No1 Lounges opens its new Birmingham Airport Clubrooms lounge

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• Prins Polo says:

  28 Nov28 November 09:25

  A friend flew Norwegian long haul premium and last weekend and was told no more lounge access.

  • Prins Polo says:

    28 Nov28 November 09:31

    Although Norwegian’s website clearly states there is lounge access at LGW…

    • Lillypot says:

      28 Nov28 November 14:15

      I saw a trip report on YouTube. Somebody was flying Noweigen premium out of LAX. The premium ticket granted access to the Qantas business class lounge in LAX. I thought that was pretty decent. May have changed now…

  • Ben says:

    28 Nov28 November 17:02

    I flew to JFK last Thursday and got access to the lounge no problem. (premium)

    I will say coming back from JFK on Sunday (using the Alitalia Lounge) and it was terrible just a room with some sandwiches in it. Without doubt the worst lounge I have ever used.

• Benylin says:

  28 Nov28 November 09:34

  OT: Booking corporate rate for Shangri-la through work. My reservation says 1 persons, if I bring a second will it be ok? Wonder if I can use my Jade status for breakfast for the second person…. First persons is included anyway.

  • Froggee says:

    28 Nov28 November 12:35

    Should be fine – benefit of Shangri-la Jade is “Partner stays free in the same room and enjoys applicable complimentary breakfast benefit”. So let’s just assume the second person is your partner! I haven’t done this for over a decade with Shangri-la though

• Vasco says:

  28 Nov28 November 09:43

  OT: Is there a way to get Amex Travel to price a car hire with different drop off and pick up points? I could have sworn you could do this before, but trying now and I can’t see any way to do it.

  • Shoestring says:

    28 Nov28 November 09:54

    Probably have to ring them, I can’t see a way to do it online either
    Customer support for online travel enquiries
    0800 032 7233
    Overseas: +44 (0)1293 826 704

  • Mark says:

    28 Nov28 November 10:08

    you have to call, have done this recently/

  • Vasco says:

    28 Nov28 November 15:00

    Thanks both! I was hoping that wasn’t going to be the answer, but alas!

• Andy says:

  28 Nov28 November 09:50

  Hi, Looking for some advice, heading to Fort Lauderdale on 25th March for 10 days, hotel prices seem pretty steep so going to try and utilise my Marriot Points, anyone got any recommendations of any gems round that area? Also will to travel down to the Keys/Naples area if any nice resorts over that way. Will be traveling with wife and 4 year old so nice pool and kids area would be good.

  Was also looking at Grand Caymen but heard it can get pretty pricey over there?

  Anyone with any advice of that area much appreciated,

  • Anna says:

    28 Nov28 November 12:24

    We go to Grand Cayman every year as we have a timeshare there (my OH is a keen diver which is what took us there initially). It is VERY expensive, think 4-5 times the price of food and services in the UK or the US. Because we stay in condos with full kitchens we take a lot of food with us (as do the other, mainly American, condo guests) and eat out as an occasional treat. But it’s safe, beautiful and you get absolutely no hassle as a tourist, we have no qualms about jumping in our hire car and driving (on the left!) to different beaches etc.

    Especially with a young child I would recommend renting a condo for the extra space and convenience. Even hotels like the Marriott can easily hit $500 per night, and probably more around Spring break, if you’re combining it with your Florida trip.

    • Andy says:

      28 Nov28 November 12:47

      Hi Anna, thanks for your reply. Yeah the Ritz prices are over $1000 a night so was tempted to try and secure some nights at 60,000 Marriot points before they go up to 85,000 after Christmas but 4-5 times UK prices sounds Yikes! What process are you typically looking at for Condos?

      • Anna says:

        28 Nov28 November 13:15

        Do you mean prices? It depends a lot on when you’re going but on 7 Mile Beach (where you can get away with not needing a car) you would generally pay $200 – $400 per night – bear in mind that if you do some of your own catering you will save loads of money compared with a traditional hotel where you will have to eat out. If you’re using points for the hotel, though, of course you’ll have a bigger budget for restaurants (and there are also a few informal type places where you can eat relatively reasonably).

        Away from 7MB you can get better prices but it’s quite isolated and you will need a car, which is another hefty expense (Amex Platinum is a godsend here as the Caymanian insurance costs can easily double your rental price). We stay at East End as we like the quieter atmosphere but a lot of people who stay there end up complaining on TripAdvisor that they’re miles from the action (you need to do your research first!)

        We’ve flown in from Miami a few times, it’s a very nice 90 minute journey over the Florida Keys and Cuba. This route is served by numerous airlines so prices are usually quite good (unlike from Europe where BA have a monopoly).

      • Anna says:

        28 Nov28 November 13:23

        The Ritz isn’t even that special, it’s crammed onto 7 Mile Beach with all the other big hotels! For $1k per night (plus “resort fee”) I would want something like the Conrad Rangali!

      • Andy says:

        29 Nov29 November 00:31

        Thanks for the input guys, much appriaceted 🙂

  • Darren says:

    28 Nov28 November 16:50

    Re Naples/Gulf coast

    I’m planning a Feb trip atm and considering Anna Maria Island rental v’s Hotel in Naples. The Ritz’s prices are high so points would be an option but some of the houses on AMI are very reasonable.

    I’ve noticed that the Ritz Sarasota was one of the cheapest, don’t know if it any good.

    • Andy says:

      29 Nov29 November 00:35

      Will check out Anna Maria Island thanks, been to Treasure Island before which was nice.

• Nigel the pensioner says:

  28 Nov28 November 10:20

  IAG vs Virgin for flybe is simply a tit for tat extension to the hate hate relationship between Branson and Walsh. As Rob rightly says, BA gave two fingers to UK domestic passengers and then sheepishly brought a few routes back exemplifying the fact that WW may not be the aviation passenger industry’s best decision maker. I see no reason why they should fare any better now with the Cruz (overseen by WW) stewardship BUT I would love to see all the routes brought back under BA if they could fibd someone who would stick to their plans and recognise true quality at the points of Customer experience!

  • Callum says:

    28 Nov28 November 10:42

    Flybe is losing money, BA is highly profitable…. Pretend you’re objective and rational – who do you really think was right about regional flights?

    Why so many people on here regularly view purely business decisions as personal insults I have no idea!

    • Rob says:

      28 Nov28 November 11:11

      Flybe has caused its own problems – if they had just got on with the knitting, instead of losing a fortune on their Finnish adventure and then losing another slug thinking they could fight Loganair in Scotland and then losing some more taking some over-expensive leases on the Embraer fleet they can’t fill and then writing off another massive sum because the IT is not up to scratch etc etc.

      Would a debt-free Flybe which stuck to its core route network make money? Yes.

    • Thomas Howard says:

      28 Nov28 November 11:14

      1. If IAG can make Iberia Express work why can’t they make “BA Connect” work?
      2. Would there be a large enough saving from the closure of Flybes Exeter HO and any other economies of scale to make the routes profitable?
      3. High risk, but could BA reconfigure their network to feed a northern hub at MAN with a few select transatlantic routes and ME connection?

      • Rob says:

        28 Nov28 November 11:29

        1. IB Express is often (not entirely) routes where Iberia mainline won’t fly – a lot still go to Madrid, just with cheaper crew
        2. You’d save some costs – just being a PLC isn’t cheap in itself, you could lose a few head office staff – but I doubt they are living the high life in Exeter
        3. Virgin and Thomas Cook have North America sewn up from Manchester, the Middle East doesn’t work because you don’t have the connecting traffic – Etihad, Emirates and Qatar don’t actually take that many people to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, most go on elsewhere.

• marcw says:

  28 Nov28 November 10:34

  Some more news about Norwegian:
  San Francisco Airport (SFO) replaces Oakland (OAK) from Gatwick.
  Miami Airport (MIA) replaces Fort Lauderdale (FLL) from Gatwick.

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 10:36

    It’s Ryanair all over again – start with obscure airports because you can save £5 on landing charges then realise that customers don’t want to save £5 to be forced to land a £20 bus ride from where they want to be ….

    • Michael C says:

      28 Nov28 November 10:39

      Exactly – and my worry with Rio (which would be handy for me) is that,IF anything goes wrong, it’s a big wrong, i.e. 6-7 hour delay instead of BA, say, changing a plane in 45 mins…

    • marcw says:

      28 Nov28 November 10:46

      It’s not only that… the money is where primary airports are. This way, they can increase prices… look at Ryanair when they moved from Girona to Barcelona the majority of their operations (prices jumped considerably).

      • Sam says:

        28 Nov28 November 11:10

        Norwegian’s reliability has improved, and these flights are basically a Singapore replacement which had no major issues, so I wouldn’t blink on flying them to Rio, with the exception that it may well be that genuine long haul services they simply can’t cut enough costs to be competitive with traditional airlines. At least Rio has a higher lead-in price and few competitors whereas it’s easy to get Singapore for £450-£500 most of the year on a decent full service carrier.

    • Howard says:

      28 Nov28 November 16:34

      According to Business Traveler, cargo opportunities was also a consideration in the switch of airports.

      • Nick_C says:

        28 Nov28 November 16:38

        That makes sense.

  • Nick_C says:

    28 Nov28 November 16:30

    Fort Lauderdale was a useful route. I’ve flown to MIA a couple of times when my destination was FL. I’ve even flown into Orlando and driven down. Lauderdale is only about 30 minutes from Miami. Its a nice destination in itself as well as being a major cruise terminal. I flew AA (US Airways) to FLL via PHL a few years ago to join a cruise. Very useful as the hotels and cruise port were a $10 taxi ride from the airport, so I didn’t need to rent a car. It’s fun to explore Lauderdale and Hollywood by Water Taxi, and I would have been in no fit state to drive after taking full advantage of facilities on the J and F flights and in the lounges.

    I hope BA continue their direct flights to FLL. They fly to Tampa as well, so I think they can see that not everyone wants to go to MCO or MIA.

• Andy says:

  28 Nov28 November 11:39

  OT – Have got a question about Amex Platinum Travel Insurance. I’m off on holiday next month for 3 weeks to Thailand. I have a current Amex travel policy that expires on the 2nd January and I fly back on the 5th. I recently got an Amex Platinum card, does the insurance policy that comes with the card cover my upcoming holiday? I booked the flights with Opodo using my BA Amex card so I did use an Amex card but not sure if it’s invalid if I didn’t use an Amex Platinum?
  Obviously don’t want to be uninsured for the end of my holiday, but also don’t want to have to buy a new policy if I don’t need to!

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 12:02

    Any personal Amex is OK – and in any event, all the ‘big stuff’ is covered irrespective. Only little stuff, like £200 if your flight is delayed, requires you to have paid for your flight with a personal Amex card.

    Amex Plat will insist that you claim on your ‘proper’ policy up to 2nd but their coverage will kick in afterwards.

    • Andy says:

      28 Nov28 November 12:05

      Great, thanks Rob!

    • AA says:

      29 Nov29 November 06:01

      What’s the £200 if your flight is delayed? How do you claim for that?

      • Alan says:

        29 Nov29 November 09:16

        See insurance terms – it’s not just cash for delay, you need to spend it on stuff and claim back.

• Newbie says:

  28 Nov28 November 11:47

  OT – we need to fly to Sydney in early Feb 2018. I’ve been holding out for a decent Qatar sale and would be willing to position for a sub £1800 fare. Unfortunately, the Air China sale excluded our dates. OSL-SYD_ARN is £2000-ish on QR and a straight OSL-SYD return is £1900ish on EY. Would prefer to try the QSuites if there is a sale. Do you think it’s worth holding out for a Christmas / NY sale on Qatar / other airline or should I book the EY tickets?
  Thanks!

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 12:00

    Those EY fares have been around for a while so there is a fair chance they stick around into the new year, but who knows for certain? A key consideration for me would be whether you want the BA tier points from Qatar – you’d almost have a BA Silver card, and you’d get a lot of Avios too.

    • Newbie says:

      28 Nov28 November 12:22

      Thanks Rob. Don’t need the extra tier points as already BA Gold until mid 2020 but prefer the Qatar soft product to EY. Last year managed to bag excellent fares on Qatar to JNB but feel like sales this year have been almost non-existent. I was waiting to see if there would be any decent Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals but was again disappointed. I assume you haven’t heard anything about an end of the year / new year sale on Qatar or any other airline.

      • marcw says:

        28 Nov28 November 13:00

        Since Qatar agreed to be externally audited… there haven’t been juicy Qatar sales. Personally, I’m not expecting anything interesting from Qatar Airways in the future.

      • Lady London says:

        28 Nov28 November 13:23

        @marcw I too have been watching for a decent longhaul QR sale. If you converted the prices at the rate the UK pound used to be worth, though, against the Euro, actually the few QR sales we’ve seen in the past year are not that much more highly priced than the previous excellent sales. Sadly we’ll have to muddle our way through Brexit and get to a stable solution on that before the UK Pound value is likely to increase again.

        There is also the recent increases in the price of aviation fuel to consider, that may mean we never get the same prices back.

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