Iberia increasing flights to Tokyo and upgrading the aircraft to a new A350

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• TripRep says:

  26 Aug26 August 07:32

  Very random OT…

  Anyone stayed at the Doubletree Moda in Istanbul? Considering it for a wknd cash stay in Oct/Nov
  Exec Lounge, rooftop bar and pool, awesome seaviews and reasonable €76/night for a twin (boys wknd)

  Grateful for other recommendations on where to stay (and what to see/eat/drink). Might even risk looking at the BA holiday sale…

  • Benylin says:

    26 Aug26 August 07:37

    I would you think you would want to stay between Taksim Square and around the Blue Mosque area. From there, most tourist places are easily accessible.

    What’s your plan, to do touristy things?

    • TripRep says:

      26 Aug26 August 09:43

      Thanks – A few tourist things in the day (historical buildings etc) and chilling out in bars from late afternoon with nice views of the city.

      • Pangolin says:

        26 Aug26 August 13:47

        Just bear in mind that most of the sights are on the European side so if it’s your first visit you might be better off staying there.

• MD says:

  26 Aug26 August 07:38

  OT as Bits

  FAO anyone who paid HMRC self assessment with an HSBC PWE via Curve – did your points for the HMRC transaction(s) post successfully? Mine didn’t. I split my payments across HSBC, IHG premium and Virgin Reward+. No problems with the latter two, but £6250 on the HSBC card appears to have generated no points on my latest statement (ironically the only major thing that did generate points were Revolut top ups, also for HMRC).

  I’m wondering if they might post next month, or if a £4K payment I had to make to the card during the month has confused the system. I’m also reluctant to ring them up and explain what Curve is…

  Thanks in advance.

  • MD says:

    26 Aug26 August 07:41

    And I should also state that the points from previous HMRC payments posted immediately with no problems.

    • 3742 says:

      26 Aug26 August 08:28

      HSBC points were granted normally when I last used the card with Curve, about two months ago. Wasn’t HMRC, but I doubt that would make a difference. I used it to make payments to another mastercard.

      • 3742 says:

        26 Aug26 August 08:34

        What about the timings, ie did the transaction itself show as a line item on the recent statement? If not that would explain it, whereas if it did then less clear-cut. Perhaps there is a window whereby a transaction can be added in the time leading up to the cut-off point, but the points then follow on the next statement.

        • MD says:

          26 Aug26 August 08:50

          Cheers, but HSBC points post normally for me using Curve all the time. It’s just these HMRC transactions that didn’t work. It isn’t a timing issue, as the HMRC transactions were between other payments which do appear to have earned points. I’m worried they somehow consider HMRC ineligible. T&Cs:

          4. The following items do not count as Eligible Spending: a. interest, fees, late payment charges or any other charges added to your statement;
          b. Cardholder Repayment Protector insurance premiums charged to your account;
          c. cash advances including foreign money and travellers cheque purchases;
          d. any balances from other credit or charge cards which are transferred to your card; or
          e. ATM withdrawals and gambling transactions

          But I can’t see how any of those apply. I believe Curve did change the way they report transactions since I last used it for HMRC.

      • Joseph Heenan says:

        27 Aug27 August 07:12

        In my experience if HSBC’s IT thinks you’ve gone over your limit then the transactions won’t earn points. This is mainly an issue if you make mid-month payments, as although the payments show against your available credit pretty quickly they take a few days to be posted onto your account.

        I believe if you take things a little slower all is fine and points will post fine.

        • MD says:

          27 Aug27 August 08:05

          Thanks Joseph. Might give them a ring then.

• Benylin says:

  26 Aug26 August 07:48

  OT: There was a scare before about Curve cash withdrawals showing up as cash withdrawals from credit cards on your “credit score”/lenders being able to see this pattern, regardless of if the credit card did not treat it as a cash advance.

  Is this true? With my curve limits capped out was thinking to move to cash withdrawals.

  • MD says:

    26 Aug26 August 08:55

    I’ve never seen anything show up on my credit reports, but only used it for £200 per month or so. Not sure what would happen if you were pushing the annual ATM limits, but wouldn’t you be paying fees on that much?

    • Benylin says:

      26 Aug26 August 11:04

      There aren’t any fees on certain cards for cash withdrawals via Curve.

      • MD says:

        26 Aug26 August 19:55

        Well aware of that, but you’re missing my point of their fair use policy.

  • the_real_a says:

    26 Aug26 August 16:31

    If a credit card levies a cash advance fee on a Curve transaction then its likely to also add a count to the “cash” marker in your credit reference file. Since plenty of credit cards now offer “fee free” money from Foreign transactions – and add the same marker – its questionable if this really has a negative effect in any material way. Over a three money period i had 42 (!) “Cash” markers and was still accepted for plenty of credit cards.

• Tom1 says:

  26 Aug26 August 08:45

  I was hoping the IHG free luxury night cert (from earlier this year) would work with the Six Senses but sadly not.

  • Rob says:

    26 Aug26 August 09:43

    The free night certificates are blocked at Regent, the other new acquisition, so they could be doing the same here.

    • Tom1 says:

      26 Aug26 August 10:13

      Yes I noticed the regent Singapore was also blocked.

      Anyone have recommendations for Vietnam? Heading HCMC, hanoi, Da Nang and have Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Hyatt

      • BP says:

        26 Aug26 August 14:21

        IC Danang is outstanding. A must visit. Easily in the top 3 hotels I’ve ever visited and that includes chains such as Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Chedi….

        IC HCM not so great! Probably the worst IC I’ve ever visited. Nothing particularly wrong with it but felt more like a Hilton than an upscale IC.

        • Tom1 says:

          26 Aug26 August 16:29

          Thanks – danang looks a little isolated – is it a place you would do 2-3 nights then move on?

        • CV3V says:

          26 Aug26 August 16:46

          IC Nha Trang was superb, so good i changed a booking in HCM to stay at the IC which was ok but not what i hoped it would be – ‘upgraded’ to a higher floor but a room so small could hardly walk around all the furniture it had, great but expensive breakfast.

        • Rich says:

          26 Aug26 August 18:07

          Da Nang is a big beach resort. I’m sure it’s lovely if you like that sort of thing.

          Hoi An, 20 mins south, is a beautiful, if slightly Disneyfied, World Heritage site. If you were going to spend a few days, I would go for Hot An, unless you really just want a resort.

        • Tom1 says:

          26 Aug26 August 21:03

          Thanks all.
          Seems like a thumbs up for IC Danang and IC Nha Trang and not so much for HCMC.
          will look at using Hyatt points in HCMC.

      • memesweeper says:

        26 Aug26 August 16:33

        I stayed at the IC in Hanoi and was well treated. It’s not a perfect location nor a perfect hotel but central enough. It’s on a lake in the city centre which is a curious place for a hotel and makes you feel somewhat detached from the extremely busy city around you. My family absolutely loved it, real ‘luxury oasis’ feel.

        • BP says:

          27 Aug27 August 17:26

          We stayed 3 nights in Danang which was enough as it is isolated but super relaxing. Hoi An is a must see place. Ideally 2-3 nights. We stayed in The Royal hotel an Accor/Mgallery property which was very nice.

  • Neil Donoghue says:

    26 Aug26 August 14:06

    When does that certificate post again? Is it after I have paid the annual fee for the second year?

    • Peter K says:

      26 Aug26 August 16:18

      Yes, after the fee hits the statement. There is a HfP article on avoiding the fee while still getting the free night cert IIIRC, if you are not keeping the card.

• Chelseafi says:

  26 Aug26 August 09:41

  OT I’ve parked at Gatwick official long stay car park south terminal and departing from south but due to BA strike now returning to North terminal, do I need to get train shuttle to south then bus transfer to car park or does the bus transfer go around to both north and south car parks? Thank you

  • @mkcol says:

    26 Aug26 August 10:54

    Get the intra-terminal shuttle.

• xcalx says:

  26 Aug26 August 12:03

  OT I have a Marriott Travel Package downgraded from cat 6 to cat 4 which expires next May. I also have a Lloyds upgrade voucher that expires next May too.
  I can’t remember the use by rules for these 2 vouchers.
  Is the Marriott voucher Stay by expiry date or book by.
  same question for the Lloyds voucher.

  Thanks.

  • Optimus Prime says:

    26 Aug26 August 12:33

    Book by for Lloyds.

  • ankomonkey says:

    26 Aug26 August 17:37

    Marriott is stay by, and it means check out by, so the stay must be 100% completed. That’s the official rule anyway. No idea how strictly it is enforced, but I wouldn’t risk it personally.

• Lyn says:

  26 Aug26 August 14:53

  I think it is18 months. It will show the mile expiry date when you log in to your account.

• Lyn says:

  26 Aug26 August 14:56

  It would be a useful way to keep United miles from expiring though, especially for small purchases if the earning rates aren’t good.

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