Have lunch with Clare Smyth courtesy of your Marriott points

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• Sandgrounder says:

  1 Aug1 August 07:01

  OT- I can’t find the comment now, but I am sure somebody said last week if you upgrade your PRG to Plat after the first year (PRG annual fee paid), you do not have to pay any extra until the next card anniversary. Is this true, or did I just have a vivid cheese dream?

  • Genghis says:

    1 Aug1 August 07:04

    You might not have to

    • Matt says:

      1 Aug1 August 07:52

      I upgraded last month during my free year and it appears that I haven’t been charged. Wish I had upgraded sooner on that basis as the card anniversary is in September.

    • Jon says:

      1 Aug1 August 11:53

      I was thinking of upgrading after hitting my one year anniversary for the 10,000 bonus points on the PRG charge card. Would it be the case that Amex would still offer a pro-rata refund on the PRG, and then would (likely) charge the amex platinum fee? Hopefully that makes sense! Thanks

      • Crafty says:

        1 Aug1 August 13:56

        I’ve followed this path, got the points and the pro rata refund for PRG, not yet been charged any fee for the Plat.

  • Js says:

    1 Aug1 August 08:11

    Has anyone tried upgrading the PRG credit card with the plat upgrade link yet?

    • Rob says:

      2 Aug2 August 14:30

      It can’t be done from Gold Credit. Still seems OK off Gold Charge.

  • Rob says:

    1 Aug1 August 08:58

    This is how it works for some people, whether it is an IT error or not is unclear.

    • Sandgrounder says:

      1 Aug1 August 14:38

      Thanks for the replies guys. My free year is up soon, I might have a go after the anniversary and see what happens. I think the benefits and the 18k referrals are worth it anyway, but convincing the Mrs is slightly more difficult 🙂

  • PhilW says:

    1 Aug1 August 19:04

    I was not charged. Upgraded Jan cancelled In June.

• BJ says:

  1 Aug1 August 07:12

  Hi Rob, talking of scrolling through previous months, is it going to be possible to search the HFP comments anter introducing the updates to tge site that you are currently working on? This would be great if possible.

  • Rob says:

    1 Aug1 August 08:57

    I just had a quick look and it seems there are bits of code out there which allow this. I will have a look later, not much on this week.

    • BJ says:

      1 Aug1 August 11:33

      Good if it is easy Rob but don’t if too much trouble.

  • john says:

    1 Aug1 August 09:37

    Google helps with this if you know roughly what you are looking for and stick in site:headforpoints.com in the google box

    • BJ says:

      1 Aug1 August 11:34

      Cheers John

    • Lady London says:

      1 Aug1 August 15:29

      I tried that a couple of weeks ago but it didn’t find comments I knew were there.

      Of course making comments searchable is also a commercial decision.

      • Rob says:

        1 Aug1 August 16:11

        Not really – more of a practical one because you wouldn’t want hundred of comments which mention, say, Amex Gold appearing before you actually saw the relevant posts.

• Peter L says:

  1 Aug1 August 07:18

  Hi, could you do a Virgin redemption piece; how many days in advance seats open, how many seats per class per flight, one ways etc?

  • Wally1976 says:

    1 Aug1 August 07:40

    +1

  • Rob says:

    1 Aug1 August 08:55

    Forgotten day count, no guaranteed number of seats, one ways ok except on some partnersbut like BAEC you will pay more in taxes to US destinations if booking as one ways.

    • Roberto says:

      1 Aug1 August 09:06

      T-335

    • Peter L says:

      1 Aug1 August 10:52

      Thanks

• Matt says:

  1 Aug1 August 07:54

  O/T – a friend is asking how early you can arrive at T3 for a virgin upper class flight. Her flight is at 13:30ish and she wants to maximise time in the club house. Will arriving at bag drop at say 9am be ok?

  • Matt B says:

    1 Aug1 August 08:02

    Should be fine, we are planning to get there at least 4 hours in advance for our honeymoon next week! Looking forward to our first non economy long haul.

    • Lady London says:

      1 Aug1 August 15:31

      Personally I’d be there at crack of dawn if they would let me.

      I’ve only had one experience of the Virgin Clubhouse and it was way too short.
      Treatments are limited though in time, I think I’d be prepared to pay for extra ones next time which is another reason for going early.

      Wasn’t that impressed with breakfast though. If I’m ever lucky enough to swing access again I will probably take a flight that puts me there lunchtime.

  • AspirationalFlyer says:

    1 Aug1 August 08:36

    Hi Matt

    That sounds fine. Perhaps call Flying Club and check? I’ve arrived three hours early before and was made to feel very welcome. Infact, you need at least two hours to benefit from the spa, food, bar and outdoor space! Have a great trip.

  • Rob says:

    1 Aug1 August 08:52

    Yes, that’s ok. 3 hours is about my lounge limit even with a free Virgin haircut included 🙂

    • thehornets says:

      1 Aug1 August 15:09

      Except they are no longer free!

  • ankomonkey says:

    1 Aug1 August 09:24

    No problem. We (intentionally) arrived 5 hours before a recent flight.

    • Boi says:

      1 Aug1 August 12:15

      What did you do in 5 hours? we have a 7hr 45 minutes layover and I was thinking it is too long

      • Lady London says:

        1 Aug1 August 15:33

        Not there, it’s not. Well, maybe a bit too long. It;s kind of like a playground for grownups. Particular for those who (think they) remember the 60’s.

      • ankomonkey says:

        1 Aug1 August 21:10

        So I booked a haircut for about one hour later, we had a little bit of late breakfast, played pool and had a general wander around, I had my haircut and then a shower, relaxed a bit, had lunch and then spent a couple of hours in the bar area, relaxing, having a leisurely drink and then an ice cream with sprinkles (well the kids did) not long before boarding.

        The lounge is comfortable and the quality of food/drinks is good. It’s easy to linger if you have time and don’t feel you should be using the time more productively.

• Jason says:

  1 Aug1 August 08:17

  OT just finishing a 3 night stay at Renaissance Tuscany…happy to share some tips if anyone has plans to come here

  • Mark says:

    1 Aug1 August 09:49

    yes please was thinking of using our TP here before the change.

    • Jason says:

      1 Aug1 August 15:49

      Mark

      I am platinum got upgraded to a suite on arrival from a points booking Marriott upgrades never seem to show on reservation( unlike Hilton). Room was very impressive great views over the valley.
      Spa/gym ok at best..treatment was good although expensive £190 for a couples massage. Pool area was fine, no problem win sun beds etc…Free breakfast was pretty poor to be honest, pastry offering ok, warm food poor.
      Beer and wine around 7euros a glass food ok not extreme prices for a hotel. We ate out 2 nights at local town Barga nice place 10 mins drive away (car helpful). Good quality, priced very competitively, especially drinks. Good local vineyard tour, went to canyon park about a 30 min drive for some water activities and zip world which were excellent. Ask anything specific!

      Overall for 90k points can’t complain, however the room made it. Rooms without a view would be pretty poor but have been lucky recently just checked into the Hilton Florence 44k points for 2 nights ungraded to exec corner room on 13th floor good start !

      • Mark says:

        1 Aug1 August 16:52

        thanks!

• Bloke in India says:

  1 Aug1 August 08:35

  Do we have an actual date for the avios.com / BAEC account merge to be completed?

  • Rob says:

    1 Aug1 August 08:48

    28 August I was told

    • RussellH says:

      1 Aug1 August 21:40

      I would be really, really grateful if you could clarify what actually happens then. I for one am totally confused. I read on the avios.com website that the travel program is closing, which to me means that the website will be closing too.
      Then I see comments here about AerClub members and Vueling Club members having to book through the avios.com website, so it is not closing?
      To add to my confusion, my AerClub no. is that of my about-to-disappear avios a/c. Why did they do that??
      Then I see comments about moving avios from AerClub to BAEC, but Iberia/BA/Avios.com all only offer those three options, no mention of AerClub. But avios.com is closing, or what??

      Perhaps this might be something for an article during the forthcoming dog-days? This reader at least would be pleased!

      • Rob says:

        2 Aug2 August 09:11

        Basically AerClub accounts ARE avios.com 3081 accounts. As are Vueling Club accounts.

        3081 accounts opened via the Aer Lingus or Vueling sites will not be closed and continue to operate just fine on avios.com and can take part in Combine My Avios by selecting avios.com.

        Simplez …..

      • RussellH says:

        2 Aug2 August 10:34

        So, how are avios.com a/cs closing if they are remaining open?

        Still utterly confused!

        NOT simplz, no!!
        🙁

        • Rob says:

          2 Aug2 August 11:16

          There are five schemes which earn Avios (ignoring Meridiana):
          BA Exec Club
          Avios Travel Rewards Programme
          Aer Club
          Vueling Club
          Iberia Club

          Only No 2 is being closed. When people say ‘avios.com is being closed’ what they REALLY mean is ‘Avios Travel Rewards Programme’ is being closed. The website remains and is where Aer Club and Vueling Club – and, in time, BAEC and Iberia Plus members – go to book reward flights.

      • RussellH says:

        2 Aug2 August 14:24

        So, is this right? (Probably not, though!)

        I have an avios.com a/c and and Aer Club a/c. I have not flown Aer Lingus since 1973 (when I moved to the USA for a few years), and I never got the promised avios for opening the AerClub a/c, so my AerClub balance has always been 0 points. Nevertheless, Award Wallet used to show identical balances of some 35 000 points for both a/cs, even though the AerClub a/c was in my name only, while the avios.com a/c was a household a/c for the two of us and half those points were not mine.

        When the announcement about avios.com closing was made, we split the household a/c and moved all the avios to our individual BAEC a/cs.

        As far as I am concerned, my avios.com a/c is dead – I have no use for it, but you say it will not disappear because I have an AerClub a/c with the same a/c no., and if I want to book on Aer Lingus, I need to move my avios from Iberia and/or BAEC into my soon-to-be-non-existent avios.com a/c, where they will magically morph into AerClub avios in a still-existing AerClub a/c which will continue to be called an avios.com a/c??

        Meanwhile, my partner, who does not have an AerClub a/c, still regularly earns Rewards for Thoughts into her avios.com a/c, which is about to get changed into a separate BAEC from her current one (though hopefully not containing any avios, as I regularly transfer her avios.com avios into her BAEC a/c)?
        However, her avios.com a/c WILL completely disappear, as she does not have an AerClub a/c??

        And at some time in the future, she will get a new avios.com a/c which she will need in order to use her avios, because the time is going to come when BA avios bookings will not be done via BA any more??

        And you wonder why I am confused!
        Sorry!!

        • Rob says:

          2 Aug2 August 14:33

          Yes, that is about right. If you log in to avios.com and it shows the Aer Lingus logo when you click on ‘Your Account’ then the account isn’t going anywhere.

      • RussellH says:

        2 Aug2 August 15:07

        Yes, if I log in to avios.com and click on ‘Your Account’ there is a band across the bottom that says “Your are a member of AerClub”.
        On my partner’s avios.com a/c there is nothing.

        So if I wanted to book an avios flight on EI, should I move avios to avios.com first?

        • Rob says:

          2 Aug2 August 16:44

          Depends …. taxes are FAR higher via avios.com but they have better availability. Best to find a flight on avios.com but, instead of booking, ring BA to see if they can see it.

• Iain says:

  1 Aug1 August 09:09

  OT – (and I’m sure this has been covered before so sorry)

  I upgraded my free BA Amex card to thr £195 paid version a few weeks ago and have now received my two year companion voucher, as well as a 6000 avios bonus.
  I intend to go back down to the free card and understand I can gety a pro-rated refund of the fee.
  How long would I need to keep it? Does it have to be a month or longer? And would they be looking for the Avios back if I do so?

  • Matt says:

    1 Aug1 August 09:29

    Nothing stopping you downgrading now – they won’t claw the bonus avios back or change the validity of the voucher. However it’s not a route I would take as stupid as it sounds I would feel bad doing that because surely Amex are losing money if people are doing this.

    • Lady London says:

      1 Aug1 August 11:05

      I know we are all here to gain (and hopefully also share with fellow enthusiasts) tips and knowledge but I feel the same way as you Matt.

      There’s using a promotion or opportunity reasonably, and there’s taking it too far ruining it for everybody.

      I know that sounds a bit preachy for sunny days in Augut but I think if we’re decent we all know when we’re going a bit too far with utlising a generosity we’ve found.

      • BJ says:

        1 Aug1 August 11:45

        Most readers had no such concerns when they took 90k or more avios from Iberia at the expense of mostly people in Spain who now cannot get or have to pay more for the seats they need/want.

      • Genghis says:

        1 Aug1 August 15:26

        IB was a one off promo and I have no real relationship with IB anyway. I have an ongoing relationship with Amex so wouldn’t necessarily push my luck too much.

      • BJ says:

        1 Aug1 August 17:31

        @Genghis, going by your previoys comments I think you are doing not to badly from amex…without pushing your luck 🙂

• Nate1309 says:

  1 Aug1 August 09:19

  OT – Given the choice to use miles (avios) to fly West Coast to Hawaii, who would you fly with American or Alaska? Are there any benefits of one over the other? If not will just go for whoever has seats.

  • Lady London says:

    1 Aug1 August 11:12

    If you can search history and fight you way through the credit card “shilling” forest then you could try to access older posts by mile value dot com which covers this kind of thing – West Coast to Hawaii on which airline from and to which airport, in which class on miles and cash – extensively. I seem to remember he’s partly or all based in Hawaii and he covers each island separately too in terms of best ways to get there and from where with which airline.

    I long ago gave up on that site. The time he did a review on a hostel – yes a hostel – in Tokyo afterr a previous extensive and detailed wine, gourmet and seat and service review about his First Class flight on the way there – claiming he was staying at this hostel and not where he really would stay like the Park Hyatt – was when I finally lost it and stopped reading him.

  • Lyn says:

    1 Aug1 August 13:44

    If you are travelling economy and have BA Silver status, you may be able to get one of American’s “Main Cabin Extra” seats, which really are a bit better I think even BA Bronze works if seats are still available 24 hours before the flight..

  • pauldb says:

    1 Aug1 August 14:11

    Are you flying economy? Otherwise I think AS “F” is charged at 3x avios and AA “F” only 2x.

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