Get complimentary wifi on Qatar Airways flights

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• Matt says:

  19 Oct19 October 09:12

  O/T: Got the £50 off £250 spend on my AMEX Platinum. I have a FHR booking coming up at Waldorf Edinburgh (also, anyone have any thoughts on this property) which is £200. If I spend another £50 to hit the £250 in total, will I be eligible for the £50 off? Hoping so as will make a £250 stay into essentially £100, before breakfast, diamond points etc. Thanks

  • Anna says:

    19 Oct19 October 09:44

    From the small print, it looks as though you will get the £50 off if your bill at checkout is £250 or more. So if you have meals or spa treatments, charge them to the room and this will work AFAIK.

    • Matt says:

      19 Oct19 October 09:53

      The ‘Caley’ is for the most part a great hotel, and I was thrilled to redeem 2 x Hilton visa free nights there (1 mine, 1 my partner’s). I was also diamond at the time from a status match and although my partner was only silver they upgraded both nights to a junior suite which was absolutely lovely. No free breakfast offered to Diamonds at the time but that’s now changed so even better.

      Cons were:
      – spa area (pool, jacuzzi etc) incredibly busy and badly in need of refurb. It wasn’t remotely luxury or relaxing.
      – bathroom water pressure and temperature was incredibly temperamental. Also maintenance took ages to respond to calls – over 1 hour even with multiple follow ups.

      Overall though a fantastic weekend away at a great hotel (for free) and very cheap advanced first class tickets on East Coast mainline making the travel a very civilised affair. Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities too and I’d like to return soon to one of Principal properties when they are redeemable with IHG points.

  • sunguy says:

    19 Oct19 October 11:31

    The Calley in Edinburgh – its currently the only Waldorf Astoria in the UK – its also where I got married a couple of years ago, so I might be alittle biased (grew up just outside Edinburgh).

    Lovely hotel – used to be the main train station in Edinburgh and the station hotel. Nice rooms, brekkie can be a bit of a hit and miss tbh – when I was last there in Feb, it wasnt long since Hilton started including breakfast for gold/silver members and Im not sure they were able to cope all that well….

    But coffee in Peacock alley is really good – the home made shortbread is fantastic. Most of the rooms are nice and well proportioned, however, there are a few rooms that are much smaller (but no smaller price tag!).

    Enjoy our(Scotlands) Capital city…. 🙂

    • TripRep says:

      19 Oct19 October 11:45

      Yep, the Caley WA is a firm fav with folks on here, I like just going in the bar when in Auld Reekie for the day

  • Kai says:

    19 Oct19 October 11:47

    It worked for me in January at WA Edinburgh, shouldn’t be a problem.

  • Anna says:

    19 Oct19 October 12:38

    Just remembered – I got an email from HH the other day offering $100 credit for WA stays. I can’t remember if it covered Europe though, I deleted it after trying to book the WA in New York which was advertised as participating but then says it’s closed on its website!

• Adrian says:

  19 Oct19 October 09:33

  O/T Rob when is your review of the new CP T4 coming? I understand the hotel is mostly open, but not the top floor or the lounge?

  • Rob says:

    19 Oct19 October 12:16

    That may explain it. They are not allowing media visits at the moment (obviously I could pay but I’d rather not as I’m not flying anywhere!) and if the lounge is not open that may explain it. I was due to be there last week but it got delayed. It will definitely happen, as will a review of the HIX in the same building.

    • Lady London says:

      19 Oct19 October 13:01

      I will be looking forward to this as well. Keeping tabs on what’s available where at LHR is always useful, as business rates often plummet at the weekends. Always worth being aware of what’s available at LHR hotels if reachable locations like Central London are too full or expensive.

  • Graham Walsh says:

    19 Oct19 October 14:44

    I can give you a review of the check-in, restaurant, and room.

    Was there last week due to a canceled flight. Hilton T4 wanted £350 a night, CP was £194.

    It’s a bit of a walk from T4 via the walkway. It is split with a HIX. Check-in was very slow as someone thought they could use a receptionist to find out about her canceled BA flight, after several times of telling her she needs to contact BA, she gave up.

    Checked-in went to the lift and it’s not obvious that you need to scan your room card before selecting a floor. Room was nice, good size, tea/coffee, kitkat and biscuits. Went to the restaurant and had a very nice Green Thai curry. The waitress was French and very nice and even asked the manager to claim the meal back from VS, so didn’t have to pay.

    Would definitely stay again, using the lounge would be a nice bonus.

    • Rob says:

      19 Oct19 October 15:06

      Thanks Graham.

• Anna says:

  19 Oct19 October 09:40

  OT – Primera Air currently being featured on Rip Off Britain for stranding passengers in New York and other destinations!

• Jay says:

  19 Oct19 October 09:49

  Thanks for confirming Matt 🙂 want to use before cancelling wife’s gold charge card. Also have the same offer for Harvey Nicholsand so will try there also.

• Stephen Payne says:

  19 Oct19 October 09:51

  Why do virgin move way from continental good that everyone can eat as opposed to more spicy food. I am getting to the stage where I will start travelling with BA even if it means using dreadful American Airlines in the US.

• MD says:

  19 Oct19 October 10:38

  OT FYI, if you’ve given up on the Marriott 29 ways competition as it stopped giving you points (only a draw entry), you might want to try it again. I got 50 points the first day, nothing since and nearly gave up but I just won 50 whole points again (wohoo…).

  So either they’ve fixed it (as it did seem more sensible that you could win points every day) or I’m one of the incredibly lucky few to win twice. Worth a go anyway.

  • Jo says:

    19 Oct19 October 10:48

    Just tried this and works thanks

  • ankomonkey says:

    19 Oct19 October 11:26

    After nearly 10 days without a prize I expect Marriott to make good on their 1-in-2 chance of winning odds across the entire promotion period, so I win nearly every day now and not just for 50% of the remaining days. Seems perfectly reasonable to me…

    • Obi says:

      19 Oct19 October 12:01

      That’s not how statistics work!

      • Russ says:

        19 Oct19 October 12:15

        That’s not how Marriott works!

  • APPL says:

    19 Oct19 October 13:00

    Thanks,
    Won 50 points on the first day, not bothered after that having read the comments, just tried now and won 500 points.

  • PointsChaser says:

    19 Oct19 October 15:39

    Thanks for the heads up – just got my 2nd 50 points!

    • Lyn says:

      19 Oct19 October 19:36

      +1 Thank you for letting us know

  • Boo says:

    19 Oct19 October 17:23

    Even better, if you already did it this morning and got nothing, try it again. It let me play for a second time and this time I won some fluff and an old button

    • ankomonkey says:

      19 Oct19 October 18:10

      Splendid advice! Nothing this morning, but 500 points just now. Shame it wasn’t one of the free night prizes.

      • Jill (Kinkell) says:

        19 Oct19 October 18:28

        Lucky me! 2000 pts today. 50 on the first day. It all helps.

    • Peter K says:

      19 Oct19 October 21:02

      I tried this morning but the website was down again. Got 500 points this evening though.

• Jon says:

  19 Oct19 October 10:40

  OT: Thinking of watching a musical in the West end on a sat evening next month, and staying at a hotel with my gf. Any recommendations on 4 ot 5* hotels nearby? Especially don’t mind any Hilton hotels, given the £50 off £250 spend mentioned above, and the fact I’m a gold member! Whether we get any decent upgrades is another question…

  • Rob says:

    19 Oct19 October 12:14

    Obvious choice is the Hilton Waldorf or The Trafalgar, both very easily walkable from the main theatre run. Park Lane is another 15 minutes stroll down Piccadilly. Conrad requires a walk though the park towards Victoria but the nicest hotel (although Gold doesn’t get lounge access).

    • Jon says:

      19 Oct19 October 14:26

      I’ll have a look thanks!

    • Lyn says:

      19 Oct19 October 19:52

      I stayed at the Hilton Waldorf for the first time in July and really liked it. My room was lovely and the staff were very helpful. It was just for one night award stay but, after I’d told them it was my first stay there and I was looking forward to the luxury of the Hilton before a week at the Courtauld’s student residence nearby, they were kind enough to give me lounge access as an exception, even as just a Hilton gold. So if it is your first stay and you are looking forward to it, it might be worth mentioning that at check-in. I was especially grateful because it gave me time for an early morning swim before breakfast in the lounge, which I would not have had time for if breakfast had been in the restaurant.

• jc says:

  19 Oct19 October 11:44

  OT – is there a complete list anywhere of the differences between Amex (Personal) Platinum and Amex (Business) Platinum? In deciding which to get it seems like there are pros and cons to each (e.g. Business includes travel insurance even if you don’t book on Amex, but Personal doesn’t include Hilton HHonors Gold) – but what are all the other differences?

  • J says:

    19 Oct19 October 11:50

    Personal does include Hilton gold.

    • jc says:

      21 Oct21 October 13:02

      Typo; personal includes, business doesn’t*

  • Rob says:

    19 Oct19 October 12:11

    The only ones I know are:

    * ‘better’ travel insurance inc coverage to 80
    * Priority Pass gives a free guest on Personal
    * Personal has more hotel status cards

    There is no list though. In fact the Business Plat website doesn’t actually list the benefits very well so it is hard to compare.

    • J says:

      19 Oct19 October 12:17

      Sounds like a good topic for an article. A table performing a comparison of the two, plus the ICC platinum, would be very handy. If only we knew somebody who investigates these things…

      • Rob says:

        19 Oct19 October 12:21

        If only I knew someone who actually give me the info I need 🙂

        We are working with Amex on a promo campaign for the Business cards soon so hopefully they will actually cough up a proper benefits list.

    • Lady London says:

      19 Oct19 October 13:04

      I’ll be very interested to see this. I suspect the Business card will be a better fit since I usually travel alone. But no actual evidence seems to have come to light to prove this 🙂

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