Win a luxury London weekend break with Hilton hotels

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• APPL says:

  9 May9 May 06:07

  OT, but might be useful to some(not sure if posted before)…
  Withe the IHG free night voucher for 2 nights stay at new hotel before end of March (probably Leeds Met for many), it seems that it is treated as qualifying stay.
  I redeemed it last week, and just checked my IHG account and it posted as 6k+ points qualifying stay (bill shows as $300ish room rate, which is around the usual rate for this property. I am Spire)

  • Alex W says:

    9 May9 May 06:53

    Wow. Wish I’d done a mattress run!

  • AlanC says:

    9 May9 May 07:57

    There were 4 family members who had 2 nights at the Met. Now where to go? Park Lane and Le Grand have very little award availability through the Summer.

    • Alex W says:

      9 May9 May 08:41

      Bordeaux was very nice. Just don’t take the 4 of you to the 2* restaurant unless you have at least 1000 Euros to spare!!

    • Rob says:

      9 May9 May 08:43

      Kimpton is more interesting than Park Lane. There is a new Indigo very close to LeGrand.

      • Lyn says:

        9 May9 May 10:37

        Re the Le Grand – Advance availability is probably tight because a fair number of their rooms are currently unavailable at any one time while they are renovating. However, I noticed in April that they made some nights available for awards two or three weeks ahead that had previously shown unavailable. Presumably once they could better assess the situation. So it could be worth continuing to check.

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    9 May9 May 11:41

    Same here with our free night at the Intercontinental Hong Kong, the room rate was paid for by IHG it seems but that spend didn’t count, but our Club upgrade has earnt points and is a qualifying stay

• ELT says:

  9 May9 May 06:24

  OT Best lounge for breakfast LHR T3?
  Silver status,
  Not interested in booze,, just food,
  Thanks in advance

  • Jonathan says:

    9 May9 May 06:36

    Qantas without question for me. They do excellent coffee & cooked to order Aussie brunch style food. Cathay also has a good buffet & opens earlier than Qantas if your departure is one of the first flights out.

    • Genghis says:

      9 May9 May 07:11

      +1 I’m a fan of the QF coffee and brunch offering.

  • John says:

    9 May9 May 07:23

    The several times I have visited QF, the downstairs bit wasn’t ready until after 0900 and then it took 15-20 minutes after that. So only really for flights from 1100 onwards. There is a buffet upstairs from opening but it is a bit poor if you want a big meal.

    CX is ready with the full offering from 0530 (0730 Sundays)

• Alex W says:

  9 May9 May 06:53

  Can’t believe there are still no InterContinentals in the whole of Italy. Indigo Venice looks a good option though.

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    9 May9 May 09:30

    Rome was a big loss (though my stay was pretty poor)

    Milan could have been special…

    • JPa says:

      9 May9 May 10:03

      I went the to Rome one about 10 years ago, and it was good. I had a free stay with a Sunday Times comp Where was I win, so ever better.

      I also stayed at the Grand Duomo which was due to become the InterContinental in Milan, great views over the Cathedral from the restaurant but was in need of an update. Again another competition win from Persil in 2002!

      They both would have been good options for the free IHG night….

• Phil Huff says:

  9 May9 May 06:54

  From my time staying at the Sa Torre hotel (when it was still a Hilton) I remember it being miles from the beach and about as rural as it’s possible to get in Majorca. Perhaps Casa Cook has a different definition…

  • Polly says:

    9 May9 May 07:02

    Like Ryan Air airports, roughly 2 hrs from the stated city!

    And BA ?? moving the location of Boston, so that higher avios are needed!

  • Rob says:

    9 May9 May 08:46

    That is correct! Possibly the one upside of going ‘adults only’ as adults will have a lot less interest in the poor nearby beaches.

  • Leo says:

    9 May9 May 08:48

    Really disliked the place. Can’t think of anything positive to say about it apart from it can only get better with Thomas Cook.

  • Pierre says:

    9 May9 May 09:48

    for Mallorca, StRegis is a great option off season

• Spurs Debs says:

  9 May9 May 07:32

  O/T …. anyone know how to get to Madrid for June 1st? Cheaply 😂 …. if only I had booked it earlier.

  • Doug M says:

    9 May9 May 07:38

    Hotel prices criminal. I booked a BA redemption to Valencia and a train. That was before the semi though.

    • Shoestring says:

      9 May9 May 08:07

      —> and there’s still availability at reasonable cost on BA Holidays for Valencia & Alicante if you’re happy taking the train or hiring a car

      Sevilla not exactly extortionate if you prefer somewhere with a bit more class/ culture and don’t mind the journey up to Madrid

  • Shoestring says:

    9 May9 May 07:46

    It’s great, isn’t it? Who’d have believed that 2 of the teams I support would be in the UEFA Cup Final?

    • BSI1978 says:

      9 May9 May 08:56

      “2 of the teams that you support”….how many teams do you ‘support’…?!

      • Shoestring says:

        9 May9 May 08:59

        top 6 plus Leicester when they won the Premier League

        it’s a great strategy #winning

        • BSI1978 says:

          9 May9 May 09:02

          Fair play to you – presumably you’ll be cheering on both Chelsea AND Arsenal this evening as well then…..!

        • Shoestring says:

          9 May9 May 09:18

          Chelsea unless Arsenal look like winning 15 mins from the end

        • Chrisasaurus says:

          9 May9 May 09:31

          Top man 😀🏆

    • Pangolin says:

      9 May9 May 14:52

      Well, David Cameron seems to support both Aston Villa and West Ham so there’s no reason why you can’t support 2 teams. Best if they have matching colours.

      It reminds me a bit of that Fast Show character – the middle class guy who pretends to be interested in football but has no idea about it.

  • Mr Entitled says:

    9 May9 May 07:57

    I’m going Manchester o Valencia Fri/Sun but have hired a car for £20 because just like this country there are no trains after the game and a too limited service on Sunday. The train is fast and cheap though if you can make it work.

    As of yesterday you could still get RFS to Spain on the Fri (lots to Alicante) but nothing back from any airport on the Sunday.

    Hotels are criminally high but as with Kiev last year, lots of locals putting spare rooms on a famous room booking site for reasonable prices. Stay with a local and integrate, rather than conquer, the city.

    • Bill says:

      9 May9 May 08:08

      We already had a week in Barcelona, so we are just traveling to and from Barcelona – Madrid. I was surprised by the train and flight prices though. Hotel was booked last year. Let’s see if the reservation sitcks!

    • Liam says:

      9 May9 May 10:12

      My understanding, and fear, was that Airbnb hosts could pretty much cancel at will, and so if any of them felt that they could get a higher price for that weekend then they might do that, even if you’d booked at a reasonable cost. I’m paying around £300 a night for a room in some glorified hostel for Friday and Saturday night, but it is central and near where my friends are staying, and I don’t plan on spending much time there.

      Good luck to Spurs fans trying to book today. I imagine most decent hotel and flight options were cleaned up on Tuesday night. A quick peek at Skyscanner suggest that if you want to do Friday to Sunday you’re looking at a very long layover on at least one leg, or a direct flight for £1,000+. I booked straight after the game on Tuesday and paid £250 for an economy return, via Geneva on the way out (Swiss) and Munich on the way back (Lufthansa), with short layovers of around an hour in each case. I’m not unhappy with that, given the circumstances.

      • Mr Entitled says:

        9 May9 May 12:17

        I got in early (ie, just after I had finished apologising for waking the kids post Liverpool) and booked with a host who is well reviewed. Fingers crossed I’m okay but I’m not too worried. Fans will help each other out on the day.

        I’m flying the reverse to you out with Luft via Frankfurt, back with Swiss via Zurich. Cost £330 but got me back for the family Centre Parcs trip on the Monday.

      • rams1981 says:

        9 May9 May 13:53

        This is the beauty of Avios and hotel points. I booked to Madrid on Friday and back from Valencia on the Sunday a month or so ago. Cancellable for not much. And hotel booked at Holiday Inn with IHG points 6 or so months ago… how much value should I put on these points?

        • Mr(s) Entitled says:

          9 May9 May 13:59

          I was confident enough to apply for the UEFA ticket ballot but it didn’t even occur to me to book easily refundable flights and hotels on points. Sometimes, it is the thing right in front of your face that you miss.

          That said, I was not as confident as you. I always thought we had a chance, but backing Derby was always going to be a very long shot!

        • rams1981 says:

          9 May9 May 14:02

          It’s not about confidence per se. It’s about viewing them as options. Flights have a cost but hotels don’t!

          I applied and had at least 10 others apply in the ballot with no success sadly….

  • Spurs Debs says:

    9 May9 May 08:06

    After going to all the away group stages games I have to miss going to the final because my West Ham supporting brother won’t cancel his cruise he’s had booked for a year to look after Mum for me … so selfish lol

  • Graham Walsh says:

    9 May9 May 13:22

    How about into Malaga and 2.5hr drive or into BCN and 3hr train?

• Anna says:

  9 May9 May 07:58

  OT – BA holidays, specifically car hire. I was looking at prices for a trip where we’ll need cars in 2 different locations next year and it seems that if you book them together it’s treated as a package with only the deposit payable until 5 weeks before travel. Apologies if this is already common knowledge!

• Keith says:

  9 May9 May 08:04

  OT:

  Have just driven over the deepest pothole in the world just outside of Cape Town trying to avoid hitting a baboon on the road.

  Scratch the size of my hand just above the wheel.

  Car hired with Avis, paid on Amex Rewards Card as there was an offer, don’t hold Platinum and have Excess Insurance with Eversure.

  I’ve never claimed on Excess insurance before. Does anyone know how the process works? Is it the case that Avis charge me the excess, then I send all the docs to Eversure and they reimburse me? Or do I have to pay some admin charge or excess to Eversure too? Doesn’t seem to be mention of that in the policy document.

  Any advice from experience would put my mind at ease.

  • Bagoly says:

    9 May9 May 08:27

    My experience was with I4CH rather than Eversure, but yes, I paid the cost (getting Avios!) and I4CH paid me back in a few weeks.
    Do register the claim on the insurer’s website, or call them, as soon as possible, and get hold of their form and list of documents they require.
    They will want to know that the insurance matched the driver, and that the claim is genuine, so rental agreement, receipt from Avis etc
    Don’t throw any paperwork away!
    And do take your own picture of the damage.

  • ankomonkey says:

    9 May9 May 08:40

    Sorry to hear about the incident, but “Have just driven over the deepest pothole in the world just outside of Cape Town trying to avoid hitting a baboon on the road.” has to be the best comment ever on HfP.

  • Shoestring says:

    9 May9 May 09:19

    are you sure? https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/07/driver-hit-pothole-big-stand-inside-9434160/

  • Simon says:

    9 May9 May 13:46

    I had to claim on a insurefor.com policy for a split tyre. Paid damage and then claimed back.
    Took a while as they wanted a proof of repair / damage from avis which took ages to get (had to resort to twitter). So echo bagoly’s comments about paperwork and photos.

  • Pangolin says:

    9 May9 May 14:55

    Not sure if it’s the biggest pothole in the world. I came across potholes in Laos that were big enough for a family of pigs to live happily inside.

• Steve R says:

  9 May9 May 08:06

  O/T Cancelling Tesco Rocket miles. So I bought a code in store went on line & got the Agent to do it all & got the points, a total of 2040

  Do I even need to cancel?

  • Matt B says:

    9 May9 May 08:20

    I don’t see why you would have to cancel. I’m in the same position, bought top ups in store, redeemed by text, there is no way they can charge me anything in month 2.

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