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The HfP chat thread – Monday 19th July

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Comments (415)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Sam says:
    19 Jul19 July 04:30

    Stansted is truly bustling 4am in the morning…travel is back huh…

    • Anna says:
      19 Jul19 July 08:53

      I’m just waiting to see how many people start arguing about still having to wear masks in airports and on planes! I can imagine a few “incidents” involving people who don’t understand the law and conditions of entry/carriage are two separate things.

      • Dave1985 says:
        19 Jul19 July 09:10

        Well if America is anything to go by…

        Violence on planes has shot up massively.

        Wouldn’t have expected this there. Americans are generally so level headed and stoic

    • MarkH says:
      19 Jul19 July 11:08

      Was going to post about this actually as I have a Ryanair flight tomorrow morning at 06:55 and the earliest I can get there on the Stansted Express is 05:39 and wanted to gauge whether that was realistic.

      From the sounds of it like I might need to find another way to get there earlier…

      • Lady London says:
        19 Jul19 July 12:07

        completely, completely and utterly unrealistic.

        otherwise, quite reasonable 🙂

        Stansted is a hellhole of an airport dominated by Ryanair. You can arrive 2 hours ahead and possibly miss your flight. Worst time of day is anyone trying to get one of all the flights (clue: all the flights) leaving around 7am.

        Don’t even consider arriving as late as that

        • MarkH says:
          19 Jul19 July 12:48

          Haha – thanks.

          Normally I don’t even look at flights leaving earlier than at least 08:30, and try to avoid Ryanair where possible but £9.99 was too tempting. Hopefully I don’t end up regretting it!

          I’ve managed to convince my wife to give me a lift and also bought fast track security just in case, which might end up being a waste of money but we’ll see.

          • Babyg says:
            19 Jul19 July 14:12

            Even @ £9.99 im not tempted to try Ryanair again, especially when other airlines are that much more expesnive – even BA! The worst thing i find is the multiple times you need to queue, queuing to get a stamp if youre not from the UK, security queuing, gate queuing, pre-boarding queuing, holding area queuing, bus queuing, actually boarding queuing, that’s at least 6 super spreader events before you take off.

      • The Savage Squirrel says:
        19 Jul19 July 13:32

        Anyone else immediately think of this (2:09 in “now I don’t know if you’ve tried locating Stansted on a map….”

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVASZ2lCY5Y

  • Dave1985 says:
    19 Jul19 July 06:31

    Happy freedom day!

    Hope everyone has a wholesome and chilled out day!

    ☀️

  • mradey says:
    19 Jul19 July 06:49

    Thank you for a super weekend in London – at the Sheraton Grand Park Lane. Not only did they honour the booking (very low room rates for suites) we were upgraded to one of the largest suites in the hotel.

    I was discovering new rooms within the suite through out the first day!

    Also, as the lounge was not serving breakfast, complimentary full a la carte breakfast in the Palm Court was offered and, indeed, taken.

    • Ed says:
      19 Jul19 July 07:32

      If this was the ‘intern’ rate for the grand suite. You booked the biggest suite in the hotel, so no upgrade was awarded, you got what you booked. Albeit at a very cheap price.

      • APB says:
        19 Jul19 July 09:02

        Suspect it isn’t the Grand suite as I’m writing this from there now after our second night here. The intern rate was indeed honoured with style and we too enjoyed the palm court breakfast. We didn’t make much use of the lounge tbh as we were full from dining elsewhere – the Polo Lounge pop up at the Dorchester roof terrace was well timed for our visit. Fingers crossed that our visit to the real thing in September comes off – sadly I fear the worst.

    • Harry T says:
      19 Jul19 July 09:03

      The “intern rate” was for the top suite in the hotel, so you’ve been had if you were told you were upgraded further! It’s a lovely hotel though, for sure – I stayed there last winter on the healthcare rate and was kindly upgraded to a suite and even given a 5.30pm checkout, as platinum. The breakfast in palm court is delightful.

      May I ask if the lounge is open yet?

      • Ed says:
        19 Jul19 July 09:15

        Exactly this, the only heavily discounted room was the grand suite. I understand there is only one grand suite in the hotel. There was someone who posted some time back that they were told the room wasn’t going to be ready till late(ish) so we’re offered and took another room. I.e. a downgrade. Ultimately if you’re happy with what you’ve got then all’s well

      • APB says:
        19 Jul19 July 09:32

        Yes the lounge was open – I’ve only stayed here once before so can’t remember what the norm was. Presently breakfast is served in the palm court in lieu of the lounge breakfast and was very good. Coffee, soft drinks and nuts/crackers were available through the day. The evening drinks (17:30 – 19:30) were beers, wine, and 3/4 spirits with mixers. There may have been canapés earlier but I wasn’t in there until about 18:45 and only spotted some empty side plates.

      • Tariq says:
        19 Jul19 July 22:20

        This was in the welcome letter I got earlier:

        Club Lounge
        Fully operational and open 24/7 for eligible guests serving unlimited soft drinks and selection of snacks.
        Breakfast: served in the Palm Court during above opening hours
        Afternoon tea cakes: 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
        Evening canapés including house wine/beer/selection of spirits: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

  • Mike says:
    19 Jul19 July 07:09

    Happy Freedom Day everybody – it has been a long time coming and we have all made sacrifices to get here and some suffered personal losses but at last we are here. We made it !

    • Dave1985 says:
      19 Jul19 July 09:11

      Happy freedom day to you too!

      I’m going to say this to everyone I see today!

  • Toppcat says:
    19 Jul19 July 07:11

    Hi all. I seem to recall someone posting a payment link for Creation credit cards, but cant find it in previous comments. Could someone please repost?

    Many thanks.

  • Dave says:
    19 Jul19 July 07:33

    Mallorca. HIPOTELS PLAYA DE PALMA PALACE.
    Anyone been or got any views on this place. Any good for kids?
    Local area looks ify but pool decent?

  • Super Secret Stuff says:
    19 Jul19 July 07:37

    Avanti West Coast on my gold Amex today, 5% back

  • Mirp says:
    19 Jul19 July 07:50

    Has anyone use ProjectScreen by Prenetics?
    Specifically the: Remote Return Kit
    £26
    Take a self-collection lateral flow antigen test with you abroad and test wherever you are in the world before flying back to England. Results within 20 minutes.

    I’m thinking using them for the fit to fly back to UK test as it is £26. I used Qured before but I have read people have had problems getting a video appointment. Prenetics seems to do it all by photo.

    • Dave says:
      19 Jul19 July 08:05

      What happens if you”forget” to do the day 2 test when back home

      • stevenhp1987 says:
        19 Jul19 July 08:23

        Nothing.

        As for Mirps question: took prenetics with us to Iceland (returned yesterday). Only one tube had liquid in it. One tube was empty…

      • Rich says:
        19 Jul19 July 15:38

        You might get noticed, and get a call. You might not.

        But why ‘forget’? It’s not exactly difficult to take it and stick it in the post.

    • Lottie says:
      19 Jul19 July 08:40

      Yes we used it last week to get back from Menorca. Very quick and easy, you just upload a photo after the count down, 10 mins, on their site. Would use again.

      • Anna says:
        19 Jul19 July 08:55

        Thanks I’ll have a look at this, although I still don’t understand how they can really know whether these tests have been done properly! It’s rather worrying given that about 3 people just from this site are now self-isolating because of people testing positive on day 2.

      • Mirp says:
        19 Jul19 July 13:58

        Thank you. Did you have any problems at the airport? Was certificate complaint? I assume it it.

    • Anna says:
      19 Jul19 July 08:59

      https://www.projectscreen.co.uk/fit-to-fly/lfa-home-test/

      Is it this one? I can’t find one for £26 on their website.

      • Jonny says:
        19 Jul19 July 09:09

        Use the Virgin link:
        https://web.projectscreen.co.uk/add-to-cart?product=uk-lfd-fit-to-fly-arrival&tag=virgin

        • Pete M says:
          19 Jul19 July 09:34

          Have used it a few times – very easy and I think the cheapest around via Virgin. Would recommend doing it as soon as possible before your travels, though, as the serial number from one of our kits had apparently already been used and it took c24hrs to sort it with their support team.

      • Doreen says:
        19 Jul19 July 10:39

        Anna – 10 mins from TFS, ? Check for Palm Mar on the map (other side of Guaza mountain to Los Cristianos). Centro Médico doing antigen tests for 29€. Small bar next door, seafront less than 100m away for stroll or great ice cream place across the road while waiting for the 15 mins!) Need to phone 922 897 432 / 642 00 59 50. Drive straight through all roundabouts on way down to seafront: on your right, last block

        • Anna says:
          19 Jul19 July 12:49

          Thanks!
          Doreen – great tip, we could combine that with a trip to Los Cristianos as the teenagers will probably want to go somewhere a bit lively at some point!

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

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