The HfP chat thread – Monday 9th August

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• Nicky says:

  9 Aug9 August 16:29

  Can anyone recommend a nice place to stay (and a good hotel) anywhere between Tampa and Naples?

  • Clive says:

    9 Aug9 August 17:15

    Hi Nicky, depends what you are looking for. Ive stayed at the Waterline Marina on Anna Marina Island which was great but not on the beach also the Westin Cape Coral which is a little isolated but fine for a night. There are some good options with Marriott and Hyatt in Sarasota

  • Doug M says:

    9 Aug9 August 17:19

    Don Cesar, St. Pete Beach. Assume you mean for a stay rather than a stop over as it can’t be more than a 3 hour drive.
    Sarasota has a Westin, RC and Hyatt Regency.

  • Mouse says:

    9 Aug9 August 19:13

    Madeira

• Reney says:

  9 Aug9 August 16:36

  For my upcoming Paris trip, do I need to download the TousAntiCovid app and load my NHS vaccine status in? Or can I just use my NHS app to show vaccine status?

  • Pete M says:

    9 Aug9 August 16:37

    Former makes life a lot easier!

    • VickyTM says:

      9 Aug9 August 16:45

      Pete M, couldn’t reply to your earlier reply – Isn’t it 10 days after Mexico??

      • Pete M says:

        9 Aug9 August 17:01

        Sorry – yes 10 days Vicky – getting muddled in all the days!

  • stevenhp1987 says:

    9 Aug9 August 16:41

    Definitely the former! Scan the QR code of the second dose.

  • Matthew says:

    9 Aug9 August 16:47

    Yes, download the French app and scan in your NHS barcodes. They are now officially supported in the app as of a few days ago. I’m currently on the Eurostar coming back from Paris and they new rules for the “pass sanitaire” just started today so I needed to show mine to get into shops before I left.

    • Reney says:

      9 Aug9 August 16:53

      Thanks all. @Matthew what return to UK testing option did you go with? I’m trying to decide whether to bring a kit or find a local one?

      • ChrisA says:

        9 Aug9 August 18:06

        I’m sitting at a bar in Strasbourg and just had the code from the NHS app scanned directly.

• Freddy says:

  9 Aug9 August 16:39

  Bit bizarre. Booked an upgraded room with points at a Marriott few weeks ago. Saw on the app it said upgraded room.

  Had email confirmation today saying standard room with normal redemption points deducted. I’ve now altered it but did they try and bump me off the upgraded room?!

  • Harry T says:

    9 Aug9 August 16:54

    Marriott Bonvoy IT is usually terrible but not in a malignant way.

• Nick says:

  9 Aug9 August 16:56

  The T&Cs are wrong, all in store Apple transactions work.

• John Caribbean says:

  9 Aug9 August 16:57

  BA cancelled my holiday last week. It was partially paid for with a future travel voucher, and partially cash. They have emailed today to say they’ll be refunding as future travel voucher and cash. Is this correct, or can I get all the cash back?

  • AJA says:

    9 Aug9 August 23:39

    Is this a BAH booking ? I think they operate slightly differently to BA flight only bookings but I do think you can request a cash refund for everything.

  • Lady London says:

    10 Aug10 August 11:14

    you have a right to all cash

• Ashraj says:

  9 Aug9 August 17:00

  IHG Redemptions – To me for whatever searches I do there seems to be a big devulation of IHG reward points. Both Intercon & Kimptons in good city locations are now priced at 100k points per night.

  • Rob says:

    9 Aug9 August 17:05

    I looked at Paris for September yesterday and, agreed, the IC and Kimpton are fixed at 100k. Still not a dreadful deal given the cost of those hotels but below our 0.4p target.

    • BP says:

      9 Aug9 August 17:56

      Dubai seems unchanged. Lisbon too. Porto has shot up since I last looked but that’s maybe dynamic pricing.

      • Red Flyer says:

        9 Aug9 August 19:08

        Still free on way back to Euston just now too – glad no dynamic pricing to worry about for that.

  • xcalx says:

    9 Aug9 August 18:40

    I was looking at Kimptons in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area today and a few were 24k to 28k for November.

    • meta says:

      9 Aug9 August 18:50

      It comes and go. IC and Kimpton Paris were 40-60k in May/June for all dates, 10 days ago 80k. You need to monitor 2-3 times a week if you want a deal. Kimpton Barcelona was 35k for weekends in August at the beginning of July, now it’s 60-70k on most dates.

      • Harry T says:

        9 Aug9 August 19:04

        I’m glad I booked Paris Kimpton for 40k way back when, as I’ll be staying there later this month. I think I owe meta a beer for that one!

  • Ed says:

    9 Aug9 August 22:34

    I recently booked T4 hix for 12,000 points cash rate was £110, so still value to be found in terms of points per pound

• Luke says:

  9 Aug9 August 17:23

  Just had an email from Nectar about another prize draw starting from August 12th. It says 1 entry per transaction and doesn’t mention any limit. That would be quite annoying having to make lots of individual transfers to generate entries. Hopefully there will be a cap on entries, otherwise it seems open to abuse.

  • AJA says:

    9 Aug9 August 19:17

    Just received the email as well. The T&Cs state: To enter load the Summer Rewards offer to your Nectar account from your offer stream and redeem a minimum of 250 Nectar points at any of the following partners: Sainsburys, Esso, eBay, Argos, British Airways, Sky Store, Caffe Nero, Nectar Hotels or Eurostar for automatic entry into the draw: SummerRewards . The promotion opens on 12/08/2021 and closes at 23:59 on 01/09/2021 for receipt of all entries

    Entries are restricted to one per transaction for the duration of the promotion. No entries from agents, third parties or organised groups will be accepted. No bulk entries.

    There are five prizes of 20,000 bonus Nectar points to win. 

• Andrew says:

  9 Aug9 August 17:27

  Quick question (I’ve tried to scroll through comments but no joy in finding the answer, even though I’m fairly sure my question *has* been answered!).

  We’ve uploaded our NHS vaccination certificates onto the Tous Anticovid app.

  Does the vaccination certificate that it produces work across the EU (in particular, will flashing the Tous Anticovid app allow entry to Portugal as a UK passport-holder, travelling from the England and vaccinated by the NHS in England)?

  • Matt H says:

    9 Aug9 August 17:48

    What shows in Tous AntiCovid isn’t the EU Digital COVID Certificate that can be used across members states and Switzerland. You can get the same sort of thing in the German app Corona-Warn but again, it isn’t the EU Digital Certificate.

    France did some backend technical work and updated it’s apps so that NHS England (and Wales) certificates that are uploaded into Tous AntiCovid will also be recognised by those businesses and cultural venues that are using the Tous AntiCovid (TAC) Verif app to allow people to enter their premises. As the UK isn’t participating in the EU digital certificate scheme it’s up to the member states to update their systems. If the UK participated we wouldn’t have these issues.

    Very helpful but long Twitter thread by Jon Worth on this:
    https://mobile.twitter.com/jonworth/status/1423652422606540804

  • bafan says:

    9 Aug9 August 18:24

    I’d love to know this too.

  • JDB says:

    9 Aug9 August 18:36

    I’m not sure that the Pass Sanitaire that the TousAntiCovid app produces constitutes an EU Digital Vaccination certificate that you would need to get into Portugal (or be accepted at check in) without a test certificate and/or if they want one for the UK but someone will hopefully have a clearer answer.

    • meta says:

      9 Aug9 August 18:55

      Doesn’t work. Try sending yourself a TousAntiCovid QR code and then scanning it with Portuguese one or any other. It will say invalid and show some details about your vaccinations. It is still essentially NHS QR code, not EU one.

      The only thing that will work is if you are dual national that you request EU digitial certificate from your country’s authorities or GP based on you NHS vaccination. This is what they did for me.

      • Andrew says:

        9 Aug9 August 19:13

        Thanks Meta – a bit confusing as the Digital Covid Certificate in the TousAntiCovid app has both a UK and EU flag on it and
        “the NHS certificate is now recognised in France…”
        And
        “This screen with a QR code has to be presented at a venue or event subject to the health pass on French territory. For a border crossing, please switch to “border mode”.

        The French embassy in Portugal has something says that non-EU-administered vaccines are not valid but (something along the lines of) “if a vaccination administered in a non-EU country is recognised and registered in a national health pass from an EU state member then it will be readable as an EU certificate”. (Translation may be patchy as my wife’s French is v rusty!).

        • Andrew says:

          9 Aug9 August 19:13

          Link here:

          https://pt.ambafrance.org/Passe-sanitaire-frontieres-FAQ

        • Andrew says:

          9 Aug9 August 19:14

          https://pt.ambafrance.org/Passe-sanitaire-frontieres-FAQ

        • Andrew says:

          9 Aug9 August 19:20

          But Meta is right – scanning the TousAntiCovid app QR code in the Luxembourg app comes up with “TRUSTED REPOSITORY NOT FOUND”. Bother…

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