The HfP chat thread – Monday 19th July

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions. With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind. At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article. This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page. If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here. This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Category

General

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

Memesweeper says:

19 Jul19 July 20:18

I’ve been denied a drink at a holiday inn express as a welcome amenity for the first time ever! As if spire elite could be worth any less, and this place has just devalued it…
- Dave says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 20:32
  
  Did they give you the points instead?
  - Memesweeper says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 20:36
    
    They said so, but only after I asked “where’s my drink?”
    
    Points aren’t going to buy me a GnT!
- The Original Nick says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 20:43
  
  Always worth taking a drinks token as the points normally hit anyway.
  - Crafty says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 21:15
    
    100% in my experience.
    
    HIX in Leeds still giving me a G&T. Hilton, DT and Hampton have no amenities at all for Diamond.
    - Super Secret Stuff says:
      
      19 Jul19 July 21:46
      
      Some have started to pay attention to doing it correctly but nowhere near all of them
Dave1985 says:

19 Jul19 July 20:30

Hope everyone had a good freedom day!

What did everyone get up to?!

☀️
- Travel Strong says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 21:03
  
  Went to wales and lost the freedom.
  Then came back to england and rediscovered the joy of whistling to myself inside a supermarket. It’s been a wild day.
- mr_jetlag says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 21:09
  
  filled up the kids pool and had a soak with a GnT
  - Dave1985 says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 21:27
    
    Nice one!
    
    Freedom!
- Harry T says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 22:23
  
  Ate tapas in Barcelona!
- Degsy says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 22:26
  
  I followed Zahawi’s lead and went clubbing.
- SimonP says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 22:30
  
  Drank aperitivi in Florence
- AJA says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 23:12
  
  Stayed at home, spent an hour soaking and swimming in the pool, first dip this year, and then sunbathing on the terrace, felt like being on holiday. Then a G&T watching the sun set, followed by dinner. Then watered the plants before it got dark.
PMG says:

19 Jul19 July 20:43

Hi all,
Just want to ensure I understand the wording on the UK GOV website correctly.
To return to the UK you only need a test three days before you depart and not strictly 72 hours correct?
For example, if I get a test a 9am on Friday and then leave at 11am on Monday that should not be an issue right?
- Blair says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 21:14
  
  Correct. It’s a bit loose. There were FAQs on gov.uk giving that example you provided. Your problem might come in explaining the 3 days versus 72hrs to an over-zealous outstation check in agent
  - PMG says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 21:21
    
    Thank you 🙂
    
    Got a screenshot of the GOV website so will just refer to that!
    
    (Why can’t we have just have simple and clear rules… 🙁 )
Doommonger says:

19 Jul19 July 20:46

Personally, I quaffed a bottle of Bollinger Rose in the garden (Laithwaites/Amex offer) with my son to celebrate his degree result, had then had a massive laugh at two of the most prolific posters on here having a spat over Amex /MR retentions.

Doomey.
- Harry T says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 22:22
  
  How did he do with his degree? Sounds like a nice way to spend the evening.
  - Doommonger says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 22:31
    
    2:1 Physics with Astro Physics. Don’t ask, he lost me after GCSE’s 🙂
- ChrisBCN says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 22:53
  
  Yes, the spat is quite funny, showing how one or two of the regular commentators are unable to think outside of their own very rigid opinions! Congrats on the Bolly 🍾
Aston100 says:

19 Jul19 July 20:58

Wanting to book a couple of activities through Virgin Experiences (a bit cheaper than booking directly with the activity providers). I can see voldeportal is currently giving back 14.25%
Are there any better ways of purchasing Virgin Experiences?

Thanks.
- Nectar collector says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 21:10
  
  My Perks at Work is currently offering 20% off plus a further ‘15%’ in the form of redeemable points…….
  - aDifferentSimon says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 21:30
    
    Also eden red work portal have both a 20% code and sell gift cards at 15% off. So can apply the code and then pay with a discounted gift card. Probably the cheapest way to do go ape or have your car destroyed at knowsley
    - Char Char says:
      
      20 Jul20 July 11:11
      
      Interesting that it is still cheaper when they are usually double the price of many of their activities
  - Aston100 says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 23:33
    
    Thanks for that.
    ‘Turks that Twerk’ does indeed have 20% back for me.
    Not used that portal before as my employer is signed up to some basic version which doesn’t carry all the offers. Are the points easy to collect and to spend?
    
    Thanks
Anuj says:

19 Jul19 July 21:17

Hi everyone, it’s a bit late so might post this again tomorrow but is doing cornwall via public transport a pain? Ofc I know you can get to cornwall by train. What I mean is once you’re actually there, am I going to end up stuck in places without hiring a car or is public transport doable?

For example I recently did the seven sisters cliffs and there’s lots of frequent busses that ran quite late in the day and were cheap all the way from brighton to eastbourne.
- Mikeact says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 21:27
  
  It all depends on your expectations. Many buses are local, some infrequent and many go round the houses. To get to out of the way places is nighon impossible. As long as you have, maybe, tons of patience, as the rain lashes down at the bus stop, then enjoy your break. We’ve got our car here but have also done a couple of open top bus trips as well….great in this weather!
- SteveJ says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 21:33
  
  Get to St Ives, stay there. That way it’s perfectly doable.
- Super Secret Stuff says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 21:43
  
  If you’re within 1 frequent bus service of a train line you’ll be fine. Personally a few weeks ago me and the other half stayed in Plymouth so had transport and lots of things around
  - Steve S says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 22:00
    
    I think you may find Plymouth is in Devon
- Dave says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 22:28
  
  I’m not sure you really DO Cornwall. I would suggest basing yourself in one or at most two locations. You can then explore around them. But slow the pace down and don’t be too ambitious
  - JG says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 23:33
    
    Agree. Have visited Cornwall plenty of times without a car. Visitbytrain.info site a good place to see what attractions are in easy reach of a station (or bus) – pretty much everything worth visiting…
Greenpen says:

19 Jul19 July 21:57

I retreated from Cornwall last week a day early; it rained.
SJ says:

19 Jul19 July 22:28

Need to book a one way flight from Caribbean to UK. If I use my BA Amex will I still be charged a FX fee by BA if I book though them?
- AJA says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 23:03
  
  You will be charged if the fare is priced in anything other than GBP. But I believe you can avoid this and book it in GBP if you set the website to UK although the resulting fare may be higher than if priced from the Caribbean and paying the FX fee.