The HfP chat thread – Saturday 23rd October

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• Tarmohamed says:

  23 Oct23 October 02:17

  Last several years I’ve seen Emirates, Qatar and Etihad run a promo around this time of year on Amex. Anyone know if we can expect anything this year?

  • Jessica says:

    23 Oct23 October 07:10

    No but there is a Amex travel voucher for plat (and now gold card holders) hasnt appeared on my gold yet though..

• Definitas says:

  23 Oct23 October 02:20

  We finally made it to visit family Chicago for the first time in 2 years. We arrived by air from Toronto after 14 days “quarantine” in Canada. Covid precautions here in the US seem remarkably lax after Canada and we only had a perfunctory document check prior to boarding our flight into the US so I suspect that direct travel to the US will be fairly straightforward once the border opens next month

• Phil W says:

  23 Oct23 October 03:32

  Good Morning – Considering staying at the Melia Barcelona Sky next February (Covid permitting) and I was wondering if any HFPers have recent experiences of the hotel and the The Level?

  • mr_jetlag says:

    23 Oct23 October 06:26

    I stayed at the Level a few years back. it’s pretty isolated from the main tourist drag. the views are fantastic (as you would expect), breakfast was in a tiny space so not sure how that works now. If you’re going on business it’s fine, but there are better hotels for sight seeing (W Barcelona is my fave).

  • Andrew says:

    23 Oct23 October 07:09

    Stayed there this summer – great location away from all the tourist crowds and tat, but close to the beach and the shopping centre, and the area feels much safer from the infamous pick-pockets as it’s not crawling with tourists. Nice rooms, great views and breakfast on the 24th floor skybar each morning looking out to sea. Would go back.

    • Rob says:

      23 Oct23 October 10:33

      We have reviewed this, albeit not recently.

  • High Grade says:

    23 Oct23 October 10:50

    Stayed in August this year. I was not impressed by the hotel. Room not ready until 5.30. Front desk overun with long queues. For some reason it was taking around 10 mins to check each person in. Room was modern and well appointed with a great shower. Breakfast was really nice. Bars were nice, quick service and friendly staff.
    However we had one huge problem which the hotel handled really badly. Our room was broken into and they stole the safe. They literally took the whole safe (inc passports) We later found out the safe was secured really badly (a couple of screws in some chipboard) and could have be ripped out by hand. Staff response was mixed but they were very careful with everything and deliberately gave us no information. At one point they even told us it was illegal for them to look at their own CCTV cameras without police authorisation. To be clear I was not asking for them to show me the CCTV, I was asking they to look for themselves. Since the incident they have failed to explain how anyone accessed our room and if they had found anything on their CCTV.
    When we left we were still charged in full, they even tried to over charge us and got quite rude when I told them they had made a mistake with the bill. Eventually realised their mistake and corrected it but no apology (I think by then I had lost my cool and was being obnoxious).
    I would not stay again.

    • Nick says:

      23 Oct23 October 11:10

      Views fantastic, but one of the worst hotels I’ve ever stayed in. Horrific staff, facilities not up to scratch, miserable experience all round. Would avoid.

  • Phil W says:

    23 Oct23 October 14:17

    Interesting feedback. The location suits us, as I’d quite like to be away from the main tourist areas, was also hoping to use a block of Melia points and stay in The Level. Guess I may need to pay closer attention to online reviews over the coming months to see if some of the negative comments above are a trend or isolated incidents.

• Jess says:

  23 Oct23 October 05:53

  Wow, bojo’s gov did a dirty one… they now feature the cash cow LFT (£20-£40 ones) and hid all live prices for pre-departure PCR test providers…. and if you think that was bad they still have 217 duplicate listings on their excel file…

• Hannah D says:

  23 Oct23 October 06:13

  If for example on the red list review day, a country gets added back into the red list. How much advance notice will travellers abroad have to arrange a flight back? (i.e how long typically until it is implemented)

  • Rob says:

    23 Oct23 October 10:35

    3-4 days usually

• BJ says:

  23 Oct23 October 06:46

  Not up to speed with comments this week so apologies if I missed this but just checked amex offers and I see 10% at Morrisons is back.

  • Alan says:

    23 Oct23 October 06:51

    Not for me this time 🙁

  • Andrew says:

    23 Oct23 October 06:59

    It’s new for me this morning too.

    I’ve also currently got various Morrisons rebate offers on MBNA, BoS and Barclaycard.

    • Andrew says:

      23 Oct23 October 07:11

      +1 on Plat and BAPP. I might actually use this offer this time and get gift cards for Christmas – I can’t imagine I’ll want to buy anything they actually sell.

      • Andrew H says:

        23 Oct23 October 14:50

        Plus VA shops away. Have Amex registered so see if it stacks

  • Andrew says:

    23 Oct23 October 07:08

    Oh, maybe just PAWs for thought before using your Amex offer.

    A 10% rebate that will stack with my non-Amex Morrisons offers has appeared this morning too.

  • Gareth says:

    23 Oct23 October 07:11

    7% on my nectar Amex for spend over £30, short period though only 11 days

    • Claire says:

      23 Oct23 October 10:54

      I notice the offer says “expires in 12 days” then in the t&cs it contradicts itself, in one section it says you must spend by Oct 27th and the other November 3rd????

  • Jessica says:

    23 Oct23 October 07:12

    does it work for gcs?

    • Andrew says:

      23 Oct23 October 07:31

      I’m not sure anyone on here buys anything else

      • Froggee says:

        23 Oct23 October 07:45

        I once bought some genuine groceries. (As well as gift cards)

      • RussellH says:

        23 Oct23 October 10:43

        Yes, It works for gift cards, and for groceries.

        Why would you go to Morrisons and not buy food? Their fishcakes are probably the best of any.
        Lots of other good things too.
        And the ambience is much better than Tesco or Asda.

  • Wally1976 says:

    23 Oct23 October 07:54

    Thanks BJ! Does this work on alcohol? I can’t see it as an exclusion in the terms but thought it would be.

    • Andrew says:

      23 Oct23 October 07:59

      How would Amex possibly know what you bought?

    • Andrew says:

      23 Oct23 October 09:02

      Wheesht!

      If Nicola Sturgeon or Mark Drakeford spot the risk that a rebate could effectively bring the cost of alcohol down below the relevant minimum pricing level, these offers could be geographically limited.

    • RussellH says:

      23 Oct23 October 10:40

      Certainly has done in the past.

    • Phil W says:

      23 Oct23 October 14:45

      As Andrew has said. Stop talking about Alcohol Club! The Poison Dwarf will ban credit card rebates if she thinks somebody was having some fun with them.

  • G says:

    23 Oct23 October 09:06

    Stacking opportunities not great this this time. Not on shops away for me, don’t have PAW and it’s not on Airtime. Anywhere else I can check for a stack?

  • Alex says:

    23 Oct23 October 10:18

    I got the same. Are there any stackable offers this time around? Can’t see a comparable discount on Virgin Shopping or Airtime Rewards…

  • Tracy says:

    23 Oct23 October 11:04

    Yay, 10% on my gold amex

  • Niall says:

    23 Oct23 October 11:51

    Anyone else noticed that on the app it shows spend by 27/10/21 on the main page but also says expires in 11 days, then spend by 3/11/21 in the t&cs.

    • Claire says:

      24 Oct24 October 06:57

      Yes, I commented as much above ..

  • Paul Pogba says:

    23 Oct23 October 12:14

    Excellent news, I also have 8pts/£1 at Morrisons via the Virgin Flying Club which should stack 🙂

• Neil says:

  23 Oct23 October 07:10

  Can you still withdraw £200 cash per month in overseas ATM with Curve?

  • John says:

    23 Oct23 October 07:24

    Yes

  • Babyg says:

    23 Oct23 October 12:05

    a quick google gives you this…
    its £200 per day and up to £3500 per month from ATMs….
    If you make an ATM withdrawal in another currency while abroad, we won’t charge you any fees up to a certain amount. Your limits will depend on which Curve card you have:

    Curve Blue – £200/ month
    Curve Black – £400/month
    Curve Metal – £600/month

• Jessica says:

  23 Oct23 October 07:12

  yes

  • N says:

    23 Oct23 October 10:25

    yes

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