What it’s like to fly Air Belgium business class when you’re expecting British Airways Club World

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Kevin C says:

  24 Oct24 October 08:19

  Quick typo spot. Should be ‘take your tablet’ as presumably the airline provides tables.

  • Rob says:

    24 Oct24 October 08:21

    Oh yeah …

• Andrew says:

  24 Oct24 October 08:24

  Last week I had a very generous spend £100 get £50 back at Harrods on my SPG Amex. They sent me an email with a click-through to save to card rather than it showing in my offers list as usual.

• Nick G says:

  24 Oct24 October 08:28

  OT – anyone got views on Doha as a holiday destination for a week? I was looking at the ritz Carlton club level? Not sure about the overall hotel in terms of modernisation….rooms look nice mind…

  Been looking at the Wesin aswell

  • Shoestring says:

    24 Oct24 October 09:06

    Down to you. I lived in Doha for 6 months and won’t ever go back through choice. But if you choose a great hotel with pool & top dining, no problem if you want that kind of holiday – the sun & heat are guaranteed all year round (pretty much). Things to do? Go to other restaurants or hotels with restaurants. Sunday (=Friday) brunch in hotels can be fun & test your alcohol consumption limit. Perhaps get on the water, that’s where I learned my rather expert water-skiing/ mono-skiing skills – seriously, I was excellent. A mate used to scuba dive off our boat & said it was good, I didn’t try it at that age. Not a lot to do in terms of souks or shopping, I think you’d be wasting your time doing that but it might use up half a day, I suppose. No history, architecture, museums or quaint things to see so don’t waste your time. Hiring a 4×4 and checking out the desert or the other coast to Doha bit of an adventure if you like sand. At a pinch, pay to see some birds of prey grab a bit of chicken on the wing. I think I’d just see it for what it is and stay in the hotel to get fat/ get a tan.

    • Daniel says:

      24 Oct24 October 09:10

      No museums? The Museum of Islamic Art is well worth a visit.

    • Traveller says:

      24 Oct24 October 16:53

      You sell Doha so well!
      I’ll be sure to drop it from my bucket list

      • Shoestring says:

        24 Oct24 October 17:06

        Doha/ Qatar was a wasteland until about 1950 (ie oil), just peasant fishermen on the coastal strip. Don’t expect there to be any history or culture.

  • John says:

    24 Oct24 October 09:25

    If it’s only about going somewhere warm and sunny then it might work, but remember things are expensive (QAR is basically USD, plus Qatar has to import most things yet it is still blockaded by several neighbours) and there isn’t actually very much to do, as mentioned.

    It’s great for 1-2 days in northern hemisphere winter, but a week is pushing it I’d say

  • Nick G says:

    24 Oct24 October 09:49

    Thanks for the comments. I appreciate the honest views. I understand what people are saying and I should have clarified we wouldn’t be going for the sightseeing just the sun and food and drink, I understand about the prices and we’ve been to Abu Dhabi and enjoyed the fairmont but that was half board and on gold level so free drinks in the evening etc.

    Other than buying drinks round the pool we spent very little and really enjoyed the weather and pool. Just wondering if Doha was a similar set up, in very terms of hotels. We would go club level to get drinks in the evening etc and prices are good for what seems like quality hotels.

    • Enjoy life says:

      24 Oct24 October 16:56

      Nick, its sounds like total yawn-inducing tedium. Is that really your ideal week hol?

• Simon says:

  24 Oct24 October 08:29

  New little feature on Amex site – neat little bonus tracker…… for sign up bonus and 241 now….

  “You have 2 Card bonuses
  Keep track and keep earning towards your bonus”

  So I can see how close I am to the sign up bonus and 241 bonus….

  • Alan says:

    24 Oct24 October 08:30

    Not sure how new it is? I had it a couple of months ago. Agree handy though.

• Stu p says:

  24 Oct24 October 08:33

  Has anyone actually had any Marriott points credited? I’ve had 2 x 500, 2 x 50 and 1 x 1000 wins but nothing actually posted.

  • Rob says:

    24 Oct24 October 08:33

    “8-10 weeks after the end of the promotion”

    • Stu p says:

      24 Oct24 October 08:49

      Thanks Rob.

• Nate1309 says:

  24 Oct24 October 08:38

  Anyone else seem to have stopped getting points on the Marriott game? Yesterday and today just an entry to prize draw on mine and the wife’s account.

  • Crafty says:

    24 Oct24 October 09:00

    Same, but that’s in line with the guidance that each day there s a 50% chance of winning.

  • BJ says:

    24 Oct24 October 09:15

    2 x entry yesterday and today. Between my partner and I is is 1×1000 and all 50s or no entry.

  • Andy says:

    24 Oct24 October 09:42

    50 points here today…. 10,000 yesterday. Very generous considering I haven’t stayed in a Marriott for years.

• Nichola says:

  24 Oct24 October 08:42

  O/T before I upgraded my gold charge to plat I cancelled the gold supplementary hoping that when I got the plat I could add a new supplementary cardholder and get the bonus points. But Amex sent the original supplementary holder a new plat supplementary card even though their gold had been cancelled. Does anyone know if they still do the bonus for adding a cardholder? Would it still apply if I called up and cancelled the existing supp and added a new one. Would it still be free?

  • Relaxo says:

    24 Oct24 October 08:48

    This is a commonly reported issue. You will need to get on the phone with them to resolve. You might not get the bonus points but getting another free supplementary should be fine.

  • Crafty says:

    24 Oct24 October 09:01

    They will probably accuse you of lying or getting it wrong. Amex really needs to brief its first line staff that this is an IT issue.

  • Louie says:

    24 Oct24 October 09:33

    Same thing happened to me. They gave me the same amount of points I would have got as compensation.

    • Bonglim says:

      24 Oct24 October 09:35

      Same happened to me and the points just appeared without any intervention at all!

      I guess it won’t be an issue going forward – as people switch away from gold charge card for the last time.

      • Walty says:

        24 Oct24 October 13:14

        Same with me. Complained and got the 5k. Dont cancel and re-apply. You’ll end up getting charged and have to contact again for a refund. All sorted via chat.

• Relaxo says:

  24 Oct24 October 08:45

  OT credit card interest related. I was late paying my monthly virgin c.c balance off by a few days. I was charged a £9 late payment fee and there is also a £23 interest charge that has shown up. This is what I would expect to have happened however I’ve received a letter a couple of days back from virgin which informs me of the late payment fee. Also in letter -says that no interest on outstanding amounts will be charged until 28 days after notification. I’m confused now as to whether I should have been charged the £23. Anyone with experience care to share how im supposed to interpret this info ???

  • Relaxo says:

    24 Oct24 October 08:50

    Should also state that there were no other interest charging transactions made during the statement period.

  • Nick M says:

    24 Oct24 October 09:48

    From your comment I would assume not, but it seems odd that a credit card (with a pre-agreed interest rate) would then give you a further 28 days interest free…

    Could they have meant that they won’t charge interest on the late payment fee/interest until 28 days time?

  • Russ says:

    24 Oct24 October 10:25

    Does defaulting on a payment affect the points you receive? Can they withdraw a target bonus for example?

    • @alastairtravel says:

      24 Oct24 October 12:02

      Defaulting on a payment can lead to the withdrawl of any bonus transfer rates you previously had

  • the_real_a says:

    24 Oct24 October 12:37

    If you miss a payment you are charged for the “upto56 days interest free period”, so this would be any purchases made since the last statement date worked out as the daily interest rate – which can get very expensive. You also need to overpay for any compound interest that is building before the next statement is generated. As others have said any promotional rate (0% for x months) will usually be removed.

    • Relaxo says:

      24 Oct24 October 15:06

      So if I’m understanding this right ….if my payment was due on Oct 4 and my next statement was generated on Oct 13. I would be charged interest on all purchases made between Oct 4-13?

      • the_real_a says:

        24 Oct24 October 20:35

        No you would be charged interest from SEPTEMBER 13th (previous statement) to the date you actually made the payment (i.e. you forfeit the 56 day interest free period). Then you would be charged invisible compound interest (i.e. interest on the interest) additionally which you can only find out by calling for them to calculate, so you should always overpay in this situation.

  • Paul says:

    24 Oct24 October 14:29

    Thats pretty standard for a default notice, they can’t charge interest on a default fee for 28 days. I think its part of the Consumer Credit Act.

    • Relaxo says:

      24 Oct24 October 15:10

      Yes it is – not entitled to charge interest on default sums for first 28 days after giving notice. However, as the_ real_a has pointed out above, I can be charged interest on on any spend beyond the default sum immediately??
      Sorry for sounding a bit thick. I always pay off cards in full so bit of a learning experience for me.

    • the_real_a says:

      24 Oct24 October 20:47

      You cannot be charged interest on the default fee of £12 (or whatever it is) but you WILL be charged interest on the balance on your statement to which the missed payment pertains. So for example: Your payment date was 4th of October, but you actually made the payment on 5th October – if you purchased £100 at Tesco on Sept 21st you would pay interest at a daily rate (annual % / 365) from SEPT 21st through to 5th October.

      Additionally you will also owe the compound interest on the interest accrued between 21st September to 5th October (in this example) which would be calculated on your next statement. Hence you should overpay now to clear this.

      • Relaxo says:

        25 Oct25 October 00:34

        Ok gotcha….thank you that is really helpful.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.