The HfP chat thread – Friday 24th September

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General

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Babyg says:

24 Sep24 September 11:07

Anybody have an Lisbon hotel recommendations, hilton/marriot/melia look bleak(too business like), budget is around £150, dont want to be too far from train station, but flexible…
- Rich says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 11:11
  
  The Moxy is great, and new. It’s a metro from the city centre, rather than a walk though.
  
  Which train station? If it’s Oriente, the Tryp at the airport is fantastic – way above what I was expecting, and treated very well as a gold. Fantastic breakfast.
  - Babyg says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 11:18
    
    thanks Rich, ill check them out!
- BP says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 11:31
  
  I got One Palacio for £120 on Agoda – special price when logged in. Was a massive bargain as included breakfast, a room upgrade and free cocktail. They gave me a double upgrade.
  
  I loved the hotel and at £150 would be worth it.
  
  The price I got did include the HSBC WE 10% off.
  - Babyg says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 12:10
    
    cheers BP
- Lula says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 11:37
  
  Might be too business like for you, but we really liked the Intercontinental in Lisbon. H10 also nice.
  - Babyg says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 12:10
    
    cheers Lula
- Benilyn says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 12:55
  
  Stayed in the CR7 hotel, it was ok, paid EUR117 in March 19, good location, Pestana CR7 Lisboa
  - ankomonkey says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 13:56
    
    This is why HfP is so good. I had no idea that there are CR7 hotels. I will check this out as I suspect (before looking) that my kids would simply love this type of place.
    
    Thanks Benilyn 🙂
- Blair says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 15:09
  
  Tivoli on a 3 for 2 FHR
- Tom1 says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 21:31
  
  Taxis in Lisbon are very cheap. My longest ride was 25 mins (10km) from Belem back to hotel (for Pasteis) and it cost 5 eur.
  
  I stayed at moxy – and liked it, good to have the pool. They gave me free breakfast as gold, but I wouldn’t pay for it otherwise.
  
  A bit further out – 7-8 mins walk from the top of the Liberdade (and metro). I looked at the One palacio and the H10, but were more expensive.
  
  For restaurants, try JNCQuoi Asia on Liberdade. Also liked the TimeOut Market.
Reney says:

24 Sep24 September 11:11

Just got an email from PAW, 20 wow points for Lululemon, ends Sunday. Should stack nicely with the spend £100 get back £20 amex offer.
- Sina says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 11:21
  
  Thanks!
Nigel says:

24 Sep24 September 11:19

Re check in and bag drop at T5 arrivals lounge – has anyone done this recently? Is it better than the usual departures level?
- HH says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 12:13
  
  It’s a novelty, it’s not better. I wouldn’t choose to do it again tbh.
- Keely says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 12:18
  
  I’ve done it and will do it again . It’s useful to me (there was no-one else there so took 5 mins) but I live very close and have free parking. I probably wouldn’t bother otherwise .
- Harley says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 13:28
  
  My Friend on the same flight as me did it as he arrived 15 mins earlier than me, when i arrived they said it was no longer available i think staff may have gone on lunch so its a bit hit and miss
Paul says:

24 Sep24 September 11:31

Re. Non refundable IHG rates, is payment taken at time of booking? I have £70 left to spend to trigger the £50 statement credit from the current Amex offer by 30th Sept, however no requirement for a stay before then. I’ve found with Marriott and Hilton that they are shy to take payment in advance
- Ste C says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 11:36
  
  I pre booked a holiday inn for December that said it would need a deposit of the full amount back in August. Money still hasnt been taken.
- John says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 11:44
  
  Every hotel is different and takes the payment when they feel like it. Could be any time from overnight to the day before to check-in to check out. Call the hotel if you want them to take it now.
  - Aston100 says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 11:57
    
    I still haven’t had payment taken from me for a stay in late 2019.
    And yes, I did remind them once.
    - Paul says:
      
      24 Sep24 September 13:00
      
      Lucky you! IHG?
  - Paul says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 13:01
    
    Calling them to ask isn’t as easy as it was once was, or at least was recently the case W/Marriott. They would not charge the card on file unless I completed a lengthy pre authorisation form.
Gary says:

24 Sep24 September 12:05

Would like to confirm understanding re CEDR vs MCOL. CEDR slower, but nominal fee only. MCOL quicker but more costly. Both as robust and impartial as each other? Any other points to consider?

Some additional questions:
Both CEDR and MCOL require the applicant to state compensation. Spoken to TL – any flight only booking needs to be paid upfront which is ok although not ideal. Compensation to be claimed for these fully flex tix will be very high and not sure this would be considered reasonable by adjudicator or judge is a concern. Any alternative options to base the compensation on? (eg. screen shot of prices on day of application would that be acceptable?). If going CEDR route, can one just request adjudicator, if he/she is agreeable, to instruct BA to re-route us via QR beyond one year ticket validity (which is all we want really) and not state a compensation in the claim to get around this?

Background: 4 seats in club LHR BKK booked in Nov 19 for summer 2020 using two 2-4-1 vouchers expiring Jan & Apr 2022. Flights cancelled by BA – we want to fly summer 2021 when BA has no flights so req re-route via QR.
- Anna says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 13:39
  
  Lady London might be along soon, however you’re not asking for compensation here, what you want is re-routing/reimbursement. I think you have a reasonable chance of winning as you’re asking for like for like (same route/time of year). Next summer is some time off so in your position I would be asking that BA arranges your replacement flights on an airline of their choosing – which will probably be QR as it’s a partner airline. That way you haven’t got the stress of paying up front and you look like the reasonable party in all this.
  - Anna says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 14:02
    
    Assume you mean you want to travel summer 2022!
    - Gary says:
      
      24 Sep24 September 14:26
      
      Thanks Anna. Sorry yes I meant flights booked Nov 2020 for travel in Summer 2021 which was cancelled by BA, so we would like to travel summer 2022.
      - Memesweeper says:
        
        24 Sep24 September 15:21
        
        Select fares are refundable and much cheaper than full flex. If I was going to MCOL for the cost of an Avios equivalent, it would be for those. I believe Amex travel sell them.
RussC says:

24 Sep24 September 12:14

https://www.austintexas.gov/news/british-airways-resumes-austin-london-service

BA resumes Austin flights October 13th. Come on Joe – sort a date!
Aston100 says:

24 Sep24 September 12:23

When attempting to use my new Revolut virtual card to make an online payment, the merchant site gives an error message about checking the card details.
Was fine with previous virtual card.
Revolut support will probably respond in a few days with irrelevant information, so thought I’d check here in the meanwhile if this is a known issue with a workaround.

Thanks.
- Rich says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 12:39
  
  I would try the virtual card at another merchant/ or the real card at that merchant to see if it’s your account that’s blocked for some reason.
  
  Have you checked in the PIN and security section in the app – online purchases allowed?
  - Aston100 says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 13:06
    
    Thanks. No joy.
    Amazingly Revolut support just responded to me after only a couple of hours. They feel the problem is with all the different sites I have tried the virtual card on, and that the virtual card is fine.
    
    This pretty much sums up the level of incompetence that Revolut as a whole demonstrate.
    - Yorkie Aid says:
      
      24 Sep24 September 13:13
      
      Have you tried using a “one time” VC?
  - Andrew H says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 13:36
    
    Rich (this is mad rich?) have emailed you for referral link for Revolut.. check your junk (email that is)
    - Rich says:
      
      24 Sep24 September 13:43
      
      Just found it in junk! Thanks for the bump – replying now.
      - Andrew H says:
        
        24 Sep24 September 14:03
        
        All done – your mail went to junk as well. Have replied…
Simon says:

24 Sep24 September 12:25

If you pay to upgrade a cash ticket but later decide to take a FTV does it include the upgrade fee does anyone know?