Bits: new SPG Moments O2 tickets, Virgin East Coast sale

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• Ian says:

  13 Jan13 January 05:56

  Is there any way to get notified (apart from reading HFP!) when SPG release new events?

  • Rob says:

    13 Jan13 January 08:15

    No. Which is good, because they would go very quickly otherwise.

    • Jason says:

      13 Jan13 January 10:46

      Rob do we know what time of day they are loaded?

      • Rob says:

        13 Jan13 January 13:53

        No

• Chelseafi says:

  13 Jan13 January 07:11

  With the SPG Amex card if you cancel it after getting the 10,000 (11000 on referral) points what happens to the points can they be kept unlike the MR points? Thanks

  • mark2 says:

    13 Jan13 January 07:17

    The points are transferred automatically to your SPG account every month and are then independent of the Amex account. Like the BA cards rather than Gold/Plat.

  • Genghis says:

    13 Jan13 January 07:47

    The T&Cs say you’d get the points but I’d wait until they’re in your SPG acct. There’s a window of a few days between points posting to your SPG acct and SPG cc statement being produced. If you hit the £1k spend in the first month, you can get the points and pay no fees

    • mark2 says:

      13 Jan13 January 09:48

      refer other half first for another 5,000 + 12,000 and remember that you can transfer points between accounts free and to Marriott.

    • Alan says:

      17 Jan17 January 17:33

      Definitely wait for them to transfer – IIRC Liz had lots of issues with BA card and cancelling before they’d hit so I’d imagine similar potential issues with SPG.

• Angelo says:

  13 Jan13 January 08:05

  Thanks for the tip off Rob. Booked 2 tickets for the Weeknd!

• Andrew says:

  13 Jan13 January 08:09

  I think the amex rewards transfer rate into spg is now 3:1 not 2:1 which is a bit nasty on their part.

  • Rob says:

    13 Jan13 January 08:17

    No, still 2:1

    • Peter K says:

      13 Jan13 January 08:31

      Still 2:1 when checked on my gold card account as well.

      • Andrew says:

        13 Jan13 January 09:58

        I stand corrected… The Americans have it worse then us.

        • RussellH says:

          13 Jan13 January 14:33

          The USD is (still) worth less than the GBP. So it is logical that the cost of Starpoint s in USD-MR points be more than the price in GBP-MR points.

          The difference is still narrowing though!

        • Alan says:

          17 Jan17 January 17:34

          Not really given their higher relative earning rates, massive sign-up bonuses, 0% forex, fee refunds, etc. – they get an extremely good deal!

• Wally1976 says:

  13 Jan13 January 08:53

  Slightly OT – are children welcome in the Amex lounge at the O2?

  • JK says:

    13 Jan13 January 14:03

    Not sure if you mean the Centurion Box (Suite 308) or the AmEx Invites entrance lounge – but either way, my kids have been to both and never had an issue.

    • Wally1976 says:

      13 Jan13 January 14:20

      Thanks JK – I meant the Amex Invites lounge (was unaware of the other one!)

      • David2910 says:

        13 Jan13 January 19:30

        Yep. Was there yesterday. Plenty of kids in the restaurant end.

• Wally1976 says:

  13 Jan13 January 10:11

  Another OT sorry – this is the first time I’ve participated in IHG accelerate. Do bookings made before the start of the promo for stays within the promo period count? Also, when do you have to wait until the end of the promo to get the points? Thanks.

  • Rob says:

    13 Jan13 January 13:56

    Usually count although sometimes app bookings do not for specific app booking bonuses.

    • Wally1976 says:

      13 Jan13 January 14:20

      Thanks – no app bookings here so fingers crossed 🙂

      • mark1980 says:

        13 Jan13 January 16:00

        I’d be interested to know when the points count too? Is it after the promo or as soon as you hit your final qualifying target?

• Roger says:

  13 Jan13 January 10:58

  OT-Amex PRGC -> Platinum upgrade + Bits…

  When upgrading Amex PRGC to Platinum, does one get a new card number or different card with the same account number as before?
  How long does it take to receive new card, A week or so I guess. Plus some time to get Priority Pass?
  Can one ask for add-on card at the same time?
  I hope to phone up and upgrade so can ask for add-on card (for Mrs.) at the same time as upgrading and also Priority pass for her.

  I am thinking of using my current PRGC to book a car hire in future (4/5 months to pick up) and
  then upgrade (PRGC -> Platinum) nearer to my travel date to take advantage of Car Hire Insurance of Platinum card.
  Presumably car insurance benefit will be available with PRGC -> Platinum upgrade.
  If this works I hope to use the same strategy to book hotels for the same NZ trip.

  Also if someone has done any car hire in New Zealand (AKL Airport) any tips?
  Have one week trip coming up in May in and out of AKL.
  The prices seems quite expensive (without any extras) – £500 for a family car.

  • Kinkell says:

    13 Jan13 January 12:35

    Can’t help with the first part, but we hired a car through avisba in UK for pickup and return in AKL. Hire centre was very central, well within walking distance of our hotel. Can,t fault it, thought it was good value, but can’t remember exactly what we paid.. We took one of the taxi minibus That drops you off at hotels. Good value. Through avisba you’d get points, additional driver etc.
    Have a great trip. Loved NZ and a return to South Island is definitely on the bucket list.

  • Imbruce says:

    13 Jan13 January 14:02

    I would get the Amex Platinum card now as you can get Hertz Gold Status
    also to a better tier of Avis Preferred. Hertz includes an additional driver free and I think Avis does too. Also you get travel insurance and also the car hire excess insurance included.
    When I travel back home to Sydney I always use Hertz as they are cheaper than the others and
    you can prepay online in pounds instead of $NZD in your case.
    Within Hertz Gold number 1 membership you go straight to the Hertz office in the car park not to the desk in the airport so there are no forms to fill out or queues of people waiting.
    If you are renting a car at the airport you are paying a premium for it, but when you add in the cost
    of a cab to a city rental car office each way it’s cheaper to get it at the airport and it’s also the convenience of having it waiting for you and so much easier to return it to the airport.
    Cars in Australia and New Zealand are a lot dearer to buy there than they are here
    Lastly here is the link for the Toll Roads
    https://www.nzta.govt.nz/roads-and-rail/toll-roads/
    Enjoy your holiday

    • Roger says:

      13 Jan13 January 16:48

      Thank you, that was helpful info.

  • JP says:

    13 Jan13 January 15:08

    Different card number, but Amex seem to do some merging of the two as the Gold auto changes to a Platinum in the online account.

    The card arrives like next day I was amazed how quick they get them out. Priority pass is longer I guess under two weeks but my have been quicker.

    I am assuming there is no upgrade bonus at the moment, the webpage to do it seems to have gone.

    • JP says:

      13 Jan13 January 15:13

      Forgot to add the gold card keeps working as well after the switch. It was the new add on card that arrived next day (which can be requested at the time, or request it now for gold card and it will be ready as a Platinum to use straight away). I accidentally add the same second person again who already had the gold and was charged for the 3rd card holder which I didn’t need. There is like a £140 charge for a 3rd cardholder. Quickly sorted by amex anyway.

• the real harry1 says:

  13 Jan13 January 15:13

  O/T BA helpline slung me off saying they’re too busy so I grabbed some numbers
  Gold card phone number is 0800 123 111
  Silver card phone number is 0800 408 0009
  Blue card phone number is 0844 493 0 747

  Silver sorted me out promptly with no membership check 🙂

  • Mike says:

    13 Jan13 January 18:00

    The blue 0844 is premium rate and it’s very expensive. Check it against saynoto0870 and you’ll get a cheaper alternative. Calling the silver line does work as indicated by the real Harry 1

    • Lady London says:

      13 Jan13 January 22:38

      Surely that’s an illegal number British Airways is offering. The 0844 is a surcharged number. Am i not remembering correctly that in October 2015 a law came in that companies may not offer surcharged phone numbers to existing customers? They have to offer a normally charged landline number that begins with 01 02 or 03.?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.