The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 24th August

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• Benilyn says:

  24 Aug24 August 09:36

  What are people’s experience in using Player 3’s (ma mère) Marriott account for booking redemption stays in the UK/abroad, for when only Player 1 and Player 2 will be staying at the hotel? I am capped out on the 100k pa transfer to my account.

  • Tom says:

    24 Aug24 August 10:24

    Ring them, they allowed Player 2 to send over her 100k amount so I could make a redemption (done on the same call). She had to check with a supervisor whether she could and was only 20k over the limit so might not work if its 200k.

• William R B says:

  24 Aug24 August 09:38

  Just about to transfer Avios to Nectar…….then discovered my Nectar account had been robbed of 22000 points. So security is as bad as a year ago. I’ll just hang on to the Avios then and use Tesco online grocery shopping instead of Sainsbury’s.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    24 Aug24 August 10:38

    Why would you transfer more Avios to nectar if you thought you had 22k already?

    How did they “rob” the 22k?

    • William R B says:

      24 Aug24 August 10:58

      Unlikely to use Avios again.

      I did have, not thought I had, 22K Nectar points. Checked on the app.

      Credit of one Nectar point from Sainsbury’s to my Nectar account, then 22K spent at Argos Nine Elms, but not by me. The credit can only have been done internally I would have thought. Apparently an IT manager at Sainsbury’s was imprisoned a couple of years ago for fraud.

      Promised a new Nectar card with full restoration of points – we shall see.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        24 Aug24 August 11:04

        My guess is they’ve bought something for £1 then used it 24 hours later to redeem.

        Consider they are far more secure as Avios than Nectar

        • John says:

          24 Aug24 August 12:27

          Agree, that’s why I move nectar to avios every time I have 400.

          Someone spent £5 nectar at sainsburys 2 years ago and my wife swears it wasn’t her

• Chas says:

  24 Aug24 August 09:43

  Advise from the Caribbean experts please: we’re belatedly thinking of heading there for a week over New Year and ideally would like to use my Virgin 241 vouchers, but could consider my BA 241s instead. I don’t have any ideas on the pros and cons of each islands, let alone which hotels to start looking at. I have all the Amex Plat hotel statuses (and IHG Elite), and whilst I have stacks of IHG points would happily buy Marriott or Hilton points in their current bonus sales for decent redemption opportunities. Properties with decent family rooms (or suite upgrade opportunities) would be particularly welcome as we’re a family of four, and having two rooms inevitably jacks the cost up. We’re probably looking at chilling by the pool for most of the holiday, but the teenagers want plenty of watersport opportunities too. Can you give me some pointers to help focus my initial research?

  • Chas says:

    24 Aug24 August 09:45

    Should have said that would also consider going through Emyr instead of using hotel points because of all the guaranteed benefits he can get.

    • Anna says:

      24 Aug24 August 10:09

      Caribbean islands are really being hit with traffic light bingo at the moment! With your travel dates not being that far out and wanting to use 241, you’re better looking for what’s available/doable before deciding on accommodation. Slight chance you could go via MIA if the US opens up but that still waits to be seen!

      • Chas says:

        24 Aug24 August 10:53

        Thanks Anna – you’re more optimistic than most on MIA opening up! I think I’m only going to be looking for direct flights. I suspect that I’ve left it far too late to use my 241s, so will most likely be asking again for some island / hotel tips once I realise that I’m going to have to buy cash flights…

        • Anna says:

          24 Aug24 August 11:04

          If it was me I’d wait until about 4 weeks out and gauge which way the wind is blowing for the red list. As far as I know, Mexico, Cuba and DR currently on it, plus Antigua, Jamaica and others going on this week. There may well be avios availability at that point due to all the uncertainty.
          Possibly look at other winter sun destinations as well.

        • Anna says:

          24 Aug24 August 11:05

          I think if the US is going to open within the next 3 months, it might be due to pressure from people not wanting to miss a 2nd Thanksgiving/Xmas/NY, but who knows?

        • Chas says:

          24 Aug24 August 11:23

          Any other winter sun destinations you can think of, that are close enough to make a 7 night trip doable? Alongside it being somewhere I knew Virgin flew to, it was pretty much our only reason for picking the Caribbean…

        • Chas says:

          24 Aug24 August 11:24

          Good point about waiting until a month out to avoid some of the traffic light uncertainty…

        • Anna says:

          24 Aug24 August 12:07

          Dubai is back on the amber list, not sure where Mauritius fall at the moment but of course everything could change.

          Personally, at this stage I’d be looking at Canaries, easy to get home if Spain suddenly goes well, easier to get insurance, GHIC covers you for emergency treatment anyway. Emyr could probably get you a deal at the RC Abama and Tenerife has absolutely loads to do in terms of watersports, whale and dolphin watching etc.
          There’s a lovely beach called Playa del Duque (google it for pics) – it’s got the splendid Bahia del Duque hotel on one side and a cliff top, Bond villain-style villa on the other which adds a touch of glamour!

        • Chas says:

          24 Aug24 August 12:50

          Dubai was our last foreign holiday over NYE 2019/20, so there’s no appetite from my wife to return so soon, although I’m sure we could have a very different holiday by going to one of the desert resorts which Rob has often mentioned. I hadn’t thought about the Canaries, but I’ll definitely check out your hotel recommendations and research Mauritius too. Thanks so much.

  • Tracey says:

    24 Aug24 August 14:20

    Also wait to see if the Maldives turns amber. Vaccination rates look good, so every chance.

• Chris says:

  24 Aug24 August 09:47

  If I’ve got a Hilton booking that straddles over new year, anyone know how they deal with status credit? Do they split the relevant days into each year or does the entire stay end up in one year, presumably the checkout year?

  • TJones says:

    24 Aug24 August 09:54

    Checkout year.

  • Rui N. says:

    24 Aug24 August 10:15

    Also please note that the “year” for Hilton status in March or April (I think the latter), it is not calendar years.

    • Chris says:

      24 Aug24 August 10:28

      I think you’re wrong, I think it used to be end of January but this is from the current FAQ

      Earning tier status
      As a member, you can earn and maintain elite tier status based on the stays, nights, or Hilton Honors Base Points earned in any calendar year. A calendar year is understood to mean 1 January through 31 December of each year

    • TGLoyalty says:

      24 Aug24 August 10:59

      The year for accruing status nights/points is Jan to Dec. Hilton just give you a few more months of status.

    • BJ says:

      24 Aug24 August 11:33

      I confirm Chris & TGL are correct.

    • John says:

      24 Aug24 August 12:22

      It’s like BA’s tier point collection year and membership year – the TP / status collection year is 8th of a month to 7th of a month for BA and 1 Jan to 31 Dec for Hilton; the membership year ends 7 weeks after for BA and 3 months after for Hilton.

  • John says:

    24 Aug24 August 12:20

    I thought the nights go to their respective years, but the stay will be credited to the new year

    • TGLoyalty says:

      24 Aug24 August 18:03

      My experience but YMMV

• George K says:

  24 Aug24 August 09:55

  Hey folks – has anyone had to recently amend a Lloyds voucher booking whereby te flight has not been cancelled? I’ve got a couple of non-viable flights (HK and Rio) coming up in September/October and while Rio may be cancelled by then, HK will certainly go ahead. Wanted to see if anyone had luck rebooking for later in 2022 with the new one-year-from-date-of-ticket rule…

  They were booked in the 50% sale, hence why I am reluctant to do anything besides kick the can down the road… But let me know if I’m missing something!

  • Anna says:

    24 Aug24 August 10:11

    I moved a Lloyds voucher booking to next year (a RFS booked ages ago), but the CSA insisted the only way to do it was to cancel and rebook, so I’m not sure where you’d stand with the 50% avios. I did get through to them straight away last week so it’s worth giving them a call to discuss your options.

    • George K says:

      24 Aug24 August 10:22

      Thank you – yes, I’ve had varied levels of success in the past, but as always, dependent on who you speak to. I wanted to see if there was a confirmed case of being able to rebook with no fuss (especially considering the flights are NOT cancelled, as opposed to the last few times when they were always nixed). I might wait another week, especially for the first flight which is for September 5th.

      • Anna says:

        24 Aug24 August 12:35

        My flight wasn’t cancelled and there wasn’t really any reason why we couldn’t go (I’d just made other plans with a friend!), but they said there was no problem as long as it was in the same zone. I’m not entirely sure why it had to be in the same zone if they were cancelling and re-booking as new avios were needed from my BA account to do this, but I was happy enough to move it from Nice next weekend to Prague next Easter so it didn’t really matter.

      • Peter says:

        24 Aug24 August 13:52

        Hi George, I’m in the same situation which flight time is Nov to BKK but planning to cancel it. May I ask if you call to amend the flight time then Avios still charge £35 per flight per person? Thanks.

• Alex B says:

  24 Aug24 August 10:04

  Can anyone recommend a restaurant in Paris for Sunday night which we’ll still be able to make a reservation at? It’s 3 guys to watch the Athletics so nothing fancy is needed, maybe around £20-£30 for a main. Think we’re staying in the 2nd Arr, but can travel a bit.

  • Patrick Cold says:

    24 Aug24 August 10:37

    La Coupole is fabulous.

  • editingdeluxe says:

    25 Aug25 August 19:45

    Brasserie Flottes on rue Cambon, near the Melia, should fit this bill for you. Looks like they’re taking online reservations.

• Graeme says:

  24 Aug24 August 10:46

  I’ve had a domestic Y flight on a BAH booking cancelled. I’d like to move to a flight that has no Y availability left, only J. Would BAH have to accept this change or only obliged to put me on an equivalent Y flight? Thanks.

  • Jonathan says:

    24 Aug24 August 10:50

    “Subject to availability” would suggest they can refuse a specific flight but clearly they have to be reasonable. An earlier flight that day or a flight the day before with hotel paid for would probably be viewed as acceptable remediation.

    • Jonathan says:

      24 Aug24 August 10:54

      I’m assuming this is a connection to a LH given its BAH? If it’s standalone for a staycation then anything that gets you there +/- 6 hours of original arrival would probably be viewed as fair.

      • Graeme says:

        24 Aug24 August 13:06

        Sorry Jonathan, should have added, this is staycation. Flight and car. Booked as a plan B as we were pretty certain our Florida trip would be canned.

  • Anna says:

    24 Aug24 August 11:07

    Graeme – I think that in the case of a holiday booking, all they have to do legally is cancel the holiday refund you. I imagine they would move you to the J cabin but you’d have to pay the difference.

    • Graeme says:

      24 Aug24 August 13:03

      Thanks everyone. There’s only 2 flights that same day as original booking. I’ll call and ask later this week. Thanks

• rams1981 says:

  24 Aug24 August 11:05

  Has anyone been to Mauritius in late Jan/early Feb? Weather websites suggests could be wet so is it worth avoiding then?

  • Gareth says:

    24 Aug24 August 11:30

    Been three times for 2 weeks end Jan early Feb only 2 half days of rain. On 4th holiday delayed 2 days because of tropical storm. We were fine , but people who went before had a week of constant rain. But overall odds are decent weather

    • rams1981 says:

      24 Aug24 August 11:33

      thanks for the quick reply!

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