Get a great points deal at the new Crowne Plaza Sydney Darling Harbour hotel

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• Mr(s) Entitled says:

  11 Jan11 January 07:35

  Bit harsh to blame the pilot.

  • Shoestring says:

    11 Jan11 January 07:43

    Respectfully disagree. The pilot has a high degree of autonomy, same at the captain of a ship. Unless he was unaware of the missile strikes from Iran into Iraq/ US bases a couple of hours before his take-off – in which case he is also blameworthy but I can’t see he would not have known, being at Tehran Airport and also in communication with home base Ukraine – he should have been using more caution/ prudence than normal and kept the plane on the ground until the immediate high state of alert/ tension had relaxed. imv.

    • Freddy says:

      11 Jan11 January 08:07

      I don’t think a pilot could realistically ground a plane till tensions in the area eased with no indication of when this may occur.

      I would also be surprised if Iran sent a memo round to the airlines saying they will be conducting a bit of warfare between 2-4am and to please avoid the area.

      • BJ says:

        11 Jan11 January 09:30

        I would guess he knew. The judgement call was risky either way, the crew and pax were potentially endangered and stranded in Iran for who knows how long if the flight hadn’t left. Sadly, it was the wrong call. It is possible this incident triggered restraint on the part of Iran and/or USA. We will likely never know for certain but if it did then those lives lost might have had the result of saving many more.

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:

      11 Jan11 January 08:09

      Genuine question, was it the only plane to land or take off that morning?

      It also assumes the pilot did not show due caution when for all we know he may have sought and received assurance of safe travel.

      One assumption I will make, full details are unlikely to ever be released in the public domain.

    • callum says:

      11 Jan11 January 08:40

      People trying to be “respectful” tend not to slander the dead based on assumptions on what happened during an event they know little to nothing about…

      • Shoestring says:

        11 Jan11 January 08:44

        Can you slander the dead? [In short, no. The dead cannot currently be defamed under English law. … The reason for this principle is quite simple: defamation is an act or statement that damages a person’s reputation and once you are dead, you are taken to not have a reputation in legal terms which is capable of being damaged.]
        https://www.lexisnexis.co.uk/blog/wipit/can-you-defame-the-dead

      • callum says:

        11 Jan11 January 09:03

        Of course you can slander the dead. I’m certainly not trying to prosecute you so I have no idea why you’re consulting legal blogs! Check the dictionary definition of the word.

    • JImbob says:

      11 Jan11 January 08:56

      Flightradar24 on Twitter have some graphical flight data, showing the plane took a similar flight path to all the other flights that day. Appears to be wrong time, wrong place and a trigger happy Iranian 🙁

      • TGLoyalty says:

        11 Jan11 January 11:15

        QR flights have no choice but to fly over Iran

      • Jovanna says:

        11 Jan11 January 12:43

        Hopefully none of the Qatar flights are in the wrong place, at the wrong time…

• darrenf says:

  11 Jan11 January 07:42

  I stayed in the Crowne Plaza Darling Darling back in 2009, so hearing it’s new is a surprise! It’s actually reverting back, having been a Parkroyal for the last 10 years: https://www.spicenews.com.au/hotel-venue-news/parkroyal-returns-to-australia/

  • darrenf says:

    11 Jan11 January 07:43

    Darling Harbour, not Darling Darling (!)

• Doug says:

  11 Jan11 January 07:57

  OT Just a heads up to HSBC Premier World Elite customers, I’ve been charged the annual fee twice now, December bill and now in January bill. I will ring them and sort it out, but watch out everyone

  • memesweeper says:

    11 Jan11 January 08:23

    In the same vein, if you took advantage of the Rocketmiles promo and opted for Heathrow Rewards as your pay out, check your balance: mine never arrived. Under investigation by Rocketmiles now.

• Matt says:

  11 Jan11 January 08:51

  OT- any info/advice please on the green to platinum Amex upgrade, if it still exists?
  I am not eligible for a sign up bonus (just coming up to end of my free gold card year), but can I apply for green and get a bonus for upgrading?
  If that’s how it works, how long should I hold green before applying? Is there an upgrade link or would I need to phone?
  Many thanks,
  Matt

  • Peter K says:

    11 Jan11 January 09:07

    The link was posted in the comments yesterday I think.

    • Rob says:

      11 Jan11 January 09:08

      Can be easily googled

      • Matt says:

        11 Jan11 January 16:41

        True enough, the link was easy to find via Google. I will hold my hand up to laziness, but on this subject I trust information gained here over that available on Google any day.
        What isn’t so easy to Google is whether this green to platinum upgrade is a viable back door route to a “sign up” bonus for someone already with a gold card, so I will put this query back out there in the hope that someone will put me straight…
        Thanks again,
        Matt

        • Shoestring says:

          11 Jan11 January 16:45

          it can work fine, I think there was the odd case of somebody failing to get 20K bonus points but that is apparently rare

          you can hold Gold and Plat at the same time, there’s no problem with that situation nowadays

        • Rob says:

          11 Jan11 January 16:49

          Gold Charge, yes. Gold credit, no.

          A more complex idea is to apply for Green charge and upgrade via this route to get the bonus, and then cancel. May not work though.

• Henry says:

  11 Jan11 January 08:54

  OT Does anyone have any information on any new potential credit card launches in 2020?
  Reading a few comments over the last month or so maybe Hilton are doing something? (Fingers Crossed) 🙂
  Personally i would love British Airways to move from Amex to Visa/Mastercard so that spend is easier etc

  • Marcw says:

    11 Jan11 January 09:05

    Nope

  • BJ says:

    11 Jan11 January 09:14

    PRG is up to 6 Honors points/£ if that’s what you are looking for, it’s better than my Hilton card. If you want a free card then AECC is 2 Honors points/£ IIRC.

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    11 Jan11 January 09:40

    Potentially something from hotels.com

• Roger says:

  11 Jan11 January 08:54

  OT_ Any exp. of Curve + MBNA horizon?
  Any issue with going to Seagulls / other birds?

  • RakishDriver says:

    11 Jan11 January 09:44

    I recall mbna treating crv as cash withdrawal – this was a while back, seagulls and/or igh . tandem doesn’t charge, but it is gone soon unless you become a member.

    • Callum says:

      12 Jan12 January 07:34

      No transaction I’ve ever done on Curve via MBNA has ever been treated as a cash transaction for me.

      Though Curve does decline things all the time.

  • Flying Misfit says:

    11 Jan11 January 15:01

    Horizon via Curve to get to Hove just didn’t work for me… showed as a completed transaction on Curve but in reality fell away and never got charged to Horizon… Revo on the other hand has worked a treat

• LostAntipod says:

  11 Jan11 January 09:34

  Rob, Darling Harbour is a perfectly logical place for a Sydney tourist to stay. This particular property is not waterfront, and as it’s on a city street ,I would be surprised if it commanded good views – but it’s a very very short walk from both the Darling Harbour precinct (think tourist-oriented shops, cafes, restaurants, attractions) and the main CBD shopping as well. Great deal. Of course if you only plan to visit Sydney once and your pockets are deep enough you might prefer something waterfront; in terms of IHG I believe only the Intercon has Harbour views and even then it’s not waterfront and you will need to upgrade to at least the 3rd room category.

  • Harry T says:

    11 Jan11 January 11:10

    The IC has a phenomenal view from the Club Lounge, I’m told. Visiting in March and using an Ambassador certificate for a club room with full harbour view, so will report back.

    I agree Darling Harbour is a great location, especially for 30k IHG a night.

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      11 Jan11 January 14:53

      Personally, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Holiday Inn in the Rocks, especially great on points for NYE

    • LostAntipod says:

      12 Jan12 January 07:35

      Yes the IC Sydney Club Lounge view is stunning. However you need to have booked a Club Room, or be a Royal Ambassador to use it. Regular Ambassador membership or IHG Platinum will not get you in.

• Neil says:

  11 Jan11 January 09:52

  OT – Looking to use a BA 241 voucher from
  MAN-LHR-TLV. Frustratingly, in the dates we are looking there are 2 1st flights from LHR-TLV which I don’t want to miss/book. However, the connecting flights from MAN-LHR in business aren’t! Two questions:

  1 – Can Economy seats be booked on 1 flight and First on the other flight be joined to the same booking, or

  2 – Can I book and add a connection at a later date and add it to the same booking. ( book LHR-TLV now and then MAN-LHR later if they become available)???

  Thanks
  Neil

  • David the 1st says:

    11 Jan11 January 09:59

    Just book economy for the domestic and first for the long haul now, then call to change of availability opens up and you think it’s worth it (it isn’t, IMHO).

    • David the 1st says:

      11 Jan11 January 09:59

      Make sure both flights are on same booking though!

      • Stu N says:

        11 Jan11 January 10:13

        I’d try booking on the phone and see if they will put you in business for the connection.

        Otherwise just book economy, it’s a 1 hour flight and nab two aisle seats across from each other.
        Outbound at MAN you’ll be able to use Priority check-in and you’ll get lounge access at MAN by virtue of your F flight. Not sure about fast track security or priority boarding but if you have gold bags less of an issue. On the return, you can use F wing (if you go landside instead of using flight connections route) and CCR between flights by virtue of arriving in First. All you’re (potentially) missing out on is priority boarding.

        If you have BA Silver or above you’ll get CE perks anyway so it’s just the empty middle seat and a rushed drink and snack you’re losing out on.

        • Anna says:

          11 Jan11 January 11:35

          The rule is that you don’t get lounge access at MAN now unless your domestic connection is in CE, although others may have convinced the lounge dragons otherwise!

  • TGLoyalty says:

    11 Jan11 January 09:59

    Have you phoned? Will probably have more luck getting a human to book that. I actually thought regional connections were Avios free and could be added by phone after you book the LH, these comments were a year or so ago though.

    • Jonathan says:

      11 Jan11 January 18:07

      Domestic connections are free but still need Avios availability for the domestic leg in J. Not sure if some cash fare buckets are valid if connection is in Y but if you call they’ll be able to advise.

  • Anna says:

    11 Jan11 January 11:37

    Choose the “stopover” option – this allows you to book different cabins on one PNR. Just enter the same date of travel when prompted.

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