The HfP chat thread – Saturday 3rd July

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Aston100 says:

3 Jul3 July 11:40

Probably a bit of a stretch, but has anyone here got any experience of hotels in Yogyakarta?
No IHG or Hilton presence. The ‘big names’ seem to be a Marriott, a Sheraton, a Hyatt and a Melia property.
I’ve got gold with Marriott and Melia through the Amex Platinum card, but have no idea what (if any) decent recognition is offered to guests with that status in general, and in that part of Indonesia specifically.
- Harry T says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 11:42
  
  Marriott Gold is fairly useless but anecdotally I’ve heard you’re treated a bit better in Asia.
  - BJ says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 12:39
    
    At the prices in Yogi who cares. A negotiated upgrade for cash at check-in in the likes of Indonesia, Vietnam etc is the way to go. You ask to see the room before deciding…
  - Aston100 says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 12:58
    
    For anything bar IHG, I struggle to work out whether a points rate is good value or not.
    Looking at the basic room at the Marriott, they are charging about £300 for 5 nights (2 adults) or 32000 points.
    I think that is about 0.94 pence per point?
    What is 32000 Marriott points worth? Is it 0.5p per point I’d be paying the equivalent of £160? for this stay?
    
    It feels like good use of points, unless I’ve miscalculated?
    If correct, then I’d consider booking the basic room for 32k points and then using BJs suggestion of asking to pay for an upgrade.
    - Aston100 says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 12:59
      
      Formatting problems and no idea where all the extra question marks came from.
      Give us forums!
    - Sam G says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 13:19
      
      0.5p is the “target” so that looks good! Agree on asking for the upgrade there and quite often at these hotels they’ve got very few direct / status guests in so even gold might get you something decent
      - Aston100 says:
        
        3 Jul3 July 13:43
        
        Thanks Sam!
        If a Marriott point is truly worth 0.5p, then I’m getting 0.94p value, so that is a no brainer then.
- Chris says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 12:56
  
  If you are there for tourism, want luxury there is an Aman nearby – Amanjiwo. Close to the Borobodur temple. Its a very nice place to unplug for a few days. Lots of privacy if you want it; calmness pervaded the resort when I was there.
  - Aston100 says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 13:08
    
    Thanks Chris. It looks lovely, but I intend to be out and about everyday, so it would be wasted on me.
    - Chris says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 13:57
      
      Do recommend a trip to the top of an active volcano at sunrise / set. The Borobudur is definitely worth seeing; a structure that size that survived a thousand years of earthquakes and ash is impressive piece of construction.
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 15:12
  
  Stayed at the Sheraton and it was better than expected.
  They did recognise status and upgraded both our rooms but this was 3 years ago.
MKB says:

3 Jul3 July 11:40

I am currently on board BA801 KEF-LHR waiting to depart. A passenger boarded and then decided to get off and wouldn’t identify himself or seat number.

By a process of elimination, they have now identified him.

In these circumstances, I think the only safe thing to do is have everybody deplane, check the plane and then reboard. But it seems we are off with only a small sample of the overhead bin hand baggage having been reconciled.
- Anna says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 11:55
  
  That’s poor. With LHR being so quiet I can’t see why security couldn’t have intercepted the passenger and ascertained his identity and reason for disembarking. It could be something sinister, or he could have had a positive covid test result/isolation notification which might impact on pax sitting near him.
  - Anna says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 11:56
    
    Apologies, just seen you are departing Kef but I assume the Greek authorities could have done the same.
    - Anna says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 11:56
      
      Arghh! Icelandic even.
- Sam G says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 12:01
  
  Anything on the plane has been through security so really there is nothing to worry about but I can see why you’d be a bit anxious, his behaviour does sound odd!
  - Anna says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 12:27
    
    I will never 100% trust airport security screening after someone got a pipe bomb through the scanner at MAN a couple of years ago!
    - Sandra says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 12:36
      
      Me neither Anna, don’t trust it 100% in UK/US and even less in let’s say ‘less security aware/manyana’ type of airports!
      - BP says:
        
        3 Jul3 July 15:10
        
        Even in the US, they don’t always follow the rules. I had a >100ml bottle of sun lotion in my hand luggage and the TSA agent at Vegas airport waved me through as “It’s only sunblock”.
      - Anna says:
        
        3 Jul3 July 16:26
        
        My OH has worked on specialist search units and says you could basically get anything past the US system!
    - Optimus Prime says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 12:40
      
      I once forgot to take my bag of liquids out and they didn’t bat an eye. And no, this wasn’t at AMS…
      - Nick says:
        
        3 Jul3 July 12:48
        
        There are rules about which hand luggage has to be reconciled in this situation. I won’t go into details but from the above it sounds as if these were followed. Ultimately it’s the crew’s discretion whether to go above these – they wouldn’t fly if they thought it was unsafe. BA trusts crew to make this call (within the rules and guidelines set out, of course).
    - BJ says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 12:52
      
      Considering the number of flights that have operated nd passengers that have travelled over time throughout history without incident you should probably be muxh more worried about social distancing than airport security 🙂
    - TJones says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 17:10
      
      Anna, MAN security may be terrible but they did actually detect the pipe bomb. However, the supervisor then popped it in her pocket and then let the passenger go. It was only later that he was arrested, and subsequently convicted and sentenced to 22 years.
  - Aston100 says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 13:11
    
    I tried to sneak a 500ml bottle of sugar-free Irn Bru at EDI.
    Foiled.
    Was surrounded by a bunch of grumpy security personnel who made me open the bag and remove the bottle myself.
    
    On reflection l think they were unhappy about Irn Bru being taken south of the border.
    - Aston100 says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 13:11
      
      Or maybe because it was sugar free. Obviously not man enough.
- BJ says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 12:46
  
  I did it myself in Glasgow once as a blizzard set in. Plane departed for LHR without me moments later. However, I did discuss it with cabin crew first, they had no issues since I had no checked bags.
- MKB says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 15:05
  
  We arrived safely. None of the bins that this passenger passed at the front of the plane were checked.
  
  In the 35 minutes the crew spent faffing over what to do, they could easily have deplaned/reboarded everyone.
  
  Now in huge lines at LHR mixing with all the ambers.
  - MKB says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 15:07
    
    On the plus side, non-UK passport holders are getting through in a few minutes.
    - MKB says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 15:28
      
      4 of 16 eGates open here in T5
      - MKB says:
        
        3 Jul3 July 15:33
        
        Apparently there is “new software” on the eGates. Nearly everyone is being rejected and sent for manual processing.
      - MKB says:
        
        3 Jul3 July 15:40
        
        They’ve now said they are closing the eGates for reprogramming.
- ACK says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 18:09
  
  Had similar experience (passenger changing his mind about travel last minute while sitting on the plane with doors open) in TFS a few years ago. Apparently anyone can change their minds prior to doors closing. There was no covid at the time, the pax changed his mind as his wife was in hospital on the island but the husband had to travel for some reason. He however changed his mind last minute and decided not to abandon his wife. Bad thing is, that none of us (the rest of the plane) knew about the story behind, we just saw a person leaving. Nobody saw if he did or did not have carryon, and whether he took it with himself. Process was that +/- six rows had to take their belongings and crew would check if there was anything left above/below. Which is kind of silly as people often put their carryons further away, but rules are rules. Even worse, once we have all settled in for the second time, another pax decided to leave as he no longer felt safe due to the first pax leaving. I have to admit, I felt a bit worried too. What made me calm was the second pax eventually deciding to stay, having had a chat with the first pax outside the plane, and being convinced that the story about the wife and hospital was genuine. He seemed like a reasonable bloke who travels a lot and we shared the same concern, I then decided that if he was happy enough to stay, then I can stay as well.
Andrew says:

3 Jul3 July 12:15

Nectar Connect.

Two potentially useful offers. 20 Nectar Points per £1 at both Lakeland Plastics and Matalan.

I’m off to buy some SodaStream refills later (Lakeland are usually cheapest location), and my SIL has given me a school uniform shopping list for Matalan.
MiddleEngland says:

3 Jul3 July 12:36

RANT! Why does BA Exec phone line have a message explaining they are open 8 AM to 8PM Mon – Sat playing on Sat lunchtime and then close down 🙁 !
- BJ says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 12:55
  
  Get this with a lot of companies these days, had it with BG this morning and somebody else earlier in the week.
- Aston100 says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 13:14
  
  Covid is the modern equivalent of 42.
bafan says:

3 Jul3 July 12:39

Seriously thinking about going on holiday somewhere to isolate to enter the U.S.. Don’t fancy Mexico, is Croatia an option? But then how do you get into the U.S. from there is the next issue?
- Nick says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 12:49
  
  ‘Safe’ route in this case from Croatia to US most likely would be via Turkey.
  - bafan says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 12:56
    
    I just had a look and there’s flights from Dubrovnik with Delta and United into the U.S., I had no idea. The Americans really have gotten on with it! Maybe I’d do a Balkans trip and then off to the U.S.
- Sam G says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 13:04
  
  Direct flights out of Dubrovnik to JFK on Delta and Newark EWR on United
  - bafan says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 13:11
    
    And Romania / Bulgaria aren’t on the list?! I could do Cluj, Sofia, Zagreb and down to DBV for the flight. They seem to be glaring omissions for that list.
    - Sam G says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 13:22
      
      Only Schengen + UK + Ireland is on the list, so you can do a very nice trip around that whole Balkan region for two weeks before you go. Bucharest should stamp your passport now we’ve left the EU & you should get stamps at the border crossings there too (as they aren’t in Schengen so borders shouldn’t be open)
      
      Obviously double check each countries local rules on borders & testing etc and you’ll need a test before you depart to the US
- Sukes says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 13:14
  
  Make sure you get passport clearly stamped on entry to Croatia/Turkey/Mexico etc so you have proof of the date you entered the country
  - bafan says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 13:15
    
    If I flew to Bucharest and started there (Romania isn’t on the list), could I ask them for a stamp?
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      3 Jul3 July 23:12
      
      I’d they’ll let you in.
G says:

3 Jul3 July 12:41

Has anyone yet stayed at the Sheraton Grand London, taking advantage of the “intern” pricing error for the Grand suite? Interested to hear how the afternoon tea was and if the lounge is fully operational? Thanks in advance.
- Rupert says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 12:51
  
  There was no afternoon tea – in the lounge there was some slices of cake from around 3 and that was it.
  
  The lounge has hot drinks, bottled water and pepsi and some snacks (nuts, jelly babies)
  
  In the evenings 5.30-7.30 they bring some bottles of wine in, few spirits and then bring 3 small nibbles per person to your table..
Rupert says:

3 Jul3 July 12:42

Anyone used beardy to pay off creation? Does it incur charges?
- Matt says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 12:57
  
  No problem at the moment, but we wait to see if this possibility is closed off next month following recently announced change in beardy’s t&cs
Sloth says:

3 Jul3 July 12:51

Until they work out they were getting stiffed on Amazon and JL vouchers…
- Nick says:
  
  3 Jul3 July 14:26
  
  I think KB’s point is that the current management knew very well this was happening, but the yanks won’t find out until it’s too late.
  - Sloth says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 15:25
    
    Yes totally agreed, my point was sarcastic….although surely things like that should come out in the due diligence…
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    3 Jul3 July 15:46
    
    Don’t think you understand how revenue recognition for gift cards works.