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The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 20th October

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Comments (468)

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

  • Shaw West says:
    20 Oct20 October 10:31

    Looking for a placement flight out of AMS for BA. Flight out of AMS in the evening. Planning to reach AMS in one of the morning flights. Any restrictions in AMS next week regarding UK travellers as long as we are vaccinated and carry a 72 hour PCR test?

  • Ali M says:
    20 Oct20 October 10:31

    hey foks.
    someone mentioned a 10% code off Etihad flights. Any one has that that can be shared?I have googled and used the likes of STU10 to no effect

  • xcalx says:
    20 Oct20 October 10:42

    Virgin A330-300 Upper seats. I have been looking into seating for a couple and am getting conflicting descriptions of the seat alignment.

    Do the G and K seats face each other as say 2G faces 2K or is it 2G faces 3K.

    Thanks

    • Babyg says:
      20 Oct20 October 14:21

      My recommendation is to not have seats that face other (G and K seat), as they are on the right hand side of the plane and ALL G and K seats face each other and there is limited privacy, you end up looking directly at other people and vice/versa. When travelling as a couple/family on virgins 330-300 I prefer to seat behind each other in row A, as close to the front as possible (2a, 3a, 4a is ideal) . Note virgin seats have buddy dinning, and you can request your meal at the bar too.

  • Anna says:
    20 Oct20 October 10:44

    The CP Porto intern seems to be at it again. I booked a standard room for next August for 23k points per night and got offered an upgrade to the presidential suite for 64 euros pn! How likely are they to honour this? Obviously I will keep checking that the suite is for sale nearer the time …

    • Aston100 says:
      20 Oct20 October 10:50

      Wow, how much is that suite per night, on your dates?

    • Polly says:
      20 Oct20 October 10:52

      Grab it while you can

      • meta says:
        20 Oct20 October 11:02

        I had the same, but I only paid 19.5k points. Next August bank holiday. It’s only a request though. The presidential suite is going for £600+ per night.

        I got following email:

        We have received your Crowne Plaza Porto eStandby Upgrade® request.
        What’s next?
        • You will find out if you are upgraded when you arrive at the hotel.
        • If you are upgraded you will be charged the additional nightly fee shown below for your new room type.
        • If you are not upgraded you will keep your currently reserved room, and pay nothing extra.

        Now, the bigger question is whether to book with BA and whether they’ll pay me to go on holiday to Porto again?

        • Anna says:
          20 Oct20 October 11:05

          Lol, you always manage to beat me @meta! Still quite pleased as the suite is 764 euros on our travel dates. We were supposed to go for August bank holiday but had to move it forward as our original travel dates coincide with the GCSE results next year! At least we won’t be fighting over the same suite 🤣

          • meta says:
            20 Oct20 October 11:11

            I am not yet sure, I’ll stay there or go for that matter. If I don’t get the upgrade, I’d rather stay at the IC and IC will probably finish their refurbishment, so should get an upgrade to the best suite as they promised me!

          • Anna says:
            20 Oct20 October 12:42

            BP that’s a great idea, I could book it on my OH’s account so they might not make the connection!
            I know it’s not guaranteed but I’d contact them a couple of days before anyway and try and negotiate something comparable if the suite isn’t available.

        • BP says:
          20 Oct20 October 11:14

          I’d book the presidential suite on a cancellable rate and cancel just before my stay to almost guarantee the upgrade.

          • BuildBackBetter says:
            20 Oct20 October 11:17

            That’s a brilliant idea!

          • meta says:
            20 Oct20 October 11:17

            They still don’t have to give it to you even if it is available, especially if you blocked it for them they might be annoyed.

          • meta says:
            20 Oct20 October 11:19

            Just putting the following from T&C:
            eStandby Upgrades® at these substantial savings are determined at time of check-in and are not guaranteed.

          • BP says:
            20 Oct20 October 11:23

            Don’t book it in the same name. Even though they may not give you it, I think it does increase your likelihood of getting it.

          • JDB says:
            20 Oct20 October 11:34

            Presumably they make this offer to more than one person? They simply have a waiting list if the suite is free at check-in and they decide if and who to give it to?

          • meta says:
            20 Oct20 October 12:25

            Or if they have a regular they’ll give it to them. So, even if you do what @BP suggested they might not give it to you. There is absolutely nothing beneficial to book the said room for cash in advance. Even if you book under your partner’s name, it would be easily spotted by the hotel given that in Portugal they need passport details of all the guests staying in the room. It is also the sort of behaviour to get you kicked out of the rewards programme and IHG are known to kick you out for even minor transgressions.

            I’m all for tricking the system, but I certainly know where the boundaries are.

    • Mr. AC says:
      20 Oct20 October 13:02

      How did you get thee upgrade offer? Did they just e-mail it to you? I have never seen anything like this with any IHG hotel…

      • meta says:
        20 Oct20 October 13:05

        It’s showing as « estandby upgrades available » on the reservation page when you log in on the desktop version. It’s not available through the app for me.

        • BP says:
          20 Oct20 October 14:32

          I find if you click the “View more reservation details” link in the confirmation email then the eStandby offers always show.

  • James says:
    20 Oct20 October 10:47

    I know this is probably a broad question but what is thought to be the best way to use a BA Companion Voucher to get maximum value? Long/Short Haul? WT/WTP/CW/F? Thanks for any advice.

    • Polly says:
      20 Oct20 October 10:51

      CW or F if you can get it! We have used them for CE trip if no other use for one at that time. But now they are extendable under BWC, better to hold out for J or F.

    • John says:
      20 Oct20 October 10:53

      Max value is obviously saving the most avios – so SYD in F (should be possible for tourists by mid 2022)

      But max value for you is to save money on somewhere you actually want to pay to go to…

    • Rob says:
      20 Oct20 October 10:53

      Long haul premium cabin, preferably Club World for the sweet spot.

    • Harry T says:
      20 Oct20 October 10:54

      Booking flights that cost a large cash price you would actually consider paying. Usually long haul premium cabins.

  • SteveJ says:
    20 Oct20 October 11:00

    Revolut business model question.

    It’s costs them when you top up by CC, but they allow it (even presuming they may have some discounted fees with Mastercard).

    If you then spend on the card they only get debit card fees right? Which wouldn’t be high enough to cover the cost of the top up?

    (This is ignoring the MS route of bank transfer, presume normal activity).

    So how do they make any money? Or for now they’re in a revenue/customer grab so they just take the loss?

    • Char Char says:
      20 Oct20 October 11:49

      I would assume they are still in the growth stage so things like making profits on fees is second to their current agenda

    • Memesweeper says:
      20 Oct20 October 13:26

      It’s not just startups that – there’s plenty of established businesses that have parts of their product line that likely loose money. For instance, if everyone went to McDonalds, bought the cheap hamburger, didn’t get the fires, the drink, etc, they’d surely go bust. Ditto Ryanair seats without any extras.

    • John says:
      20 Oct20 October 13:34

      It’s a prepaid card, it may get more than normal debit card fees

    • Triath5 says:
      20 Oct20 October 14:23

      Revolut still charge you when you top up with a CC though, at least when I try doing it (ergo Bendy)…unless I’m missing out on something obvious.

      • Anna says:
        20 Oct20 October 14:41

        ? Which card? I’ve never been charged.

        • Nick says:
          20 Oct20 October 15:59

          As discussed in detail recently, many Curve customers have been issued commercial cards (even if they don’t realise it). Curve takes huge fees on these, then pay out much smaller ones to your underlying card provider. Sneaky, yes, and also a reason why (IMO) it won’t last.

        • Triath5 says:
          20 Oct20 October 17:41

          That’s odd! I’ve got a 2.5% levy (from Revolut) on certain cards which is why I’ve been using bendy all this time. Will check what’s going on here.

          On a side note, just been issued a new Beardy and very tempted to do some MS on it. What’s the latest on topping up Rev with it?

      • SteveJ says:
        20 Oct20 October 16:48

        You must mean your underlying card is seeing charges? Revolut don’t add on charges. Two different things

  • PaulC says:
    20 Oct20 October 11:01

    Accor Pullman and Swissotel Executive rooms that show as no breakfast included in the price, do they really not get breakfast as normally with executive lounge access it includes breakfast?

    • blenz101 says:
      20 Oct20 October 11:19

      If you have lounge access at a Pullman you will be able to get breakfast in the lounge for sure (assuming it is open). Never stayed at a Swissotel.

  • BP says:
    20 Oct20 October 11:19

    I was successful with a Marriott BRG claim on the Sheraton Grand Dubai. Ended up at £94 a night including breakfast in December which feels like a good result! Just for a few nights before moving to Jumeirah DAM for 8 nights.

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