See Manchester United and AC Milan in Cardiff by redeeming your Marriott Bonvoy hotel points

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• 3742 says:

  20 Jul20 July 10:43

  I upgraded a green to a gold recently.

  • Simon says:

    20 Jul20 July 19:38

    How exactly? I assume over the phone as I’ve not seen a link for this.

    • 3742 says:

      21 Jul21 July 09:03

      Yes, by phone. I’m putting on it all spend for which S75 would not be needed, working towards the annual target and the superior spend per pound that will translate to. I see it as the best UK card for general spend/where no other targets are live, as net of month 13 costs it’s giving approx. 1.5MR per pound, which is the highest spend rate available in what I believe is the best loyalty currency.

      Why have gold charge instead of gold credit, which some might see as better due to S75? Simply because I already had the green card having been referred by MJ, and it only took a quick call, rather than a new application at a point where I’ve had half a dozen various applications in a short space of time. I would have gone for gold credit otherwise.

• Gill says:

  20 Jul20 July 11:45

  OT

  I have a couple of trips lined up and trying to decide on the best use of marriott points. Santiago & Buenos Aires this year and early next will be in Japan for a ski trip (destination tbc) taking in tokyo.

  I’ll have a small stash of about 130k points currently so looking at Cat 5 redemptions charts unless buying top up makes sense.

  The only destinations we’ll stay more than 4 nights and be able to take advantage of 5th night free would be Tokyo & wherever we decide to ski so I’m thinking BA or Santiago redemptions aren’t going to be the best use. Any Japan travellers have any good value redemption advise for 1st time visitors?

  Any BA/Santiago accommodation recommends would also be appreciated.

  Thanks

  • TokyoFan says:

    20 Jul20 July 12:06

    The Curio Anselmo (Hilton group) in BA is superb, smallish rooms but cheap on HH points and in a great location. In Santiago we stayed in the Luciano K hotel (independent) which was lovely.

    • Gill says:

      20 Jul20 July 13:11

      Thanks for the tips. Will have a look at those ones.

• boi says:

  20 Jul20 July 11:54

  OT: are the limits on amex cards I can hold at any particular time enforced? I want to max out referrals before cancelling plat. Currently I have SPG, BAPP and Plat. Can I apply for another or its a no go?

  • ben says:

    20 Jul20 July 11:58

    The limits have been removed – used to be 2 x credit cards and 1 x charge card back in the day…

  • boi says:

    20 Jul20 July 12:01

    Also is there any card that Amex are happy to give someone who doesnt have an income of their own?

    • Rob says:

      20 Jul20 July 14:36

      All Amex cards are now based on household income.

    • Lady London says:

      20 Jul20 July 16:00

      A supp is designed for that – think “kept” mistress I guess!
      But the thing about a supp is that the main cardholder remains liable for all debt, and holding a supp does not do anything for the supp person’s credit record.

  • Jonathan says:

    20 Jul20 July 12:04

    Careful with self-referrals. AmEx has just clawed back any points earned via this route in the USA so wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen over here given recent changes. They’re using the catch all gaming & abuse clause in T&C’s to justify. May be ok if you transfer out immediately but then may restricting future opportunities with AmEx.

• Gavin says:

  20 Jul20 July 12:15

  OT: I’ve been a bit slow on the uptake with Curve. I’ve finally started using it with my Hilton Barclaycard during the last month, and there seems to be no extra charge for cash or cash-like transactions (eg putting money into an investment account)

  Does anyone know which other Mastercard/Visa credit cards work with Curve like this, without any additional charges? Considering Virgin or IHG Mastercards.

  • stevenhp1987 says:

    20 Jul20 July 12:24

    Virgin has no charges.

  • Tyler Durden says:

    20 Jul20 July 12:44

    Shhhh! First rule of Curve Club is…..

  • crafty says:

    20 Jul20 July 14:52

    IHG as well, do 10 grand and a get free night

    • Gavin says:

      20 Jul20 July 17:09

      Thanks. I wasn’t sure about IHG because I saw some reports from late 2018 saying these kinds of transactions were being blocked.

• IP says:

  20 Jul20 July 12:33

  o/t some advice please.
  I recently managed to book an error fare on united return DUB-PTY (panama) for £185. As I live in Spain I don’t really want to do the return leg and would rather use points to come back to MAD/BCN. I have 80k odd membership rewards points I can transfer to any program and was looking for suggestions from a US hub back to Europe. Can anyone suggest any sweet spots and which carrier to use (I can get direct from PTY-MAD for 50k with Air Europa / IB)? Delta/AA/AF? TIA

  • Lady London says:

    20 Jul20 July 15:39

    IB from USA (all their destinations) is generally reckoned to be cheaper in miles and taxes for most. Bearing in mind that you would be able to book an award flight via Iberiaplus on BA or IB and be able to change it. However if you book an AA flight, not.

    I do not think you should necessarily be looking for a direct flight – I’d do 2 separte miles bookings one back to a US hub on anything award or cash, and then, leaving loads of time or even an overnight for misconnects as it would be a separete ticket, book an award ticket on IB back to MAD from the US hub.

    I’m not an expert but that is how I would plan to solve that one if I’ve understood your question correctly.

    • IP says:

      20 Jul20 July 18:55

      thanks for the advice

• Shoestring says:

  20 Jul20 July 14:24

  well looks like I just threw away a few quid, enough for a very nice family meal out, put it that way

  just bought 3 contingency Ryanair flights out to our place in the sun, non refundable, 24th August, wife +2

  basically over compensating/ over planning for the BALPA strike which might not even happen, but if it does, I don’t want my wife to miss out on her holiday

  good job yesterday’s news regarding our family finances was positive – as it cushions the cost of this silly ‘preventative’ measure, which I see as the cost of an insurance policy

  • Ben says:

    20 Jul20 July 14:38

    Font want to risk using section 75 cover?

    • Ben says:

      20 Jul20 July 14:39

      *don’t

    • Shoestring says:

      20 Jul20 July 14:43

      that was exactly my argument vis a vis my wife this morning – we’ve got S75 cover, paid for the BA tickets on a credit card

      then I strolled around the garden a couple of hours & just thought: for the money, might as well get (her+2) contingency tickets as I can’t see there being many spare tickets on Ryanair that Saturday if BALPA do actually shut down BA

      so we missed out on the money for a nice family meal, hey, not so bad

      • TGLoyalty says:

        20 Jul20 July 15:00

        Are your BA flights non refundable? Or is the family meal based upon £35*3 refund from cancelling a redemption?

        • Shoestring says:

          20 Jul20 July 15:11

          unfortunately we need my wife’s car to be parked at LHR as we all fly back there in September

          airport to airport car hire one way to sort out the mess would be about £150, unbelievable how much they charge for one ways

          yes I could probably get some points back on the LHR flights out if it came to that

          I’m hoping it’s just a nice family meal gone up the swanee and they can get their LHR flights as normal/ no strike disruption

          but this way if it goes seats up with BALPA, they can still get out to join me without any big hassle

  • Russ says:

    20 Jul20 July 16:16

    We’ve done similar booking LOT and SAS as well as BA just in case. I’m a free agent and staying over a few days is not a problem, but wife was just fretting all the time with the strike news. We have to take care of our churning mules 🙂

    • Worzel says:

      20 Jul20 July 17:11

      Blimey Squills-you must have a big garden!

      Anyhow, I reckon you’ve made the right decision in putting contingency plans in place (despite the cost) – so much better than being hauled up by the sacs! 🙂 .

      • Shoestring says:

        20 Jul20 July 18:09

        hauled up by them would be very painful, all for the sake of this insurance payment

        • Shoestring says:

          20 Jul20 July 18:11

          yep about 5000 sq metres

        • Shoestring says:

          20 Jul20 July 18:34

          the hibiscus are very fine this year

        • Lady London says:

          20 Jul20 July 19:51

          Is there no way to re-use the flights, perhaps with a change fee if it turns out you do not need them? does Ryanair not have this possibility.

    • Lady London says:

      20 Jul20 July 19:49

      I have always wondered if every wife of every person on here is actually aware they’ve got an American Express card… !

      • Lyn says:

        20 Jul20 July 20:44

        Or husband ….

        • Lady London says:

          20 Jul20 July 23:30

          🙂

• BS says:

  20 Jul20 July 17:11

  OT: Has anyone had their plat addison lee £10 post? I made a transaction 10 days ago and still no credit…

  • MarkH says:

    20 Jul20 July 22:26

    I made a transaction on 6th July and still not had the credit post.
    Spoke to CS on live chat yesterday and they said that they are aware of delays in the credits posting but that they are getting done.

    Also confirmed it’s £10 credit per calendar month (a couple of people are asking in the comments recently)

  • Roy says:

    20 Jul20 July 22:55

    For me, posted on 22 Jun for an Ad Lee charge billed 14 Jun.

• Chrisasaurus says:

  20 Jul20 July 19:52

  Lovelies:

  Free night from spg credit card – if you cancel booked room does the certificate get back to your account?

  I see the booking itself is refundable but I cant see anything that explicitly states the certificate is added back to your bonvoy ac?

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