The Aspire lounge in London Gatwick’s North Terminal to close for refurbishment

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• Stu N says:

  13 Feb13 February 08:56

  OT: Have a JFK trip booked for end of year, currently on 777 both ways (every single flight on our outbound was a 777 which is unusual). As the route is notorious for 747777 swaps I’d like to keep a close eye on it. Is it just down to checking MMB periodically or any smart ideas since the demise of MyFlights?

  • Darren says:

    13 Feb13 February 09:41

    Snap, just booked on 777 yesterday. I’d be interested in replies.

  • John W says:

    13 Feb13 February 15:53

    Hi Stu ,
    One suggestiion could be Expert Flyer. you can enter your dates of travel and flight number and the software provides the seat map along with any vacant seats / Booked seats
    http://www.expertflyer.com/
    Free trial allows X number of searches per day

    • Stu N says:

      13 Feb13 February 22:37

      Thanks, will give that a go. Nothing seems to compare with ease of use of MyFlights, I happily paid for Gold for months covering “valuable” flights. Such a shame there was no way around GDPR for them.

• rob says:

  13 Feb13 February 09:28

  HSBC World Elite 2nd year Fee Update.

  Realise a few of us have this and have had issues with the T’s & C’s; HSBC have written to me that as a goodwill gesture if I change to the standard premier mastercard they will refund the £195 2nd year fee for the world elite and can keep the points.

  • Polly says:

    13 Feb13 February 13:27

    HSBC elite fee. Same with us. The issue was the points, you would lose them if you dropped down to free card even one day before the year was up. If you wait until that exact day of 1 year, you are charged the fee. It’s really a no win situation. The manager who dealt with mine agreed it was a mess. They are trying to clarify it.. They said most people don’t fight it. I told her we were used to exceptional cs from amex, and that amex wouldn’t hesitate one second to refund the fee and keep us a customer. And make sure we kept our points.
    Am now waiting for a BA bonus! Some hope.

    • Lady London says:

      13 Feb13 February 17:35

      @Polly very impressed with your brisk answer to HSBC above “we were used to exceptional cs from amex, and that amex wouldn’t hesitate one second to refund the fee and keep us a customer. And make sure we kept our points.”

      I have filed this for my own future use.
      Btw I think the World Elite MasterCard also has access to the excellent MasterCard hotel scheme? which the standard HSBC MasterCard won’t.

• Andrew says:

  13 Feb13 February 09:32

  Following my experience at the Radisson in Crystal City a few years back, it doesn’t surprise me.

  Google Streetview is a great way to see how hotel brands change. In the link below, it’s easy to see how this hotel lost it’s Radisson brand, temporarily became a “Crystal Inn” with a classy branded tarpaulin over the original Radisson sign and following some building work is now a Hilton Garden Inn.

  https://goo.gl/maps/3a5KEr1saTF2

  (It took 4 attempts by the staff to find us a room that, at least matched the booking of two doubles, wasn’t already occupied, and had been cleaned.)

• Davide says:

  13 Feb13 February 10:37

  Is the gold to plat link still working? If so could someone post for me?

  • fivebobbill says:

    13 Feb13 February 11:54

    https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/content/platinum-charge/upgrade/

    • Davide says:

      13 Feb13 February 12:02

      Thanks!

• Aliks says:

  13 Feb13 February 10:58

  I signed up for the Hilton challenge last year, but was underwhelmed by the US Hiltons I stayed at, so I didnt complete.

  Does anyone have any experience of repeating the challenge – will they offer the same deal again?

  • Pangolin says:

    13 Feb13 February 12:06

    US is probably the worst choice for testing out Hiltons as everyone and his dog are Diamonds there.

    AFAIK, Hilton is the one scheme that doesn’t specifically block people from repeating a status challenge (e.g. without a five year period), so no harm in trying.

• The_real_a says:

  13 Feb13 February 11:12

  Lets hope for some club carlson pointd promotions! Always suprised there was never a points credit card in the uk for them (amex mr aside)

• JamesB says:

  13 Feb13 February 11:26

  OT: Seems like Rob has gone on strike today!

  • Rob says:

    13 Feb13 February 12:24

    I’m on holiday!

    • mike says:

      13 Feb13 February 13:01

      dolomites again? enjoy

      • Rob says:

        13 Feb13 February 14:00

        Austria. Dunno what the mountains are called, I’m not going up them.

    • Alex W says:

      13 Feb13 February 13:22

      Who approved that??

      • Rob says:

        13 Feb13 February 13:57

        I just get told by the Mrs I’m going! Anika is holding the fort.

    • JamesB says:

      13 Feb13 February 14:15

      Thought so being HT…enjoy

• Anna says:

  13 Feb13 February 11:56

  Formulating Plan B – coming home via the states but definitely not in WT! There are a few F redemption seats from US cities which would alleviate the trauma of extra connections. Is one allowed in the Concorde Room when one lands at LHR from an F journey?

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    13 Feb13 February 12:00

    Only if connecting to another flight. There is a concord breakfast area in the arrivals lounge but I wouldn’t get too excited.

    • Anna says:

      13 Feb13 February 12:18

      We would be connecting to MAN, does that count?

      • Grimz says:

        13 Feb13 February 12:29

        Yes iv done that when connecting to ABZ

      • Stu N says:

        13 Feb13 February 12:40

        Yes – just hang onto your F boarding pass. You can also go landside and back into lounge complex via F Wing. It’s probably about the same time-wise as the flight connections route but a longer walk which I like to get legs moving and much quicker security. Plus it’s worth it for the novelty value of a nice check-in area and actual premium security!

    • Polly says:

      13 Feb13 February 13:21

      Actually, you can go into the arrivals lounge just landing in t5 off an F flight. You don’t need to be going onwards. The concord room is lovely for nice dining. And you can book in for a nice facial if there’s a slot. Go straight to the Lee is desk when you go into the arrivals lounge.

      • Lady London says:

        13 Feb13 February 17:40

        IIRC the arrivals lounge closes 2pm. Breakfast there quite good though.

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