Chat thread – Wednesday 18th September

[davefl]

Alan TJ wrote:

Hi, can anyone help me with a couple of questions that 20 mins of Googling and Chat GBT have left unanswered

1 If Hilton Gold gets you a free breakfast in Mexico.

Yes

2 If bookings made via the Amex travel service quallify for Hilton member benefits.

No

[Wiseoldman]

Alan TJ wrote:

Hi, can anyone help me with a couple of questions that 20 mins of Googling and Chat GBT have left unanswered

1 If Hilton Gold gets you a free breakfast in Mexico.

2 If bookings made via the Amex travel service quallify for Hilton member benefits.

Thanks in advqnce for any replies

Cant answer number 1 but amex booking (expedia backend) usually dont get member benefits. However, some times you get them depending on hotel staff

[Tocsin]

I’ve just received an email from Harvey Nichols – that’s today’s data breach 🙁

They say no financial data or passwords exposed, but personal details including address, phone no and email have been accessed.

[tootsci]

@AlanTJ At the risk of stating the obvious ChatGPT is terrible for these sorts of things and don’t believe anything it tells you.

I was trying to find out when the year for Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan ran from (calendar year? financial year? year from joining?) so I could work out where to credit some recent flights with regard to crediting the Latam flights I’m doing next year.

I got a different answer every time I asked it, and then followed up with asking if it was sure as I always do when using ChatGPT. And this was using 4.0 so should have been up to date. In the end I used their online chat (who was a nice human rather than a bot) and got my answer the traditional way!

[runnerbean]

I understand that BA long haul flights get a ‘free’ regional connection. In those instances does this trigger tier points for the regional flight as well as the original long haul??

[Wiseoldman]

runnerbean wrote:

I understand that BA long haul flights get a ‘free’ regional connection. In those instances does this trigger tier points for the regional flight as well as the original long haul??

Yes all flights get tier points

[runnerbean]

Thanks @Wiseoldman. That seems like a very good deal!

[cats_are_best]

Just had an email from Harvey Nicks to warn that they’ve had a cyber attack disclosing some of my account details…

However, non-sensitive information, including your name, address, phone number, company name and email address have been accessed (where provided), so we are contacting you to ensure you are aware of how to protect yourself from any potential misuse of your data.

Tbh I wouldn’t call my ID/contact details ‘non-sensitive’, there’s certainly enough info to cause real trouble.

Only had the notification on one of my two HN accounts so far, so either they haven’t got to the second one yet, or it’s not all accounts.

If you’ve an HN account, watch out for plausible phishing/impersonation activity.

[Chas]

JakeMc wrote:

Does anyone know the easiest way to collect 50 or so Euro star points. Amex is min transfer 500 (a bit of a waste). I could do Hertz but do I actually have to collect the car?

Is there anything simpler?

Thanks

Make sure you’re signed up to receiving surveys from them (although I can’t tell you where to do that, sorry). I periodically get sent them (probably 4 so far this year), and they credit my account with 100 points each time I complete them. You’ll probably need your 50 more expeditiously, but might help you (or someone else) next time.

[Alan TJ]

Wiseoldman wrote:

Alan TJ wrote:

Hi, can anyone help me with a couple of questions that 20 mins of Googling and Chat GBT have left unanswered

1 If Hilton Gold gets you a free breakfast in Mexico.

2 If bookings made via the Amex travel service quallify for Hilton member benefits.

Thanks in advqnce for any replies

Cant answer number 1 but amex booking (expedia backend) usually dont get member benefits. However, some times you get them depending on hotel staff

Many thanks to all for the replies

It’s close but it looks like I will be better off saving the £75 Amex cashback for another trip.

[kelliea1]

Quick question for a friend, wasn’t sure where to post it. She has economy long haul flights on SQ319, SQ221, SQ204 & SQ318 and would like to hook extra leg room seats. She’s looked on seat guru but is still unsure what seats would be best to book. Any advice for her please?

[freckles]

kelliea1 wrote:

Quick question for a friend, wasn’t sure where to post it. She has economy long haul flights on SQ319, SQ221, SQ204 & SQ318 and would like to hook extra leg room seats. She’s looked on seat guru but is still unsure what seats would be best to book. Any advice for her please?

Don’t bother with seat guru – out of date
Use aerolpoa https://www.aerolopa.com/

[CJD]

runnerbean wrote:

I understand that BA long haul flights get a ‘free’ regional connection. In those instances does this trigger tier points for the regional flight as well as the original long haul??

I thought the free regional connection was for Avios bookings, not cash bookings?

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

CJD wrote:

runnerbean wrote:

I understand that BA long haul flights get a ‘free’ regional connection. In those instances does this trigger tier points for the regional flight as well as the original long haul??

I thought the free regional connection was for Avios bookings, not cash bookings?

Regionalconenctions would be included in the total price for cash tickets and earn TPs and avios

[achoogirl]

Is anyone a member of the Disloyalty hotel programme? Is it worthwhile joining?

[kelliea1]

Thanks @freckles for info. To find what seats are extra leg room would she then check with Singapore Aitlines?

[NorthernLass]

@runnerbean, regional connections are not free (unlike on award bookings), but don’t always cost that much more, and do give you the full complement of TPs.

[NorthernLass]

Since when is Chat GPT a reliable source of information? I’ve seen so many instances of utter garbage in essays that students have tried to pass off as their own work, it just seems to make things up if it can’t find the correct answer 😂

[tootsci]

@NorthernLass Ha yes! The ‘word salad’ essays (or to misquote Morecombe and Wise – all the right words but not necessarily in the right order)!

It can have its uses, though you do need to double check sometimes as yes it will make things up if it’s not sure. I’ve used it a lot to help me with coding for the data analysis I’m doing for my PhD. It’s good at taking my ‘copy, paste, amend’ approach and giving me back the code to make some functions and loops to make the code shorter and cleaner, and easier to adapt for other uses. It’s been a big help in that regard

[runnerbean]

@NorthernLass thanks yes, I did understand rhe cash bookings were ‘free’ ie insignificant cost rather than zero cost. I think it was @Strickers that clarified this a day or two ago.