Bits: 10am check-in for IHG Spire Elite, 40% bonus buying Hyatt points, buy Avios bonus

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• PGW says:

  20 Nov20 November 05:12

  I couldn’t agree more on the “subject ti availability” point. It really means “if we feel like it and don’t have to incur cost or go to any trouble we might think about it”. There is real potential for IHG to shoot itself in the foot with things like this.

  • JamesB says:

    20 Nov20 November 05:36

    Agreed, with the exception of those chains that charge for early check in, I’ve never failed to get in at any hotel regardless of what time I appeared on the arrival day if they had a room available. Where rooms have not been available immediately I have found that hotels have generally been good at getting one ready as quickly as possible and can give reliable estimates of how long it would take.

    • John says:

      20 Nov20 November 08:58

      At Hiltons I go to the lounge if a room isn’t available. Checked in at 6am at a conrad last month and got late checkout until 4pm, on a one night stay.

      Wouldn’t happen in an IC, and 50% of CPs still don’t offer lounge access as a spire perk

      • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

        20 Nov20 November 15:20

        Agree – never been turned away from a Hilton, always been invited to breakfast/lounge if a room wasn’t already available.

• JamesB says:

  20 Nov20 November 06:15

  OT Bit: Virgin Trains East Coast 50% off sale goes live 10am today through Wednesday for travel 6 January through 2 March with the usual excluded dates in February. 500 bonus nectar points available too.

  • xcalx says:

    20 Nov20 November 18:45

    All prices are the same as when I looked last Friday 4th 5th Feb 18th 19th Feb LDS-LON return.

    • JamesB says:

      20 Nov20 November 18:58

      Did you find the sale page? What you say does not surprise me though, it has become par for the course with sales everywhere.

      • xcalx says:

        21 Nov21 November 08:06

        Thanks, no I was looking on my normal sign in link, signed in through the sale email and saved a few pound.

• Paul says:

  20 Nov20 November 06:51

  IHG need to make up their mind what they want to do with Spire. I have been Spire since it launched but have hardly stayed this year switching to Hilton thanks to guaranteed breakfast and lounge access. That said I stayed in a U.K. hotel this weekend which had s checkin time of 4pm and which it enforced it ridgedly even for Diamond members. When I complained they said they were full so I asked why I had been able to book a room the night before at 10pm at a fraction of the rate for the night of my stay. They back tracked and following a series of other disasters comped the room.

  They just don’t have the staff and hope no one will notice but in general UK hotels are dire places to stay.

  If this is a guaranteed benefit then great but IHG have overall a very poor record on benefit delivery unless you are staying in an IC and have Ambassador status

• Leo says:

  20 Nov20 November 07:40

  It’s better than nothing I suppose but I’ve had to go into battle on occasion for Ambassador benefits which are supposedly guaranteed in the past. I dont want to be negative for the sake of it but ultimately this is relying on the good will or competence of staff.

• Liz says:

  20 Nov20 November 08:01

  i also find that they don’t automatically preassign an upgraded room for Spires before you check in – you always have to ask for it. So if you arrive early they will probably not have cleaned an upgraded room – just the regular rooms – so you will likely miss out on an upgraded room if you accept an early check in.

  • JamesB says:

    20 Nov20 November 08:31

    If it’s even possible to generalise then I would expect the opposite is more likely. The better rooms are probably more likely to be occupied by business customers either through payment for room type or through status upgrades. Business customers are more likely than leisure travellers to check out early I would think therefore the best rooms are more likell to become availabld early.

  • CV3V says:

    20 Nov20 November 09:09

    This is the problem with IHG, it is all so inconsistent. I have had pre assigned upgrades in Germany, and in Asia, but thats it. I have always found the hotels helpful in sorting out early check ins, so i dont see how this alleged new Spire benefit will work – will they now not check in early non Spire members?! Doubt it. Trying to arrange travel around non guaranteed benefits versus the guaranteed benefits of Hilton mean that IHG have lost most of my stays while i max out on Hilton Diamond benefits whilst i still hold status.

• pointsarb says:

  20 Nov20 November 08:33

  OT: Morning all. Calling Polly and all others here who frequent the Far East on hols please. I’m holding Virgin Upper Class redemptions to HKG and looking for ideas on best final destination in the Far East/Indonesia for a family of 4 with 2 kids aged 6 and 4. Currently booked in to the Hilton Phuket however cannot get the internal flights on avios on CX from HKG. Looked at Singapore (but rainy season?), Bali (but monsoon season?) and so a little stuck on final destination if the objective is not really to sight see just to enjoy great weather and a great hotel with great kid amenities. We are normal Caribbean go’ers and so spoiled by stunning beaches and weather, first time to Far East hence looking for guidance.

  Can anybody offer any suggestions please for a final destination ex HKG that I might have missed? Thanks in advance!

  • CV3V says:

    20 Nov20 November 09:03

    What time of the year are you travelling in? Rainy season will vary with location and time of year, also the severity of it varies by location.

  • JamesB says:

    20 Nov20 November 09:09

    Firstly, unless you want to hire a car then I would swap Hilton Phuket for HI Patong Beach if you have IHG points. The latter is a very nice hotel, just across the road from the beach and walking distance to everything. I might be wrong but I seem to recall a kids club room or something at that hotel too. Can you not get there via KL with MH? A stopover in KL could be good, Doubletree Hilton is only 10k per night, huge breakfast buffet and lounge. Free shuttle bus to points of interest in the city, 5 minutes walk to metro. Don’t overlook Air Asia, they are great. If you use them you should pay extra for the hot seats at front, extra luggage, priority boarding and food. They fly direct from HKG-HKT. If you want something quieter than Phuket then Ao Nang beach at Krabi might appeal, MH fly there too. As an alternative consider Bangkok city hreak with Koh Samet for quiet beach break. HKG-BKK is a good CX business redemption and you can also use miles on Sri Lankan. In HKG I recommend taking kids up to the big Buddha on the cable car, take the public bus or taxi down the hill to the port and return to HK by fast ferry. There is also Disneyland in the same area so perhaps worth staying locally for two nights. If taking the cable car then buy tickers in advance as lines can be very long at times.

    • Leo says:

      20 Nov20 November 15:14

      +1 Re Air Asia. Flown in and out of HKT with them. No issues apart from long queue.

  • Rash says:

    20 Nov20 November 12:29

    We’re going in Feb, which is possible Monsoon season in Bali, so we’ve decided to go Langkawi(Andaman) and KL if that helps also with 2 young children. Thanks JamesB for the tip re:Doubletree! I was debating between that and the Hilton in KL

    • JamesB says:

      20 Nov20 November 13:02

      Hilton is directly opposite the railway station but that is still more hassle than a taxi right to door of Doubletree. Hilton is a better hotel but at 10k a night it is difficult to ignore DT. IIRC Genghis also got upgraded to a suite.

      • Genghis says:

        20 Nov20 November 14:02

        Yep. Suite upgrade at DT in late Apr / early May. It was great value but I only gave it a 3* rating on TA. Happy to share my review if interested

  • Darren says:

    20 Nov20 November 13:55

    From HKG there are direct flights to Samui, Phuket (or Khoa Lak), indirect to Krabi or Ko Lanta (via BKK as an example). I’m sure others will fill in the gaps for family options, I’d imagine Phuket and Samui would give a few choices.

    Best weather would depend on the time of year but if your saying Bali is wet then I’m thinking it’s early in the year.

    • pointsarb says:

      20 Nov20 November 17:31

      Thanks for all the responses guys, appreciate it….

      @ James B, yep looked at Air Asia and they want circa £350pp round trip HKG to HKT so £1400 for our family of four – ouch! – compared to a CX redemption! We wanted to avoid Patong area completely, too crazy for us I think!

      @ Darren I will check out Samui and Khoa Lak thanks.

      @ Rash, yep we are set on Bali too…until we found out that since we would be going over Xmas we would likely be rained out as monsoon season so don’t want to risk that.

      • JamesB says:

        20 Nov20 November 18:53

        I think there are still a lot of fifth freedom flights between BKK and HKG with cheap cash fares so maybe have to go long way round. Patong is not so crazy as Samui or Pattaya but certainly not quiet. Phuket still not a bad option though. If you hire a car you can find lots of great quiet beaches as you explore the island , and the coastline of the mainland nearby is stunning. Driving in South of Thailand is easy, cars are right hand drive like here and road signs are both in English and Thai. Taxi and tuktuks in Phuket are a PITA so I strongly recommend a car.

      • Darren says:

        20 Nov20 November 21:05

        @JamesB I’d agree re Pattaya v Patong but Samui is an island with different places for varied holidays. The north and south being the best imho and Chaweng being less so.

        Saying all that Phuket is a good choice for an all round destination.

  • Stevie G says:

    20 Nov20 November 17:55

    Where / which hotels do you recommend in the Caribbean pointsarb?

    • pointsarb says:

      20 Nov20 November 22:21

      Our current favourite is actually in Mexico – JW Marriott Cancun. Very nice property but limited elite recognition as it’s a resort. Check out Turks & Caicos too for some stunning beaches.

      • Stevie G says:

        20 Nov20 November 22:29

        Thanks

• Yuff says:

  20 Nov20 November 08:44

  Rob,

  Coincidentally, I emailed you the Hyatt Offer this morning 😉
  I did have a problem accessing HFP this morning so hadn’t seen the article 🙁

• Tim W says:

  20 Nov20 November 08:47

  Hmmm – I’m Spire and didn’t get any email from IHG. But completely agree with the above comments about the worth of non-guaranteed benefits.

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