Redeem a lot of Hilton Honors points for a McLaren track day

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• John says:

  15 Sep15 September 07:05

  Did anyone invest in curve? I put a tenner in (using curve obviously) but crowdcube hasn’t taken any money yet. I did get a declined transaction of £1 at the time I clicked invest, but my account shows the investment in my portfolio

  • Titus Adduxas says:

    15 Sep15 September 08:07

    I had no joy putting the money in just after the opening time and gave up. However I did manage to get £500 invested in the afternoon just before they got to the revised £6m target. The money was taken within a couple of days though and my Crowdcube account shows it as an investment funded on 3rd September.

  • Mikeact says:

    15 Sep15 September 08:36

    My miniscule £10.

  • LewisB says:

    15 Sep15 September 08:51

    I threw £200 in and it’s yet to be taken out of my account. Still pending on my portfolio on crowdcube.

• Iain says:

  15 Sep15 September 07:33

  Careful with Europecar and it’s subsidiaries particularly Goldcar and Interent. See Which survey (nearly 50% complaint rate) and also Tripadvisor. I had appalling service at Palma airport and watched close hand their attempt s to make you take their insurance

  • Shoestring says:

    15 Sep15 September 07:59

    yep Goldcar come in for a lot of criticism – but Europcar UK are fine provided you do the obvious things, ie take photos of the outside of the car before the rental, including all damage; make sure all damage is listed in detail on your contract; get the drop-off station agent to write ‘no further damage’ on your contract and issue the final invoice at the drop-off station; take out cheap excess insurance from an alternative to Europcar’s excess waiver policy (which you decline), I use Insurance4CarHire @ around £4/ day.

    • Mikeact says:

      15 Sep15 September 08:37

      Me too, yet to encounter any problems and we rent..a lot.

    • Lady London says:

      15 Sep15 September 11:01

      Depending on your route for insurance4carhire I’d also warmly recommend Bettersafe. Questor also cover some non-car vehicles. Both have been good to deal with on occasions with queries.

  • RussellH says:

    15 Sep15 September 08:11

    Did a £1 car hire with Europcar 2 years ago – Carlisle – LTN and no problems at all, even though we got to LTN late because of traffic problems (we did warn them).

    But I would not touch Goldcar – unless perhaps if they paid me €1000 cash in hand to pick the car up (after paying me) and even then I would be very careful.

    • Shoestring says:

      15 Sep15 September 08:49

      Europcar Newquay Airport is just down the road so the £1 rentals are convenient & a cheap alternative to airport parking for my car, esp Xmas, Easter, summer hols when my wife can’t make the full holiday (joining us later) but we all pile into her car on the way home from LHR.

    • Lady London says:

      15 Sep15 September 11:03

      There seem to be much more horror stories about Goldcar than about Ryanair which is suite an achievement.

  • Charlieface says:

    15 Sep15 September 11:50

    In my experience after about 15 rentals with Europcar and feedback from people I sent there is they don’t play too many games with damage these days after they got in trouble about it. What I found is they are very ungenerous about everything.
    E.g.
    I have not a single report of an upgrade in all of those rentals, that includes the fact I am Executive and should get one where available.
    They class a Vauxhall Mokka as Intermediate, every other company classes it as Compact.
    They once identity checked me because I last rented more than 3 months before, notwithstanding my membership and status, that failed, then they demanded proof of address and wouldn’t accept it emailed from my wife who had to then come out to the station.
    The free weekend voucher email link didn’t work, CS wouldn’t help and I had to email the CEO to get a response.
    I wanted to extend the free weekend by paying for the extra days, the T&C say you can do this but it’s not actually possible, I’d have to make a fresh booking. The office wouldn’t help by just closing off the 1st rental and opening the 2nd, they said I need to come to office and because it would be Sunday I’d have to pay 2x out-of-hours charge. In the end I went to the airport which is open on Sunday.
    Europcar points to Accor and Flying Blue never credit, no matter how many times CS insist they have done it manually.

• Roberto says:

  15 Sep15 September 08:22

  Anybody see any offer on Amex online that clearly shows the extra Hilton point when converting membership rewards ?

  Rob mentioned it the other day but when I look to transfer it offers 1 MR = 2 HILTON not 3.

  • Shoestring says:

    15 Sep15 September 08:56

    Start enjoying the benefits at Hilton
    Between 11 September and 31 October 2019, you can enjoy 3 Hilton Honors Points for each Membership Rewards point, when you transfer 1,000 or more. That’s 50% higher than the usual rate for transfers.

    Please note that your points will be transferred to your Hilton Honors account within five working days and your additional Bonus Points can take up to eight weeks to transfer. Terms and Conditions apply.

    Terms and Conditions

    1. Minimum transfer is 1,000 Membership Rewards points. Redeem for this exclusive offer from 12:00am BST on 11 September 2019 to 11:59pm on 31 October 2019. Please note that your points will be transferred to your Hilton Honors account within 5 working days. Please allow up to eight weeks for the additional Hilton Honors Bonus Points to be awarded. Hilton Honors Bonus Points do not count towards elite tier qualification. You must be enrolled in Hilton Honors in order to participate in this offer, visit americanexpress.co.uk/benefitstatus to enroll. American Express is not responsible for availability, accommodations or any other rewards in the Hilton Honors program. Once you have transferred Membership Rewards points, they become subject to the Terms and Conditions of the Hilton Honors programme and cannot be transferred back to your Membership Rewards programme account. All Hampton by Hilton™ hotels in the Republic of China are excluded from the Hilton Honors programme. See Hilton Honors Terms and Conditions for details. This offer is non-transferable and may not be combined with other offers. American Express in its sole discretion reserves the right to alter and or terminate these offers at any time. To be eligible to receive these offers, all Card accounts linked to an enrollee’s Membership Rewards programme account must not be canceled, past due or have a return payment at the time of point redemption.

    • Roberto says:

      15 Sep15 September 08:58

      Thanks Harry..

      Was that an email or online somewhere? I cant see it myself and wondering if the offer was targeted..

      • Shoestring says:

        15 Sep15 September 09:01

        email

        note the ‘non transferable’ bit – may or may not be accurate/ targeted

        going thru the link it now takes me to the standard 1:2 page with no mention of the 1:3, so if I were transferring MR points, I’d screenshot my offer

        • Roberto says:

          15 Sep15 September 09:22

          Thanks again.
          Your comments echo my thoughts. I did see it advertised at 1:3 on the transfer page on day one of the promo but that has been rolled back to the standard 1:2 offer.
          I will speak to amex for clarification before jumping in.

• TT says:

  15 Sep15 September 08:26

  How do you mean failed?

• Dave says:

  15 Sep15 September 08:54

  OT: I’m struggling a bit to interpret the Amex Platinum rules for travel insurance. We’re looking at a very flexible trip through SE Asia and while I expect we’ll remain within the 120 limit of the ‘trip’, exactly how much has to be booked on the card in order to qualify for the insurance? Does anyone have any experience with the original ‘booking’ being a one-way flight? I can see us taking 2 flights a month minimum using the budget carriers so lounge access alone will almost offset the cost.

  • Mikeact says:

    15 Sep15 September 09:23

    I would definitely call them with all questions….definitely.

    • Freddy says:

      15 Sep15 September 09:56

      When I had a look at the plat insurance I found it quite lacking compared to a standalone policy especially for a independent traveller booking flights etc separately. It’s generally unclear what needs to be paid for on the card. Add in that you can’t add pre-existing conditions makes it a non-starter for many.

      • Mikeact says:

        15 Sep15 September 10:58

        Plus the ridiculous age limit as well.

        • Shoestring says:

          15 Sep15 September 19:34

          Barclays Travel Plus Pack covers you up to age 80

          £18/ month, minimum 6 months

          6 free lounge passes
          travel insurance
          breakdown insurance

  • Princess says:

    15 Sep15 September 10:11

    Hi, once I had (in part) a similar question about what needed to be paid on the card and I called them to ask. They said that if an hotel or any other place doesn’t take Amex I will be cover anyway, otherwise everything should be paid on Amex (not necessarily platinum)
    I asked because the hotel we go for our ski break doesn’t take Amex. They ensure I will be covered anyway.

  • Hannah says:

    15 Sep15 September 19:28

    I would definitely phone Amex to check. I would imagine that they would want proof of a return date within the required limit though which is 90 days not 120.

• Nick_C says:

  15 Sep15 September 09:03

  OT – BA cancelling flights to Hong Kong.

  Just noticed in MMB (no email!) that BA are cancelling the second daily departure to HK. If you have a flight booked in the coming months do check.

  (I’m flying to HK in late November, and have been rebooked on the 777 operated flight at 18.25 as the 21.30 flight due to be operated by an A380 is cancelled.)

  • Chuk says:

    15 Sep15 September 14:20

    I’m flying on the 2nd December from HKG on the A380 and my flight is still showing as confirmed and is still on sale. Maybe it’s only some days of the week?

• Dawn says:

  15 Sep15 September 09:21

  Maybe I’m just stupid but I thought the one way car rental cost only £1. Europcar wanted £61 from me – £60 for the rental and £1 for the one way. I can get a taxi from where I live from Basingstoke to London Heathrow for cheaper than this. Have I just misread it?

  • kumar says:

    15 Sep15 September 09:53

    I cant remember exactly but I did hire with Europcar for this 1GBP rental and in case if you do not return the car on time then you could be charged an additional 60GBP or if you pick up the car after 6pm (after scheduled hours or out of business hours)

    They did charge 25GBP after the 1GBP return for fuel.I barely did 40 miles in the one day rental and did hold the fuel receipt at the nearest airport fuel station.They did claim the tank was not full and I sent the receipt after which they returned 25pounds as a good gesture.

    Not again for me after the fuel drama.

    • Shoestring says:

      15 Sep15 September 10:33

      it’s £3/ litre so you’re better off filling up yourself, there’s a convenient Shell just half a mile away from LHR Europcar

    • Lady London says:

      15 Sep15 September 11:27

      Hi Kumar, was that Europcar LHR that tried that on with the fuel ?

      • Kumar says:

        15 Sep15 September 15:13

        It was london Stanstead .returned @5am when no one in office.Drop the keys in the box and leave otherwise i would had made sure everything was good in terms of fuel level…

        • Lady London says:

          15 Sep15 September 20:51

          Aaaah… one of the reasons it’s always better to drop off the car when the office is open for someone to receive it. Then you can insist they sign for the return of no-more-damaged car and that the tank was returned full and close the rental. (and allow extra time for any queues or “discussion” needed for your flight).

          IM (long)E an airport car hire office, in particular, is a mine of risk for potential dodgy practices. Much more than non-airport locations. Although all car hire has a risk of encountering such practices. Hence the need for decent insurance via charge card or other means unless you are a HNWI.

          You did well to ensure you refilled the tank and kept the receipt @Kumar

      • @mkcol says:

        15 Sep15 September 17:41

        I’ve had Europcar LHR whack on a cleaning bill of either £25 or £50 after I’d returned the car & it was signed-off as all fine, no further charges.
        A couple of emails to their CS got it sorted but they do come across as shysters a bit.

  • Dawn says:

    15 Sep15 September 09:54

    Thanks for this Shoestring. That’s what I booked on but if I put timings in as 10am pick up, 12 noon drop off it gives me £1. As my flight is 1035 I need to leave earlier and drop off earlier and as soon as I put those times in I get the £61 price. Probably because their Basingstoke office is closed at 7am when I’d need to collect.

    • Shoestring says:

      15 Sep15 September 10:32

      you’re booking an extra day – try making the booking less than 24hrs

• Relaxo says:

  15 Sep15 September 09:34

  OT BA cancellations related. I have a GLA-LHR positioning flight on the 28th evening. First of a cascade of flights for honeymoon in Africa (all on separate PNRs). What are the chances flights day after strike will be cancelled? Additionally, ticket is Avios redemption – what are the chances we will get bumped off? Could potentially book a train down as a backup but would rather not eat further into the holiday budget. Any advice based on experience from strikes last week?

  • Andrew says:

    15 Sep15 September 10:32

    No guarantees of course, but BA have updated their strike advice to say that if your flight is cancelled they have emailed you (past tense), so no news is good news.

    Plus, they’ll want to not cancel flights on 28 sept now as they are within the 14-day combo window now (which is why they cancelled flights on the 27th 15 days in advance on the 12th).

    That’s what I’m telling myself as I’m booked for a LHR-GVA-LHR day trip on 28/9!!

    • Shoestring says:

      15 Sep15 September 10:58

      There was loads of disruption on the day after the last strike a couple of days ago, with planes out of position and more cancelled flights, esp within the UK. The separate PNRs issue poses a significant risk to catching your second flight from LHR with no alternative flight offered if you miss the connection. What are the timings? as obvs there are plenty of GLA-LHR flights each day.

      Advice? train is possible but as you said it’s GLA-LHR evening, can you not pay to change this positioning flight to a much earlier one?, giving more time to get put on a later flight if your one gets canceeled.

  • Lady London says:

    15 Sep15 September 11:16

    Your risk is high due to separate PNR’s. I’d book a cancellable alternative to get me to LHR if flight is cancelled last minute. Or pay a change fee now and get it moved a lot earlier for safety.

    If you’ve got enough Avios spare you could see if it’s possible to book a big-avios-plus-£1 Avios backup ticket as that would limite your lisses to £1 if you cancel it.

    I hope you’ve got good travel Insurance, and i hope you paid everything by credit card for s.75.

    • Jon says:

      15 Sep15 September 20:06

      Does S75 (or its Amex equivalent) still work if the payment card (eg Amex) or whatever, has since been cancelled?

      • Shoestring says:

        15 Sep15 September 20:13

        yes

  • Jill. (kinkell) says:

    16 Sep16 September 00:20

    BA cancelled our evening flight from INV on the 11th sept with just 6 hours to go! We had checked in, boarding passes sorted as well. So, in your case you need a Plan B as others have suggested.
    Hope it all goes well.

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