Join Angela Hartnett for an exclusive meal at Murano with Marriott Bonvoy points

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• Matt says:

  4 Mar4 March 09:10

  I’ve probably missed some updates on the Curve/AMEX broken relationship, but could someone confirm if they can still pay AMEX bills with Curve, connected to either Credit or (even) debit card? I used to pay all my AMEX bills with Curve Blue without any problems until they sent me a new Blue Curve card, following the issues with upgrading to Curve Metal and then cancelling due to the known AMEX related troubles. Curve cust service are convincing me that my Curve should still be accepted by AMEX and I’m likely to be entering incorrect expiry date! Trust me – I’m still able to enter correct 4 digits!!! 😉

  • prune says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:28

    Sigh!

    • Luckyjim says:

      4 Mar4 March 10:15

      Give me your Amex card details and I’ll try it for you Matt.

• Shoestring says:

  4 Mar4 March 09:18

  Might help somebody: (No1 – not sure if it gives you 20% off the reservation fee as well)

  It’s Monday and we’re still feeling good. And so could you by saving 20% on your next lounge visit, in the last week of our flash sale.
  With four different, world-class brands – The House, Clubrooms, No1 Lounges and My Lounge – there’s a perfect lounge for you, whatever the reason for your trip.
  Use the code FEB20, before 10th March to enjoy this exclusive offer on visits any time before the end of June.

• Neil says:

  4 Mar4 March 09:21

  Does anyone have any experience redeeming IHG points for the IC Resort Tahiti? I only need one night but IHG don’t appear to offer reward availability 365 days in advance like Hilton. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

  • Genghis says:

    4 Mar4 March 10:43

    The hotel is difficult to get anyway but IHG release around 345 days in advance. I’ve just booked for Valentine’s weekend 2020 (became available today).

    • Neil says:

      4 Mar4 March 12:48

      Life saver, thanks Genghis

  • Chris says:

    4 Mar4 March 15:07

    I have a week in bora bora and a few nights in tahiti in May. They release the nights 4 months in advance (rooms in June are being released at the moment.)

    Bora Bora seems to be on the day; tahiti was 1 day ahead. They were published around 10am GMT.

    • Neil Donoghue says:

      4 Mar4 March 18:09

      Fantastic advice Chris, really appreciate this

• Jtz says:

  4 Mar4 March 09:38

  Couple of questions and an update:
  Got hilton gold after nearly 2 months on plat and loads of chasing up, I got the spg card through the post, nice surprise, called and got the double points offer. Brighton actually offered me this straight away before I said much.

  So I’m planning on cancelling this spg after I have hit the spend, and points move to bonvoy, so probbaly next month
  Also planning to cancel the plat asap, am I correct that:
  1. Amex are now refunding per month pro rata so I might as well cancel end of March? (If i end up wanting to use lounge access)
  2. Will cancelling Amex Plat and spg same time affect my credit rating? Currently hold no other cards, missed the virgin but wasn’t sure if it will hurt my credit
  3. Planning to move just the minimum amount of MR needed to hilton, for 5 nights at top category hotel, combined with OH Hilton, i only need to move 90,000
  That means I have a ‘surplus’ of 52k, we would like to take out first ever business redemption with this and like the idea of krisflyer, I know it’s got a 3 year expiry but with my spg balance after spend, should I move to spg, and then to krisflyer?
  Also I know their chart recently changed, but am I correct that the star alliance sweet spots are still alive? Will welcome any other suggestions too!
  Thanks

  • guesswho2000 says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:53

    1) Yes, Amex refund pro-rata;
    2) Wouldn’t worry about that personally, cancelling will have little to no effect;
    3) If you want Krisflyer, go directly from Amex to Krisflyer (1 MR:1 KF), not via SPG (Marriott Bonvoy) (2 MR:3 Marriott:1 KF).

• Ian says:

  4 Mar4 March 09:39

  I know the curve issue is paying off barclaycards which you’re not supposed to do, but it’s these sort of things that’s completely turned me off curve. It’s another layer in the payment process, another party involved, which means another chance for something to go wrong, or something to get blocked.

  It’s also so complicated now, with so many catches or exceptions. So much to think about. Just not worth the hassle for the minimal benefit.

  Nice idea in theory, in practice, too much trouble than it’s worth.

  • Matt says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:52

    Seems like HMRC annual tax payment is the only reason to keep Curve for…

    • Memesweeper says:

      4 Mar4 March 12:17

      Go back in time

      Killer feature for the poorly organised 🙂

  • Crafty says:

    4 Mar4 March 14:09

    Don’t do it then, others benefit from the hassle

• Concerto says:

  4 Mar4 March 09:45

  So the current BA livery was introduced in 1997, if I understand correctly? About the plane painted in BEA livery, why does it need a separate landing slot? I assumed it would be on an aircraft which is flying some route on the network.

  • Doug M says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:47

    Will have come from the paint shop.

    • Rob says:

      4 Mar4 March 13:05

      Yes, flew in from Shannon.

• BlueHorizonuk says:

  4 Mar4 March 10:12

  Seems like Virgin has added Air France and KLM to the partner page (only earning at the moment).

  https://www.virginatlantic.com/us/en/flying-club/partners/airlines.html

  • Michael says:

    4 Mar4 March 12:41

    Just out of interest – when did the Hilton card close to new applicants?

    • BJ says:

      4 Mar4 March 12:44

      Last Autumn IIRC.

  • BJ says:

    4 Mar4 March 12:43

    Too many folks getting way too excited about this partnership IMO. Given the redemption rates to FlyingBlue members themselves it is highly unlikely there will be much of interest except perhaps a few sweet spots. For example, FlyingBlue one way from UK to seAsia in J is from 90k but is more typically 115-145k.

  • RussellH says:

    4 Mar4 March 12:49

    I have just been able to add my Flying Club no. to my KLM flights booked for late spring.

• Big Ernie McCracken says:

  4 Mar4 March 10:16

  I got the letters on both my Barclaycards (HH and FX FREE) unfortunately shredded them so can’t quote exactly but along the lines Rob quoted. I think Curve’s days are limited but I will keep using it as between mine and Lady McCracken’s we can put 5k legitimately through HH in cash withdrawals per annum that gets me halfway to HH Gold. In fact as I am putting ALL Non AMEX credit card spend through Curve they seem to be ok with some additional cash withdrawals. I havent really tested the “some” too much though!

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