Chat thread – Tuesday 21st November

[Rob]

This is today’s chat thread.

If you have specific questions about Avios, hotels or credit cards, please ask them in the appropriate forum and not here. This thread is a good place to post interesting deals you have spotted or your general thoughts on travel and all things miles and points. Thank you for contributing.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

MBNA has a 5% rebate on all IHG hotels in UK and Europe,

Minimum spend is £ 50.

One use only with maximum payout or £30.

[ToffeeTom]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

MBNA has a 5% rebate on all IHG hotels in UK and Europe,

Minimum spend is £ 50.

One use only with maximum payout or £30.

The IHG app also has a 20% discount on pre-paid rates running until Monday.

[Michael C]

Is the Gatwick North Premium Security Lane @GBP 5 pp worth it for
a December Saturday 0700h?! Just realised haven’t used LGW for several years…

[ToffeeTom]

ToffeeTom wrote:

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

MBNA has a 5% rebate on all IHG hotels in UK and Europe,

Minimum spend is £ 50.

One use only with maximum payout or £30.

The IHG app also has a 20% discount on pre-paid rates running until Monday.

Forgive me – it’s until Tuesday.

[Erico1875]

Moneysupermarket and Top Cashback?

Has any one double dipped?
TCB are offering £34 on Moneysupermarket broadband deals, while Moneysupermarket have a £100 gift voucher offer on certain broadband providers.

[kempc23]

Hi everyone

I have a business class return booked in January, London to Miami, for my girlfriend and I. We are then going on a short Virgin cruise (6 nights). We are using the BA companion voucher.

I cant make this now, due to work commitments. I am in the unusual position of not having any work till then, and I would like to not lose the companion voucher, so I would like to go somewhere (anywhere!) for a week or so.

I would love to be able to redeem it on First, and im completely open to where/when we go. If not, business would be great.

Is there a way of searching openly like this for First availability? Failing that, does anyone have any suggestions for somewhere nice to go, using the voucher on business? 🙂

Many thanks in advance

[ed_fly]

kempc23 wrote:

Hi everyone

I have a business class return booked in January, London to Miami, for my girlfriend and I. We are then going on a short Virgin cruise (6 nights). We are using the BA companion voucher.

I cant make this now, due to work commitments. I am in the unusual position of not having any work till then, and I would like to not lose the companion voucher, so I would like to go somewhere (anywhere!) for a week or so.

I would love to be able to redeem it on First, and im completely open to where/when we go. If not, business would be great.

Is there a way of searching openly like this for First availability? Failing that, does anyone have any suggestions for somewhere nice to go, using the voucher on business? 🙂

Many thanks in advance

try the BA app, it has a reward flight finder function, you can filter by region, first class and dates by month range. Within a few mins you’ll be able to find where first class seats exist in the reward inventory. Two caveats, 1) it can be quite buggy, 2) see Rob’s articles about the cost if you mix F one way with J the other, which I think remains an issue?

[Erico1875]

I’m pretty sure a Seatspy subscription can do this

[ffwd]

In Virgin clubhouse for 1st time which is great. Check-in & own security at T3 was fabulous, better than Emirates 1st class!

[SteveJ]

Erico1875 wrote:

I’m pretty sure a Seatspy subscription can do this

The problem both reward flight finder and Seatspy have is they can’t show the extra availability opened up by the BA voucher. The only way I know how is by a LOT of manual searches unfortunately.

[NorthernLass]

The 241 doesn’t open up extra availability in F, so SeatSpy is generally useful for F searches, except that it does have occasional wobbles and shows phantom seats which aren’t there when you go to book!

[elguiri]

Good morning from the Premier Inn Leicester Fosse Park where the only things going for it are the comfy pillows. Bathroom door that doesn’t shut, no power sockets near bed, worn carpet, you get the drift. For those interested it’s single ply and the hangars are stealable.

[MattB]

kempc23 wrote:

Hi everyone

I have a business class return booked in January, London to Miami, for my girlfriend and I. We are then going on a short Virgin cruise (6 nights). We are using the BA companion voucher.

I cant make this now, due to work commitments. I am in the unusual position of not having any work till then, and I would like to not lose the companion voucher, so I would like to go somewhere (anywhere!) for a week or so.

I would love to be able to redeem it on First, and im completely open to where/when we go. If not, business would be great.

Is there a way of searching openly like this for First availability? Failing that, does anyone have any suggestions for somewhere nice to go, using the voucher on business? 🙂

Many thanks in advance

Looking in the BA app there is a surprising amount of F out there over the next month or 2. In the US you could do LA for 6 days over Xmas, Atlanta, and if happy to be freezing NYC, Washington, Boston.

Doha easily available too.

[kempc23]

Thanks so much everyone for the suggestions. I signed up for a free trial to SeatSpy. Its great! There are plenty of places we could go in First, mainly cold places in the US (not necessarily an issue).

If we go Business, there are endless places to go.

One more question, if we flew into say Tampa, and out of say Miami, can we use the companion voucher for that? Or does it need to be in and out of the same place?

[elguiri]

Erico1875 wrote:

Moneysupermarket and Top Cashback?

Has any one double dipped?
TCB are offering £34 on Moneysupermarket broadband deals, while Moneysupermarket have a £100 gift voucher offer on certain broadband providers.

This has worked for me multiple times (not this specific offer). As long as you don’t have to enter a discount/promo code on Moneysupermarket to get the £100, there shouldn’t be any issue.

[MattB]

kempc23 wrote:

Thanks so much everyone for the suggestions. I signed up for a free trial to SeatSpy. Its great! There are plenty of places we could go in First, mainly cold places in the US (not necessarily an issue).

If we go Business, there are endless places to go.

One more question, if we flew into say Tampa, and out of say Miami, can we use the companion voucher for that? Or does it need to be in and out of the same place?

No problem that example is fine

[Richie]

Michael C wrote:

Is the Gatwick North Premium Security Lane @GBP 5 pp worth it for
a December Saturday 0700h?! Just realised haven’t used LGW for several years…

If it’s a ski season saturday then yes.

[davedent]

Morning – some advice please.
I booked a basic room at the Kimpton Paris and successfully used a confirmable suite upgrade voucher to upgrade to a king suite with balcony. I received an email confirming the upgrade and the upgrade showed online. The room has now been downgraded to a basic room by the hotel. Despite having contacted IHG and the hotel they both seem to be unwilling/ unable to sort the situation. This is clearly a breach of contract but what do I do ? Grateful for any help.

[NorthernLass]

@davedent, another reader had the same issue recently – there’s a thread about using the suite upgrade and I think they posted within that.

Also, was it a reward booking? Someone posted as well the other day that upgrades on these are currently paused.

[NigelHamilton]

Just for a bit of fun, without cheating, how many forum posts do you think you’ve made? My guess is 97.

[notrob]

Michael C wrote:

Is the Gatwick North Premium Security Lane @GBP 5 pp worth it for
a December Saturday 0700h?! Just realised haven’t used LGW for several years…

If you have Priority Pass, £6 gets you guaranteed access to the no1 lounge and premium security (well, it did a month ago). Book via Priority Pass app or web page.
I am not a huge fan of the lounge, but it beats Weatherspoons…

[Michael C]

notrob wrote:

Michael C wrote:

Is the Gatwick North Premium Security Lane @GBP 5 pp worth it for
a December Saturday 0700h?! Just realised haven’t used LGW for several years…

If you have Priority Pass, £6 gets you guaranteed access to the no1 lounge and premium security (well, it did a month ago). Book via Priority Pass app or web page.
I am not a huge fan of the lounge, but it beats Weatherspoons…

Cheers!

[AndyGWP]

davedent wrote:

Morning – some advice please….

Glad to hear you’re alive and well @davedent ! We had been getting worried about you 😂

https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/mega-tier-point-run/page/2/

[JDB]

davedent wrote:

Morning – some advice please.
I booked a basic room at the Kimpton Paris and successfully used a confirmable suite upgrade voucher to upgrade to a king suite with balcony. I received an email confirming the upgrade and the upgrade showed online. The room has now been downgraded to a basic room by the hotel. Despite having contacted IHG and the hotel they both seem to be unwilling/ unable to sort the situation. This is clearly a breach of contract but what do I do ? Grateful for any help.

While it may be a breach of contract, the difficulty is enforcing it, so as a practical matter it comes down to negotiation and a bit of guile. I don’t know the terms or ins and outs of the upgrade voucher, but probably you will need to escalate at IHG (write to the CEO’s office) on the basis that they can’t allow hotels within the IHG system to go rogue, thereby damaging the whole premise of their loyalty scheme.