The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 5th October

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• Bach says:

  5 Oct5 October 10:38

  Does Amex self referral still works?

  • Harry T says:

    5 Oct5 October 10:40

    Probably but not recommended.

  • Rhys says:

    5 Oct5 October 10:48

    It works but self referrers have been shut down in the USA so I advise against it. I can give you a referral if you need one.

    • CarpalTravel says:

      5 Oct5 October 10:59

      ^^^ Do This.

      Much safer for you and helps support this fine site. 👍

      • Dayle says:

        5 Oct5 October 12:12

        Open a Biz account and refer yourself from there

        • Memesweeper says:

          5 Oct5 October 12:38

          I really wouldn’t if you value your future with Amex

        • CarpalTravel says:

          5 Oct5 October 15:46

          That’d likely be even worse. Might as well stick a flashing light on your account.

• Duster says:

  5 Oct5 October 10:41

  Haven’t seen this posted before. For aviation geeks: urban exploring of BA’s abandoned Cranebank training centre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxdfdIQgMKk

  • Memesweeper says:

    5 Oct5 October 12:47

    Good grief! There’s an abandoned flight sim in there!

• Bobri says:

  5 Oct5 October 10:45

  Is getting 5 quid back for Deliveroo Plus paid by Amex Gold still a thing?

  • Rhys says:

    5 Oct5 October 10:46

    It’s a permanent benefit

  • Polly says:

    5 Oct5 October 10:55

    And can be donated to a charity meal, if it costs you more to use it, like it did us!

  • Rich says:

    5 Oct5 October 11:17

    You have to opt in. It’s not clear, and not easy to find. I had to ask CS to do it because the link didn’t work, obviously

• Chas says:

  5 Oct5 October 10:50

  Quick question on Paris hotels: has anyone got any views as to whether the Hilton Opera or the Maison Astor (Curio by Hilton) are better? Pictures of the later seem like it has been refurbed more recently, but the former has a lounge (is it any good?). Both seem similar prices for when I’m planning a trip, but am also seriously considering the Indigo – Opera purely because of a 2 bed duplex suite they have available for not a huge amount more, which could nicely suit us as a family of 4.

  • Chas says:

    5 Oct5 October 10:52

    Should have said I’m only Hilton Gold for the first two, and Spire Ambassador for the later. Will (hopefully) book through Emyr for his benefits.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    5 Oct5 October 11:09

    It’s unlikely Gold will get you anything the size of a 2 bed duplex ?

    Order breakfast in via one of the apps if you don’t feel like venturing out with kids and indigo don’t give you a deal.

    • Chas says:

      5 Oct5 October 11:39

      You’re completely right with your first comment. We’re very tempted to go for the duplex, but was looking for experiences as to whether the Hilton Opera or Maison Astor would be the better second choice if we decided not to spend the extra money on it. Sorry – I wasn’t clear.

  • Reney says:

    5 Oct5 October 11:15

    I stayed at Maison Astor at the end of Aug for one night. Redeeming a free night, and I’m Gold. The room wasn’t big and was awkwardly shaped, the bathroom is tiny. I was third floor facing the internal atrium so it was quite dark. The staff was nice. The restaurant where breakfast was is very nice and the breakfast was really good. It is a little further away from the Opera station. I was also choosing between the two you said, the better tripadvisor reviews swung it for me, and I was only staying one night.

    I followed that stay with Kimpton St Honore which I loved!

    • Chas says:

      5 Oct5 October 11:44

      I was hoping that the Kimpton would fit my budget, but sadly it doesn’t for this trip. We’re going to be going for 5 nights, so pokey rooms wouldn’t be great (although I know this is fairly standard for Paris….). Can you recall what type of room you had? The pictures of the deluxe king room seem like it is a reasonable size (compared with the pictures of the classic room), but annoyingly they don’t mention the square meterage of any room type.

      • Reney says:

        5 Oct5 October 12:31

        I booked the classic room, I think that is what you get when you book using a free night voucher – the most basic. I did get an upgrade but no idea what I was upgraded to i.e a better grade room or better room in the same grade.

  • Genghis says:

    5 Oct5 October 11:35

    We stayed at Hilton Opera a few years ago as diamonds. Got decent upgrade and lounge was nice but busy: the whole leg of Spanish ham in the evening was great.

  • Michael C says:

    5 Oct5 October 12:01

    We had a great stay at the Hilton Opera a couple of Xmases ago. Room pretty but v snug (3 of us) but decent bathroom and view over the square. As Genghis said, nice lounge, snacks def. worth eating! The public/bar areas downstairs are gorgeous.
    More than anything, the location was key for us, as it was a short G. Lafayette/Opera/Hôtel de Ville Xmas market trip, so we could walk everywhere.

    • Chas says:

      5 Oct5 October 12:16

      Can you remember what room type you had? We would probably be looking at a Deluxe (assuming that Emyr can either get us separate lounge access, or a guaranteed upgrade to an exec room). I can’t bank on any “if available” upgrades like Genghis probably got with Diamond, as my Gold status won’t get me anything over xmas / NY when I expect them to be very busy. Will have to get 2x rooms to accommodate us all, so perhaps less snug the you had, but with a 5 night stay I don’t want anything too cramped.

• Anna says:

  5 Oct5 October 10:50

  IHG dynamic pricing (even more important now!) IC Boston at the end of March was 61k points, then 51k, now 42k. It pays to keep checking!

• Nathan says:

  5 Oct5 October 10:51

  Hi would anyone please know if a day two test that was ordered on time but delivered on day three would be eligible for a refund?

  Many thanks

  • Anna says:

    5 Oct5 October 10:54

    Depends on the Ts and Cs of whoever you bought it from. I think some people have done chargeback. Though in reality, nothing is going to happen if you take the test on day 3!

    • Nathan says:

      5 Oct5 October 11:05

      Thank you for the reply.I bought the test from Qured so will check their Ts and Cs.I would have taken the test anyway on day three but now I’m away for work again.

      Many thanks.

  • Tracey says:

    5 Oct5 October 11:45

    To a certain degree, you were buying the test for the code to use on the plf to get back into the country, so have had use of the product.
    I doubt day 3 would be considered sufficient for a refund.

• RTS says:

  5 Oct5 October 10:51

  Thinking of hitting up Jordan this year. Does anyone know what the weather is like in November/December?

  Cheers

  • Sprout says:

    5 Oct5 October 10:59

    You might want to double check your dates – I think she’s due in court in December 🙂

    • CarpalTravel says:

      5 Oct5 October 11:02

      Definitely would want to be tested before returning home….

      • Aston100 says:

        5 Oct5 October 12:02

        Hilarious

    • Michael C says:

      5 Oct5 October 12:08

      In December, I’m guessing Jordan would be a bit nippy.

      • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

        5 Oct5 October 18:14

        You could have your eye out on them!

  • fivebobbill says:

    5 Oct5 October 11:42

    Been to Aqaba twice in November and the weather has been absolutely beautiful, sunny, prefect temperature, and an ideal location for exploring Wadi Rum/Petra etc…

    • Blenz101 says:

      5 Oct5 October 11:46

      Does continue to drop in December and snow can occur. Average is maybe 5-15oC but like the U.K. could vary outside of this range.

• Polly says:

  5 Oct5 October 10:52

  Q for paying euros to french notaire. Is there any payment facility that would allow us to use our Amex. WISE, we used HSBC WE for the 1st instalment. Even w card fee it was cheaper than ones mentioned on here. BRITLINE more, even w/out card fee, weird. Would love to get a couple of Bonvoy free nights, even tho not great value here. But are in Asia. TIA for any ideas.

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