The HfP chat thread – Sunday 14th November

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• Markpeterboro says:

  14 Nov14 November 14:30

  Handy bit of information for anyone with their covid booster booked who needs to change their appointment . You can now go into the booking site , request a cancellation and before you go ahead it allows you to check availability on other dates /locations . You don’t get the full list of appointments but it does show where there are appointments based on an AM & PM breakdown .

  • Mike says:

    14 Nov14 November 14:46

    Mark – handy hint thanks

• VickyTM says:

  14 Nov14 November 14:38

  How long on average do the supervised Prenetics lateral flow results (paperwork) take to come through please?
  Many Thanks

• Chris says:

  14 Nov14 November 14:48

  Shocking reports in the times that Cignpost Diagnostics aka ExpressTest is/was going to sell DNA from COVID swabs it has processed! Hopefully regulators come down like a tone of bricks ASAP on this. Totally unacceptable and proves the private test marketplace is just downright broken.

  Posting here as I suspect many might have used the service. Suggest a brief message to your MP might be in order (if they have time to read it between their 2nd and/or 3rd jobs).

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Nov14 November 14:52

    What exactly were they selling? Anonymised DNA? For what purpose ?

    • Chris says:

      14 Nov14 November 15:01

      Sunday Times report says that “The [privacy] policy also says Cignpost may share customers’ DNA samples and other personal information with “collaborators” working with them or independently including universities and private companies, and that it “may receive compensation” in return”

      So much more than “Anonymised DNA” (if that can really be a thing).

      • TGLoyalty says:

        14 Nov14 November 15:15

        “Anonymised DNA” (if that can really be a thing).

        Ofcourse it can if no personally identifiable information is disclosed (name / address etc).

        Tbh I don’t care if my dna is used for research as long as they don’t know it’s actually mine.

        • Chris says:

          14 Nov14 November 16:30

          Anonymising a dataset is a very difficult job and simply removing PII is not anonymising. Re-identification is very possible in many data sets. https://georgetownlawtechreview.org/re-identification-of-anonymized-data/GLTR-04-2017/ is a good crash course intro into the real world problems of “Anonymised” datasets.

  • His Holyness says:

    14 Nov14 November 15:07

    Some of us are yet to do a test this entire pandemic… seems we are right

    Possible if, you traveled after the vax came in and second, you only pay for but not take the test, which is lawful

    • John says:

      14 Nov14 November 15:34

      Did my first test ever last week after my trip, just to see what it was like. Home lft so no chance of anyone having my dna

      • Andrew says:

        14 Nov14 November 21:22

        You shed your DNA everywhere.

        I’d be more worried about my DNA on clothing donations to charity shops than data from an anonymised swab at Cignpost.

    • Ryan says:

      14 Nov14 November 22:45

      It’s still possible not to do a test even when you’re not vax’ed – I’ve never done one

      There’s a reason why unsupervised tests are preferred!!

      • David says:

        14 Nov14 November 23:01

        Yawn

• Anuj says:

  14 Nov14 November 15:02

  Is there any issue prepaying on my Amex card for a hotel stay for a friend (booked under their name so checking in should not be an issue).

  • SteveJ says:

    14 Nov14 November 15:19

    They’ll often ask for the credit card used to book when checking in. Seems to vary by country and hotel though.

    • Genghis says:

      14 Nov14 November 15:35

      Don’t think I’ve ever been asked for payment card so wouldn’t really say “often”

      • SteveJ says:

        14 Nov14 November 16:32

        Never asked for it when booking via a booking agent (as I guess the payment method isn’t even passed on), often asked for when I’ve booked directly on a hotel’s site, though I haven’t booked a prepaid rate in years now (value the flexibility), so it’s old news!

  • Paul says:

    14 Nov14 November 15:20

    Little to no issue! These days, the hotel make not take advance payment for a prepaid stay, which is something to bare in mind.

  • John says:

    14 Nov14 November 15:28

    Unlikely, unless the hotel has been a victim of fraud in the past in which case they may insist on seeing the card at check in

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    14 Nov14 November 17:07

    Your friend can claim he forgot to bring the card it was booked with and pay with another card. As long as it’s paid for, it shouldn’t be a problem.

    • BuildBackBetter says:

      14 Nov14 November 17:08

      I mean pay any additional deposit or charges

• Dominic says:

  14 Nov14 November 15:30

  Interesting Etihad offer. 20k bonus tier miles if you transfer 20k Amex points.

  One return to Abu Dhabi will then get you Silver (need 25k miles, 20k to maintain). If you can get to 50k, you get gold (which includes worldwide lounge access for you and a guest). Only need 40k tier points to maintain, which is less than 3 return flights to India a year in economy.

• S says:

  14 Nov14 November 16:02

  Has anyone stayed at Le Meridien Maldives? Any thoughts?

  • AFKAE says:

    14 Nov14 November 16:51

    Stopped to refuel there this afternoon. Looks wonderful, but only disembarked seaplane for 15 mins and then back in again

• Duster says:

  14 Nov14 November 16:18

  We need a couple of nights in Cheltenham at the end of April for a family event. Only chain options seem to be Hilton or Marriott (Marriott being cheaper but halfway to Gloucester). Both have pools which is a great plus. Not sure whether to use points or cash yet.

  1. Are there any good discount codes (we are NHS and gov eligible)? The key worker codes all seem to end this year.

  2. Family rooms don’t seem available to book with points at Marriott. Is it possible to upgrade?

  3. I’m gold in both. Am I correct in thinking that in pure benefit terms Hilton would be better because of the free breakfast? Would this extend to the kids and their room as well?

  Thanks in advance for any advice!

  • SteveJ says:

    14 Nov14 November 16:33

    Only comment I would make is I was going to stay at Hilton over summer, but adjusted my plans when I heard all rooms were non-AC. May not be an issue for you in April but I wanted to avoid that in August!

  • Harrier25 says:

    14 Nov14 November 16:37

    The Hilton Doubletree Cheltenham isn’t a very pleasant hotel unfortunately.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Nov14 November 17:16

    No 131 (IHG via MAMS if it must be points) or one of the other lucky onion properties.

    The George was quite new.

  • Aston100 says:

    14 Nov14 November 17:22

    I thought the Doubletree was very well located and the staff were very friendly.
    No a/c as noted, but complimentary hot breakfast and room upgrade were given despite only being gold and the hotel being reasonably full at the time.
    There are a few EV charging points (free) at front and in the rear carpark too.

    The main issue I found was a lack of power sockets in the room.

    • Harrier25 says:

      14 Nov14 November 18:39

      It’s the old fashioned Cheltenham Park Hotel in Charlton Kings. The location is okay but the hotel needs a proper refurb, which unfortunately didn’t happen when it became a Doubletree and the lack of air con is an issue. I’d rather pay for breakfast than stay there again.

  • Duster says:

    14 Nov14 November 19:10

    Thanks all. Should be OK with AC in April but you have now got us looking at IHG options – albeit no pool. Now trying to argue to argue the case for the HI Express Gloucester South. Virtually free at 14k!

    • Harrier25 says:

      14 Nov14 November 20:56

      I’ve also stayed at the Thistle Cheltenham. That’s just of M5 junc 11. That is a nice hotel and the park and ride bus into the town centre stops 200 yards from the hotel.

    • andy woodward says:

      14 Nov14 November 21:27

      The Glos South is about as basic an express as you can get, fine if you just want a bed for the night. We prefer to stay at the HI inbetween Chelt and Glos, good breakfast. HI in Cheltenham also okay, handy for the high st, parking in the NCP next door. Our favourite though is the Hilton Puckrup Hall one jnct further up at Tewksbury.

      • Harrier25 says:

        14 Nov14 November 23:08

        For the Hilton Puckrup, you’re best jumping onto the M50 and leave at Junc 1, signposted Malvern.

• Andrew H says:

  14 Nov14 November 16:23

  New BA business Amex. After 10 days – no offers, even though I’ve made several purchases… how long do they take to appear? (It’s second card in my Amex account)

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