Chat thread – Wednesday 15th December

[Rob]

Please do not post here until Wednesday 🙂

This is today’s chat thread. We have moved the daily discussion from the main HfP news feed into the new forum. We hope you get used to it.

If you have specific questions about Avios, hotels or credit cards, please ask them in the appropriate forum and not here. This thread is a good place to post interesting deals you have spotted or your general thoughts on travel and all things miles and points. Thank you for contributing.

[Chris]

I guess creating the chat thread is still not automated.

[cinereus]

Apparently not (second!). Very trivial to do though.

[aviosnewbie33]

Hello hello, good morning! Would love recommendations for activities and restaurants in LA. We’ll be there for 7 nights over Christmas – 3N at the Beverly Hills Wilshire and 4N at intercontinental downtown. Family in their 30’s with a 4y old. First time going abroad after Oct 2019, so quite excited!

[APPL]

Looks like Marriott offers (50 off 200, and 100 off 400) on Amex have been extended. Was originally until 31/12/2021, but now showing as expiring 28/02/2022.

[iamlost]

My plans to go in May 2020 were cancelled for obvious reasons, and I’d similarly booked to stay at the FS Beverly Wilshire and WA. I think my dinner reservations were at Sugarfish, Jean-Georges Beverly Hills, CUT by Wolfgang Puck and Spago.

Edit: in reply to aviosnewbie33 — this new forum reply function is somehow a downgrade from the comments sections…

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by iamlost.

[Thywillbedone]

I have a night in the Renaissance Warsaw Airport Hotel booked for this Friday 17/12. Can no longer travel. It’s not refundable and in true Christmas spirit the hotel has told me to PFO when I asked to change it. Was booked through Expedia (who offered to be flexible) so should be able to do a name change if anyone can use it?

[pauldb]

IAG’s Air Europa acquisition looks to be off/paused. Press reporting the deal is suspended, but officially the agreement is being terminated.

[iheartarbitrage]

I’m finding the forum a huge time saver. After a couple of minutes I just give up and stop reading!

Having a daily chat thread in a forum seems to be the worst of both worlds.

[SamG]

Thywillbedone wrote:

I have a night in the Renaissance Warsaw Airport Hotel booked for this Friday 17/12. Can no longer travel. It’s not refundable and in true Christmas spirit the hotel has told me to PFO when I asked to change it. Was booked through Expedia (who offered to be flexible) so should be able to do a name change if anyone can use it?

Have you asked Expedia? To be honest I’m kinda with the hotels on these, we’ve all known for long enough now that travel is at risk and most hotels offer a flexible rate. I am trying to keep everything flexible as you just can’t predict at the moment.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by SamG. Reason: add quote

[SamG]

iheartarbitrage wrote:

I’m finding the forum a huge time saver. After a couple of minutes I just give up and stop reading!

Having a daily chat thread in a forum seems to be the worst of both worlds.

Yes – it doesn’t seem to be working too well…

[StanTheMan]

Matsuhisa – Nobu’s original restaurant. The Ivy. Spago. The polo lounge at the beverly hills hotel. The Farmers market. We went with a 2 year old. What a trip.

[BuildBackBetter]

iheartarbitrage wrote:

I’m finding the forum a huge time saver. After a couple of minutes I just give up and stop reading!

Having a daily chat thread in a forum seems to be the worst of both worlds.

Exactly. It’s a bit like VAR in football. The forum is great and saves lot of time, but becoming pointless with a daily chat thread.

[Magarathea]

+1

[Thywillbedone]

Expedia were happy to refund but hotel wouldn’t. Yes, I understood the terms of the rate I bought …but hotels can equally generate a lot of goodwill by offering flexibility in certain circumstances.

[SamG]

Thywillbedone wrote:

Expedia were happy to refund but hotel wouldn’t. Yes, I understood the terms of the rate I bought …but hotels can equally generate a lot of goodwill by offering flexibility in certain circumstances.

That’s a shame, I’ve usually found Expedia pretty good at persuading the hotels to refund. Hopefully wasn’t a fortune!

[Andrew.]

Thywillbedone wrote:

Expedia were happy to refund but hotel wouldn’t. Yes, I understood the terms of the rate I bought …but hotels can equally generate a lot of goodwill by offering flexibility in certain circumstances.

If you booked with Expedia, why are you engaging with the hotel? Just accept Expedia’s refund and walk away.

[StanTheMan]

Can’t chose seats in front row of Prem Econ because they are reserved for infants. It is T-36. The seats are free to choose but it wont let me as we havent got any infants with us. Anyway this can be over-ridden ??

[Thywillbedone]

Andrew. wrote:

Thywillbedone wrote:

Expedia were happy to refund but hotel wouldn’t. Yes, I understood the terms of the rate I bought …but hotels can equally generate a lot of goodwill by offering flexibility in certain circumstances.

If you booked with Expedia, why are you engaging with the hotel? Just accept Expedia’s refund and walk away.

Expedia can only refund if the hotel allows it. While speaking with Expedia, they rang hotel who said ‘no’. I also approached Bonvoy directly to no avail. All down to the individual hotel apparently. It was only £75 so not a big deal, but worth trying all possible routes.

[Paul B]

Is the Amazon ‘Visa Credit’ trick still possible?

[BuildBackBetter]

APPL wrote:

Looks like Marriott offers (50 off 200, and 100 off 400) on Amex have been extended. Was originally until 31/12/2021, but now showing as expiring 28/02/2022.

Brilliant! Thanks!

[Richie]

BTW Vueling have a one day sale today, FLY50 is the discount code.

[Bill]

easyJet have put Oct and Nov 22 on sale. 300 euro one way on my dates from Tenerife to Gatwick. No thanks

[Richie]

Bill wrote:

easyJet have put Oct and Nov 22 on sale. 300 euro one way on my dates from Tenerife to Gatwick. No thanks

Is that a half-term peak travel day?

[kinnimod]

Sorry Rob/Rhys this doesn’t work for me at all as daily chat thread was easy to navigate and follow with up to date and largely interesting and entertaining reading. Now it is a mess with many fewer posts and very difficult to follow replies to posts. The alternative is laboriously looking at and trawling through disparate forum topics which just takes too much time and unattractive. You used to have about 500 posts a day on the daily chat – why try to fix something which wasn’t broken (at least for your readers)? I appreciate the hard work and effort that has obviously gone into this, but it just doesn’t work at least for me. If it stays like this I’m going to cancel my (non)-subscription(!)