The Marriott Bonvoy St Regis Venice hotel is opening soon

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• Mark says:

  11 Feb11 February 09:37

  O/T got a spend £60 get £10 back at Charles Tyrwhitt offer on my SPG Amex this morning

  • Shoestring says:

    11 Feb11 February 10:04

    ctshirts.com/ant…nio

    EXCLUSIVE WELCOME BACK OFFER
    SHIRTS ONLY £19.95

    • nick says:

      11 Feb11 February 14:36

      What is the full special landing page URL?

      I recall CT often had special landing pages. with all shirts available

• RTS says:

  11 Feb11 February 09:58

  Hi all,

  I am planning a trip to Dehli and return via Nepal (KTM) in August.

  Any bright ideas for Avios/Virgin miles redemption?

  • Jake Mcloughlin says:

    11 Feb11 February 11:25

    Yes.

    Both virgin and BA fly direct to Delhi. Availability in all classes should be pretty good for a return flight.

    Delhi to Kathmandu can be done on Jet airways using Virgin (book over phone).

    Alternatively book one way outbound to Delhi and return using Avios on Qatar or Cathay from Kathmandu. Cash fares between Delhi and KTM will be cheap.

    • Benylin says:

      11 Feb11 February 16:23

      Please be careful booking on Jet Airways given the financial trouble (not paying pilots, delaying their wages) they are in.

• SteveD says:

  11 Feb11 February 10:12

  O/T – Amex Travel

  To help with use of Amex 50 off 200 offer, looking to book a HIX for family of 3. IHG website prices a family room at about £90, with or without child. Amex Travel has something similar BUT only if searching for 2 adults.

  When I change the search to 2Ad 1Ch, Amex prices up at double that, even though the results still only show ‘1 room’. It appears as though Amex IT can’t handle the family room request so prices for 2 standard rooms.

  I am minded to book the family room for 2 Adults – to get correct pricing – through Amex, then call the hotel to ask for a child to be added.

  Is this risky?

  Also, is it normal for flights through Amex being priced markedly higher than other OTAs / direct with carrier?
  This was my other option but extra cost wiped out the value of the offer (if I’d had the 200 off 600 of course, things would be different…)

  Thx all.

  • Rob says:

    11 Feb11 February 10:46

    Amex is cr*p like this. They regularly have rooms in their system flagged with the wrong capacity. There is a suite at Four Seasons Hampshire we always take for the four of us, and Amex’s room description even says it sleeps four. The FS website lets you book it for four. Try to book for four via Amex FHR, however, and it won’t offer it. You need to book for three and then contact the hotel the day before to get the 2nd extra bed put in. No idea why this is the case.

    • SteveD says:

      11 Feb11 February 11:25

      Thanks Rob, sounds like a regular Amex glitch. I’ll go with the plan.

• Paul says:

  11 Feb11 February 10:37

  Those flight times are terrible, you pretty much lose a night going and lose a night coming back, in a Cory where £200 a night is average for something decent.

• TripRep says:

  11 Feb11 February 10:58

  Bits OT: LHR T5 non BA lounges..

  Got a couple of hours prior to flight later this week and a PP to use, any current preference between Aspire & Plaza?

  • Tartan says:

    11 Feb11 February 11:09

    The Plaza lounge in T5 isn’t available on PP so Aspire is your only option, unless you have an Amex Platinum which will get you in

    • Lady London says:

      11 Feb11 February 21:26

      And personally I’d prefer Gordon Ramsay’s. Or come to think of it, if I didn’t have to work I think I’d almost even prefer to use the Pret on the ground floor.

      Food options in the Aspire are insultingly low quality. Drinks not much better. Can work at some tables. But it gets rammed due to monopoly market on PP in T5 so don’t even count on that.

  • TripRep says:

    11 Feb11 February 11:14

    ps I have an Amex Plat for Plaza, but does it allow me to take in a guest.?

    • Rob says:

      11 Feb11 February 11:49

      Believe so, yes.

    • Matt says:

      11 Feb11 February 11:56

      Yes, it allows a guest.

      • DaveL says:

        11 Feb11 February 18:53

        And…Plaza is much nicer than Aspire…

    • TripRep says:

      11 Feb11 February 19:14

      Thanks all, work colleague will be happy.

      • Graham Walsh says:

        11 Feb11 February 23:41

        I guested my work colleague in a few ago. He liked it in there and could see why I used it. Was in T5 B Lounge today. Difficult to find a seat to do some work calls from.

    • Alan says:

      11 Feb11 February 22:13

      Yep free guest with Amex Plat no issue.

  • Alan says:

    11 Feb11 February 22:12

    Hands down Plaza – Aspire is massively overcrowded and rubbish food selection whenever I’ve been in.

  • Alan says:

    11 Feb11 February 22:13

    (assuming you’ve got PP via Amex Plat that is, given PP itself doesn’t allow access!)

• Benylin says:

  11 Feb11 February 11:09

  OT: Got an EasyJet flight coming up from Luton next month for the weekend, recommendations on parking? Ideally want to be close by because land on Sunday at 23.15 and have work next day!

  • Meadowlark says:

    11 Feb11 February 14:00

    I always pre-book the onsite Mid Term Parking (https://www.london-luton.co.uk/parking). If you only have carry-on bags don’t wait for the shuttle bus (unless it’s pouring with rain!) – it only takes five minutes for a brisk walk down the road and through the tunnel to/from the terminal. Footpath all the way, so no problems with the road traffic. Much better value than the pricey Short Term, or the outrageous Multi-Storey parking. Unfortunately even the satisfaction of saving money on your parking can’t compensate for the general experience of using the airport.

    • Benylin says:

      11 Feb11 February 18:00

      Thanks booked.

• BJ says:

  11 Feb11 February 11:42

  OT: Anybody experiencing problems adding new cards to Curve? I’ve tried adding my Virgin Atlantic card three times this morning without success.

  • BJ says:

    11 Feb11 February 12:11

    Scrap that, I need to go to Specsavers!

    • ankomonkey says:

      11 Feb11 February 17:27

      Maybe try somewhere else. All the Specsavers near me accept Visa and Mastercard but not Amex!

• Toby says:

  11 Feb11 February 11:59

  OT: We know and hate that BA add on their Carrier Surcharges to redemption bookings but I have just been seeing what the taxes on a redemption would cost in a ‘perfect world’ using the ITA Matrix and notice that even on a normal cash ticket, BA still add on a Carrier Surcharge of £400. Does anybody know why this is as surely their money comes from the Fare itself?
  (Apologies if this has been discussed before)

  This is a Club World LHR to JFK booking in December:

  Fare 1: Carrier BA INW1C1S6 LON to NYC (rules)
  Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code I
  Covers LHR-JFK (Business)
  £1,041.00

  Fare 2: Carrier BA INW1C1S6 NYC to LON (rules)
  Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code I
  Covers JFK-LHR (Business)
  £1,041.00

  United States Immigration User Fee (XY)
  £5.40

  United States Customs User Fee (YC)
  £4.50

  United States APHIS Passenger Fee Passengers (XA)
  £3.10

  United Kingdom Air Passenger Duty APD (GB)
  £172.00

  United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge Departures (UB)
  £46.62

  Carrier-imposed surcharge (YQ)
  £400.00

  US International Arrival Tax (US)
  £28.80

  US September 11th Security Fee (AY)
  £4.30

  US Passenger Facility Charge (XF)
  £3.50

  Subtotal per passenger
  £2,750.22

  Number of passengers
  x1

  Subtotal For 1 adult
  £2,750.22

  • Toby says:

    11 Feb11 February 12:02

    I’m confused, they all do… BA, Virgin, American, Air France – what am I missing/not understanding?

  • BJ says:

    11 Feb11 February 12:04

    AFAIK their carrier surcharges are the same on both award and cash tickets. BA is not alone in adding such surcharges and the reason they do so should be blatantly obvious.

    • TripRep says:

      11 Feb11 February 12:14

      BJ – actually not convinced that YQ is constant for a redemption Vs cash fare, if fact in previous examples I’ve seen I’m sure it’s higher for redemptions.

      • BJ says:

        11 Feb11 February 12:54

        Interesting, I will pay attention to them in future and see.

  • the_real_a says:

    11 Feb11 February 13:34

    Which is why AMEX MR are so valuable so you can trasnfer to Delta / United Etc that dont generally charge the exorbitant carrier fees.

    • Rob says:

      11 Feb11 February 15:43

      You can’t move MR to United or American, so that is 2 of the 3 ways of avoiding fees gone!

      • the_real_a says:

        11 Feb11 February 18:08

        Yes quite right united. Ive booked on Guarda/Vietnam air/Korean air long haul for next to no fees in the last 12 months through partner redemption’s. All from Amex MR. I guess these must have been through Delta in that case.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        11 Feb11 February 23:34

        Does the IDC card allow transfer to either?

        What’s the rate?

        • Rob says:

          11 Feb11 February 23:48

          No

    • Alan says:

      11 Feb11 February 22:16

      Wish you could transfer them to United, sadly not an option for UK MR programme.

  • Lady London says:

    11 Feb11 February 21:38

    The other name for “Carrier imposed surcharge” is “Carrier Greed Charge”.

    So far as I understand it, British Airways used to call these amounts ” fuel charge” until someone sued them in the US courts saying cost of fuel had gone down not up and why was British Airways still charging a “fuel surcharge” type thing on every ticket.

    To their credit British Airways promptly complied and removed the annoying title fuel surcharge AFAIK. However mysteriously we now have a carrier charge, also coded YQ, which has apparently sneakily increased by serious amounts recently without any announcement, instead.

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