The HfP chat thread – Friday 6th August

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Michael C says:

6 Aug6 August 05:09

Morning from the Hilton Kensington! Great price/quality as it was the location we needed. Lounge has gone (for ever) but buffet b/fast is back! Lovely walks around Holland Park, odd visit to Westfield, and direct bus to Piccadilly if needed.

@Rob: thanks for the BlueShift endorsement: our son’s course has been entertaining & instructive

@Anna: ¡tómate una caña de mi parte!
- TimM says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 07:31
  
  From the tone of the comment I assume, “Great quality/price” was intended. ‘great price/quality’ is what I reserve for my worst reviews.
  - John says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 09:19
    
    That might be a bit subtle, most people probably read the / as a conjunction not a ratio
  - Mike says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 10:50
    
    TimM – I understood Michael C’s post (he liked it). I read yours three times and only just got it (I think)
- Anna says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 09:03
  
  Gracias Michael C! Off to the Museo Militar in Santa Cruz this morning then going to Las Teresitas beach for the afternoon/evening. It’s heavenly being able to swim and sit in the sun till 8pm!
  - Mike says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 10:51
    
    Anna – Have a great time, you so deserve it. I am ever so jealous …. but happy to share your joy
KBuffett says:

6 Aug6 August 06:44

Spend £50 get £10 at Covent Garden on my AmEx Platinum Charge Cards.
- Andrew says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 06:47
  
  +1. Not a bad deal, even a dedicated website with all the locations it’s valid at, and it specifies cumulative too.
- Harry T says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 08:09
  
  Nice, thanks. Visiting London this weekend from the savage North, so we can make use of this on my various Bonvoy supps. On one of our Golds too.
  - Harrier25 says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 08:35
    
    Yes, on my Gold’s and Green cards
- Andrew says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 08:57
  
  There’s a few double dipping locations with other Amex offers too – Sunglass Hut, Mulberry…
  - Oh! Matron! says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 09:11
    
    I see Davy’s wine merchants on there too: The Crusting Pipe is a great place for a cheeky nightcap after a show….
- Laura says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 16:07
  
  thanks! Z Hotels is an interesting one!
Stu says:

6 Aug6 August 07:02

Did anyone here jump on the Rimowa Amex offer pre-31/7 for 10K Avios on a >£500 spend, and if so did your Avios post yet?

We purchased on 17 July and according to the T&Cs, points ‘normally post within 5 days’ but can take up to 90 days from the end of the offer period. Needless to say our points didn’t post yet … anyone else?
- Jonathan says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 07:32
  
  Think a few people have mentioned delays in posting as it scuppered their nefarious plans to order, pocket points & return in store with refund onto a different card…
  
  Amex CS will normally not engage on missing points till the 90 days are up even though generally offers credit much faster.
  - Stu says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 08:22
    
    Many thanks for this; annoyingly I intend to keep mine but I’ve got an Amex chat transcript confirming it to be a valid charge so hopefully we’ll get it eventually
  - Ali M says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 09:03
    
    weird ( good for nobody’s benefit) fact : I read nefarious and I think of Gru from ‘Despicable Me’
Bagoly says:

6 Aug6 August 07:09

We are staying at the Luton Airport Courtyard by Marriott for four nights (times are weird!)
We may end up having to have dinner in the vicinity the first night.
Does anybody have experience of whether the restaurant there is better than those at the other airport hotels in walking distance?
- The Original Nick. says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 07:12
  
  Pizza is good across the road at the budget ibis.
- Nick says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 07:14
  
  Lorraine Chase might be able to give some advice on this?
  - Richie says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 07:38
    
    I think her remit was a drink.
- Nick Burch says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 10:22
  
  There’s nothing amazing round there. It’s getting a bit far to walk into Luton (and a slog coming back!), but there’s pretty frequent buses from outside the hotel down into town
The Original Nick. says:

6 Aug6 August 07:15

That was about 3 years ago though..
- Nick says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 07:27
  
  More like 43 years. Presumably Bagoly is looking for somewhere with a Campari Bar? https://youtu.be/8ydVbn0gMk4
  
  ………and then there was the hit song released in 1979 I think https://youtu.be/rXJ1n9_LesM
YC says:

6 Aug6 August 07:30

Plat insurance – Given it says u need to book your trip with the card to be covered. How does insurance work if I book 1 leg of journey with Plat card? I’m mainly concerned with medical insurance rather than flight delay, etc
- Andy D says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 07:34
  
  Unless it’s changed very recently, it says card ACCOUNT, rather than card. Ergo you can use another of your Amexii to book.
  - mr_jetlag says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 07:42
    
    Alumnus -> Alumni
    Ox -> oxen
    Amex -> Amexen
    q.e.d.
    - Phil W says:
      
      6 Aug6 August 08:17
      
      The -en is not used for the plural of -x ending words, it’s used for irregular plurals. I believe it is a hold over from those words which continue to use the German plural ending such as, Oxen, Children, Brethren, Men, etc.
      
      I believe the plural of Amex would be Amexevesei 🙂
      - Gruntfuttock says:
        
        6 Aug6 August 08:35
        
        Outstanding factoid 😆
      - John says:
        
        6 Aug6 August 21:33
        
        Isn’t it just Americans Express
  - YC says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 07:55
    
    Useful to know. But for medical insurance, is this provided irrespective of whether Amex was used? In an extreme scenario, booked everything on a mastercard
- Sandgrounder says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 07:52
  
  Medical cover doesn’t appear to require the use of an Amex:
  
  ‘The following benefits are dependent on use of the Card:
  • Cancelling, Postponing and Abandoning your Trip;
  • Cutting Short your Trip;
  • Travel Inconvenience;
  • Personal Belongings, Money and Travel Documents;
  • Purchase Protection;
  • Refund Protection’
  
  https://origin-gem2.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/uk/benefits/UK-Platinum-insurance-documentation-July20.pdf
  - YC says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 07:56
    
    Thanks!
Mark says:

6 Aug6 August 08:01

2 nights at Curio Alexandra in Barcelona. Gold member. Booked the cheapest room. Asked at check in if I could be upgraded to the Modernist suite, staff said it has already been done. Wow! Lo and behold, went in to the room and maybe there was a miscommunication but they gave me a room on the ‘Modernist’ floor (sign on the floor says it’s a HH floor). I went down to clarify, staff claimed all the suites are booked up. I said that is not true based on Hilton.com, she checked, said sorry, and gave me the Modernist suite.

Overall thoughts: room is pretty nice, solid 4*. Breakfast is however pretty poor in my opinion.
- VerdantBacon says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 08:13
  
  Gold member demanding suite upgrade wow, I was never that bold as a Gold, I guess that’s why I never got a suite upgrade as one.
  - Mark says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 08:37
    
    I think there’s a clear difference between demand and asking nicely. You can read all you want into that but at no point was I demanding it. Funny how all of you think you know exactly how the situation played out huh?
    
    In fact, I did not explain the whole story. When I went back down to check again, I actually walked away when she insisted the suites were full and was OK with what I had originally. She chased me down as I was waiting for the lift to go up and said she can move me.
    - jack charlton says:
      
      6 Aug6 August 09:28
      
      “Funny how all of you think you know exactly how the situation played out huh? ”
      
      I assume when you say all of you, you meant the one single person that remarked on it ?
      - Travel Strong says:
        
        6 Aug6 August 10:15
        
        At the time of that comment the OP had 2 equally salty replies and nothing positive. Whist ‘all of you’ was hyperbolic, the sentiment is understandable.
  - Travel Strong says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 09:03
    
    Demanded or asked? No harm in asking for things, even with no status at all. Works very well in the USA!
- Henry says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 08:19
  
  I wonder what their opinion of you was?
  - Travel Strong says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 09:06
    
    Who knows. But why insinuate anything negative? I imagine they left the conversation pleased to have helped out a guest, and the guest left the conversation pleased enough to share their success on a site where travel booking successes are generally celebrated.
  - Dave1985 says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 10:36
    
    Jeez. Some people got out of the wrong side of bed today!
    
    Would have thought that freedom day would have meant fewer people getting hot and bothered on the internet!
- Steven says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 08:55
  
  I thought Gold HH upgrades don’t extend all the way up to suites? Guessing this is an exception rather than standard practice?
  - VerdantBacon says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 09:34
    
    Yes Gold upgrades top out at Executive Rooms normally, though they are sometimes generous and go above that. Of course if you call them out on their occupancy rates by looking it up online they’ll probably go the path of least resistance and just give it to you
  - John says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 09:38
    
    The language is meaningless because hotels can upgrade whoever they like whenever they like, and upgrades are not guaranteed either.
  - RM84 says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 09:49
    
    I had an upgrade to a suite from the cheapest room at Conrad Algarve as gold. Didn’t even ask for it!
Nick B says:

6 Aug6 August 08:10

Had a very strange experience on the LATAM site yesterday. They have altered my flights and said I could claim a refund. As part of the refund process, you have to give your passport number and use a drop down list to select your issuing country. It has every country in the world except GB, UK or any other other of our nations. This means you cannot select a country, and therefore cannot progress with a refund. Very clever way of keeping my money
- JDB says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 08:24
  
  Try looking for Reino Unido (ie United Kingdom) in the drop down.
- Allthepieces says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 08:26
  
  You sure it wasn’t tagged as ‘Reino Unido’? Found that before when they were simply LAN, IIRC
- Richie says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 09:05
  
  Give them a call.
- ChrisBCN says:
  
  6 Aug6 August 10:03
  
  Sounds like a user error! Reino Unido…
  - Niall says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 13:26
    
    When sorting alphabetically in drop downs I’ve seen that Reino Unido comes under ‘U’.
    - John says:
      
      6 Aug6 August 21:34
      
      Yeah because the country names are translated from English but they don’t resort