Bits: BA drops Kos, good BA luxury European deals, upstairs on a BA 747

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• simon says:

  21 Oct21 October 12:54

  Having never experienced a city break what do folks recommend as a great place to start?

  I love food and sightseeing

  • Andrew-A says:

    21 Oct21 October 13:19

    That is a really difficult one to answer as everyone has different ideas of what they look for in a weekend break. My favourite one has to be Rome but, depending on where you live, look at flights from your local airport. Over the past two years I have been to Krakow & Prague off season with Easyjet and they have been really good flights, hotels and value. Next Feb it’s 5 nights in Berlin. Living near Edinburgh there is no point in me travelling via London for a weekend away.

    • simon says:

      21 Oct21 October 14:40

      Thanks Andrew-A, I live nearest London so it’ll probably be Heathrow.

  • Rob says:

    21 Oct21 October 13:21

    Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, Kraków, Seville, Lisbon, Stockholm, Berlin, Barcelona … really depends on how long you have.

    Never got on with Dublin, Brussels, Budapest, Madrid, Frankfurt ….

  • Leo says:

    21 Oct21 October 14:38

    Really subjective. I’d start with Lisbon.

  • Tilly says:

    21 Oct21 October 14:40

    My favourites are Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Madrid, Prague and Budapest.

    • Simon says:

      22 Oct22 October 12:47

      Thanks everyone, some researching to be done!

  • Delbert says:

    21 Oct21 October 16:23

    My wife and I are regulars to Amsterdam. A nice short Club Europe flight from LHR to AMS. Prefer LHR as T5 Sofitel is far superior to the LGW Sofitel. We go there so often that we ended up purchasing Privium membership to avoid the queues as occasionally it can get ridiculously busy at AMS. I can also highly recommend booking an apartment rather than a hotel. Only two weeks until our next long weekend in AMS and three weeks until we fly to SE Asia on the excellent EVA Air. Roll on the holidays.

    • Kiran says:

      21 Oct21 October 20:11

      We’re regulars to Amsterdam too. We usually stay in the Park Plaza at Vondel Park (loveley park walk into the centre) but are interested in the apartment angle – do you have any links or just go with Airbnb?

      • Delbert says:

        22 Oct22 October 09:41

        Hi Kiran. We always book through booking dot com, but book up as early as possible for a greater choice of accommodation.

  • Barry cutters says:

    21 Oct21 October 17:41

    We are in Budapest this weekend, did Munich last weekend . It’s all fun , everywhere is different – I really enjoy Barcelona in the summer and krakow/Warsaw/Prague/all Germany in the winter months. But all of these destinations can be good anytime . Depends what you want ? Is it history or culture or just food and beer….

    • pauldb says:

      21 Oct21 October 20:13

      Just one nuance: we like to take holidays that combine a city with some beach/mountain/scenery so for a pure city break would pick somewhere that we are unlikely to tick off on a longer holiday.
      We’ve covered Munich, Paris, Rome, Lisbon, Milan on our holidays for example; but Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Stockholm are more standalone.
      Cities are also less weather dependant. Barcelona is great in January.

  • Drav says:

    21 Oct21 October 23:28

    Purely from a culinary perspective then without a doubt I would say:
    Barcelona, copenhagen, san sebastian, Bologna/modena and amsterdam but only if you also incorporate zwolle and rotterdam

    if you didn’t live in London, then London of course
    oh and i haven’t forgotten Paris… just isnt on the same level as the others

    • Genghis says:

      22 Oct22 October 05:14

      If heading out to Zwolle, you might as well also visit Giethoorn

  • Alan says:

    21 Oct21 October 23:37

    Related question (don’t mean to hijack but seemed to fit!) – have got 24h in Frankfurt in Jan (was only option for EDI-FRA-SIN and at least avoid UK longhaul premium APD!). Anyone have any suggestions of where to visit? Gave been to Frankfurt recently and Mainz a couple of years ago – anywhere else nearby that might be good for a daytrip on the train?

    • Yan says:

      21 Oct21 October 23:56

      Heidelberg or Koblenz are both within <1.5hr train from FRA

      • Alan says:

        22 Oct22 October 00:59

        Thanks, have been to Heidelberg (last Easter, very pleasant), Koblenz looks like it could be a good shout though, will investigate further!

• Optimus Prime says:

  21 Oct21 October 13:03

  OT – Does anyone know if it’s possible to use Lyft/Uber in the USA with a UK SIM card? Haven’t had problems with Uber in EU but haven’t tried USA yet.

  Do the promotional codes work if your first ride is in USA?

  Thanks in advance.

  • Alan says:

    21 Oct21 October 13:04

    No issue using Uber in USA – I’ve got free roaming via Three and when drivers called me they did it via a local number at their end so worked fine. Sign-up promo should be OK too if it’s a new account.

    • Optimus Prime says:

      21 Oct21 October 13:19

      Thanks Alan. I’ll get a new number so I’ll give a shot to the promo code.

      I have a Uber gift card balance but I think Genghis couldn’t use in Brussels the one he converted from Tesco. Or is this a different scenario?

      • Alan says:

        21 Oct21 October 13:22

        You can only use them in the same denomination – so I’ve used Uber USA sign-up bonuses in the US (on a spare SIM), but your UK credit won’t work – it’ll automatically bill to your payment card instead.

      • Optimus Prime says:

        21 Oct21 October 15:19

        Noted, thanks!

      • Genghis says:

        21 Oct21 October 15:30

        As Alan notes, the Tesco credit denominated in GBP can only be used in the UK.

  • Rob says:

    21 Oct21 October 13:18

    A £ code won’t work, needs to be in same denomination as the bill.

  • Bill says:

    21 Oct21 October 14:27

    Used both in Miami last month with no problems.
    Top tip. Opt for Uber pool or Lyft Lift, tends to work out cheaper and they rarely pick up others. Also they come to you. In London if you pool you have to walk to the designated pick up point.

    • Optimus Prime says:

      21 Oct21 October 15:19

      Good to know, thanks!

• Trent says:

  21 Oct21 October 15:50

  I’ve never sat on the main deck in Business Class on any 747 flight I have ever been on. Always the upper deck – absolutely agree, it is the place to be!

• Scott says:

  21 Oct21 October 15:55

  Re: ” it is a unique experience with such a small cabin” – looks like five rows of four? Which is the same small capacity as AA’s A330 (formerly US Airway’s Envoy Suite) used on some transatlantic routes.

• Wivus says:

  21 Oct21 October 15:58

  When you book a BA City break with one of the reward hotels I presume no points from them but do you get status benefits?

  • Rob says:

    21 Oct21 October 17:31

    No – sometimes you get lucky, but unless it is a Marriott Rewards property then you should assume no.

• asik16 says:

  21 Oct21 October 16:32

  Regarding KOS cancellation:
  Please see: https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/legal/british-airways/general-conditions-of-carriage and https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/legal/flight-cancellation-compensation (Right to re-routing or refund of part(s) of the journey not flown).
  Don’t allow BA to fob you off if you are on a reward ticket. It still is an eligible ticket!
  The only caution is if you are from the regions and your ticket was LBA-LHR-KGS return. If they offer you rerouting from MAN or any other airport, they will not reimburse you for train fare to/from Leeds. I found that the hard way, when missed our connection flight from ATH-LHR-LBA and had to verbally fight with customer relations for them to pay for the train fare. I was advised that in future I should instead accept the hotel rooms + meals (dinner & breakfast) in LHR, which I did on 3 subsequent occasions (many missed connections to LBA). Every time I tell their BA (missed connections assistance) staff at LHR, they seem shocked at the advice and cannot understand how that is cheaper for BA!

  • Nick says:

    21 Oct21 October 18:11

    This can be avoided with a small proactive learning on your part. Have the agent at origin airport enter a note into your PNR “customer has agreed to decline hotel and meal costs on the understanding that we cover an off-peak train ticket from Manchester airport to Leeds instead”. BA’s general policy is indeed not to pay local overland travel costs if you ask for a rerouting, but common sense does prevail and if you can demonstrate in advance that you’re saving them money, they will go along with it. Note that this applies to public transport only, not taxis, which are always refused unless there is no public alternative at all, and there has to be no alternative flight to the original destination the same day.

    • Alan says:

      21 Oct21 October 18:33

      Good tip re getting PNR endorsed appropriately – perhaps ask them for a printout saying as such too? (I’m assuming this is something they can do?)

      • asik16 says:

        21 Oct21 October 19:06

        Might work better if they can actually do what Alan mentioned. Put the note on PNR as Nick said but also give us a print out. However, I don’t know if they are able and/or willing to do so. Does anyone know?

      • Genghis says:

        21 Oct21 October 19:51

        I’ve no knowledge on this but would such a remark be pulled through to My Flights?

        • Alan says:

          21 Oct21 October 21:09

          Was wondering the same, although comment-wise I’ve only ever seen the fare endorsements appear – would be handy if it did!

    • asik16 says:

      21 Oct21 October 18:57

      Thank you for the advice Nick but I know they don’t always adhere to notes on PNR’s. BA customer relations have said they would only pay out the rail fare if LHR assistance staff gave us a letter authorising such an expense. However, they (LHR assistance staff) say they cannot do so and it has to be authorised by customer relations after the end of our journey, by which point is a bit late! You cannot imagine how many times I had to plead with them (LHR assistance staff) to give us this in writing so that I can save them money but to no avail… Even customer relations has acknowledge that it’s silly that they end up paying for our accommodation and meals instead of a train fare but that’s them rules.

      • Nick says:

        21 Oct21 October 23:04

        You’re asking the wrong question (or phrasing it the wrong way). I have done this before and I know it happens every day. There are conditions – e.g. if they offer any flight the same day you have to take it – but generally it works well if you’re reasonable.

        They mostly won’t have printers available, and a RM won’t go through to CMT, but it will be visible to CR when you put the claim in. An explanation of how you declined the hotel and meal offer will help when it gets to CR.

  • Jimmy says:

    22 Oct22 October 00:23

    Absolutely – I think Rob may have simply blindly repeated what BA just hope for, suckers to walk away naively.

    Rob – I’m not having a go at you personally (honestly!) I’m just in strong agreeable with asik16, however if this viewpoint is inaccurate, please do feel free to elaborate to support your certainty or supposition. Ta

    • Jimmy says:

      22 Oct22 October 00:24

      * agreement

    • Rob says:

      22 Oct22 October 06:32

      I’m just telling you what is written in the official BA internal document (which is also on ba.com but I can’t find the link now ….)

• the real harry1 says:

  21 Oct21 October 17:10

  hmm – not letting me add my avios.com a/c, throwing me out with username/ password combo

  might try another browser, on Firefox now

  • Tilly says:

    21 Oct21 October 18:30

    +1

  • Tilly says:

    22 Oct22 October 10:40

    Did you manage to access your avios account from Bud?

    Still get an internal server error message.

  • the real harry1 says:

    22 Oct22 October 15:51

    no – Raffles will run this (no doubt) – he mixes in the fintech start-up arena – if only via old mates and office space lol

    I take the absence of article as evidence of ‘not ready yet’

    • Rob says:

      22 Oct22 October 20:00

      Met the Bud team about 6 months ago. A trip down to WeWork Moorgate is a rite of passage these days if you want to do anything with Avios 🙂

      It is a very interesting business. One company in this space will become a multi-billion pound company, probably killing off a few smaller financial comparison sites at the same time, and it may be them. It all boils down to how happy the public is letting independent companies have access to all – literally all – their financial data, in and out.

      It appeared on avios.com a couple of weeks ago and was pulled very quickly because the product didn’t work. Looks like it still doesn’t work.

      Rather like Bink last year, we are looking at doing a big competition with them (sign up to enter) so we are going to try to hold off writing about it until then as readers would end up unable to enter.

  • the real harry1 says:

    22 Oct22 October 20:49

    I wish the Bud team well – certainly customer service seems polite & on the ball

    how are they going to earn any money?

    • Rob says:

      23 Oct23 October 05:28

      They see all your savings and all your spending. Not hard.

      Stay at a Holiday Inn and pay on your debit card? They will email you suggesting you get an IHG credit card. Got a special savings rate ending? They will email you and offer – with one click – to open a new account for you at another bank and move your money for you.

  • Tilly says:

    22 Oct22 October 21:35

    Oh dear. At least it’s not just me. I certainly won’t give them access to any of my bank account details.

• Alan Cairns says:

  21 Oct21 October 19:06

  A note on the BA 747 article. Earlier this year we flew Business for the first time and it was a 747 to Cape Town. I specifically booked seats upstairs as I’ve always wanted to do it. Yes there may be a better cabins elsewhere, but for us the experience was well worth it. The only downside is that we didn’t get to go upstairs on the way back. If you get the chance, do it !!

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