Get quadruple Accor Live Limitless points at selected new hotels

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Andrew MS says:

  26 Jan26 January 07:04

  I intend booking a QR flight ex Stockholm and would prefer to book on the QR website rather than an OTA . Fare is quoted in SEK but i was wondering if there is a way i can pay in GBP to avoid FX fees ? I guess if i hold the fare for 48 hrs , i still have tp pay in SEK ?

  • Andrew says:

    26 Jan26 January 07:12

    Check Amex travel site – particularly if you have a platinum card, log in before searching as they offer discounts on QR.

    • Shoestring says:

      26 Jan26 January 07:52

      @ Andrew MS – you really don’t want to pay a SEK bill in GBP! It will cost you a lot more than just paying in SEK on a card with no FX fees eg Halifax Clarity but I’m sure others can give other options.

      You’d also probably be far better off paying in SEK on any old credit card with a (say) £2.50 extra charge.

      The reason is: if you choose to pay in GBP when the original bill is in SEK, you’ll get ripped off rotten on the exchange rate.

      • Andy says:

        26 Jan26 January 13:35

        Amex Travel usually charges in GBP at close to the spot rate on QR flights though. Those with an Amex Plat even get a tiny discount.

        • Polly says:

          26 Jan26 January 14:29

          Yes, our current ones, Arn to hkt, are with Amex plat, so could pay in U.K.£. Might be a bit more but worth the cover.

        • ali says:

          26 Jan26 January 15:06

          the amex platinum discount seems non existent for me – essentially the same fare as booking direct from QR

          Are there any particular routes on which you’ve managed to get this to work?

          The US have the AMEX platinum travel programme for flight discounts but according to a customer service person I spoke to on chat, UK card members get no such discount?

        • ali says:

          26 Jan26 January 15:08

          Sorry- International Airline Program

  • Riccatti says:

    26 Jan26 January 10:02

    Amex Travel — if airfare bookable via it — gives about spot conversion and charges you in GBP.

    But if you needed to cancel, there is about 30GBP fee to Amex Travel as your travel agent — on top of everything.

    • Andrew MS says:

      26 Jan26 January 10:25

      Thank you; Andrew , Shoestring and Riccatti
      I will book on Amex travel website, the price is the same as on QR website , but i will pay in GBP ofcourse . There was one cheaper vendor listed on Skyscanner who i have never heard of so will go for Amex. Many thanks to all.

      • Rob says:

        26 Jan26 January 10:51

        Amex Travel will sometimes sneakily sell you non-earning flight tickets. See old HFP articles. Rare, admittedly, but they do it. They sell you a cheap ‘special fare’ but add a huge profit margin as they sell it for the same price as the airline is charging.

        • Russ says:

          26 Jan26 January 12:19

          Ah… Lufty’s P class. What wonderful memories….

        • Aston100 says:

          27 Jan27 January 00:03

          Is there a way to tell if you’ve been sold over of those non earning tickets by Amex Travel?

        • Rob says:

          27 Jan27 January 07:26

          If you can get the underlying fare class you can check.

          See https://headforpoints.com/2014/04/09/take-care-amex-travel-selling-non-earning-airline-tickets/

      • Polly says:

        26 Jan26 January 14:30

        Yes Andrew, as rob says. Just ask them which booking class the tkts are in….

• memesweeper says:

  26 Jan26 January 07:48

  Is it possible to get a list of non-UK participating hotels for the Accor bonus?

  • Rob says:

    26 Jan26 January 09:37

    Yes, it is in the ‘Conditions’ on the registration page. Will clarify that.

• Boi says:

  26 Jan26 January 08:05

  OT: wonder if any of those big tax payers published on Sunday times used curve? 🤔🤣

  • The Streets says:

    26 Jan26 January 09:09

    Rob’s in the Sunday Times today!

    • Shoestring says:

      26 Jan26 January 09:29

      [How to use your Avios to make flying miles more rewarding
      One collector of Avios snagged tickets to South Korea for eight people. Here’s how he did it — and how you can get the most out of the scheme]

      if you want to try and google it

      • Shoestring says:

        26 Jan26 January 09:36

        sorry TS, spoilt you fun 🙂

        if you can’t see the article, you haven’t missed much – good plug for HFP – but basic stuff, Amex card to earn points & Avios, referrals (which they get wrong), 2-4-1s – which we never learn if the main protagonists of the article actually got & used

        • Shoestring says:

          26 Jan26 January 09:43

          I could flash it up for 10 mins if anybody want to read it? copyright etc but 10 mins should be OK

        • Rob says:

          26 Jan26 January 10:53

          I popped it on Twitter and LinkedIn as a photo, if you expand the image it is readable.

• Andrew says:

  26 Jan26 January 08:09

  Also to note – QR’s hold fee isn’t refundable against the ticket, it is a completely lost fee regardless of if you buy the ticket or not. Others like Cathay just put a hold on your card (a bit like at hotel check-in) for the fee and if you go on to complete the booking in the timeframe, that fee is released.

  • Shoestring says:

    26 Jan26 January 08:37

    ANZ add it on top as well, it’s fair enough IMV as you are getting an option to buy at (hopefully) a cheap/ acceptable price

• Anna says:

  26 Jan26 January 08:48

  OT – does the (apparently) on going 6 points per £ include Marriott spas?

  Just noticed my local Marriott offers free breakfast when paying by visa – is this common? That sounds like the cost of the breakfast to them is a better deal than giving SPG Amex benefits.

  • Steve-B says:

    26 Jan26 January 09:13

    You’d need to check the spa is operated by Marriott and not billed to your card under a different name to get the 6x points.

    The breakfast offer between Visa and Marriott is not new. It comes and goes across Europe and South America/Carribean destinations iirc. http://promotions.marriott.co.uk/tcvisa

    • Anna says:

      26 Jan26 January 09:25

      It’s described as a “Marriott Spa” on all the marketing stuff but I will check with them. Looking at a mattress run for our anniversary weekend with a spa package (hopeless romantic, me!)

• Mark says:

  26 Jan26 January 08:51

  Accor hotel spend really, they haven’t used vouchers in years now.

• BJ says:

  26 Jan26 January 08:53

  It seems Malmaison doesn’t need a loyalty scheme. Regular guests are recognised by staff and well rewarded according to stories I hear, even included invitations to try another of their hotels for free. Benefits of a very small chain I guess.

• Benilyn says:

  26 Jan26 January 09:13

  OT: Japan trip planning help. Landing into Osaka, plan to spend 2 nights there, found a hotel for £54pn after aggressive discounts from Agoda. Then the plan was Kyoto 3 nights, but the hotels look quite expensive relatively, like £180-£200…
  1) Thoughts on just staying in Osaka instead and commuting daily?
  Osaka to Kyoto on Shinkansen is 13min / Y3,070 (£21) and on JR Thunderbird 23 Min / Y570 (£4) both one way. I wasn’t planning to get a Rail pass because I was going to use Shinkansen once I think only from Kyoto to Hiroshima, then fly to Tokyo (6,000 avios + £2 on JAL).
  2) Hotel recommendations for Kyoto? I am going right at the end of March.
  Thanks

  • Lady London says:

    26 Jan26 January 10:21

    I stayed at the Almont when prices in Kyoto were very high. Small rooms but well run luxurious rooms and OK price.

    Maybe Kyoto in cherry blossom season is a good use of hotel points?

    Not sure I would plan to commute from Osaka. Kyoto has a particular feel and it would be nice to be there a full 48hrs. Also train lines to Osaka stopped the day I need to go to the airport from Kyoto. The train lines had to be checked before trains could run after a mini-earthquake. I managed to get one of the few buses running (left 6am) and made my flight. But lots of others didn’t I am sure.

  • lumma says:

    26 Jan26 January 10:41

    Id rather stay in Kyoto and visit Osaka on a side trip personally, but the other way is doable if you prefer. A more interesting option may be to stay in an AirBnb. I got one in a traditional Japanese house in Kyoto and it was great – location wise it would’ve been classed as Zone 2 if comparing to London, but a 10 minute subway ride to Kyoto station. It was a room in a house rather than an entire property (but that’s a good thing if you want to meet fellow travellers/locals outside the hotel environment that most of this site love) but it was cheaper than staying in a capsule hotel/hostel for the same time.

  • lumma says:

    26 Jan26 January 10:43

    Also, the Shinkansen station in Osaka is outside the city so don’t bother with that. Just get the local train

  • Nick_C says:

    26 Jan26 January 12:35

    I would stay in Osaka. But as Lumma says, you have looked at journey times from Shin-Osaka, not Osaka.

    Look at hotels near Osaka station (Umeda). And look at room sizes. I’ve stayed at the Hotel Monterey le Frere Osaka a couple of times and really like it. They have large (by Japanese standards) twin corner rooms (20 sq mtrs). The (single) beds are big (4ft) and comfortable. The pillows are soft. The location is great. It’s about a 10 minute walk from Osaka station (and once you get your bearings there is an entrance to the underground shopping complex a minute from the hotel, so you can walk directly to the station through there). Direct trains from there to Kyoto take 30 minutes. Osaka is also a good base for visiting Nara (50 minutes) and Himeji (1 hour). Kobe is 25 minutes if you fancy eating amazing (but expensive) Kobe beef.

    Osaka is great for cheap local restaurants around Umeda and street food in Dotonbori, and is a good city to walk around.

    Use a Suica or IC card to pay for transport. You can use it to pay for the coach from KIX to Osaka station (fast and comfortable), you can use it on private train lines and buses as well as on JR trains (but you can’t use it for the Shinkansen or Narita Express).

    Kyoto is vast and sprawling, and you will be spending a lot of time walking or on buses to see the main sites. One area you must see in Kyoto is Gion. If you stay in Osaka, use the Keihan (private) railway to get from Yodoyabashi to Gion-Shijo station. It’s a 50 minute ride, but it gets you to the heart of Gion. To visit other parts of Kyoto, take the train from Osaka then a long walk, another train, or a long boring bus ride.

    Get the Navitime Japan app for journey planning and travel information in real time. Get the Suikakeibo app to check the balance on your Suica / IC card. Suica cards can only be topped up in units of 1000 Yen. We flew out of KIX so couldn’t cash in our Suica cards at the end of the trip, but you can use any spare balance to buy things in 7/11. I found it useful to use both Google Maps and Navitime. I also found Google Translate very useful. For those reasons, I would recommend renting mobile wi-fi.

  • Tilly says:

    26 Jan26 January 14:19

    Personally I’d rather stay in Kyoto than Osaka. Much more to see and do in Kyoto. When we went in September we stayed at the Richmond hotel which was a 3 mins walk from Kyoto station, excellent location, clean rooms (small but we only sleep and shower/bath anyway then out all day seeing the sights). Worked out approx £100 per night including breakfast for the 2 of us.

    • Chabuddy geezy says:

      26 Jan26 January 19:19

      I also preferred Kyoto to Osaka. There was a lot to see and it was less hectic. We stayed in a hotel called Sakura Terrace Kyoto which was reasonably priced and close to the train station.

  • Princess says:

    26 Jan26 January 20:13

    2 years ago we stayed in Kyoto and next time we’ll go I’ll choose again Kyoto over Osaka.
    We stayed in Japaning Gion, they have small studio flat with useful kitchen if you have babies.
    The place itself is clean but nothing special but the location is unbeatable in Gion, walking in many site. Price was also incredible low in Gion, I think around £100 per nigh.
    2 days we rented electric bike and they an amazing way to get around, we easily went from ragionino to the Bamboo Forest with the bike!
    You will love Kyoto if you stay there!

    • Princess says:

      26 Jan26 January 20:15

      Ragionino = Gion silly keyboard

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.