Get 30% off Eurostar Standard Premier train tickets

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• Genghis says:

  6 Jul6 July 06:51

  Also fast track and flex tickets on Eurostar biz prem which worked a “treat” coming back on Wed afternoon. I usually travel standard prem on cost (booking my own tickets for credit card points etc) but biz prem cheaper at £412 return this week with corporate travel agent special fare. Wizzed through security at GdN, got to lounge and changed to a train an hour earlier. All trains then had to go on the standard (not high speed) line leading to 1.5 hour delays, so only got home 30 mins later than planned for wife’s bday. Would have been more in the dog house had I had a Standard prem ticket.

  • Lady London says:

    6 Jul6 July 19:01

    Isn’t there some kind of a refund scheme on Eurostar if you’re that late?

    • Genghis says:

      6 Jul6 July 20:25

      Yep. Got £51.50 (25% of that leg).

• Mr(s) Entitled says:

  6 Jul6 July 07:29

  Semi OT: any news on when/if a Hilton credit card will be returning to the UK market?

  • Rob says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:31

    No but still seems to be in hand based on discussions when I was in Washington.

• Matt B says:

  6 Jul6 July 08:01

  Looking to book a hire car in California for August. Never had to hire a car in my life let alone drive abroad so a total novice.

  My wife has Amex Platinum and I will shortly be a supplementary card holder – which means we don’t have to take any cover/insurance out as the Amex covers us for up to £75k damage? What about personal liability cover… Would that be taken care of by travel insurance?

  Also any good Avios earning opportunities at the moment? Avis seem to be quite competitive so leaning towards them

  Thanks

  • Genghis says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:07

    Check the usual channels too – rental cars etc. We paid £20 for 9 days or so in South Africa for Ford Focus style car and was happy to forgo whatever avios offer was on at the time.

  • Bagoly says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:19

    In the UK, automatics always seem to be much more expensive than manuals (to sting the Americans?).
    How does it work the other way round?

    • Matt B says:

      6 Jul6 July 08:22

      To be fair I’m happy to drive an automatic, but don’t recall even coming across a manual from the sites I’ve looked at so far.

    • Doug M says:

      6 Jul6 July 08:34

      Thrifty used to have the odd manual, or stick shift as they say. I had one once that was a Shelby conversion of some standardish Dodge, think like an Ford Cosworth. Clearly been driven by a mass of people that knew nothing of using a clutch. Got it in LA and drove up to SF where it was awful. It had no hand brake, the parking brake being a foot operated one. Try doing a hill start on those SF hills with a knackered clutch and no hand brake. A few times I had to get the person behind to go round so I could roll back before getting the clutch to bite. No heel toe on the throttle and brake for me.
      Back on topic I reckon the only manual you’ll see in the USA now is if you rent something specifically exotic and expansive.

      • Lady London says:

        6 Jul6 July 10:33

        “Try doing a hill start on those SF hills with a knackered clutch and no hand brake.” @ Doug M that gave me a laugh! and brought back fond memories. Even if you’re in a car without a knackered clutch and with a hand brake, parking on some of those hills and keeping it parked) is a nightmare. Plus if clutch is in any way impaired some of the hills are so steep you might not even get up them. Happy days 🙂

      • BJ says:

        6 Jul6 July 10:57

        Not any worse than putting your faith in the brakes of an ancient streetcar and it’s operator.

  • Doug M says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:25

    My experience with the USA is that the CDW/SLI (insurance) inclusive rates are often more competetive than just car hire rates. Typically you need LDW/CDW loss/collision damage waiver which cover the hire car, and then SLI supplementary liability insurance which covers damage to others. I’m not sure what Amex actually offers. The insurance required can vary by state too. Get something reasonably large, driving a small hatch is no fun on a 6 lane road surrounded by huge trucks, pickups and SUVs. I like Avis, but if you hire often enough they’ll all mess you about some how. Look at joining the loyalty scheme, no great points type benefit, but can allow queue jumping which is huge at the busy times. The Avis and Hertz ones allow you to go straight to the pre-reserved car, although if first time you’ll get redirected to the office, so they can see license and cc, but garage office still much quicker than the rental desks.

  • Bagoly says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:25

    If you two are naturally ambidextrous, or game players comfortable with changing frames of reference, then the other side of the road should be no problem.
    If you are not, then do add extra thinking step before each manoeuvre – highest risk moments are when starting again, E.g. coming out of parking, especially in the dark, and on empty roads.

    • Doug M says:

      6 Jul6 July 08:39

      I think when you have a rental with appropriate steering it becomes natural. I find driving rentals on the ‘wrong’ side completely normal. Driving my own car in Europe with inappropriate steering side much more unnatural, for more likely to drift inside with tendency to edge right. Of course I’m probably just a poor driver.

    • Lady London says:

      6 Jul6 July 10:41

      + 1. I can’t repeat that advice enough. Like you said @Bagoly, also at a T-Junction, make sure you start off again on the Right side of the road. or anytime you are forced to stop and wait with nothing else around. THINK. Go right.

      Also when you first get up in the morning and go out to the car and pull into the road, you might be half asleep and forget GO RIGHT! not pull out automatically onto the left side of the empty road.

      IME the steering wheel being on the right hand side of the car does help as long as you’re moving. The danger point is when you stop, and as @Bagoly says, when you start again be very very sure to pick the right hand side of the road.

      I say this as someone who has driven abroad regularly and at length for over 40 years, I still get caught out. After one three-year period when most of my driving was done in Europe, I also pulled out at a T-junction on a country road in the UK, and promptly took up the right hand side of the road so much I had schooled myself to. I was only saved from a head on collision by the quick thinking of the oncoming UK driver – I was fair and square on the wrong side of the road.

      This is long after I’ve got through the “changing the window winder” accidentally every time you go to change gear with your left hand” stage. I don’t think I’ll ever have to stop being vigiliant and remember every time I stop, which country I’m in and ensure I pull out again onto whichever side of the road is the right one… or the left one… er … you get my drift

  • Oh Matron! says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:44

    Get yours;f a hertz membership, then use the amex plat perk (if it still exists) to get president’s circle 5 star thingy. This allows you to rock up and *pick* a car from a selection. The last time I was in SFO, there was a bunch of eco boxes, a tonnes of trucks and… A Mustang…

    The time before that, in Boston, I ended up with this lovely Infiniti! They may need to see your driving license the first time you rent from them, but this, to me, is one of the more useful perks of Amex Plat

    • Pangolin says:

      6 Jul6 July 09:55

      Amex Plat doesn’t give you President’s Circle, it only gives you Gold Five Star, which is a lot less impressive. You can still bag a category upgrade (subject to availability) but you dont get to pick the best available car.

      I think Amex Centurion gives you PC level.

  • Gavin says:

    6 Jul6 July 10:06

    Driving in US is very easy, getting the hang of the 4 way stops is the key, and remembering to turn right on a red, and park the same direction as traffic. I did 4000 miles without an issue all around the Rockies and Western states. Defo hire a reasonably bigger car, a Nissan Rogue or similar is minimum size I’d want for California.

    You can get a cheap cooler box from Walmart or Target for a few dollars and this combined with the ice machine from your hotel is a great way to keep waters, soft drinks and more cool if doing a lot of driving somewhere remote eg Death Valley

  • imbruce says:

    6 Jul6 July 14:16

    As you have a Amex Platinum card you will get Hertz number 1 Gold membership, I tend to use Hertz as I can pay in advance in £ instead of $AU.
    The car insurance supplement is provided by insurance4carhire.com.
    I have had a bad experience using Avis as have a few other people with them charging for damage
    or extra days when the car has been returned without damage or returned on time.
    I have always found Avis a lot dearer than other rental car companies when I have checked their prices.

  • the_real_a says:

    6 Jul6 July 16:13

    Just be careful of tolls. They will offer you an extortionate transponder for something like $30 a day. It may have changed, but all tolls could be paid via cash (a few years since i was in CA).

    Despite my toll device being “off” it was still picked up by the overhead readers and charged accordingly. So i would advice taking a knife to the thing and gluing back when you return.

    With AMEX plat you can decline all insurance (that is none mandated by the state). Its very common to have insurance benefits with credit cards in the states, so most customer service staff are familiar with it being declined. However you should be cautious of unscrupulous tactics such as your size of car being unavailable and offering you an upgrade (and then you paying for it). Ask for an estimate of the bill in written form so you have evidence of what is being charged at the rental. Do not rely on the electronic “click to accept”. Also take photos of every panel on your phone before you drive off. Dont be afraid to report any and ALL damage and have it noted.

  • Gavin says:

    6 Jul6 July 16:26

    Other thing I remembered is Navmii app, download to your phone, it’s a free offline GPS which uses no data and has worldwide maps. Saves on the crazy hiring cost of a GPS unit.

    • Brian W says:

      6 Jul6 July 18:02

      +1 I’ve used this in the USA and Spain and it works really well.

• Matt says:

  6 Jul6 July 08:49

  O/T apologies has been asked many times. What’s the best route for Amex Gold to Plat upgrade to maximise points. I have Amex Gold charge card and companion credit card at the moment.

  • Matt says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:50

    And thank you in advance for the help!

  • Mark2 says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:21

    I suggest cancelling the companion credit card and any supplementaries first, so that you may get the points again for plat equivalents.
    BUT I have deleted the bookmark to the upgrade page (after upgrading mine) and a web search fails to find it. Is it still available?

    • Matt B says:

      6 Jul6 July 09:43

      Yes my partner used it this week. She kept getting an error on the final stage but contacted them through chat and they manually did it. Already spend 1k so let’s see if the bonus points arrive

      • Matt says:

        6 Jul6 July 15:12

        Great thanks all for the advice and link. I’ve done as recommended and the plat is on its way to me.

    • Cormac says:

      6 Jul6 July 16:39

      Is there a similar upgrade path for the Gold Credit Card (as opposed the the charge card)?

• Mark E says:

  6 Jul6 July 11:16

  Slightly O/T

  My partner and I are both AMEX plats, will we have any luck trying to bring our four year old into the Eurostar Lounge at St Pancras with us?

• rachael says:

  6 Jul6 July 11:46

  Eurostar related: we have the Platinum card and want to use the lounge in London, we have the cheapest ticket and noticed the lines are rather long. After check in do you usually find there is time enough to visit or will we just have to jump on the train ?

  • luckyjim says:

    6 Jul6 July 14:37

    The benefit of the lounge is it gives you somewhere comfortable to relax if you need to wait for your train. If you don’t need to wait you don’t need the lounge. You won’t be missing anything.

    • Genghis says:

      6 Jul6 July 15:27

      Drinks at the manned bar at the Paris lounge, however, are excellent.

• Roger says:

  6 Jul6 July 17:27

  OT-

  Do you receive (option to choose from) 25K IHG point every year on qualifying Spire Elite with 75K IHG points via IHG credit card?

  • Rob says:

    6 Jul6 July 17:29

    Yes

    • Roger says:

      6 Jul6 July 17:50

      Thanks, too many points in account.
      Can’t spend enough as cash rates don’t justify using points on my stays!

      • Genghis says:

        6 Jul6 July 20:32

        What do you “sell” at?

      • Roger says:

        7 Jul7 July 06:17

        20K points for HI/HEX, if that allows family rooms.

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