American Express backtracks on changes to Preferred Rewards Gold referral bonuses

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• MarkH says:

  24 Mar24 March 09:39

  OT – just a quick thanks to Tim who runs BA Redemption Finder (and a plug for his site https://baredemptionfinder.com ).

  I booked a 2-4-1 to JNB for my honeymoon in November and only managed to get PE on the outbound.

  I set up the free alerts but missed some J seats as someone else got to them first so I signed up for the elite version and was notified as soon as a pair of F seats were available, which I duly grabbed. Now we’ll be flying F both ways on our honeymoon – can’t wait!

  PS Rob – pls delete if this breaks any promotional/advertising posting rules

  • AndyR says:

    24 Mar24 March 14:27

    Well done mate. I did the same thing but for LAX so now on the A380 in F!

  • Rob says:

    24 Mar24 March 15:11

    No problem, I use it myself!

• Andrew-a says:

  24 Mar24 March 10:10

  O/T but bits so hopefully ok.
  I have 3 nights booked in the IC Hong Kong in the summer in a Deluxe Harbour View Room,1 paid and 2 x reward nights. By the time I upgraded the standard room to a view and 2 nights club access I am still paying almost £600. I was thinking about changing to the Shangri-la Kowloon, club level harbour view which would probably be around £900 and keep the free nights for another time.
  Would anyone who has stayed in these at club level recommend the Shangri-la over the IC ?
  Thanks in advance

  • The Original Nick says:

    24 Mar24 March 11:14

    I’ve stayed at the IC quite a few times. At the moment there’s a lot of building work going on so I would be tempted to go for the Shangri-la even though I’ve not stayed there. I have eaten in the restaurant there using a voucher which was possible to get via a simple competition a few years ago that Rob brought to our attention here on HFP’s. The food was amazing.

    • Andrew-a says:

      24 Mar24 March 11:52

      Thanks Nick
      I will give it some thought.

  • luckyjim says:

    24 Mar24 March 14:01

    The widely-adopted convention is that ‘Off Topic’ is always okay if you start your post ‘OT’. It doesn’t have to be a ‘Bits’ article and you don’t have to be apologetic about asking a questions which may be useful to others.

    I’ve stayed at the IC once and was not too impressed with the food or service. If you plan to eat out it doesn’t matter but for me it was just a stopover so I didn’t have much time. I don’t know anything about the Shangri La but I would say you would recoup the extra £300 at some point in the future if you hold on to your points.

    • Lady London says:

      24 Mar24 March 20:38

      Personally I think it would be best if people keep their “OT’s” to the “Bits” articles wherever possible. Otherwise it just clogs up the comments and draws attention away from the main topic.

• dave says:

  24 Mar24 March 10:51

  O/T looking for free/cheapest parking option for LHR t5
  Anywhere you can leave car for free and hop on free local bus
  would be from thursday to monday
  cheers

  • The Original Nick says:

    24 Mar24 March 11:15

    JustPark?

• The_real_a says:

  24 Mar24 March 10:54

  This is one flight that i would seek out a stopover in the usual places. Flying in biz or first is survival but i cannot think enjoyable. In Y it must shorten your lifespan considerably. Would anyone here do this flight?

  • Czechoslovakia says:

    24 Mar24 March 11:37

    I’ve done 12hrs in AF PE, with em. Exit / bulkhead seat. Whilst pleasant enough seat, 12 hours really is enough of plane air in any 24 hour period! Would agree, stopover necessary in any class.

    • Geoff says:

      24 Mar24 March 12:02

      Not sure it is necessary if the seating and service is as good as Qatar. Just returned from NZ on the Doha-Auckland route and found it very pleasant both ways. For me the seat on the 777 was more comfortable than the spangly new 787 from Oslo (although partner disagreed, and the toys are better on the 787) and slept for over 8 hours on the 17:30 flight back. Service was excellent throughout and, for us, a stopover would have been an unnecessary chafe. Can’t imagine doing it down the back though.

      Having thought we had been clever doing the ‘ex-EU’ thing, it was a bit galling to see the flash sale for less money from MAN while we were out there!

      • Alex W says:

        24 Mar24 March 16:22

        +1. We did the same route and preferred the Qatar 777 to the 787.

      • Alex W says:

        24 Mar24 March 16:22

        +1. We did the same route and preferred the Qatar 777 to the 787.

      • Lumma says:

        25 Mar25 March 07:01

        I think there’s a lot of love for the old 777 business class on Qatar, despite most reviews online criticising it. I agree that I preferred it over the A350 seats.

        I suppose the problem with it is the lack of aisle access from the window seats and needing to step over someone or be stepped over yourself if you have a stranger as a seatmate

• Dave says:

  24 Mar24 March 12:22

  booked LON to MEL in ThaiAir Y forfamily of 4 this summer. 2.5hour stop in BKK to change planes.
  bring on the pain

  • Anna says:

    24 Mar24 March 16:09

    Prior to getting into the points game we travelled MAN – LHR – BKK – SYD – WLG in economy with a 4 year old. Amazingly, looking back it actually wasn’t that bad and I think that must have been because the longest legs were overnight and we slept quite a bit. But there’s no way on earth I’d do that now, I am utterly ruined lol!

  • Lady London says:

    24 Mar24 March 20:40

    At least you can get massages and spa in Bangkok. Although 2.5 hours might not be enough if you get even a slight delay incoming to BKK.

• Jason says:

  24 Mar24 March 12:32

  The plaza lounge at Heathrow is easily the best lounge at T5

  Still ridiculously quite and free with your platinum card

  • N says:

    24 Mar24 March 15:47

    did you get a guest in too?

    • Harkirat says:

      24 Mar24 March 22:26

      Yes

  • Lady London says:

    24 Mar24 March 20:42

    Go on, rub it in! The T5 Plaza Premium Lounge is still not available with Priority Pass.

    • Rob says:

      24 Mar24 March 21:32

      If it was, it would be rammed and you wouldn’t want to go there ….

• signol says:

  24 Mar24 March 13:56

  Youtuber “Inflight Video” is on the inaugural southbound. He’s coming back via AKL and DOH. All in Y.

  • Rob says:

    24 Mar24 March 15:05

    Lucky him 🙂

• Darren says:

  24 Mar24 March 16:34

  OT Hilton Honors quick question – does gold get free breakfast at Conrad. I can’t see it on the benefits on their site.

  Thanks

  • Darren says:

    24 Mar24 March 16:56

    Thanks, that will help if I switch a stay in NYC to Conrad as I’ve seen some reasonable rates there recently.

    • Genghis says:

      24 Mar24 March 17:09

      We’ve got a stay there in May. Already upgraded to Hudson River view as Diamond.

    • Darren says:

      24 Mar24 March 17:46

      We usually stay in lower Manhattan but I need to check out the location for nightlife.

      • Rob says:

        24 Mar24 March 17:51

        Why? It is peanuts in a cab down the East Side Parkway (or whatever its called) and with virtually no traffic lights it is lightning quick as well in the evenings. Unless you’re going higher than the south end of Central Park all the time it wouldn’t concern me.

    • Darren says:

      24 Mar24 March 19:33

      I see where it is now and have stayed close by in the past. The all suite aspect is nice compared with the shoebox rooms in some places in the city.

      I like to walk and was concerned that it was too low down in the business district. We’ve covered touristy NYC a long time ago and would not stay in midtown, much prefer Greenwich, Soho etc.

    • Tom says:

      25 Mar25 March 02:47

      Staying at the Conrad next Saturday. Managed to get a Best Rate Guarantee so we have the room for 4 of us for $200 Inc taxes. Looking forward to it! Anybody know what breakfast is like for Hilton Gold?

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