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The HfP chat thread – Friday 17th September

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Comments (588)

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

  • Anna says:
    17 Sep17 September 10:35

    Off to the Doubletree Majestic later, (Yorkshire-born) OH just put him swim trunks back in the drawer when I told him it was £15 for a swim. The reviews have been getting steadily worse so we’ll see! It seems to be sold out tomorrow (wedding?) at least so I’m prepared for the full Fawlty Towers experience on the service side.

    • Keely says:
      17 Sep17 September 10:40

      Ha Anna this made me laugh . I’m originally from Yorkshire and my lovely dad would have definitely put his trunks back in the drawer ! Hope it’s nicer than you expect …,

      • Anna says:
        17 Sep17 September 10:52

        Thanks Keely! The stay is on points and we’re going to use the £200 Amex offer at The Ivy (with the Yorkshire in-laws lol) so it’s going to be such a cheap weekend I can cope with a less than 5* experience!

      • DarrenS says:
        17 Sep17 September 14:20

        Anna
        We have stayed twice this year. Great building and location. Service a bit hit and miss, which I think was mainly due to a lot of new staff. Whether they actually charge for parking is hit and miss also!

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:34

      Any hotel with the word Majestic in the name should not be trusted one bit

    • Barnaby100 says:
      17 Sep17 September 15:59

      It’s the flooring show. Starts Sunday

  • Ryan says:
    17 Sep17 September 10:35

    Ordered a day 2 & 8 test from 01 Harley Street for £20.. was one of only a couple that I could actually book for £20 – I couldn’t believe just how many £20 ‘walk in’ options are available?!

    Does anyone know the % of people who actually go here? Clearly £20 would not cover sending 2 tests off, but if everyone went they would lose a lot

    Surprised the walk in centres aren’t more remote to ‘dissuade’ people actually taking it…

    • Tracey says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:19

      You know it is still a self swab!
      I just looked and could only see Bristol site as available.

      • Ryan says:
        17 Sep17 September 11:26

        Yes but I would imagine the majority won’t bother going

        So what if its Bristol… you get the code for the PLF anyway

        • Tracey says:
          17 Sep17 September 11:36

          Just buying codes does nothing to stem the spread of covid. Even if the system doesn’t work as well as people like, it does work to some extent.

          • Ryan says:
            17 Sep17 September 11:48

            it doesn’t but it does get you into the country for £20, which a lot of people are happy with.

            Personally, I’m happy to pay £20 instead of £59 any day of the week, some wouldn’t and that’s also perfectly fine

          • Rob says:
            17 Sep17 September 12:32

            Doing a postal PCR test which takes 3-5 days to get you a result does nothing to stop the spread of covid either 🙂

          • Ryan says:
            17 Sep17 September 12:37

            That’s assuming you actually do get a result from the test…

          • davefl says:
            17 Sep17 September 14:38

            None of this does anything to stop it.

            I got pinged by T&T SMS 8 days after returning from Iceland because of a “close contact” which would only have been someone sitting within a few rows on the easyjet flight home. (seat number on the PLF would have been the only way they’d have known)

            8 ****ing days…. seriously. And all I got was a message to self isolate for the next 2 day. Pointless.

  • Steve R says:
    17 Sep17 September 10:40

    Been looking at booking Dub to Bos UC using my Virgin Miles. I have come across this anomaly when looking at the individual legs as against return
    5th April Dub Bos with Delta 50,000 miles 170 euros
    12th April Bos Dub 50000 & $6

    If I do it as a return 100,000 & 310 euros

    Is this just how it works or is it a flaw in Virgins IT systems. I even phoned them up & they didn’t seem to know the answer

    • ChrisC says:
      17 Sep17 September 10:56

      Have a look at the detailed fare breakdown of all 3 options and that will show what extra is being applied when it’s booked as a return.

    • lumma says:
      17 Sep17 September 10:57

      It’s just another anomaly like booking a return to Hong Kong v two one ways

      • Rob says:
        17 Sep17 September 12:38

        It’s not an error, it’s just ‘how it works’.

        Delta has a taxes schedule for flights originating in the UK and a taxes schedule for flights originating in the US (as does BA actually).

        Booking a return from the UK puts both flights on the first schedule. Booking 2 x oneways prices one flight off each schedule.

  • Josh says:
    17 Sep17 September 10:42

    Follow up to my previous Q regarding Spain Travel Health form:

    My wife has her middle name in her passport and when it reached the Vaccinations details, I also included her full name (also on all documentation usually)

    However after submitting the details, I have just realised upon checking her NHS app that it doesnt have her middle name.

    Is this going to be a problem for us? I am unable to change the name to remove it. It for example, says Jane Doe Smith on her passport + NHS app, but on the actualy QR screen of the NHS vaccine proof, it just says Jane Smith

    • stevenhp1987 says:
      17 Sep17 September 10:52

      We’ve been to spain twice this year.

      We never even entered our middle names onto the form. In your case I would just enter Jane Smith into the form.

      We had our holidays just fine. I’ll say you’ll be OK.

      • Anna says:
        17 Sep17 September 10:53

        +1, also been to Spain twice this summer and no issue with this.

      • Josh says:
        17 Sep17 September 11:16

        The problem is I already entered the middle name and now we cannot change it.

        So I’m asking if that is going to be an issue, not whether I should remove it or not, as I can’t now

        • Sam G says:
          17 Sep17 September 11:27

          When I went recently the QR code was briefly checked at the gate and then scanned by a separate person in Spain after luggage collection who didn’t look at my passport. So no one would have noticed the name being completely wrong let alone a middle name. + Spain has its own quirks with family names so they’ll be used to this, really wouldn’t worry about it!

    • PaulC says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:06

      Off the back of this, its just reminded me that my wife still travels on her maiden name passport (Not changed it due to cost – tight arse) I’d not thought about filling in forms and NHS app/vaccine not matching.
      Has anyone experienced this scenario?
      We are due to fly to Majorca 1st Oct.

      • Sam G says:
        17 Sep17 September 11:28

        I’ve seen recent reports that it’s OK if you travel with the marriage certificate as well (+ see above, no one really did any close checking of anything other than checking you had roughly the correct looking QR codes!)

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:
        17 Sep17 September 11:29

        I think the important thing is the SpTH form matches your vaccination documents so use the married name on that. You will want some proof though of the name change so take the marriage certificate too. If she has photo ID with her married surname on have that to hand too.

        I don’t know if Spanish people change their surname when married (in Italy they usually don’t) but even if they don’t they’re probably aware that many countries do.

      • pauline says:
        17 Sep17 September 13:26

        My daughters passport is in maiden name and everything else in married. She took her marriage certificate with her but wasn’t asked for it (Madeira). Probably best to take though just in case

    • Tracey says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:28

      Wasn’t a problem for us and we did the same. The NHS vaccine certificates in England won’t show middle names, even if your GPP record has your middle name.

      • Yuff says:
        17 Sep17 September 11:42

        I’ve been to and from Mallorca this month and neither country checked any info, Ryanair in Mallorca checked to see if I had a plf but didn’t check the info

    • Dave says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:56

      Just start a new form if concerned

  • r* says:
    17 Sep17 September 10:57

    Does anyone have any recommendations for hotels in Toronto? Not looking for RC/4S level as probably wont be in the room a huge amount, are either of the Hiltons any good?

    • Andrew says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:15

      There were some eye-catching options for a flight and hotel deal at the Royal York on BA Holidays.

    • Tracey says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:41

      Le Germain Toronto.

    • Degsy says:
      17 Sep17 September 12:42

      +1 for Royal York (Fairmont), but go Deluxe or Signature if you can, way bigger. Great location too.

    • Sandra says:
      17 Sep17 September 13:12

      Westin Harbour Castle was nice when we stayed a couple of years ago, fronts onto the Lake. Rooms were spacious and comfortable and staff and service good.

    • The Canuck says:
      17 Sep17 September 15:19

      Highly recommend Le Germain Maple Leaf Square. My go to in YYZ, pretty cheap and always had fantastic experiences. Plus it’s convenient to see the Leafs play if you’re a masochist

  • BuildBackBetter says:
    17 Sep17 September 11:12

    Marriott Bonvoy points – can a couple combine their points and use them to transfer to an airline? Are there any restrictions on the usage of combined points?

  • WearyTraveller says:
    17 Sep17 September 11:14

    I just requested a booking cancellation and an eVoucher for a flight to Turkey. Want to use it for a BA holiday booking instead to get double tier points.

    How long does it take for a booking to get cancelled and the eVoucher to arrive?

    • WearyTraveller says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:24

      Oh never mind, it arrived in 30 minutes 🙂 So i should be able to use it now.

    • Rich says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:32

      I think you have to pay the deposit for a BA Holiday by card, then you can use an eVoucher over the phone to pay the balance.

      • WearyTraveller says:
        17 Sep17 September 11:34

        Nice thanks that’s a good advice. Better than calling and doing it all over the phone which could be a pain.

  • Bearing up says:
    17 Sep17 September 11:35

    Have taken Virgin CC+ subsequent to Tesco dropping Avios.
    Limit applied is £7600, 1st transaction yesterday was £6500 to cover holiday and there’s still the rest of month to get through. Clearly I’ll lose the extra points owing to limit but will benefit from fx abroad.
    Rang CS to request increased limit to at least match Tesco, £12000. Offered any documentation they needed to support increase. Have BAPP limit £19k. Always cleared ccs since 1st card held in Aug 1971!
    Told them I have to settle large family holiday in Dec/jan at £16k and will again lose points, c 18k for these transactions alone.
    CS very professional and totally unmoved. Requested I reapply in 6months and not gteed it’ll be increased even then.
    Considering splitting costs with my Tesco card to get something out of this.
    Can’t understand Virgin reluctance to even consider matching if evidence provided. Is this always the case?

    • Rui N. says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:46

      For a CC provider, having other cards with high credit limit is an indication that they should give you a lower credit limit, not higher. We are not average users and so they assume that if you have £40k+ in credit exposure there is a possibility that you will spend it all in one month and then stop paying altogether.

    • Memesweeper says:
      17 Sep17 September 11:58

      I have no inside knowledge of Virgin but things that can help before asking in sox months might include
      – removing unused lines of credit (or reducing high limits)
      – using the Virgin card a lot
      – keeping utilisation on other cards well below the limit

      Telling them you never borrow and have high limits elsewhere is probably the exact opposite of what might make you sound profitable…

    • Rui N. says:
      17 Sep17 September 13:02

      Also, despite Virgin telling you (and everyone) that they can revise your credit limite after 6 months, that’s a lie. The deadline is 6 statements, so after you get your 6th statement you can request an increase. If you request 6 months after opening the account, it will be denied.

    • Jonathan says:
      17 Sep17 September 18:46

      You cost Virgin money on every transaction if you don’t run a balance/pay interest. They also got rinsed in the early days with MS’ers cycling multiples of credit limit so understandably they’re a little more cautious with credit limits than Amex etc.

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