The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 20th October

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• Junior says:

  20 Oct20 October 11:21

  Unusual question – but does anyone know if the Doubletree New York Times Square SOUTH still exists? I hope so, because I have a reservation there in a couple of weeks. But it doesn’t seem to appear on any maps, and a bit of googling seems to suggest it’s become an IHG. But I have a reservation with Hilton, it’s all very odd.

  Obviously I’ll contact Hilton directly when the chat opens, but thought I’d check if anyone here had any knowledge…

  • Rui N. says:

    20 Oct20 October 11:26

    Apparently it just opened last month: https://www.hospitalitynet.org/announcement/41007009/doubletree-by-hilton-times-square-south.html
    That might be the reason it still doesn’t show in many places. It was a Radisson before.

    • Junior says:

      20 Oct20 October 11:31

      Ah wonderful, thanks so much.

• Amy C says:

  20 Oct20 October 11:41

  Thought I’d already posted this but can’t find it anywhere. Apologies if it’s already here.
  Has anyone had any joy of getting a refund or voucher out of Hotels.com with a non refundable booking? Thought I’d read Rob said he had but might have dreamt this. Booked Marrakesh two days ago for coming Monday and now looks like all flights to/from UK are suspended.
  Failing that I’m a supp holder on Plat Amex but booked on my BA Amex, would that likely pay out you reckon?

  • blenz101 says:

    20 Oct20 October 11:46

    Call them. If you have status with them they have always been very flexible with me, a scripted “as a loyal gold member on this occassion I am able to offer a cancellation”.

    They will speak with the hotel, if the hotel is willing to move or cancel then hotels.com will do the same.

    If you get nowhere with hotels.com then you can try directly with the hotel.

    If that fails you are down to travel insurance.

  • Paul says:

    20 Oct20 October 12:17

    Have twice been refunded after free Cancellation deadline, their customer service has been excellent for me calling hotel and negotiating the refund. I’m Hotels.com silver if it makes any difference I’m not sure

  • Memesweeper says:

    20 Oct20 October 13:28

    I’m Gold and had to cancel a non-refundable booking after an isolation order from HMG. Got it refunded. Not assured, of course, but you may as well ask.

• WaynedP says:

  20 Oct20 October 11:42

  Discount code discovered on APCOA parking app today states 20% off orders over £80 with code AF2080 for Savile Row Company excludes clearance, made-to-measure & reduced to clear, ends 31 Oct.

  Not sure if that would stack with the “spend £300+, get £100 back” offer for 40 Savile Row on my Amex BAPP. They are all part of the same company.

• Liz says:

  20 Oct20 October 11:56

  Today is the last day for topping up your Tesco Christmas Saver for the £12 bonus. I have never done this before and can’t remember how it works and I can’t see from the FAQ what happens to the points you earn from the quarter. If I add £200 today I get that back with vouchers and £12 of vouchers to spend in store but what happens to the £50 I’ve earned this quarter??? Do they still sit in my account for using with other partners?
  Thanks

  • Genghis says:

    20 Oct20 October 12:28

    After the statement is generated, you get vouchers to the amount you paid in, it seems in denominations or £16.50 – £17.50, something like that (valid for 2 years), the voucher for any bonus (up to £12, valid until end of Jan IIRC), plus you get the points accrued in the quarter turned into vouchers (valid for 2 years).

  • TGLoyalty says:

    20 Oct20 October 13:52

    The Xmas bonus vouchers have denoted as such and can only be used in tesco. your standard points are posted as standard vouchers which can be used as per normal.

• dean says:

  20 Oct20 October 12:28

  I’ve just got a new Premium plus 2 for 1 voucher and also have 2 of the old vouchers in my account. I’d like to book for 4 people and take advantage of the extra availability, it looks like I can book for 4 using 1 voucher but no way to combine an old and new voucher together, has anyone managed to do this? (either online or via the call center)?

  The seats I want arent available with the old voucher, only the new one

  • Harry T says:

    20 Oct20 October 12:34

    You can’t combine the old and new vouchers in a single booking, based on my recall of Rob’s recent article on the new companion vouchers.

    • Rob says:

      20 Oct20 October 12:41

      Correct. Would need to pay ‘full’ for 3 seats.

  • meta says:

    20 Oct20 October 12:35

    Can’t combine old and new in one booking and you can’t access extra availability with the old voucher. You could try first and see if two seats are available with the old voucher, then go and book with a new one. You can always call and cancel for no charge within 24hr.

    • meta says:

      20 Oct20 October 12:36

      Sorry I meant book two with the old voucher, then book separately with the new voucher.

    • dean says:

      20 Oct20 October 12:40

      I dont think that will work as I need to be a passenger on each of those 2 bookings if booked seperately. Usually with 2 vouchers you can book for 4 people if all booked together.

      • Anna says:

        20 Oct20 October 12:48

        What’s the route? I’m finding availability with the new voucher is decidedly underwhelming so far.

        • dean says:

          20 Oct20 October 13:57

          LAX or SFO in August. Nothing at all with standard redemptions in club but new voucher is opening up and showing up to 8 seats on some days (still zero on many days).

        • Anna says:

          20 Oct20 October 14:44

          Interesting. I need 3 avios seats to the US for Xmas 2022, hoping the new voucher will open extra availability for MIA, otherwise happy to go via NYC/IAD/BOS etc.

        • Nick says:

          20 Oct20 October 16:04

          @Anna it definitely will, but you may need to be patient and wait a few weeks or months. The ‘new’ availability is in I class, which tends not to be open when a flight first goes on sale (because the only people who pay that far in advance are those who have limited flexibility on dates so prices are kept high). Once a booking curve is established, I will be opened. This will trigger in voucher sub-class alongside commercial opening.

• Adam says:

  20 Oct20 October 12:48

  Hola!

  Any scuba divers on HFP and any dive site recommendations in Europe or Americas?
  Have BA 2-1 to redeem 😉
  Also looking to top up HH with 160K points with 100% bonus… so someplace where this would make sense to redeem, while diving in the sea of luxury…(Already done Maldives)
  Thanks in advance…

  • Anna says:

    20 Oct20 October 12:54

    My OH is a keen diver. For Europe the Canaries are probably the best (especially Lanzarote), but in the summer Malta and the Balearics are also decent. Greece apparently has some good wreck diving but he hasn’t done that.

    You’re spoilt for choice in the Caribbean/South America. Grand Cayman is our destination of choice in normal times but there are loads of other good sites, e.g. Mexico, Bonaire and you can do speciality shark dives in the Bahamas. OH will probably tell you only GCM would compare with the Maldives! He’s hankering to go back some day. I would probably advise avoiding the Caribbean in the autumn as even if there are no storms the weather can be unsettled which makes visibility poor.

    There is surprisingly good award availability to GCM, but just bear in mind that it hasn’t re-opened to visitors yet and it’s also insanely expensive unless you know where the sweet spots are!

    Bermuda also an option but can get a bit chilly in the winter.

    • Anna says:

      20 Oct20 October 12:56

      However – there are no high Hilton properties in GCM or Bahamas and none in Bermuda. If using HH points my choice would be one of the better AI’s on the Mayan Riviera or even Punta Cana end of DR.

      • Adam says:

        20 Oct20 October 13:22

        Thanks Anna!
        Looking forward to booking something for next year, March/April most of SE Asia currently stands closed. So thinking of Europe or Americas.
        Maldives is always breathtaking… Next on SE Asia list is Palawan.

        • Anna says:

          20 Oct20 October 13:39

          OH’s dream trip is Truk lagoon followed by diving with hammerheads in the Sea of Cortez!

  • NvT1115 says:

    20 Oct20 October 13:18

    I would also recommend Malta in the summer for a European dive trip

  • WaynedP says:

    20 Oct20 October 13:28

    +1 for Lanzarote. Had a good, safe shore dive there with a well run local company off the La Campana coastline (SW corner of the island) about 7 years ago.

    Introduced my two teenage boys to their first open water SCUBA dive, so was vigilant about the operators, but can’t remember their name.

    • Anna says:

      20 Oct20 October 13:32

      I can’t recall who my OH used but they were based in Puerto del Carmen, 5* PADI outfit. I am a keen snorkeller and have to say Lanzarote was up there with many of the Caribbean sites we’ve visited. Excellent visibility and lots to see, including angel sharks!

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    21 Oct21 October 13:42

    Cyprus has a great wreck dive just outside Larnaca (the Zenobia, a huge cargo freighter). Not Europe, but don’t forget the Red Sea is also close by and offers genuinely world class diving, whether you’re after coral reefs, wrecks, big pelagics (or all three!).

• Russell Evans says:

  20 Oct20 October 12:55

  I have voucher codes from a “future travel voucher” from BA which is a cancellation I made of some partner Avios redemptions via BA.com for Qatar Airways flights. Can I “cash out” the cash and avios portion of these vouchers or can I now only use them for future flight bookings? Many thanks

  • Andrew says:

    20 Oct20 October 13:18

    Only if you use the voucher to book a flight that BA subsequently cancels.

  • SteveJ says:

    20 Oct20 October 13:58

    You can cancel for the normal £35pp and get the remainder of your cash and Avios back. Need to call.

    • Russell Evans says:

      20 Oct20 October 14:38

      Cheers Steve. Trouble getting through on the phone and as I didn’t want the flights I wanted to take to fall away I pulled the trigger on taking the voucher. I’ll keep trying to call and get through once the phone lines calm down a little.

• JM says:

  20 Oct20 October 13:06

  Anyone had any AMEX Platinum retention offers recently? Had the 60k points and used the £200 dining credit so thinking to cancel unless of a decent retention bonus?

  • Sam G says:

    20 Oct20 October 13:07

    if you’ve had the card less than 1 yr you should get 35k points

    • JM says:

      20 Oct20 October 13:29

      Thanks. Best approach chancing it on getting the right person on phone, or using live chat?

      • Anna says:

        20 Oct20 October 13:33

        My OH got 50k via chat recently, only had the card since April.

        • Sam G says:

          20 Oct20 October 13:42

          Nice! I thought only +1yr would get 50k! I got it via chat – ask for cancellations

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