazing very friendly and efficient. Bacon and sausage baps proper size what more could you want.
  BA Flight crew very young and so happy. I have to say best flight in a very long time. No pre flight drink but meal arrived with everything on tray (including wine ) and tasted so good.
  Bizarrely we had a tail wind so 8 hr flight time ( over 600 mph a lot of the time) Apologies but 30 degrees glorious sunshine and a nice breeze.
  Even better the hotel offers free insurance and free return COVID testing.
  Purely because Anna and Lady London are so generous with their comments and with a deep intake of breath I will reveal the amazing resort we are staying at and highly recommend for an adult only very special occasion …..Serenity @Coconut Bay
  But please keep it to yourself 😎

  • Louise K says:

    27 Jun27 June 21:42

    Enjoy 😂🥂🥂🥂

    • Karen says:

      27 Jun27 June 21:52

      Thanks we definitely are. Can’t tell you how scared we were before committing but no regrets 🙂

      • Hilton query guy says:

        27 Jun27 June 22:03

        Our idiot politicians…our idiot public opinion?

        There’s a reason we don’t let the general public vote for capital punishment (ie we kill the murderer for murdering somebody) – because they would vote it in by a huge majority, 75%?

        We should not let uneducated people vote for things they don’t understand.

        • Lord Doncaster says:

          28 Jun28 June 01:10

          Are you defining the ‘uneducated’ as those who wouldn’t agree with your point of view?

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