The HfP chat thread – Monday 18th October

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• Russ says:

  18 Oct18 October 14:29

  Can some one point me in the right direction how to best use Hilton’s slider. I’m a bit short for a redemption but it isn’t telling me how many points are outstanding. Instead it’s telling me how much cash is needed to make up the redemption. There’ s no need for me to buy points at this stage but I was wondering if there’s a recognized sweet spot along the slider everyone’s aiming for? Thanks.

  • Anna says:

    18 Oct18 October 16:03

    I’ve never found the points & cash option to be good value. You already know the points price of the full redemption though so not sure what you’re asking?

  • John says:

    18 Oct18 October 20:02

    There’s no sweet spot because it’s proportional. It’s similar to BA’s part pay with avios.

    The old system prior to 2017 was better as it was effectively buying the additional HH points at a very good rate. Similar to BA’s normal redemptions where you have options to pay more and use fewer avios – but with BA the rate is awful.

    If you want to see the normal redemption price with Hilton when you have insufficient points in your account, you have to do it while logged out.

• AL says:

  18 Oct18 October 14:29

  I used to use Privium at AMS but notice that it is no more for UK passport holders due to Brexit complications – https://www.schiphol.nl/en/page/brexit-and-privium/.

  AMS queues can be awful, especially during transit.

  Any known alternatives?

• Mark says:

  18 Oct18 October 14:34

  Is Curve still any useful? Guessing it wouldn’t work with HSBC WEMC and Hargreaves?

  • Matt says:

    18 Oct18 October 15:19

    Wondering which other sites Mark might have been posting on since 6.27 this morning 😉

• JRC says:

  18 Oct18 October 14:35

  Having originally discussed on here about Canary Islands vs Malta for a 5 nights in first week of January, now looking at Dubai to take advantage of the double tier points promo on BAH. Any recommendations for All Inclusive resorts in Dubai? the reviews on tripadvisor seem to indicate some of the hotels do all inclusive but have lots of hidden charges/things that are not included or restaurants you can’t eat at. TIA!

• Chrism20 says:

  18 Oct18 October 14:47

  BPMe/Avios

  It would appear there is some kind of promotion at the moment.

  Everytime I’ve swiped my card for the last ten days it’s added on 50 bonus BPMe points.

  Not sure how long it lasts for or if it’s targeted but it appears to be working for fuel and shop purchases.

  • Lady London says:

    18 Oct18 October 14:56

    D*mn it I’m travelling.
    Have you been in there every day for the past 10 days then :-). More than 1 time a day might blow it.

    • Chrism20 says:

      18 Oct18 October 15:54

      At least seven of the last ten days. It’s a five minute walk from the house and the nearest other shop is uphill

  • TGLoyalty says:

    18 Oct18 October 15:31

    Card can finally be added to apple wallet now too

• Elizabeth Wright says:

  18 Oct18 October 14:57

  Ireland has now opened up registration of UK vaccinations on their website for Irish Passport holders. I am having trouble registering my certificate downloaded from the NHS website, as apparently the Irish website does not recognise the QR code. On the web chat the guy noted that I need to use Edge or Chrome, and clear cookies and try again. Tried all of the above, and it still doesn’t work. Anyone having the same issue? How have you resolved it? Want to avoid calling a call centre to deal with it.

  • Sukes says:

    18 Oct18 October 15:14

    I assume you are submitting a GB issued Covid cert. I applied at the start of the month with a NI issued Covid cert when the system had just launched (it was NI only then, now it’s NI + GB). Basically I wasted 5 days trying to get the website to accept my QR code; I must have tried 20+ times in various iterations. Over those 5 days they changed the upload instructions 3 times. The problem is entirely on their end, I have no doubt, & eventually they’ll fix it.

    I think when I did get it to work it was with Safari, Chrome didn’t work. When they do eventually fix it you’ll get a ‘success’ message on the screen and the EU certificate will be sent via email as a pdf just after midnight. Check it carefully – they issued three to my family that all had the wrong vaccination dates. That took another hour on the phone to manually fix. All very Irish : )

    I would ring again, state categorically that the system is not working, that you know this was also the case at the start of Oct with the NI issued QR codes. My guess is their IT will eventually fix it over next 2-3 days.

    • Elizabeth Wright says:

      18 Oct18 October 15:19

      Thank-you. That’s grand. Love that they issued with the wrong date. Classic. I will use my great sense of perseverance and keep going!

      • Soloflyer1977 says:

        18 Oct18 October 17:07

        I requested mine at 4pm yesterday and it arrived just after midnight (8 hrs later). It was all completed on my mobile (Chrome brower). Downloaded my NHS Covid Cert pdf from the NHS app and added it to the application. Very straightforward indeed…for me anyway!

• LewisB says:

  18 Oct18 October 14:59

  Has anybody got any tips for luggage storage nearby ORD? I’ll be flying into ORD from MSP EARLY AM and not flying back (on a different ticket) until 20.30 in the evening on BA CW. I’ll have a bulky item which won’t help things. Bounce seems to have some good options but they all close around 3 PM as it’s a Sunday which is a bit too early really. Apparently, the connected Hilton won’t even accept bags for a hefty fee. Any advice?

  • CH says:

    18 Oct18 October 15:07

    Are you flying on AA? If so, see if they will through-check the bags. My experience with AA in the US has generally been good on checking through bags, even if on separate tickets. If not, check what time the BA checkin opens. As BA and AA will codeshare, you might even be able to check-in early with AA in ORD, particularly as you are in CW (and can thus go to a premium service desk).

    • LewisB says:

      18 Oct18 October 15:14

      Currently, on Delta arriving at 09.10 am booked using FlyingBlue miles. The first BA flight is 17.00, so presume check-in would open around mid-day to 13.00 so too late. No AA reward bookings were available.

      • CH says:

        18 Oct18 October 15:27

        It might be worth rebooking on AA, if that is an option. Or, as mentioned, try to persuade AA to take your bags for the BA flight (the MSP groundstaff could definitely do that).

        • Nick says:

          18 Oct18 October 18:37

          AA will not be able to check you in for a BA flight unless it’s on a connection – their Sabre system won’t talk to Amadeus in this case. But the solution here is VERY easy… just don’t collect the bags from the carousel. Airline staff will keep it for you, just go back before the BA flight and ask for it. So many bags travel without their owners in the US that it’s hugely common for them to have bags lying around – it’s the very definition of organised chaos. US domestic bag claims are open to everyone as well, so you won’t even need escorting back in. Should go without saying, but make sure you keep your claim check as they will verify this against the bag tags before releasing them.

        • Joe says:

          18 Oct18 October 19:49

          If you do the one below, bear in mind that delta is terminal 2 and ba terminal 5 at O’Hare and it’s quite a bis ride (not sure if transit still closed). Of you can rebook onto one of the aa services (they all have ba flight numbers and their 787s are pretty nice) you can drop your bags anytime upstairs in terminal 3.

  • John says:

    18 Oct18 October 21:38

    If there’s a Hilton, you could try booking a room on a day rate – simply set both the arrival and the departure to be the same day. It’ll be mega expensive but you can store yourself (in addition to the luggage) for a while in the room…

• Andy D says:

  18 Oct18 October 15:12

  We have a 2-4-1 expiring Feb, and another expiring May. We’d actually like to do a four person Avios trip in March. We can use the 2-4-1->FTV conversion route to make the February voucher useful for this, but in order to use two vouchers in the ultimate booking, do we need to make the sacrificial cancelled booking using both vouchers or just one?

  • SteveJ says:

    18 Oct18 October 15:37

    You’ll need to call to use the FTV anyway. No need to lock the 2nd voucher, they can deal with it all on the phone when booking

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