A 40% bonus when you buy World of Hyatt points means a good Mallorca deal

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• Mzungu says:

  27 Apr27 April 14:49

  O/T Planning to transfer my Avios from Iberia Plus to BAEC before my Avios account closure in about 4 weeks (I have about 2k left there). Just realised that I was nearly up to 2000 eReward points, which would convert to 750 Avios with Iberia (best conversion rate). So I quickly got my eRewards balance up to 2000, and sent 750 Avios to Iberia. The acknowledgement says that they will take 6-8 weeks to post!! So:
  – Does anyone have any experience of posting time from eRewards > Iberia? Might they arrive before the Avios closure?
  – Should I transfer the 2k anyway and risk the 750 being orphaned? (can you transfer any amounts, or are there fixed multiples?)
  – Any other strategy yet for transferring from Iberia > BAEC yet? I’m assuming others will have Avios stuck in Iberia in the future, so maybe they’ll have to fix the transfer… I’ve only succeeded going via Avios so far.
  All suggestions gratefully received 🙂

  • RussellH says:

    27 Apr27 April 15:32

    I have regularly transferred 2000 e-Rewards points to Iberia – usually takes around seven to ten days, but has been as much as a month. Never as long as the 6-8 weeks as per the Ts+Cs.

    You should be able to transfer any number of Avios from Iberia to BA; I have often transferred dribs and drabs. I think my last transfer was just 16 Avios. I do wonder whether or not I should leave a couple in the Iberia a/c though.

    I have never had any problem transferring directly between Iberia + BA, either direction, using either the IB or the BA website (apart from the period around the closure announcement of avios.com, whenall sorts of things were going on).
    I do not use the same e-mail address for IB and BA either, though the domain is the same.
    Also, since splitting our avios.com household a/c I have not had problems moving from avios to BA either, and that is on a completely different e-mail address, different domain too.

    • Mzungu says:

      27 Apr27 April 15:55

      Thanks RussellH.

      Useful to know the that eRewards transfer could happen in time to transfer via Avios. I’ve always had to do that, it never worked directly. Sounds like you’ve been one of the lucky ones!

      I’ll try the direct transfer first, just in case it decides to work this time – it would be good if it does.

      H

  • Lady London says:

    29 Apr29 April 18:59

    Are miles left in Iberia seriously going to be orphaned? Did I miss something?

• Andrew says:

  27 Apr27 April 14:55

  OT (and perhaps a little niche!): Currency strategy for Antigua – any recommendations or tips?

  I am hoping to put the majority of my spend through the Lloyds Amex/MasterCard and take as little cash as possible. I’ve heard various things:
  – you can get better rates exchanging GBP for ECD while over there,
  – it’s often better to use USD in touristy places and ECD in local places.
  – there’s something on immigration about having sufficient money for your stay.

  Any truth in any of those? I’m guessing the immigration one is not particularly enforced and a wallet full of credit cards would pass the test?

  Thanks for any advice!

  • Tilly says:

    27 Apr27 April 18:55

    We we’re in Antigua in November. From experience, only big hotels accept amex. They’re not keen on credit cards and so apart from our hotel every time we used the Hilton Visa to pay for anything there was a surcharge added.

    Took £ and US$ out with us. US$ widely accepted. Then changed some £ to local currency when we realised we didn’t have enough cash.

    • Tilly says:

      27 Apr27 April 18:55

      *were not we’re

      • Andrew says:

        28 Apr28 April 10:31

        Thanks Tilly. Guess buckets of USD it is then. So glad sterling always crashes before my transatlantic trips! Any advice on a rough budget per person per day? Lunch and dinner, irresponsible levels of booze, and one activity say?

      • Tilly says:

        28 Apr28 April 21:10

        Lol. We were all inclusive at our resort and as it was a very very nice one we had no need to purchase any food or drinks out. Even the excursions we took on a few of the days had meals and drinks included so I’m afraid I can’t really help much there. So we only used cash and Visa to pay for excursions and give tips.

      • Tilly says:

        28 Apr28 April 21:58

        To add, for 1 week we took I think it was 3 excursions, helicopter over to Montserrat, catamaran trip for day sailing all the way around the island with snorkelling and a private day tour of the island. Deposits were all paid in cash with balances paid on Hilton Visa card. IIRC the excursions cost us around £650 – £700.

• Mac326 says:

  27 Apr27 April 16:27

  O/T

  Travelling to Gran Canaria shortly for a week, and want to rent a car. Any recommendations for any agencies over there? All the reviews I read on the internet make it seem like car rental firms are these sadistic outfits inflicting scam upon scam on customers…

  Unfortunately I only have Amex Gold so I was planning on getting 3rd party excess insurance as I usually don’t go for the expensive and intense upsells. Any recommendations on this much appreciated as well.

  Thanks.

  • Daniel Macdonald says:

    27 Apr27 April 16:37

    Autoreisen every time. Google it.

    More expensive but zero excess and return full.

    Avoid goldcar like the plague….

    Seriously.

    • Yuff says:

      27 Apr27 April 17:00

      Have found Goldcar pretty good so far. Unbelievably cheap as well 😉

    • Tom1 says:

      27 Apr27 April 20:18

      +1
      With Autoreisen in Tenerife the cars are never as new as the Hertz/Europcar etc, but the zero excess is peace of mind (actually I always get fuel like-for-like – not return full).

      But the best with Autoreisen is the free cancellation and you don’t have to pay until you get there.
      So I make a booking as soon as I have travel plans, then keep an eye out every few weeks. If I find the price is lower, I make a new reservation, and type in the comments to please cancel the original booking, and reference the original confirmation. Always receive email back confirming within 24-48 hours.

  • Anna says:

    27 Apr27 April 16:42

    We’ve had policy from iCarHireinsurance – never had to call on it so can’t say how well it would work if needed. About £40 for 12 months. We’ve never had a car hire company say it’s not valid.

  • xcalx says:

    27 Apr27 April 17:18

    I would also recommend Autoreisen plus if you have kiddies free child seats or boosters.

  • Waribai says:

    27 Apr27 April 19:17

    Only one company I use in the Canaries these days https://www.cicar.com/EN
    Local firm not a franchise so their reputation is important to them. Also, they never try an up sell on insurance.
    While all the global brands have a large queue, cicar are always a safe bet to have you out of the airport in no time.
    Can you not upgrade to AMEX plat for the duration of your holiday? I’ve never been charged when upgrading and you get a nice points bonus too!

• Lee says:

  27 Apr27 April 16:51

  OT – hotel choice
  Planning a trip this summer to Tokyo and Singapore for first time, found two hotels on AMEX FHR with third nigh free offer. They seems really good on TripAdvisor, just need some insider opinions from HFPers, thanks!
  Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
  Conrad, Tokyo

  • Lee says:

    27 Apr27 April 16:57

    I have Hilton Diamond if that help

  • Darren says:

    27 Apr27 April 18:43

    Do you mean MO Singapore? The Hong Kong property is very good, as is The Landmark in Hong Kong which is also an MO.

    In Singapore I like The Fullerton Bay Hotel but the MO gets mixed reviews (never stayed myself).

    I’m sure others will help with Tokyo.

    • Lee says:

      27 Apr27 April 20:18

      thanks Darren, we are looking at Hong Kong MO

      • Darren says:

        27 Apr27 April 21:07

        Its a very nice place and 3rd night free is good, its a pretty regular offer (3rd or 4th night free depending on the property).

        If you have F&B credit I would recommend using it at Amber in the Landmark, the weekend lunch option is extremely good value.

  • JPV says:

    27 Apr27 April 18:54

    We had a great stay at conrad tokyo as hilton gold – no upgrade but a phenomenal free breakfast, a really nice standard room and a fantastic pool.

    In terms of location – it’s good if you want to do some high-end shopping in Ginza, but it’s not the best location for exploring other parts of Tokyo. It’s not in the most walkable part of the city. We started off our trip staying somewhere cheap in Shibuya which was a bit better situated for exploring (but YMMV depending on where you want to go and how much money you want to spend)

    • Lee says:

      27 Apr27 April 20:19

      we will stay for 3 nights and mixed of shopping and exploring, it’s good value with pay 2 for 3 nights though

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