Bits: 10% Qatar Airways discount code, Waitrose / Virgin saga, Amex hotel deals

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• Tom says:

  17 Aug17 August 12:29

  OT, but my other half and I are flying first on BA and I wonder if anyone can comment on the best seats to get for a couple?

  Personally I want to take 2a and 2k which I have blocked out to ensure we have them (not gold so cannot get 1a/k). My OH is not a great flyer so wants to sit near me.

  Having not flown first before are 2a/k close enough or do I need to take the non-window seats?

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    17 Aug17 August 12:29

    Answer will depend a bit on what aircraft you’re flying in.

    • Peter Taysum says:

      17 Aug17 August 13:07

      Agree with the above; if you share the aircraft, can advise better.

      • Tom says:

        17 Aug17 August 13:49

        Ah, yes of course that would help. All it says at the moment is Boeing 747 jet.

        • pauldb says:

          17 Aug17 August 13:55

          As Scott says below she’ll be able to get your attention in 2AK but not really hold a conversation. 4/5EF are side by side for that, or 1AK are to me the best of both worlds.

        • Tom says:

          17 Aug17 August 14:11

          Thanks Paul – it’s an overnight flight so we should be getting some rest, but at the same time it’s our 1st experience of F, so as you can imagine it’ll be nice to experience the full service.

  • Scott says:

    17 Aug17 August 13:13

    I’m going to take a guess you are talking about a 747. If so I would book 4E/4F or 5E/5F as a couple if you want to be close. 2 A/K are just too far away if you want to be close to each other. On our first First flight I booked 2 A/K for my wife and I, this was based on internet research saying there weren’t that far apart. Upon boarding we realised they were too far apart and we asked to move to 5 E/F which they were happy to do as the load was light.

    Obvisously if 1A/K opens up nearer departure time grab them. I was checking all the time in the run up to our flight in the hope that a Gold hadn’t taken them, but in the end they didn’t open up.

    • Tom says:

      17 Aug17 August 13:58

      Thanks Scott – we’ll keep checking 1a/k but we’re bronze so we only get to reserve these a week before departure. I’d heard conflicting rumours about 2a/k being close to each other. Personally we’re in first, it’d be nice to have the windows but I understand that she’s not a brilliant flyer if it gets bumpy.

      • Genghis says:

        17 Aug17 August 14:00

        1A/K should open up at t-72h if not been taken.

      • Scott says:

        17 Aug17 August 18:34

        We were only Blue members so had no opportunity to get 1 A/K in advance. It all comes down to if there is a GCH on that flight who has booked into there or not. In our case there was.

        For us it was about it being a shared experience. Were flying LHR-JFK and chosen a mid-afternoon departure so we could make the most of it by having a few glasses of LPGS and then a long lunch and a few digestifs afterwards. We then followed that by a short nap before afternoon tea. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, sitting in 5 E/F we were able to share that together. All thanks in no small measure to Raffles for opening up the world of Avios that made it possible for us to experience it. Enjoy your trip!

      • HAM76 says:

        26 Aug26 August 22:00

        Row 1 is close, but there is still a whole cupboard inbetween, so about 1.5m, row 2 is more like talking from one window seat to abother on an A319. There is not just empty space between the two seats, but also the table with choclates.

  • Leigh says:

    17 Aug17 August 20:19

    We found the seats fine, 1 a/k are separated by the cupboard for coats etc

• Fenny says:

  17 Aug17 August 13:20

  My Waitrose/Virgin points post regularly. I’ve had about 300 come through in the last week. Considering that apart from a £52 (gross before assorted discounts) shop to use a £5 off voucher, my usual transactions are between £1.29 (pack of yumyums and a bottle of tonic) today and maybe £7.50 on a daily basis to get the free coffee, I honestly don’t care what the earnings rate is. I think I’m getting 3/£, but 1 or 2 is fine by me. I still buy most things cheaper in Aldi – reading glasses and new shades for my hols this week!

• Mr Dee says:

  17 Aug17 August 17:39

  No but expect some wagering to be done otherwise your account would be closed sooner or later.

  • Genghis says:

    17 Aug17 August 17:49

    Combined with a bit of matched betting for sign up bonuses, could work?

• Cate says:

  17 Aug17 August 18:10

  OT – some may remember that Hilton Hampton couldn’t provide all of us with breakfast over the weekend. The sticky point was the comment that they didn’t have to provide breakfasts because they were complimentary. Well today we got a grovelling apology (i.e. the stock apology letter) saying our account was going to be receiving a nice chunk of base points over the incident.

  However the question whether breakfast was complimentary or not was not mentioned at all. So the jury is still out on that one then…,

  • Alan says:

    18 Aug18 August 00:01

    Good result, glad to hear they saw sense in the end!

• David2910 says:

  17 Aug17 August 18:22

  Saw this comment from Leff on VFTW re air Berlin: ‘anyone who spent more for a refundable ticket as a hedge against the financial problems at the airline not only is holding a ticket in a time of instabiltiy but paid more for the privilege of doing so’ in relation to their statement that refundable tickets are no longer refundable.

  Anyone in any universe who thought that a refund promise from an insolvent company is some kind of hedge needs their head examined. I only hope no hfpers thought a credit impaired/ phoney option had value.

  • the real harry1 says:

    17 Aug17 August 18:48

    with respect, I don’t think you understood Leff’s point

  • pauldb says:

    18 Aug18 August 12:16

    Presumably your credit card company would pay you out on AB’s refusal, making it a sensible strategy.

• Cate says:

  17 Aug17 August 19:38

  New offer on mine at Waitrose, spend £100 and get a 1000 bonus points.

  +1 “Roger I. Nothing on either mine or partners.

  • Rob says:

    17 Aug17 August 20:16

    That is home delivery, new customers only.

    • Cate says:

      17 Aug17 August 21:44

      How would they know I’m not a new customer if they don’t ask for my Waitrose green card or number? I can have the groceries delivered to neighbor.

  • mark2 says:

    17 Aug17 August 20:21

    This has now appeared on mine too, but looks to me like an online order rather than a shop purchase. Does anyone know different?

• Toby says:

  17 Aug17 August 22:30

  I have. Combined it with Matched Betting though – so far put through £5k – all via Santander earning 5% back! (Santander will hate me…)

  • Genghis says:

    18 Aug18 August 06:10

    Given you’re likely to have exhausted most sign up bonuses, what kind of wastage are you finding with matched betting? Aren’t betfair fees 5% alone?

    • The Urbanite says:

      18 Aug18 August 15:14

      Entirely possible to place bets where you’re guaranteed not to lose any money, whilst evading the attention of their AML and anti-arbing staff. The more you cycle, the more secondary the points collection element becomes!

      • CC says:

        21 Aug21 August 08:58

        Do you mean like betting on horses and then waiting for the price to drop in exchange and then placing you lay bet?

• Toby says:

  17 Aug17 August 22:31

  Anyone thinking of buying wine from a Waitrose, hold off until next week. 25% off three bottles or more starts then!

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