The HfP chat thread – Saturday 13th November

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• Ryan Gill says:

  13 Nov13 November 08:38

  Is the Status match that Hilton offers likely to carry on for at least the next 6 months? Would achieving diamond get much more than gold at WA Dubai on an award stay at a fairly busy time?

  • Rob says:

    13 Nov13 November 08:44

    Not really. We were there on points last Christmas as Diamonds and got worst room in house as full (got moved after 2 days).

  • Blenz101 says:

    13 Nov13 November 10:19

    Hotels are back operating at 100% capacity since May of this year so you may fare slightly better, especially if you avoid peak dates. The ‘full’ hotel / worst room was likely with a number of rooms blocked out due to Covid capacity restrictions.

    With upgrades now processed three days in advance they hotel should in theory treat a diamond better than a gold. Gold’s will be numerous given its handed out free with credit cards.

    • Tom says:

      13 Nov13 November 10:28

      High-end hotels in Dubai seem to be absolutely raking it in over the last year or so, so I would definitely expect zero upgrade and be pleasantly surprised if you get one. In December last year I stayed at 3 different 5 star Marriott hotels and 2 IHG ones in Dubai and got an upgrade in exactly none of them as Marriott Ambasssador and IHG Spire – ouch! Expecting this year will be even busier given the already high pricing is now almost incomprehensible.

      • Blenz101 says:

        13 Nov13 November 10:42

        Again. Hotels up until May of this year were forced to operate at reduced capacity on a percentage basis, it would have been around 60-70% last December from memory reducing the chances of an upgrade.

        This year across both Accor and Hilton I’ve never failed to be upgraded across perhaps 30+ stays albeit I am generally a returning guest on top of top tier status.

        • Jonathan says:

          13 Nov13 November 18:35

          Surely this makes it easier to upgrade you as the hotel always has 30% of rooms empty?! Block out the worst rooms & then allocate from the empty rooms depending on status.

          When occupancy is 100% of physical rooms then you can’t get upgraded unless the better room is empty for every night or you kick up a massive stink so they let you chop & change.

• Max H says:

  13 Nov13 November 08:43

  Amex Plat question: If I have 2 offers on Amex, specifically Marriott £100 off £400 and £50 off £200, do these either stack or can they be used consecutively please?

  • Jonathan says:

    13 Nov13 November 08:56

    They would stack if the hotel appeared on both lists. Since Sheraton Heathrow is (I believe) the only one that this applies to & is a dump then you’re out of luck.

  • Rob says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:57

    Have you actually looked at the lists of participating hotels for those two deals?

    • Paul says:

      13 Nov13 November 10:21

      Has anyone had any issues with cumulative purchases (stays) triggering the statement credit offer?

  • OP says:

    13 Nov13 November 10:59

    They stack at Hotel Arts in Barcelona 😉 not on both lists, but it worked on both cards we tried.

• Dean says:

  13 Nov13 November 08:51

  I cancelled an Amex booking before and in the small print it day say there was a fee, however they never charged me a fee to cancel (YMMV)

  • Paul says:

    13 Nov13 November 10:31

    I had this experience too – they never charged a fee when I cancelled. They also don’t reverse the amex offer rebate either if you leave it a few months 😉

• PL says:

  13 Nov13 November 08:54

  An offer of £300 off Emirates flights has shown up on my Amex app. I gave the link a quick go and it seems to work although unclear if you are really getting a saving. LHR-BKK return in business in January/Feb about £2300 with the voucher applied.

  • Jonathan says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:07

    I got the email last night as well, it won’t be long at all before before Rob highlights it in one of his articles, usually one of the ‘bits’.

  • Rob says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:55

    vs £850 on Air France ex Stockholm!

  • Aston100 says:

    13 Nov13 November 14:42

    That doesn’t like much of a deal TBH.

• Oh! Matron! says:

  13 Nov13 November 09:08

  Morning all.

  My first international travel next week to Finland.

  Whilst Finland appear fine with just being fully vaccinated, the Netherlands not so much. According to https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/netherlands/entry-requirements you need either:

  a negative PCR test result (taken no more than 48 hours before departure);
  a negative antigen test result (taken no more than 24 hours before departure).

  Is a test result uploaded to the nhs app acceptable here? I’m only transiting (90 minutes)

  Thanks in advance

  • Harry T says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:15

    Are you visiting the Netherlands or Finland? I’m confused.

    NHS tests are not accepted as pre departure tests for the Netherlands, in any case.

    • Oh! Matron! says:

      13 Nov13 November 09:24

      Transiting Netherlands on the way to Finland

      • John says:

        13 Nov13 November 09:35

        https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad/checklist-transit-or-short-stay

        • Oh! Matron! says:

          13 Nov13 November 09:41

          That’s why I ended up asking on here: have ordered fit to fly and day 2 from random

          “ You are travelling to an EU country/Schengen area country via the Netherlands. You must be able to show you have permission to enter the EU country/Schengen country in question. You can do this with a note verbale from that country’s embassy, for example, or another type of document that proves you can travel there. If you do not have such a document, the Dutch border authorities will determine whether you may travel via the Netherlands.’

          Given that the finlands is; okay to enter if fully vaccinated, if challenged, I assume that showing the Dutch authorities the official Finnish website should be enough?

          It’s the paragraph above that has me doubting myself; had to refer to the FCO which does NOT state that!

        • John says:

          13 Nov13 November 12:53

          Fully vaccinated people are exempt from the EU entry ban.

          My interpretation of that is that you need a visa or some other invitation for Finland. As a regular non-EU visitor who doesn’t need a visa and doesn’t have an invitation, NL will decide if you may enter Schengen.

          As you are only transiting NL, you don’t need a test (unless Finland wants one). But you need to do the NL health and quarantine forms (to say you are exempt from quarantine but you can’t leave the airport).

  • Sandgrounder says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:55

    https://klm.traveldoc.aero/ says transit passengers are exempt for your details.
    https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad/mandatory-negative-test-results-and-declaration/rules-when-changing-planes
    Option 4, starting outside EU not on safe list, changing planes in Netherlands. No test required if not leaving the airport and stay is less than 24hrs.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    13 Nov13 November 10:13

    Just order a £20 Chronomics LFT to be sure. (I haven’t done a simplytestme one so no idea if it comes with a cert for £12)

    Wouldn’t want to be turned away because you didn’t have something that costs so little.

  • bsuije says:

    13 Nov13 November 11:26

    You should be OK with printouts that you can enter Finland if fully vaccinated.

    Back in August I transited through Amsterdam en-route to Stockholm. The only place I needed to show any docs (test result as I wasn’t fully vaccinated at the time) was at check-in in London. I should add that I was travelling on an EU passport, as Sweden was closed to non-EU at the time. I’m assuming that you have checked Finland is open to all vaccinated travelers, not just EU?

    In Amsterdam I went through the e-gates with my EU passport (UK passport-holders had to go to a manned booth) but there were no other checks at all.

• Roger says:

  13 Nov13 November 09:16

  Curve Metal Travel Insurance

  For trip cancellation (in my case it will likely be a flight cancellation) under exclusions it says: “Any rebooking costs that exceed cost of your originally booked trip”

  Sure this defeats the purpose of a travel insurance. As last minute rebooking / reroute etc. the costs nearer the time of travel will be much much higher than any cheaper deal you may have booked well in advance.
  Not sure if this is even allowed legally.

  Any thoughts:

  • Roger says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:19

    Link here in case someone wants to look in detail:
    https://ufile.io/7fv8p52v
    Item 9 on Page 17

  • Crafty says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:31

    Don’t really get your point. Insurance is to address your loss.

  • Blenz101 says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:37

    Why would it be illegal. This insurance is covering the loss of your cancelled flight so you are not out of pocket.

    • Roger says:

      13 Nov13 November 09:55

      OK, here’s the scenario.

      I fly outbound from UK with UK261 protection and on the way back if my flight is cancelled and if I need to rebook and claim against the travel insurance I cannot book more than originally paid for my return tickets.

      • Blenz101 says:

        13 Nov13 November 10:09

        Any flight into the UK is going to have UK261 protection.

        I still don’t get your general point or why you think it would be illegal. The insurance is covering your loss in the event of a cancelled trip, less your excess. It is not insuring you for a last minute replacement at a higher cost.

        • Roger says:

          13 Nov13 November 10:16

          Thanks for your reply, having never claimed against the insurance I was under impression that insurance will cover me for any costs to reach back home via alternate route in case there are covid or other issues and I can even buy last minute ticket at the airport and the costs will be covered.

        • Blenz101 says:

          13 Nov13 November 10:21

          Some insurance will certainly cover you for such costs. One handed out for ‘free’ on a parasitic fintech product is more limited in its coverage.

        • ChrisC says:

          13 Nov13 November 10:53

          Blenz – Flights into the UK/EU are only covered if the airline is registered in the UK/EU.

          But that’s really only for compensation /duty of care,

          .If an airline cancels your flight they are going to rebook.

        • AJA says:

          13 Nov13 November 11:21

          That’s not true. Only UK/EU based airlines flying TO UK are covered by EC/UK261. So fly on VS, BA, LX, LH, AF, AY you’re OK. Fly AA, DL, EK, QR to UK and you’re not covered.

          However EC/UK261 applies to all departures on any airline from UK.

          So for OP it depends which airline they are flying as to whether UK inbound flights are covered.

        • Lady London says:

          13 Nov13 November 12:26

          Only flights to the UK that are on UK/European based airlines are covered by EU261.

          Flights departing UK/Eur are always covered by EU261 regardless of whether the operating airline is a UK/Eur based one or not.j

  • ChrisC says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:57

    If the flight is cancelled then you should be looking to the airline to rebook you at their cost.

    Not sure why you think the curve policy is illegal.

    Other insurance policies may offer to cover additional costs but that does not mean curve has to do the same.

    If you want better cover then get a policy with that cover and don’t rely on a free policy.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      13 Nov13 November 10:18

      Exactly this. The airline is responsible. Insurance would be looking for you to get them to make good on their responsibilities as per the law and then cover you for genuine losses of associated costs you can’t recover under eu261/duty of care

  • Aaron C says:

    13 Nov13 November 10:21

    I don’t understand the point. The insurance is covering your for your loss (the cancelled flight). If you need to rearrange the airline should do that.

    • Roger says:

      13 Nov13 November 10:29

      Airline will most likely end up saying it is unfortunately a flight cancellation due to Covid matters and on orders of the Government Authorities beyond their control and they can only issue refund.

      In current atmosphere it is probably better to cancel the trip and get refund rather than be struck on an overseas destination.

      • Blenz101 says:

        13 Nov13 November 10:50

        An airline flying into the UK isn’t going to put you in that situation as UK261 will ensure you are rerouted home.

        If you have a complex itinerary with flights which don’t touch the EU/UK then just buy proper travel insurance.

        The most likely place for this to happen is with the low cost carriers around SE Asia but even then the cost of last minute tickets is often still less than an annual travel insurance policy + excess to most destinations.

      • Lady London says:

        13 Nov13 November 12:43

        No, Roger, no, no.

        Laws exist that will stop UK/Eur doing this however short term it may mean you have to personally pay out huge expenses to stay till you can get a flight home and that flight price can be hugely more expensive than what you paid.

        In this case you need to have a policy with a decent insurance company with terms that will get you home.

        If you paid your trip on a UK credit card then you can get these consequential losses from the cardco. But again most likely after getting home.

        If it’s any consolation plenty of travel insurance policies that are not free are this poor and you *must* read everything carefully before signing.

        • Roger says:

          13 Nov13 November 17:59

          Thank you Lady London.
          You summed up my concern quite aptly in both your posts.

          Time to have a good paid for travel insurance to cover potential issues that may come up.

    • Lady London says:

      13 Nov13 November 12:49

      Loss is much greater, AaronC. Roger’s looking to ensure he’s covered for consequential losses and not just out of pocket costs. If abandoned by an airline losses will be considerably higher than the original fare in most cases. Extra hotel, extra restaurant food extra comms cost , extra transport, higher cost of last minute ticket to get home.

      Try it sometime 🙂

• Alekun says:

  13 Nov13 November 09:19

  Anybody recently applied for a first time child passport? How long did you have to wait?

  • Craig says:

    13 Nov13 November 09:26

    Crowd sourced averages.

    https://www.passportwaitingtime.co.uk

  • Benilyn says:

    13 Nov13 November 11:26

    I applied September, took about 5 weeks

    • Js says:

      14 Nov14 November 01:05

      3 weeks from sending the doc till they looked at it (and asked for more docs)

• DJ says:

  13 Nov13 November 09:27

  Hi,

  About to book a two-night stay in Glasgow. Which hotel is better for a couple?

  – Glasgow Blythswood Kimpton
  – Glasgow Crown Plaza, near the SECC

  I have Spire Ambassador.

  I guess we need a pool and a better location to do our morning run.

  Thanks,

  Winston

  • chris1922 says:

    13 Nov13 November 10:15

    Crown Plaza is in a bit of a soulless area IMHO, but is well placed for a run along the Clydeside. It’s a long walk, train or taxi to the centre. Blythswood is much nicer property with more character and is more or less in the city centre. I guess it depends on what you want to do in Glasgow. I recommend the bus tour, and look up when walking, Glasgow has some great architecture that is often overlooked. No visit to Glasgow is complete without a visit to the West End, Byres Rd and Ashton Lane area. Use the Subway (underground) for this.

    • Paul says:

      13 Nov13 November 10:23

      Stay at the Blytheswood, albeit I’m not sure what Spire Elite will see you there? The Crowne Plaza is admittedly better placed for your morning run but that aside the Blytheswood is the superior.

    • Chris says:

      13 Nov13 November 10:30

      The CP is short walk or taxi away from Finnieston which is where pretty much all of Glasgow’s most interesting bars and restaurants are, it’s also considerably closer to your unmissable tip of the West End

      Blythswood really depends on how busy it is, unless given a Spire exemption the pool used to only be open to residents at horribly antisocial early morning hours. Blythswood is nicer hotel , with a bustling cocktail bar of an evening ( there are still multiple footballers staying there I believe, so it shows it’s nice)

      I’ve always been treated very well for upgrades in CP, and it’s without question got the better running routes down at Clydeside

  • Peggerz says:

    13 Nov13 November 10:26

    I agree with Chriss1922. Kimpton far better hotel. I stayed there last year and it was great. The pool is quite small however. It’s on a lovely Georgian Square at the top of a hill. The CP is on flatter ground near to the Clyde.
    It was my first overnight in Glasgow- though I had passed through many times – and enjoyed the architecture and the Riverside Museum. And yes, use the ‘clockwork orange’ subway.

  • Phil W says:

    13 Nov13 November 10:59

    Stay at the Kimpton but check if you can book slots in the pool/spa early. We got lucky in May but other residents didn’t know to book and couldn’t get access.

    • Duncan says:

      13 Nov13 November 15:30

      I’m staying a couple nights in December and when asking to book a slot for the spa was told they’re not doing that, but have times set aside for residents (08:00 – 10:00 and 17:00 – 20:00), with 60 minutes allowed per session.

      I’ll be curious to know how this works in practice… I have some skepticism.

  • BP says:

    13 Nov13 November 15:00

    I quite like the CP. Great views from the higher floors, decent rooms and a decent pool, the Riverside is just outside and Finnieston is a short walk away. Only had dinner and cocktails in the Blythswood and not a fan of the place.

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