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

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• Lee says:

  15 Sep15 September 09:48

  O/T – Missed flight help – Hi everyone, hoping for some advice off you knowledgable folk! I should start this by saying i’m not a frequent flyer…. I should have been on the 5.55 flight to Palma this morning from Manchester airport, booked with avios points. The British airways itinerary stated check in desk opened at 04.30, so my wife, two infants and I arrived at the check in desk just before then (and was checked in straight away at 04.30). I was then made to check in a car seat separately (taking 20mins) and get through security (another 45 mins) which allowing for walking time from these places meant we did not arrive at the gate until 5.45, at which point we was told we had missed the flight. We heard the generic final call a couple of minutes before getting to the gate so thought we was ok. The BA staff member at the gate said she knew we was at security at 5am so i’m frustrated we wasn’t told of the urgency in getting to the gate as early as possible, and i also feel the plane has left the gate early. My question for anyone who may know on such matters is where do i stand on this regarding seeking compensation or taking legal action against BA for leaving the gate early, providing poor info on the itinerary? Or is it tough luck on me and they have not done anything wrong! Thanks

  • Lady London says:

    15 Sep15 September 11:39

    I think you should ask thé airline for help. Passengers getting caught in airport processing delays on very early flights must be a common occurrence. If the checking desk does not open soon enough to allow for those then IMV not thé passengers fault.

    I should think the airline normally advises being at thé airport at least 2 hours ahead. If thé checkin desk is not open at least that regularly quoted time ahead then IMV it’s not opening soon enough and they know it.

    One flight i take fairly regularly départs at 0620. But checkin desks are open no earlier than 0530. And not all checkin desks open at that time it’s gradual. If i was checked in 5mins after they opened i would expect to be put on a later flight f.o.c. if the airport could not process me in time.

    Court case needed to clarify this so youll just have to ask nicely – essential you do this while still at the airport.

    • Lee says:

      15 Sep15 September 15:13

      Going to enjoy my holiday and then have a think about what to do on the way back. Customer service wise I think they have had a shocker, contractually not sure I have an argument. Thanks for input.

    • Anna says:

      15 Sep15 September 18:24

      +1 – you are advised to get to the airport 3 hours before an international flight, so how can they possibly justify only opening the check in desks only 90 minutes before scheduled departure time? I try to avoid very early flights out of MAN precisely because it’s so busy between 4 and 6 am but even when passing through security at that time it’s never taken 45 minutes, despite regularly being singled out for extra bag screening – you must have been quite unlucky! It’s not even school holidays any more so it sounds unbelievably badly managed from all angles.

      Anyway, I hope you have a lovely holiday despite the unfortunate start!

  • Lee says:

    15 Sep15 September 11:45

    Thank you for the reply. Yes security was horrendous! they put my wife’s baby changing bag to one side which took up most of the time but we never felt like we was at risk (more fool us and lesson learnt). We was actually put in a priority queue because we had a pram but they were just horrendously slow to check anything and then when the bag was rechecked it just added on the minutes. Checking the flight and it actually set off an hour late in the end, whether that was them unloading the bags, missing the slot or something else i don’t know…..

    I have managed to rebook this evening with jet2 from Manchester so all is not lost. Thanks again for info and reply.

    • Chuck says:

      15 Sep15 September 12:23

      Don’t know if mentioned Lee but your inbound will be cancelled automatically if you didn’t fly the first sector ! Get on to BA CS and get them to reinstate your return flight …

      • Lee says:

        15 Sep15 September 15:09

        Thanks, have spoken to them earlier and inbound has not been cancelled. Hopefully no issues on way back home!

    • Anna says:

      15 Sep15 September 18:28

      The BA services from MAN are delayed all the time, they basically try and fit far too many flights into the available time and then each delay has a knock on effect on the next one.

• M says:

  15 Sep15 September 09:55

  When renting with autoeurope.com can I book Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) with deductible(cheapest) and just use Amex Platinum for the cover?

  • Rob says:

    15 Sep15 September 10:09

    Yes

    • Hg333 says:

      15 Sep15 September 11:36

      Just as a follow up question:

      1) Do I need to book the car rental with the Amex plat in order to be covered by the excess insurance, or is it any Amex at all, or any (non-amex) card at all?

      2) When booking through, say the Hertz Australia website using plat CDP or any other US aggregator, do I forfeit any other insurance because of not booking it through my home country? Same question as above, do I need to book with Amex plat?

      Thanks!

      • Mikeact says:

        15 Sep15 September 19:58

        Why don’t you call them for a definitive answer ?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          16 Sep16 September 00:03

          I see this posted a lot here recently and I’m very surprised. how many times do we all come across CS on a phone who has no idea about the actual T&C’s of the company that they claim to represent.

          The amount of times Amex CS tell customers their BA 2-4-1 will be cancelled if they cancel their card is proof enough that asking CS anything is a waste of time.

• Jon says:

  15 Sep15 September 10:02

  OT – looking at going to Budapest for New Year. Any hotel recommendations? Ideally a Hotel with a Club Lounge although not a deal breaker if not.

  • Ian M says:

    15 Sep15 September 10:49

    I wouldn’t personally recommend the Ritz Carlton. Stayed there in March this year. Had a Carton Suite which was nice but nothing overly special.the bathroom was rather small, with a small tub and separate but small shower. The bathroom had no heating either, which even in March made it a bit uncomfortable. So I would imagine at new year could be rather chilly!

    The club lounge was disappointing. I’ve stayed in plenty of Marriotts with far better lounges.

    The hotel’s Deak St Kitchen restaurant was very good if you like steak though!

    The hotel breakfast was decent but not overly amazing. It is served in a stunning room however, called Kupola Lounge.

    • Jon says:

      15 Sep15 September 16:25

      Thanks Ian, initially started looking at Ritz but reviews were a bit mixed. Stayed at Ritz with Club in Singapore and the club was phenomenal. Thought they might put something on for NYE.

  • Travel Strong says:

    15 Sep15 September 10:51

    3 approaches to budapest:-
    1) Top end chain (sofitel/intercontinental)
    Will offer what you want, but pricey.
    2) Top end independent (e.g. the Continental) – almost the same offering (not quite, but almost) and much cheaper.
    3) AirBnB. Insane value for money with amazing apartments available for £35 per night. Collect your own breakfast from a bakery and immerse yourself

    • Sandra says:

      15 Sep15 September 11:42

      We had a fabulous Airbnb in the Opera/ St Stephen’s area of Budapest, with a sauna and a well-stocked wine fridge and the whole thing seemed to cost thruppence.

  • David D says:

    15 Sep15 September 11:02

    The Hilton Budapest or the Corinthia are both very good hotels with a lounge for executive or club rooms. The Hilton has exceptional views across the river and different style rooms depending on what you need.

    • Jon says:

      15 Sep15 September 16:29

      Thanks the Hilton does look good and not much more for suite – do you know if the club lounge has views over the Danube? Thinking might be good for watching fireworks

      • Lee says:

        15 Sep15 September 17:47

        Booked River view room and be upgraded to River view Executive suite here as diamond member, amazing view and nice lounge.

  • Steve-B says:

    15 Sep15 September 20:33

    Stayed at the IC a couple of years ago and was well treated as ABM member. Nice lounge – good food but not enough to skip dinner.

  • NvT1115 says:

    15 Sep15 September 21:03

    Highly recommend the Hilton Budapest

    • Tilly says:

      16 Sep16 September 02:09

      +1

• Jack says:

  15 Sep15 September 10:16

  Le Accor points never ever post from euopcar, even when I fill out the form I get an email from europcar confirming I’m due them and they will tell Le Accor but months and months and they still never show up.

• Boi says:

  15 Sep15 September 10:17

  OT: how is premium economy for long haul? I am tossing between buying cash tickets for around £900 to Canada or redemption using BA 2 for 1 in business. I have never traveled premium economy.

  • stevenhp1987 says:

    15 Sep15 September 10:41

    £900 is too much for me to travel in premium economy.

    Opinions differ but to me it’s just economy with extra legroom / seat recline. Extra features like economy meals served on actual plates or slightly better amenity kits are not worth double a typical economy fare to me. I’m sure someone else can chip in here…

    It’s not a half way between economy and business, it’s still very much an economy product.

    I’d take the business 2-4-1 personally, or grab economy on sale.

    • Matt B says:

      15 Sep15 September 10:42

      What is the economy price?

      • Boi says:

        15 Sep15 September 10:57

        Thanks both. Economy is £400 or thereabouts. It’s 11 hours flight to Vancouver.
        I can get 241 to Seattle or Calgary which are widely available if Vancouver is not available.

        • Lady London says:

          15 Sep15 September 11:21

          Do Calgary if you do thé 241 option. Flights there are rarer.

        • Lyn says:

          15 Sep15 September 14:35

          By the way, haven’t checked but the LHR – Vancouver flight used to be scheduled at under 10 hours. It’s the shortest West Coast flight.

    • Lady London says:

      15 Sep15 September 10:53

      +1. My max for Transatlantic PY would be 570-660.

      However you could also do the sums for buying PY, then upgrading to J with Avios. Thé trick with that is to check there is Avios seat availability on thé flight in J, then book cash PY immediately upgrading with Avios.

    • David S says:

      15 Sep15 September 11:00

      Depends where you are going. If it’s the east side of Canada, just save your cash and go economy to Canada since it is a day flight and for the 6 hours, it’s fine and certainly not worth the £900 to PE. If it’s west coast, close to 9 hours of travel, it might be but I would still have reservations of paying £900 for it. However coming back to UK overnight, neither economy or PE is advisable since not a great deal of difference apart from a little bit more room and recline but if you can get an exit row seats, you get the same, more or less in economy. My thoughts would be to use the 2-4-1 and get up to Club World.

      • Lyn says:

        15 Sep15 September 12:44

        Agree with almost everyone else that CW with 241 or even economy probably makes more sense in this case.

        Even on a 12-hour west coast flight I wouldn’t bother with BA’s premium economy unless the price difference above economy is fairly minimal, or I needed the tier points / extra avios.

        Almost everything about it is economy, including service, with the exception of a little extra leg room. It also has a disadvantage when choosing seats if you don’t have BA silver or above. There simply aren’t that many seats in the PE cabin, so if you have to wait for on-line check in you have a good chance of ending up in a middle seat.

        • Nick_C says:

          15 Sep15 September 13:18

          The plus side of PE is that of the flight is oversold you stand a good chance of an upgrade, even without status.

          The wider seats and extra leg room make a significant difference to comfort, especially if the flight is a high density 777 or 787 with an extra seat crammed into each row.

          I’ve not down PE for a few years now (since I discovered this site!) but used to use it a lot. The old PE seats were soft with a great recline and leg rests. I used to sleep well in them. My last PE flight was 2016 on a 787 to Montreal. The seats were really hard and there was no leg rest, which was a big step backwards. I understand the latest seating has the leg rests back. Personally, I wouldn’t do long haul economy, and would pay up to £250 extra on each leg for PE of J wasn’t an option.

    • Lady London says:

      15 Sep15 September 20:35

      You are completely right about BA since the footrests seem to have disappeared in PY there’s about an extra inch or two of legroom and a bit better food. Planes I have been on have been 4 in the middle in PY as well.

      So on BA PY seems to still be a better form of Economy. Or, what normal Economy was.not so many years ago.

      However on some other airlines comments are that PY is closer to Business eg NZ, SQ. So need to research depending on the airline.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        16 Sep16 September 00:16

        I feel like it’s far more than an inch or two of leg room on any new BA plane (being 6ft 2 I can really tell)

        For an 11 hour flight I’d probably pay £200 each way over economy and it looks like £1.6k for business so £900 isn’t too bad.

        don’t forget you can upgrade to Business with Avios so do the sums as could be better than a 2-4-1 plus get 160 tier points return.

• Matt B says:

  15 Sep15 September 10:32

  OT – I have the free curve product. Are the monthly £500 foreign spend and £200 cash limits based on calendar month or a rolling 30 day period? Is not massively clear from what I’ve read.

  • Matt B says:

    15 Sep15 September 14:30

    Thanks

  • Matt B says:

    15 Sep15 September 14:49

    Just looking through, I must have mixed up the t&cs for different ATM activity:

    For domestic withdrawls in currency of payment card – “In addition, where your selected Payment ‎Card is a credit card*: free up to £200 /€200 per calendar month;”

    But for ATM Withdrawals in currency other than the currency of the selected Payment Card – “Up to £200 per rolling 30-day period withdrawn “

    • John says:

      15 Sep15 September 19:48

      I have always just treated it as once a month on average, and never been charged. Sometimes I do two months’ worth in the space of a few days then nothing for 60 days.

  • Jeremy says:

    15 Sep15 September 19:53

    when does the initial 30 day actually begin? application date, card approval date, card received date, card activation date, or something else?

    I’m travelling USA from 28 Nov to Dec 5, so would like to split the 30 day rolling in the middle of this if possible!

    • jc says:

      15 Sep15 September 22:44

      What you’re asking doesn’t make sense. Rolling means there is no “split”.

• VP says:

  15 Sep15 September 10:35

  OT: A big thanks to Rob. My BA companion voucher was about to expire during the BA strike dates and I read his comment about someone managing to get it extended by 6 months during the articles on strike. Called up BA thrice was refused twice. (once was asked to contact Amex as it is given by Amex).Nevertheless dropped a message via website and was surprised to receive a reply within 48 hrs grating a 6 months extension!!!!
  I was originally under the impression that you need to book by expiry date so had left the booking last minute but you need to fly the outbound before expiry and I would surely have lost the voucher had it not been for Rob’s comment.

• Ian M says:

  15 Sep15 September 10:53

  OT – Marriott peak/off peak redemption pricing..

  I’ve spent 20min this morning looking at various dates over the coming 12 months at different hotels I visit and I am yet to find ANY off peak redemption rates. Only peak and standard..

  Seems like a bigger devaluation than I feared.

  • Rob says:

    15 Sep15 September 11:03

    Marriott has sent me a list. New York is off peak is Jan-Feb for example, although not all hotels in all days.

    • Freddy says:

      15 Sep15 September 14:41

      I have checked a booking of mine for London in March 2020 where I was using points advance. Good news for me in that the points required has dropped from 60k to 50k per night without me having to rebook.

      However may be worth others checking their bookings to check it hasn’t gone the other way for peak times!

  • Will says:

    15 Sep15 September 11:49

    My personal approach is to assume everything is now peak and see it as a bonus discount if it’s standard or off peak.

  • Munch says:

    15 Sep15 September 12:42

    Agree with the devaluation comment – I do fancy a stay at Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai which shows off peak in May if you can stand the heat. Is it still full board for a redemption? I’m only gold in Marriott so usually push my points towards Hilton where I’m Diamond.

    On the positive The Langley is showing plenty of dates at only 30,000 points – probably the best value redemption in the UK? When I stayed I received free breakfast as Gold not sure if this was an error?

  • Pangolin says:

    15 Sep15 September 14:36

    Leap Days are off peak. Not sure about anything else.

    • Lady London says:

      15 Sep15 September 16:10

      🙂

      And just in case they accidentally left any days as not Peak, don’t forget they will be reviewing off-peak dates (or is that peak dates?) monthly.

      Dynamic pricing, pretty much.

      • Russ says:

        15 Sep15 September 18:05

        As you rightly predicted if I recall…

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