Save £60 on a KLM, Air France, Delta or Virgin Atlantic flight booking

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• The Original David says:

  21 Dec21 December 08:03

  I love a riddle: this hotel has 38 lavish suites, and all 19 suites have a sauna. How many suites are there?

  • Rob says:

    21 Dec21 December 08:05

    No idea, came from the press release! I think there is a junior suite / full suite mix here.

  • Chas says:

    21 Dec21 December 10:53

    Unless the original article has been edited since your comment, I think you have added an “all”. The way I read the article as it currently stands, 19 of the 38 suites have a sauna.

    • Rob says:

      21 Dec21 December 11:18

      I edited it.

• David Cohen says:

  21 Dec21 December 08:34

  I’m not a fan of Wheely – I’ve used them a couple of times for journeys to and from Heathrow. Rather than having an all inclusive price, they charge extra, as separate transactions for both car parking when waiting, and also the Heathrow Drop-off charge. When expensing to something like Concur that’s a pain and takes the shine off being ‘seamless’. Rubbish follow-up from customer services so for a premium offering, given Uber can do better, I’m avoiding.

  • PM says:

    21 Dec21 December 09:10

    Thank you David, you have just saved me a lot of headache. I was going to book Heathrow with them but not under these circumstances.

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

    21 Dec21 December 09:49

    I have similar experience David. Price you see is nowhere near the price charged. In my case I was an 08.40 scheduled landing time with 30 mins free waiting period. I met my driver at 09.09 (timestamped from when I called him at arrivals to find we were standing by each other) but was charged 29 mins waiting time (+ VAT). I had to manually claim it back.

  • Jamie P says:

    21 Dec21 December 09:57

    I share these comments. Was quoted £x when pre-booking 2 relatively short distance journeys. Was subsequently charged £x + £20 due to a minimum fee which was never advertised at the time of booking.
    Had to raise with customer services to refund who to be fair, were swift to action

  • Charlie T. says:

    21 Dec21 December 11:13

    I’ve had a soft spot for them ever since they credited me £200 (I think – it covered a good few trips, anyway) for *me* cancelling last minute when my wife’s flight was diverted – while almost on approach to LCY – to STN due to the airspace closing for the night (amusingly, I could see the change of course on FR24 long before the flight deck bothered informing passengers). The drivers are in my experience generally more likely to stick to speed limits, drive sensibly and not be constantly playing with their phones compared to Uber Exec but YMMV. The cars are of a consistently better quality as well (last two trips were both brand new Merc EQS/EQE) – nothing older than 3 years compared to 6 for Uber Exec. Its generally the same price or cheaper than pre booking an Uber Exec which are both in turn infinitely preferable to playing the “ASAP” lottery when heading into town on an evening from the suburbs (or the return), which are my main use-cases. ASAP is generally cheaper with Uber Exec if you can avoid the surge. Agree that the airport pick up pricing breakdown / clarity is decidedly suboptimal though.

  • Tom says:

    21 Dec21 December 13:50

    The pricing being above the original quote is indeed annoying with Wheely, but otherwise I find them head and shoulders above Uber (and AddLee/Tristar) for customer service in every respect. I find the idea someone would prefer Uber Exec with their old cars, drivers that can’t be bothered cleaning / don’t provide water in the vehicle, constant cancelling if you don’t pre-book etc. baffling.

    Sadly wasn’t targeted for the offer as Amex is clearly aware how much I spend with Wheely annually!

    • Tom says:

      21 Dec21 December 13:57

      PS, my one major complaint with Wheely is their pricing for leaving London is absolutely bat****….

      From where I live near Canary Wharf Wheely is slightly more expensive than Uber Exec to Heathrow, but not by much (like £85 vs. £100). Howevr, if I want to go to, say, Stansted which is actually only 40 minutes from me vs. probably 1 hr 20 to Heathrow on average, a Wheely is £200! Needless to say none of those trips go to Wheely.

      • meta says:

        21 Dec21 December 14:38

        The first time, the driver was 15-minutes late to pick me up. The second time they tried to charge me claiming my house is outside M25 (it isn’t) after the ride. I told them if they did charge I’ll dispute with Amex. They didn’t charge in the end. I’m not using them anymore.

        My local cab company offers same executive service for less. I also get every 20th ride free as a long-term customer.

    • Charlie T. says:

      21 Dec21 December 14:20

      The constant cancelling by Uber drivers drives me up the wall. The only thing worse is when they try to encourage you to cancel instead of them by conspicuously parking somewhere or going in the wrong direction (I am generally minded to “tough it out” but can backfire). Something Uber really needs to clamp down on.

• Paul says:

  21 Dec21 December 08:40

  surprise the voucher doesn’t work from Northern Ireland!

  • Rob says:

    21 Dec21 December 09:01

    Stop voting for people who don’t believe NI residents have the mental capacity to deal with competitions, promotions etc! Take some responsibility 🙂

    • Paul says:

      21 Dec21 December 12:04

      Even the Amex dining rebate! Not single restaurant in NI or Roi…….frustrating.

      • Rob says:

        21 Dec21 December 13:00

        Won’t get any in ROI as no Amex cards in Ireland.

  • Michael says:

    21 Dec21 December 21:13

    Is this the KLM offer? There’s a grand total of one daily flight from NI it could possibly be valid on.

• Bertster says:

  21 Dec21 December 08:42

  “Helsinki is not renowned for its amazing hotels” – possibly not in terms of there being large numbers of them, but Kamp is one of the grandest and best in Northern Europe, and there are also some decent, smaller, newer options such as Klaus K, Katajanokka and the outstanding U14.

  • Rob says:

    21 Dec21 December 08:56

    Kamp is lovely I agree.

    • DeB2020 says:

      21 Dec21 December 10:05

      Hotel Lilla Roberts, part of the Kamp Hotel Collection, is also very nice.

• riku says:

  21 Dec21 December 09:06

  >>double the size you’d typically find in a city centre hotel in Scandinavia

  What about compared to city centre hotels in Finland? Because as everyone in Finland will tell you, Finland is not in Scandinavia.

  • Nick says:

    21 Dec21 December 09:23

    Indeed. It’s considered as offensive as calling Dublin a UK city.

    • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

      21 Dec21 December 09:51

      The worst IMO is referring to Dublin as Southern Ireland.

      • Jonathan says:

        21 Dec21 December 10:04

        Depends who nationalist / patriotic the individual you’re speaking to is.

        When I briefly encountered some American tourists while travelling in Mexico a while back, one of them accidentally made a comment about Scotland being in England (I can’t remember exactly what they said) her husband / partner had to correct her !
        I wasn’t at all bothered in any way, if anything amused, although did mention not to make that mistake if they ever visit Scotland !

        • Mark says:

          21 Dec21 December 11:01

          Many years ago I was in Edinburgh, doing the tour of Holyroodhouse. In the Gallery the kilted guide ran through the portraits of the monarchs of Scotland, and when he finished an American tourist piped up: “I’m sorry, but when did you guys become part of England?” LOL

        • Rob says:

          21 Dec21 December 11:22

          You DID refer to Ireland as ‘Southern Ireland’ when I was a kid. It was the general term, as was ‘Eire’ – whatever happened to that?

          Anyway, full integration is probably on the way due to the pathetic birth rate amongst the protestant community in Northern Ireland 🙂

        • John says:

          21 Dec21 December 11:35

          Éire is Irish for Ireland, so you shouldn’t say it unless you also say Deutschland when speaking English

        • RussellH says:

          21 Dec21 December 12:45

          While when I lived in northern New England, a few friends asked about procedure for crossing the Anglo-Scottish border. They all assumed it was like the nearby USA/Canada border.

  • Tate Johnston says:

    21 Dec21 December 13:24

    They don’t find it offensive, simply inaccurate geography knowledge. Akin to NI being called part of Britain. Finland was part of Sweden before becoming a Russian Grand Dutchy. That’s why it’s still got a Swedish minority and is officially bilingual.

    • Michael says:

      21 Dec21 December 21:30

      Southern Ireland is a very offensive term and has not been acceptable or used since 1922! You have to remember that Ireland was granted home rule and then Northern Ireland exercised its right to partition.

      In any case, since Ireland declared independence from the U.K., the constitution states that the name of the state is Éire, or in English, Ireland.

      The U.K. Government until recently refused to use the term Ireland, referring instead to the Republic of Ireland, or, to avoid the issue entirely, sometimes used Éire.

      “Ireland” is just fine.

• Kräftskiva says:

  21 Dec21 December 10:05

  Lived on that street in Helsinki for 2 years and Hotel Maria was under renovations the entire time. Finished product looks great and the location is perfect for accessing the old city centre. Easy walk to Kuurna, which imho is the best small restaurant in the city.

  Might be one to tie into our trip back this summer…

  • Red Flyer says:

    21 Dec21 December 15:02

    Any other restaurant recommends for Helsinki? Will be there for 3 days, staying at the St George Hotel, thawing out after 4 days up in Saariselkä.

    • Kräftskiva says:

      21 Dec21 December 21:13

      Finnjävel is great. A classic is Ravintola Seahorse but very heavy traditional Finnish. Oishi 18 if still there is a cool all-you-can eat fresh-made sushi place.

      Also, funnily enough, if you need lunch, the Muji in Kamppi shopping centre does a great cheap Japanese menu.

    • PeteM says:

      21 Dec21 December 21:14

      Really enjoyed Restaurant Story for lunch in the harbour.

    • Red Flyer says:

      22 Dec22 December 12:03

      Thanks! 😋

• Chris says:

  21 Dec21 December 11:30

  Unrelated, but does anyone know if Amex offers stack? I’m heading into London and have the spend £150 on Oxford street get £15 back and then spend £400 at Selfridges get £50 back. If I spent £400 at Selfridges would I trigger both and get £65 back? TIA

  • BBbetter says:

    21 Dec21 December 15:40

    In the Oxford street offer, you’ll find the list of merchants eligible. If Selfridges is present, yes, you’ll be credited for both offers.

    • Chris says:

      21 Dec21 December 16:52

      It is indeed. Thanks for that, fingers crossed they’ll both come through in the coming days!

    • CamFlyer says:

      21 Dec21 December 16:53

      Confirmed – I recently had the Oxford St offer stack with another Amex retailer specific offer.

  • Mr Benjamin Murphy-Ryan says:

    21 Dec21 December 19:48

    Yes als I typically works for things like Bicester village overall spend and individuals boutiques (not so many offers this year though)

• LittleNick says:

  21 Dec21 December 14:03

  Will Emyr do anything with this new hotel?

  • Rob says:

    21 Dec21 December 16:00

    If it is bookable via Virtuoso then yes. I don’t think Preferred Hotels has its own luxury travel agent programme. Only takes 30 secs to ask him though.

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