News in brief:
British Airways to move into Terminal 8 at New York JFK
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey announced yesterday that British Airways is to move from Terminal 7 to Terminal 8 at New York JFK in 2022.
This is part of a $13bn improvement project at the airport. Low cost carrier JetBlue will be expanding from Terminal 5 to cover the space currently occupied by Terminal 6 and Terminal 7. British Airways and American Airlines will be operating out of Terminal 8, which is to be expanded at a cost of £250m.
This isn’t going to happen overnight, clearly, but it is a little odd that it is happening at all given that BA is in the middle of spending $65m upgrading its facilities in Terminal 7, soon to become a heap of rubble.
Collect Avios at Twickenham
If you are heading to Twickenham for the Six Nations games over the next few weeks, there are new Avios collecting opportunities available.
As part of the British Airways sponsorship deal with the stadium, you will earn 5 Avios per £1 when you spend in selected bars on-site and in the BA Fan Village. You must register your credit card in advance via this site.
You will also earn 5 Avios per £1 if you book for a dinner that Twickenham is hosting with Tom Kerridge on 4th April. £199 for a five-course meal with paired wines, cooked by a 2-Michelin starred chef, with a pre-dinner cocktail reception, looks interesting. For an extra £50 you can attend a 2nd pre-pre-dinner cocktail reception in the England changing room! The evening includes a Q&A with Kyran Bracken and MasterChef semi-finalist Neil Back.
Thanks to Amy for this.
Another 50+ Small Luxury Hotels of the World join the World of Hyatt programme
Back in December we covered the addition of 55 ‘Small Luxury Hotels of the World’ to the Hyatt booking system.
There were some very good hotels here including, in the UK:
- Alexander House Hotel & Utopia Spa, Turners Hill
- The Arden Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon
- Ashdown Park Hotel, Forest Row
- The Capital Hotel & Apartments, London
- Dukes, London
- Flemings Mayfair, London
- The Atlantic Hotel, St Brelade, Jersey
- Luton Hoo Hotel Golf & Spa, Luton
- Nira Caledonia, Edinburgh
- St. James’s Hotel and Club, London
- Tylney Hall Hotel and Gardens, Hook
Last week a new batch of 56 Small Luxury Hotels became bookable via Hyatt. These include:
- Kristiania Lech, Lech am Arlberg, Austria
- The Pand Hotel, Bruges, Belgium
- Nimb Hotel, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Hotel Haven, Helsinki, Finland
- Hotel Lilla Roberts, Helsinki, Finland
- Les Sources de Caudalie, Bordeaux, France
- Chateau Eza, Eze Village, France
- Le M de Megeve, Megeve, France
- Grand Hotel du Palais Royal, Paris, France
- Grand Powers, Paris, France
- Hotel Relais Christine, Paris, France
- Le Narcisse Blanc Hotel, Paris, France
- Château la Chenevière, Port-en-Bessin, France
- Muse Saint-Tropez, Ramatuelle, France
- Hotel Regency , Florence, Italy
- Lefay Resort & Spa Lago di Garda, Lake Garda, Italy
- Grand Hotel Majestic, Lake Maggiore, Italy
- Eight Hotel Portofino, Portofino, Italy
- The Gray, Milan, Italy
- Il Melograno, Puglia, Italy
- Babuino 181, Rome, Italy
- Hotel D’Inghilterra, Rome, Italy
- Hotel Splendide Royal, Rome, Italy
- Hotel Bergs, Riga, Latvia
- Winselerhof Country Estate, Landgraaf, Netherlands
- Palácio Estoril Hotel, Golf & Spa, Estoril, Portugal
- Carmo’s Boutique Hotel, Ponte de Lima, Portugal
- Alentejo Marmoris Hotel & Spa, Vila Vicosa, Portugal
- Saint Ten Hotel, Belgrade, Serbia
- Terra Dominicata, Priorat, Spain
- Bank Hotel, Stockholm, Sweden
- Wellnesshotel Golf Panorama, Lipperswil, Switzerland
- The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, United Kingdom (picture above)
- Langshott Manor, Langshott, United Kingdom
- Spa Village Resort Tembok Bali, Bali, Indonesia
- Viceroy Bali, Bali, Indonesia
- Kasara Niseko Village, Niseko, Japan
- The Luang Say Residence, Luang Prabang, Laos
- Cameron Highlands Resort, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
- Tanjong Jara Resort, Dungun, Malaysia
- The Majestic Malacca, Malaysia, Malaysia
- Hotel Eclat Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
- 137 Pillars Suites Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
- 137 Pillars House, Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Aleenta Resort & Spa Hua Hin, Hua Hin, Thailand
- Akyra Beach Club Phuket, Phuket, Thailand
- Aleenta Resort & Spa Phuket, Phuket, Thailand
- Keemala, Phuket, Thailand
- Sublime Samana Hotel & Residences, Samana, Dominican Republic
- Casas del XVI, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- The Trident Hotel, Port Antonio, Jamaica
- Sailrock Resort, South Caicos, Turks & Caicos
- Wentworth Mansion, Charleston, USA
- Rusty Parrot Lodge and Spa, Jackson, USA
- The Betsy South Beach, Miami Beach, USA
- The Plymouth South Beach, Miami Beach, USA
As well as being able to redeem your World of Hyatt points at these properties, you will get special benefits when staying at a Small Luxury Hotels property. When – and only when – you book via hyatt.com you will get:
- Complimentary continental breakfast
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- Early check-in 12:00pm (based on availability)
- Late check-out 2:00pm (based on availability)
- Room upgrade to the next category up (based on availability)
Interestingly, having status in World of Hyatt isn’t worth anything at SLH hotels except for a status bonus on the points you earn. The benefits are fixed. You will earn 5 base World of Hyatt points for every $1 spent.
About Head for Points
OT: Qantas cancel A380 order
“Following discussions with Airbus, Qantas has now formalised its decision not to take eight additional A380s that were ordered in 2006,” a Qantas spokesman said.
“These aircraft have not been part of the airline’s fleet and network plans for some time.”
helps BA negotiate down the price
OT – when do the Amex referral bonus post?
Normally around the time the new card is dispatched. Most of the time I know the card is on the way because the points arrive in my account.
Within 48 hours of acceptance usually.
@Rob I’ve called them and they’ve ‘accepted’ the application early this week. Haven’t heard correspondence from them since, still no points though,
@Dan: are you a bit of a ‘worrier’?
Quick Qs:
1) With the AMex Travel Spend £200 get £50, does it have to be one transaction or cumulative?
2) How long from application acceptance for Amex Platinum does it take for Priority passes to arrive, travelling on in a couple of weeks?
3) Anyone managed to get madlives booking with Marriot points on the 5 night for 4 offer? IF so which one?
REgards
AMmar
1. Cumulative.
2. Very quickly. Sometimes before the Amex arrives.
3. Can’t help with that one.
Thanks Sam for the prompt response. very helpful
3. Yes, spent this Christmas at W Maldives with points, booked for next Christmas at Westin, all with 240k points.
Thanks Lee – did you book the Westin/W online or via the phone?
Also, how was the W Maldives? DId you get much of an upgrade there? Also is 5 days enough to enjoy or not much else beyond sand, snorking, relax and eat?
Online, get upgrade from beach villa to overwater villa as PPE. 5 days was okay for us as combined with spent New Year at Dubai. Snorkelling was amazing at W, way better than Conrad and Six senses.
OT – one of the cards linked to my Curve card has expired. I’ve received a new one, but can’t see any way to update the expiry date/CVC code in the Curve app. Is there a way to do this or do I need to remove the old card and add the new one (I’ve already tried adding the new one but come up against an error – presumably because the same card number is already linked).
i had to remove and add new one
I’ve had the same issue, needing to update my debit card which was coming up for expiry and had received the new card. I tried deleting the old one and adding the new one, and it just pulls in the old expiry date. I then tried deleting it, rebooting the iphone, leaving it overnight and then trying again but got the same result. Seems like a bug to me. I will report it and see what happens.
Yeah it seems to not work if you have added the same card before and done a certain set of actions which I can’t figure out. This is a problem because Curve isn’t responding to emails (and the “support ticket” system isn’t working either)
They’ve not even updated the website to reflect their recent issues, Metal cards are still being sold with Amex functionality.
OT
I recently asked whether Nectar points could be used in Sainsbury’s to buy other gift cards.
The consensus was no, but I have just returned after spending my wife’s 24,000 from an Amex card. I bought a £50 John Lewis gift card with some other stuff and paid with Nectar points with no problem.
Incidentally, you need to make a purchase at the store and flash the card before you can use the points for anything.
Interesting. Also been waiting to find a good use for my Nectar points. Any idea how many points were required for the £50 JL GC?
They’re worth 0.5p so it’d be 10k Nectar.
Consensus was wrong then Mark, this has never been a problem. The only issue is that it was necessary to have used your nectar card in the store in question before trying to redeem points for a giftcard.
Or redeeming points for anything.
you need a previous visit to the store before you can redeem for gift cards? has anyone experienced it not working and then worked on the second visit in that case?
I think it’s to hinder/ slow down somebody from spending your Nectar points when you accidentally drop the card – gives you more time to report the card lost
in effect, a Nectar card with points on it is a form of cash, no checks done or passcodes needed to spend the balance
Yes, told it was in T&C by staff but did not check. Actually for any purchase using points inc petrol.
Thanks for clarifying
OT – Plat charge card, does anyone have the link to apply for the Plat credit card (Spend £500) get 2,000 MR I think it was.
There is an upgrade from the PRGC Charge card, to the Plat Charge Card.
Not available from the newish gold credit card.
https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/upgrade/platinum-charge/index.html
Targeted in theory, but worked for most.
Cheers Nick but that’s not the link I was looking for. There used to be an additional card (Credit card) Plat cardholders could apply for in case they wanted to make large purchases. The target was spend £500
@Rob – You will know the one!
Here is the link for the former gold companion. Maybe will work for the Plat. Good luck
Here. Sorry. https://global.americanexpress.com/acq/intl/dpa/emea/uk/pers/cm/landing.do?perform=IntlEapp:UK:goldgrcc_comp&intlink=uk-amex-cardshop-companion-goldcard-applynow-btm
I think that this companion credit card is now only available if you are targeted, and not very often!
It would be offered in your online account just under the menu bar with the picture of the card at the end.
Cheers Mark, you might be right
https://global.americanexpress.com/acq/intl/dpa/emea/uk/pers/cm/landing.do?perform=IntlEapp:UK:goldgrcc_comp&intlink=uk-amex-cardshop-companion-goldcard-applynow-btm
How long should it ordinarily take for Tier points earned via QR to credit to my BAEC account? I made sure to include my BAEB number at the time of booking and am not a privilege member….
Thanks
TP’s on Partner Airlines can take up to four weeks according to the BA blurb.
It only happens on Wednesday. So if it didn’t happen yesterday, it will happen next Wednesday.
Rob/Anika
Was collecting 5 avios for each £1 spent instore on Caffe Nero – through Avios then BAEC – one of several outlets where you registed your Masterard or Amex online then earned miles without thinking about it.
These have stopped crediting, and I can’t find details on BAEC or Avios e-shop pages (there’s a ‘not available’ message on Aer Lingus.
Asked about this before, and somebody replied saying I was wrong and in person earning was still active.
Is it, though? And what about Tyrwhitt?
Tyrwhitt worked for me last month when I bought a suit and some shirts online. Not automatic via registered CC and you have to remember to put BAEC number at the bottom of the order form before checkout, it doesn’t store it / fill it in for you
Tyrwhitt is totally separate because you have to hand over your BA number in-store and they credit the Avios manually.
No idea what is happening with ‘instore rewards’ to be honest.
OT:, Can anyone advise on the nicest PP lounge to visit at LHR T3 please. My parents will be there Saturday morning around 10am. (departures)
You can only choose between No1 & Club Aspire, both perfectly OK – could do both if they felt like it. Horses for courses, I much prefer No1 as it’s a lot lighter with windows etc but in truth there’s not a lot to choose between them, both perfectly good standard. If they’re travelling at anything remotely busy time, you’d better pay £5 each to reserve them a place @No1 online
& both got reviewed on HfP if you go back in time…
or click ‘Airport Lounge Reviews (UK)’ under categories, or look on the ‘Favourites’ page
Thanks.
Should anyone with large ZEEK credit be worried tonight?
going into receivership – ‘Zeek owes around $4.8 million to Viola, suppliers, clients, and employees’
and about £400 to me!
hard luck 🙁
I have just checked mine and I have about £250 balance.
This Zeek balance was purchased using Paypal and shows in my online account.
Would PayPal pay up if ZEEK shuts the shop?
It was almost 6 months ago though!
“Purchase Failed” – multiple cards. Looks like they are shutting down shop (that was on zeekshop dot com, rather than zeek dot me).
Zeek was too good to be true with all the discounts it offered and bonus cash back through the cb sites which is why I never used them.
Interesting. Yesterday we were told to remove Zeek links from Shopper Points immediately. When this happens it usually means the company has gone bust. However, I went to the Zeek website and all seemed fine. I did a press search and all seemed fine. Clearly not. I am only £3.40 out of pocket luckily.
Told by whom, Rob? The affiliate network?
They went quiet on me last week. If the figures above and reported elsewhere are correct then they have seen this coming along way off.
the whole zeek thing always seemed a bit fishy.
i hope people don’t end up too out of pocket.
good luck all.
Yes, the network.
@franklyn g. morris-bison pettles snr
Unfortunately it does not appear that Zeek holds client money in a ring-fenced separate account, though just because I can’t see this does not mean it is not the case
OT – curve. Technically, it’s cost me nothing yet because my curve top up hasn’t landed on the Amex. BUT I had a refund to my curve Amex a week ago now, which hasn’t showed up. I have no doubt that the curve top up will eventually land on my Amex (how could it not?) but I have every concern that my refund has now been lost into the ether. I will be patient for now, but it would sure be nice to know what’s going on soon!
Weird situation obviously something happened for Amex to not charge transactions to Curve and phone every customer to verify transactions, wish we knew more
OT Mexico Hilton. Upgraded gold to a suite with executive lounge access. Had quite good luck with IHG and now Hilton in Mexico which I didn’t expect with lots of Americans here too who I assumed with have gold.