Get Rugby World Cup tickets with Emirates Skywards miles

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• JD says:

  18 May18 May 10:27

  Best lounge for young family in Heathrow T5?
  Flying club Europe to Italy today with 4yr old and 4m old.

  Got priority pass and Amex Platinum

  Any suggestions?

  • Matt says:

    18 May18 May 10:39

    I’ve never been to the third party lounges in T5. Do people really go to them instead of galleries when flying club / have status?

    • Rob says:

      18 May18 May 10:42

      Plaza Premium never had more than 20 people in it before NatWest started offering it as a current account benefit. It was far better than Galleries if you wanted quiet and decent food.

      It got a bit messy for a few weeks after NatWest wrote to Black cardholders saying they could now use it as part of the new DragonPass deal. No idea if that initial rush has subsided.

      You should be able to get in Plaza Premium by showing your Amex Plat – NOT Priority Pass as it doesn’t work. One child is your guest, you need to hope they wave the baby through.

      • JD says:

        18 May18 May 10:54

        Wife has supplementary 🙂

        • Judge says:

          18 May18 May 11:07

          Supplementary works fine.

      • Memesweeper says:

        18 May18 May 10:57

        Plaza Premium have been generous with me and extra children + Amex Plat. Food is marginally better than galleries.

        The big (south?) galleries lounge is much larger and has a big screen room which is better for a longer break with kids IMO. A few mins further from the gates too.

      • Frenzie01 says:

        18 May18 May 12:50

        Note that Plaza Premium is the only lounge so far I know in the Uk where spirits aren’t included.
        A Gin and Tonic will cost you, so if you are going there to have some drinks, skip this lounge.

        • S says:

          18 May18 May 13:01

          Spirits are included. I was there last week. No charge.

        • Chris says:

          18 May18 May 13:18

          I was there no so long ago and drank plenty of vodka without paying a penny. Entered on a platinum card

        • Lounge Dragon says:

          18 May18 May 14:59

          You’ve been had

        • Memesweeper says:

          18 May18 May 16:40

          Maybe some premium spirit ? I’ve never paid.

• Grimz says:

  18 May18 May 13:09

  OT, what happens to a refund on a cancelled Amex card and you don’t know what card it was?

  • paul says:

    18 May18 May 13:15

    you have to ring amex and ask them nicely to check all your numerous cancelled accounts…:)

    • BJ says:

      18 May18 May 16:44

      And it feels super embarrassing when you have over 20 cancelled cards 🙂

  • mark2 says:

    18 May18 May 17:15

    When an old forgotten shopsmall credit has appeared I received a paper statement and asked for refund to another card (if any) or to bank

    • Anna says:

      18 May18 May 21:26

      Yes – if your cancelled account goes into credit Amex will start sending you paper statements. You can then contact them to ask for the money.

• Dave says:

  18 May18 May 14:01

  OT – Two queries related to BA Platinum – trying to decide between downgrading to blue or aiming for another 2 for 1 (which I’m not sure we need).

  1) My card anniversary date is about 6 months different to billing date. e.g. the new earning year in starts in May, but I was billed £195 last November due to upgrading to platinum from blue six months through the year. Presumably I won’t be re-billed until this November, which means I could spend £10k to earn another 2 for 1 before being billed again?

  2) If instead I downgrade from BA Premium to BA Blue now, will that run another hard credit check (currently a little high on those)?

  Thanks for any insight

  • Shoestring says:

    18 May18 May 15:11

    Amex always reserve the right to run a credit check on you with a new application, it seems this is often not done for upgrades

  • Anna says:

    18 May18 May 21:31

    1. It’s my understanding that the vouchers correspond to the card year rather than the date the fee is taken. My OH’s fee is taken in May, but his card year runs from Dec to Dec. It’s made quite obvious on the account whether the voucher has been triggered or by what date you need to make the £10k spend, so if you were allowed to earn a second voucher you would be able to see this when you log in.

    • Anna says:

      18 May18 May 21:32

      Also BAPP and Platinum are completely different cards.

• Terra Incognita lost forever says:

  18 May18 May 14:11

  “Russia doesn’t help itself, however, by imposing its tough visa restrictions on St Petersburg”

  Russia is not imposing anything. Its main principal on visa-free regime has always been reciprocal! Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. If British have a sense of entaitlement to visit any place they want without a need for visa, here is Russia then to bring them back to reality a bit. You make it difficult for Russians to enter your country and they will do the same to you too. I am an EU nationalt and I am very happy not see hordes of drunken rowdy Brits roaming the streets of St.Pete: it gives it a touch of exclusiveness that is getting more and more precious in the globalized world. Shame about KIev though: what has not been run to the ground by crazy Ukranian nationalists lately will be ruined by EU mass tourism soon.

  • Rob says:

    18 May18 May 15:05

    Last time I checked, we did not insist on Russian visitors to London having to obtain a letter of invitation from a hotel before we let them in for a couple of days!

    • Alexei says:

      18 May18 May 16:50

      Trust me, thats a quick email to any Russian hotel (who are set up to supply this) – two minutes effort. Don’t even need a solid hotel reservation – even a Hilton reward (fully cancellable) booking is fine. Anyways, Moscow, Leningrad etc are no Dubai, so I suspect they will not appeal to you regardless.

      • Rob says:

        18 May18 May 19:53

        Been to all these places, and my Mrs does bits of business in Russia on a regular basis, but the trouble required to secure 4 visas for the family – which also means that my wife has to clear her diary of all business meetings for a period, and I can neither travel nor attend airside functions – is not worth it.

    • Rigonda says:

      19 May19 May 15:42

      Last time I checked UK insisted on providing bank statements with at least 5000 pounds on them wheras a letter of invitation from a hotel costs nothing and can be issued by any of them within minutes and be sent by email!

      All the hassle is simply not worth it, you are right. Russians go to Schengen instead (reciprocal requirements will be futher relaxed soon by both EU and Russia), Britain is growing more insular and xenophobic and BA axes St.Pet flight but not because of “tough Western sanctions” or any other nonsense reason your “free” mass media are feeding to you.

• JB says:

  18 May18 May 14:56

  OT. Looking at room rates for a Intercontinental club room in the USA. Surprised to see lower rates displayed in the app than on PC. Checked and all like for like, logged in etc. Only discovered this by chance. Anyone else experienced this?

  • Anna says:

    18 May18 May 16:50

    I’ve had this with Hilton, different prices/offers on PC and app. I always double check now!

    • Anna says:

      18 May18 May 16:50

      Though make sure prices are in the same currency, i.e. one might display £ while the other is in $.

      • JB says:

        18 May18 May 17:48

        Thanks Anna, yes that was my first thought but double checked all items and different dates, app bookings consistently cheaper.

• ScienceTeachers says:

  18 May18 May 15:10

  Lloyds have transferred over a second batch of Avios to my executive club. Assuming I’m now on the new scheme for earning too, even if I use the old cards?

  • Anna says:

    18 May18 May 16:52

    Only if your old cards have technically been closed, following your 60 days’ notice. Otherwise CS needs a call.

• Graham Walsh says:

  18 May18 May 18:13

  OT I’m being lazy probably and could probably find it somewhere. Have booked a 241 and took WTP on the return leg but been notified that CW has opened up. What’s the process to upgrade to those seats? Have to call up or do it via upgrade booking in MMB?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    18 May18 May 18:14

    Have to call up

    • Graham Walsh says:

      18 May18 May 18:38

      Boo. Thanks.

• Raz0r says:

  18 May18 May 18:49

  The Spanish Groupon Avios Iberia Plus deal is back.
  Not as good value this time.
  1000 Avios for €19 or
  2000 Avios for €29.
  Limited to 1 of each per account.

  • Shoestring says:

    18 May18 May 18:51

    yep it’s rubbish – nobody should buy at these prices

    • Rob says:

      18 May18 May 19:50

      … unless you only want a very small quantity, when it does still make sense (remember BA charges £31 for 1000).

      • Peter K says:

        18 May18 May 20:31

        Unless they don’t want 22500 overpriced avios.

      • Anna says:

        18 May18 May 21:41

        It depends. I occasionally buy Avios when this offer is on and if I use 160,000 with a 2 4 1 for F seats to Miami, as I have for Easter next year, then I’ve got at least £5000 worth of value from them once the taxes & fees (including BAPP fee) are taken into account.

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