The HfP chat thread – Friday 3rd September

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• KBuffett says:

  3 Sep3 September 07:55

  Is anyone going to Expo in Dubai?

  I’m interested in new business opportunities, but have never been to such a show.

  • Laura says:

    3 Sep3 September 13:18

    I’m going in January, but as a tourist, so not much help

    • Paul says:

      3 Sep3 September 16:03

      Will it go ahead in January, finally?

      • Blenz101 says:

        3 Sep3 September 23:54

        October this year

• Bizboy says:

  3 Sep3 September 07:57

  Read reports online of a 40% bonus converting from Amex MR to BAEC Avios, but just checked and I don’t have it, so I assume it’s probably targeted at US customers only.

  Anyone aware of any upcoming conversion bonuses for MR points?

  • Rob says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:02

    Anyone aware of one since the turn of the century?

    Amex UK deliberately tries to keep down the cost of MR redemptions, probably because it offsets high bonuses. Not encouraging redemptions to airlines or hotels, both of which cost a lot more than buying you a gift card for 0.45p per point, is how they do it.

    • Andrew Mc says:

      3 Sep3 September 08:16

      To avios, no. To Hilton, yes…at least 3 times in the last 3 years, I believe – at least 2 being targeted. UK cardholders.

    • Can says:

      3 Sep3 September 11:14

      Yeah, I never hope for any bonuses for UK Amex MR to Avios..

  • DaveL says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:41

    Whilst unlikely, Amex did buy a huge truckload or Avios during the pandemic presumably at a nicely discounted rate…

    • Jonathan says:

      3 Sep3 September 09:15

      I think that’s due to dire state of BA’s finances

    • BuildBackBetter says:

      3 Sep3 September 09:28

      And which is being used on sign up bonuses on their BA cards.

      • Jonathan says:

        3 Sep3 September 09:40

        They’ve been very strict over these now….…

        The only real way to obtain a sign up bonus (if you don’t have the avenues of being a supplementary cardholder) is MR then BAPP, but then you might be working towards a voucher you don’t need……

  • bafan says:

    3 Sep3 September 11:27

    My Chase card has a 30% Avios bonus at the moment. Might do it to offset the cost of redeeming a lot of mine for vouchers.

• NSL says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:07

  Can anyone recommend any ‘aspirational’ hotels across Marriott or Hilton in California? I’ve got points to burn and a trip planned in 2022. I’m aware of WA Beverly Hills but not much else.

  • Travel Strong says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:17

    LXR Santa Monica looks pretty good

    • NSL says:

      3 Sep3 September 08:20

      That looks good. Seems to be excluded from points redemptions though…

      • Travel Strong says:

        3 Sep3 September 08:35

        May just be your dates, I have redemptions booked for next year and still showing available (95k per night seems to be base price though).

        • NSL says:

          3 Sep3 September 08:43

          Every night from June 22 – Sep 2022 I’ve tried seems to be showing “diamond guarantee” with no reward availability. It appears to be booked up!

      • Mattb says:

        3 Sep3 September 08:45

        I had it booked (then cancelled) for last month

        • Mattb says:

          3 Sep3 September 08:48

          Just went into the app, first random dates I put in – 17th March 2022 for 5 nights – and I could book at 95k

        • MattB says:

          3 Sep3 September 08:52

          I *think* looking at dates online its just not available to book past a certain date. It’s saying sold out when it just isn’t bookable yet for next summer.

        • Travel Strong says:

          3 Sep3 September 09:13

          As mattb says below – they just haven’t opened up the calendar for availability that far ahead yet. At some point those months will suddenly become available (likely every day at 95k).

  • Mouse says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:27

    Beverly Hilton?

    • Oh! Matron! says:

      3 Sep3 September 08:38

      Has been 15 years since I stayed but +1 for Beverley Hilton. Do they still have the Town Car that will drop you off and pick you up within a 3 mile radius? It gets you just about to the Beverley Centre

      • NSL says:

        3 Sep3 September 08:48

        Good shout but I’m already staying at the WA Beverly Hills. I’d like to explore further than the same street!

    • Richie says:

      3 Sep3 September 09:18

      Is there one in East Yorkshire?

    • ankomonkey says:

      3 Sep3 September 10:11

      Beverly Hillbillies?

  • Dave says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:55

    Ritz-Carlton Half-Moon Bay is nice.

    • NSL says:

      3 Sep3 September 09:25

      Thanks. Booked.

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:59

    Santa Monica Proper (Marriott) is very highly rated but not yet had the pleasure of a stay myself.

  • Ja says:

    3 Sep3 September 10:00

    I like the JW Marriott in Santa Monica

    • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

      3 Sep3 September 10:23

      Yes, that’s right on the beach whereas the Proper is a few blocks inland from the main shopping areas and six from the sea front, so depends what you’re after.

• Andrew H says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:13

  Yay… just won 2000 VA points on their “this or that” weekly comp….

  • Dave says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:14

    Impressive… Virgin America (VA)’s loyalty scheme, Elevate, closed down years ago..

    Or did you mean VS points?

    • Andrew H says:

      3 Sep3 September 08:16

      Ok Virgin Points… whatever the card and Virgin Red gives you.

    • Mouse says:

      3 Sep3 September 08:29

      Well done Dave, 10 points to Gryffindor

    • Biki says:

      3 Sep3 September 08:42

      Isn’t VA Virgin Australia?

    • John says:

      3 Sep3 September 09:14

      Virgin America is (was) VX

    • Jonathan says:

      3 Sep3 September 09:27

      Why is that when people on here write VA, everyone suddenly thinks of Virgin Australia or Virgin America, the latter now being a defunct airline since it was brought out by another one, and after the transition period of phasing put the other name, it’s now a memory.

      Both airlines (mentioned above) don’t do flights anywhere near the UK (or Europe) which is where nearly all us readers are based, and even before the pandemic they were only ever mentioned by the HfP team (on news of promotion articles) in extremely rare circumstances, even then from what I remember not being spoken about much anyway. The only time Virgin America was really mentioned was when Alaska Airlines was only really being talked about.

      • Andrew says:

        3 Sep3 September 10:04

        Because we are all pedants on HfP, and like to correct people in a sarcastic way when people incorrectly refer to Virgin Atlantic as VA instead of VS.

      • kitten says:

        3 Sep3 September 10:05

        Could be worse. Could be Virgin Australia.

• James says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:21

  I see BA Holidays are offering an additional discount this weekend. For my existing booking can I call up and ask them to apply the £100 discount or would I need to cancel and re-book?

  • Jonathan says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:37

    No chance. If it makes you feel better prices of holidays I’ve been looking at have gone up more than the discount in last 5 days. Note the discount is included in the price you see not added at payment.

    Obviously if price has dropped significantly then you can get deposit back as voucher then rebook but it’ll take some phone calls so hope you’ve got a few hours free!

    • ChrisC says:

      3 Sep3 September 08:57

      No need to phone to either generate or use a voucher.

      1. Request voucher on line as per BA Covid web page.

      2. Book the new trip on line and pay deposit.

      3. Reply to the voucher email with the voucher ref of the previous booking and along with the new booking ref and ask them to apply it to the new booking and a few days later the balance due will have been reduced on the new trip.

      • ChrisC says:

        3 Sep3 September 08:57

        Obviously that’s the process if you’re happy to do it that way but it would be the quickest and most sane way.

      • Jonathan says:

        3 Sep3 September 11:05

        For BA Holidays? Do you have experience of this working as described? Good news if so

• JRC says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:24

  Anyone had any luck using Amex Platinum’s concierge/ Global Dining Collection service to book one of the London Michelin starred restaurants that seem impossible to get a table at? Trying to get a table at Core by Clare Smyth. Harder than a first redemption to Sydney!!

  • Jonathan says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:39

    Platinum concierge is only good at getting you things that were available to you already. Same as Quintessentially & all the other services. Complete waste of time.

    • Dave says:

      3 Sep3 September 08:58

      Quintessentially got me a table at Dinner by Heston in the month it first opened…

      • Jonathan says:

        3 Sep3 September 11:20

        Any success stories in the over 10 years since then? Some fools I used to work with paid the £200+/month fee & got nothing that Google & a willingness to call/log in at the right time could achieve. Their outsourced services as used to be offered in CCR were even worse, they basically directed you to whichever fading restaurant was giving them biggest kick backs that month.

        They do run some ok events of a similar level to Amex Plat/Centurion but the better ones are restricted to those paying the 5 figure fees. If they couldn’t trade off the Camilla connection with their gullible ME clients they’d have failed years ago but they continue to limp on for now.

  • Mouse says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:02

    It’s actually very similar to booking redemption flights – you just need to work out how the game works. Most of them release tables exactly x months in advance, in either daily, weekly or monthly blocks and either at midnight or at a set time during the day. If weekly/monthly blocks then on a set day of the week/month. Once you work out the pattern (some will state it on the website, others you need to check daily to work it out) it’s quite easy to get the table you want with a bit of planning. You don’t even need to call up a Tokyo call centre at 1am! (Although on the downside, no Seat Spy either! Maybe a business opportunity for an enterprising coder right there…)

  • Anthony says:

    3 Sep3 September 10:20

    We managed to get a Core booking the other night and then changed it last night. Bookings open at midnight for dates 90 days out I believe. If you have opentable open at midnight on the core booking page and then search at midnight on the dot you should find availability.

• Mjshort says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:32

  Booking Crowne Plaza for October.
  Amex £50 refund only goes to 30 Sep.

  Called reception, “they cannot take a credit card payment over the phone”.

  Any ideas please?

  • Andrew says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:36

    Visit the hotel in person to pay?

  • John says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:16

    You don’t ask them to take your payment on the phone, you ask them to charge the card on the booking.

  • Sam G says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:40

    try speak to reservations (best to call weekdays for this) and ask them if you can send a pre-authorisation form for it to be pre charged . They won’t just charge the card over the phone as they can’t dispute a chargeback

• TheOtherN says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:36

  Winter is coming… Recommendations for a brand of light, portable umbrella that isn’t made of candyfloss and will survive longer than a month or two before being torn apart by a light London gust?

  • James says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:40

    Blunt Metro is very good.

  • Pete says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:41

    Fulton has served me well

    • Ste C says:

      3 Sep3 September 10:15

      +1

  • Andrew says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:05

    What do you mean by “portable”?

    I have an amazing Totes automatic golf umbrella, it’s only a metre long to carry and now in its 16th year. It fits perfectly in my hold luggage and has served me well in blustery weather in SFO, Chicago and New York as well as Perthshire, Glasgow and London. It goes up with vigour, and does surpise some people to see a Golf umbrella spring up single handed.

    Also have a Fulton compact automotic Golf umbrella that goes down to around 40cm long – so ideal for hand luggage. It stays up by spring alone though, so not as robust in Scottish gales, but it’s never flipped inside out.

    Of course, it’s not just about the umbrella, the person wielding it must be firm and hold it properly.

    • AJA says:

      3 Sep3 September 09:29

      Not helpful to OP but I have an amazing no brand brolly I bought in Conad supermarket on the Lido in Venice back in 2012. It has a push button opener and still works brilliantly today and stands up to quite severe weather conditions. Cost me a mere €5. I wish I had bought more of them at the time. Point of the story is low cost does not always mean rubbish.

  • Andrew says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:18

    Odd as it sounds I’ve had my Benetton brolly for years whilst my wife has got through about seven cheaper umbrellas. She’s now a convert to Benetton and has commented on how it’s lasted longer than any other.

    Indestructible? No.
    Lasts longer than the equivalent time that multiple cheaper umbrellas would last? Yes.

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:40

    I brought one from Timpsons the other week, not a collapsible one, a proper one. Best brolly I have had in ages. Also came with a button that you press to shoot it open like a force field in a scifi film, strangely satisfying…

  • Cats are best says:

    3 Sep3 September 11:00

    I got one of these…

    https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KMXS2TU

    …pre-pandemic to replace flimsier one that died, seems pretty tough, ok for one person.

  • Igloo says:

    3 Sep3 September 13:56

    The Amazon Basics Automatic Travel Umbrella with Wind Vent (catchy name I know 😂) one has been surprisingly good. I’ve had mine since 2017 it hasn’t turned inside out or broken yet. However, they go out of stock quite quickly.

  • TheOtherN says:

    3 Sep3 September 15:31

    Thanks all. Fulton seems to be winning the race, and they have a sale on at the moment. Let’s see if it survives another winter.

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