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• Colin MacKinnon says:

  29 Oct29 October 04:54

  Stay three pay three nights?

  Nearly as good a bargain as me telling customers: pay for 21 flying lessons and get 20!

• Phillip says:

  29 Oct29 October 04:55

  I’d be careful with the Finnair Tier Points run – last year I flew Madrid to Helsinki, longer than both Heathrow/Manchester to Helsinki and only received 40 Tier Points. That said, the BA flight Calculator does show that HEL-AGP is 140 TPs.

  • Rob says:

    29 Oct29 October 04:56

    If the BA calculator shows it, you’re fine.

  • Riku says:

    29 Oct29 October 05:42

    helsinki – uk on finnair is a special case and earns double tier points compared to other short haul routes that finnair fly. This is because they have to match the BA tier point value for LHR-HEL. But this only applies for their HEL-UK flights. Other short haul flights can be longer but are subject to their normal TP value (even LHR-DUB which probably flies over MAN on the way to Ireland but earns half the TP of HEL-MAN).
    Madrid is not in the UK and has half the TP of HEL-UK.

    • Riku says:

      29 Oct29 October 06:00

      sorry, the last part should read
      even HEL-DUB which probably flies over MAN on the way to Ireland but earns half the TP of HEL-MAN

• Andrew says:

  29 Oct29 October 06:11

  I always find BA much cheaper than Finnair for LHR-HEL. Recently getting Business return for around £200, so just over £1 per tier point. Finnair, which I would prefer to travel with was double the price, even on their own website.

  • Shoestring says:

    29 Oct29 October 06:46

    Yep my reading of what the TP experts on FT say is that getting closer to £1 rather than £2/ point is their idea of a great deal. Though you have to admit breaking your journey (eg long weekend) in Malaga when it’s freezing cold in UK winter would be a very pleasant option.

    Worth checking out Malaga direct from UK Nov-March as return flights were going for £50 the other week, so cheap that cost per TP could be just as good/ better than going via Helsinki without the hassle.

    • David says:

      29 Oct29 October 07:57

      Return to AGP in CE for £50?! Or if that’s in discount economy, you’ll get 10TP return, which is a price of £5/TP. If the HEL-AGP run is anything less than £1,200, it’s going to give you a better rate than that.

      • Shoestring says:

        29 Oct29 October 08:10

        ah, you have a point. Wasn’t it any good in business if Economy was so low?

      • Shoestring says:

        29 Oct29 October 08:20

        Business return London-Malaga coming out at £244, only 80 TPs so no good

• Frenzie says:

  29 Oct29 October 06:12

  Wow! “Stay 3 pay 3 nights” is a pretty good deal.
  Where do I book? 🙂

• @mkcol says:

  29 Oct29 October 06:22

  I think I’ll be investigating UK-HEL-AGP-UK-AGP-HEL-UK with the middle 2 flights nested inside the 4 flights to/from HEL so I don’t have to spend a whole weekend in AGP but still get the A330 both ways.

  • BJ says:

    29 Oct29 October 06:27

    I would not count on getting the a330, best remove that as a factor in your decision.

    • @mkcol says:

      29 Oct29 October 06:35

      Thank you for your input ????

      • Lumma says:

        29 Oct29 October 07:11

        Malaga isn’t a terrible place to spend a weekend in my opinion

      • BJ says:

        29 Oct29 October 07:51

        Just my own experience with them, 2 of my last 3 flights with them were not on aircraft I was expecting.

    • Rob says:

      29 Oct29 October 07:52

      There is always a risk of a switch but once they sell beyond a certain number of seats they are committed to a long-haul aircraft.

  • Susan says:

    29 Oct29 October 08:01

    Malaga town is a super short break destination – the fact so many British holiday makers head straight past it is just one of the benefits!

    • Genghis says:

      29 Oct29 October 08:07

      Agreed. We had two nights in Malaga at the end of our travels around Andalusia a couple of years ago. Good food, the harbour area very pleasant

    • Anna says:

      29 Oct29 October 08:27

      +1 – the castle and Alcazaba are delightful and much less crowded than the Alhambra.

    • Michael Jennings says:

      29 Oct29 October 11:49

      Agreed completely. Malaga is very nice. Much of the Spanish coast is like that, though. Modern resort of town full of foreigners. Then you go along the coast a bit, and you get traditional Spanish town. Then along the coast a bit more, and you find an ancient Roman or Phoenician city. Then another tourist town. The food is much better in the non-tourist towns.

• BJ says:

  29 Oct29 October 06:31

  OT: Sad news on an airplane crash in Indonesia. What struck me as odd was it was a brand new 737 MAX 8 which only entered service in August.
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-46014463

  • Memesweeper says:

    29 Oct29 October 06:40

    New plane or not, Lion Air has a poor safety record in common with many Indonesian airlines. If I was jumping to conclusions that’s where I’d be pointing the finger of blame. Let’s hope the rescue effort locates some survivors.

    • BJ says:

      29 Oct29 October 07:45

      Yes, I do not fly them for this reason, the chatter is always about poor maintenace, inexperienced crew and overwork. However, it still struck me as unusual that this aircraft was less than two months old so it probably has not received much maintenace; the pilots were certainly not inexperienced at 11000h, they reported a fault and requested a return,

      • Michael Jennings says:

        29 Oct29 October 11:53

        It’s hard to imagine maintenance being an issue on a plane that was only two months old, though.

        Pilots I know are speculating about the possibility of the pilots being unfamiliar with the 737MAX cockpit, which is apparently a little different to previous 737 cockpits. Things that are only a little different can sometimes be dangerous – it feels familiar and you are comfortable and relaxed. Then you make a mistake because it is in fact different.

        That’s just speculation, though.

    • Curious says:

      30 Oct30 October 00:19

      Genuine question; how much ‘poor safety’ could there possibly be with a 2month old plane?

      • Rob says:

        30 Oct30 October 04:48

        I would guess, like cars, that problems either emerge very quickly or after many years, with not much in the middle. Could have been a factory fault.

      • Curious says:

        30 Oct30 October 13:47

        I understand your own point Rob, however the inference was it was as a result of Lion Air’s own ‘poor safety’ record, thus my pertinent question, which remains unanswered (by Memesweeper)

      • Genghis says:

        30 Oct30 October 13:52

        Arguably an airline with a ‘poor safety’ record is likely to also have poor processes when it comes to rolling out new aircraft (e.g. training and the like)?

  • John says:

    29 Oct29 October 08:55

    Hi BJ, I think you were asking about the Hilton Sukhumvit. I stayed 1 night for 27K points (cheapest I’ve ever seen, usually 30K or more) and 1 night at the DT which is almost always available for 20K points.

    Hilton said only smoking suites were available, so I was only upgraded to a slightly better room. Despite this, my wife was more impressed than some suite upgrades we have received in European Hiltons, especially the bathroom with rain shower. I got a bad room at the DT this time which had little light because it was in the shadow of the Hilton. (However previously the DT gave me a nice suite overlooking Soi 26 also for 20K points, and I then moved to the Conrad for 26K points – which was asking for 40K this visit, so occupancy levels were probably higher everywhere)

    Hilton’s pool faces north so is in the shade most of the day, water was a bit salty. DT’s pool faces east so is sunny in the morning, and after sunset DT’s pool has happy hour with free local beers for Diamonds.

    Hilton lounge has excellent staff, evening service is 1730-1930 with loads of food (pizza, noodles, dumplings, sushi, fruits) and all sorts of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Didn’t attend teatime at 1400-1600.

    DT breakfast has an extremely wide range of buffet items, but the Hilton restaurant’s food quality and service are slightly better quality.

    So I think the Hilton was worth it for 7000 extra points, and would pay maybe an extra 800 baht (base rate). Next visit I want to do stuff by the river so probably choose the Millenium.

    • BJ says:

      29 Oct29 October 12:15

      Thanks John, excellent mini review.

• Shoestring says:

  29 Oct29 October 06:33

  10% bonus on TCC —> Virgin miles doesn’t sound too good but definitely worth turning on your TCC auto-convert to get the 1000 bonus miles. Just diarise to turn off before the quarter end (or when the points arrive). Was operative last quarter as well. Navigate to My Clubcard Account/ Christmas Savers/ click VAFC Miles & add your Virgin membership number.

  This TCC quarter ends 24th January 2019.

  • xcalx says:

    29 Oct29 October 06:44

    Harry. Now that the Christmas savers has ended would it be time to choose vouchers, in case of any returns 😉

    • Genghis says:

      29 Oct29 October 06:46

      Doesn’t make a difference.

      • xcalx says:

        29 Oct29 October 07:00

        Thanks.

      • Shoestring says:

        29 Oct29 October 07:32

        Just remember that the £12 voucher has a very short expiry date, those Tesco rascals. The others are OK so you can take your time.

    • BJ says:

      29 Oct29 October 07:54

      Just about to head out to Tesco 🙂

      • Shoestring says:

        29 Oct29 October 09:52

        Wd be good to know how you get on now that the Direct CS people are not involved (as they knew their stuff, less confident about in-store staff

  • TripRep says:

    29 Oct29 October 08:00

    Pah 10%? If we are getting a contraction in the economy in 2019 we should get better offers so I’ll risk waiting (aside from any vouchers I have close to expiration)

• Genghis says:

  29 Oct29 October 06:45

  OT. Flying Virgin LHR-NYC, if you had a choice of aircraft in PE and UC, which would you choose?

  • RakishDriver says:

    29 Oct29 October 07:03

    787 – That was PE to LAX though.

  • Adey says:

    29 Oct29 October 07:06

    Any other than the A343 for UC. Can’t speak for PE.

    • Tom says:

      29 Oct29 October 21:35

      The 343s are long since retired! I think the final one flew in 2015…

  • Roberto says:

    29 Oct29 October 07:15

    I liked the 330 in upper for the day flight. The lounge and fun element was super. The crew doubled down on the experience and had a blast. Cant sleep on that seat though, too narrow and feet in a box. Too coffin like.

    Also love the 747 in PE especially if you can get seats on the upper deck..

    I would fly to NYC out of LHR for the lounge and an evening 747 upper deck PE home if options allow.

    • Roberto says:

      29 Oct29 October 07:17

      EDITED..
      Fly upper on the 330 ( or is it a 340 ) out and 747 PE back….

      • Genghis says:

        29 Oct29 October 07:47

        Thanks all

      • Tom says:

        29 Oct29 October 21:36

        Unfortunately the 747 will only be found on JFK – MAN these days 🙂

        • Rob says:

          30 Oct30 October 04:51

          747 going onto Atlanta – Manchester next year except for the peak Summer period.

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