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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.
Good morning from Haneda airport, awaiting check-in desks opening ahead of our flight home to LHR then on to MAN.
We’ve had an amazing time exploring Japan as a family of 5. First long haul trip nearly complete.
Fwiw, we enjoyed Osaka more than Tokyo, but our real highlights were the time spent up in Takayama and then in Oshino (near Fuji).
We got lucky with the timing too – hitting Osaka and Fuji at prime Sakura.
Once again, thanks for all the help in figuring out avios redemptions, CVs and the like.
Good morning from my sofa! For those who read and offered advice on getting myself home sooner rather than later (for my GCSE and A-Level students, who need me RN!), I landed at Heathrow at 6:20am, had my luggage at 7:35am, and made it into school in Streatham (via home, a shower and a change of clothes) at 10:15am, in time for break duty! The only thing I missed was registering my form.
I hope my students appreciate my turning down 3 extra days in Mahe, with hotel and food all paid for by KQ…
Looking forward to the trip report @WoodyYork, and I hope to have a drink with a few of you at the HfP summer party!
Welcome home @Cat! Looking forward to more trip reports from you as well.
@WoodyYork, sounds like a wonderful family trip, what amazing memories you’ll all have.I vaguely remember seeing something about the preferred layout of trip reports, a while back. Can anyone link that, and I’ll try to adhere to it!
Do you think you’ll be able to make it down South for the summer party @NorthernLass? Also @Polly and @LadyLondon (and all the other regulars!)?
Hopefully will one day! Depends on the date and transport options of course. Wasn’t there a bit of get together in Manchester one time?
@Cat if it’s any consolation, my son will be
leaving S Paulo today to do GRU-LHR/home+shower/straight to
school in time for Latin exam!Also think it would be lovely to see some “familiar faces” this
summer (IF lucky enough to get a ticket, of course!)BTW Nationwide £50 cheques have started to arrive in the post.
Well done @Cat. It’s a sign of the times but I doubt your students are caring about your sacrifice! Responsibility, professionalism is something a lot of youngsters would do well to absorb( seems to have by passed a lot of the students I supervised on clinical placements in hospital)
Virgin Atlantic starting Seoul 29th March 2026
Launching on 29 March 2026, we’re flying direct from London Heathrow (LHR) to Seoul Incheon (ICN) every day. It’s our first-ever South Korean service, giving UK businesses an easy connection to one of Asia’s most powerful economies.
Bali Sanur/Jimbaran-Sanur Hyatt update
As part of today’s South Island tour we ‘popped in’ to the IC Jimbaran. The hotel was fantastic and so accommodating in response to our request ‘for a look around!!’ (They showed us around the grounds, a selection of rooms, club suites and the club itself!)In my view, the contrast between IC Sanur and IC Jimbaran is chalk and cheese! Jimbaran is a very large hotel compared to Sanur. Whilst the rooms at Sanur are very large compared to Jimbaran, there are some aspects of the hotel accommodation that could do with updating. It depends on what you want.
In response to @Aston100, there is a definite chilled vibe to Sanur which appeals to me, because it encourages me to see what is on offer outside of the hotel. I thought that once ensconced in your Jimbaran room, there is less incentive to venture out, because everything you need is there!! If however you can get a discount for Jimbaran you will certainly not be disappointed. @qc has been very fair in not differentiating between the two hotels, highlighting those aspects in which each excels. If you’ve got children, whatever their age, then Jimbaran wins. Plus the grounds are phenomenal and the club and club suites a fantastic bonus. If you wish to spend your hard-earned IHG1 points, then best value (IMHO)is Jimbaran for what it provides for those points and especially if you have decent IHG1 status.
I also agree that the Hyatt at Sanur is a better option for facilities and larger grounds/gardens, including children’s activities. There are certainly less children at IC Sanur, which suggests that it is better for adults without children!!
Finally, the driver supplied by baliholidaysecrets.com was excellent. He gave us a relaxing 5.5 hour tour (we could have had longer) of the south of the island. We ended the tour at the day at the Hindu Temple at Uluwatu which is definitely worth a visit. We were warned to protect our hats, sunglasses and mobile phones. Within 3 minutes of entering we witnessed a monkey in possession of a very large mobile phone as it ran across our path and shortly afterwards encountered a very distressed young German guy who was searching for it!! Seems like the advice we received was spot on!! I just hope he had activated the ‘find my phone’ app!!😂
@ToonFlyer, great comparison and, in our case, reinforces the Jimbaran idea: thanks!
Btw did you see a dance at Uluwatu, and was it easy enough to enter?@MichaelC. Today is the Balinese Hindu festival Galugan and a Bank Holiday. Unfortunately there was no dance to witness at Uluwatu and if there was one, we missed it!!
Entry to the Temple cost the equivalent of £2.50 each, and it was easy to get in. Once inside, you may be approached by someone offering to guide you. We declined as we has read enough in advance to know what we were looking at.
Virgin Atlantic and Shai Weiss announcing Seoul from March 2026 with great fanfare on Instagram. But of course it’s the opportunity to fly there on a 787. I think not.
In my view, the contrast between IC Sanur and IC Jimbaran is chalk and cheese! Jimbaran is a very large hotel compared to Sanur. Whilst the rooms at Sanur are very large compared to Jimbaran, there are some aspects of the hotel accommodation that could do with updating. It depends on what you want.
In response to @Aston100, there is a definite chilled vibe to Sanur which appeals to me, because it encourages me to see what is on offer outside of the hotel. I thought that once ensconced in your Jimbaran room, there is less incentive to venture out, because everything you need is there!! If however you can get a discount for Jimbaran you will certainly not be disappointed. @qc has been very fair in not differentiating between the two hotels, highlighting those aspects in which each excels. If you’ve got children, whatever their age, then Jimbaran wins. Plus the grounds are phenomenal and the club and club suites a fantastic bonus. If you wish to spend your hard-earned IHG1 points, then best value (IMHO)is Jimbaran for what it provides for those points and especially if you have decent IHG1 status.
Thank you.
It is only Mrs Aston and I, no kids.
I want to avoid noisy people and noisy places.
Was hoping to get breakfast outside the hotel – partly because of waking up late.
These factors seem to favour Sanur. However, you’ve indicated the Jimbaran property to be superior overall (despite the ‘basic’ rooms at Sanur being 90 sqm) and the current pricing at Jimbaran is a bit less than what we’ve already paid (flexible) for Sanur.
Are there any negatives about Jimbaran to look out for? I assume noisy Australians and their kids, and lack of restaurants & places of interest within walking distance.Thanks again.
EDIT: I am no longer IHG Diamond so unlikely to get an upgrade and will need to pay for breakfast if eating in.
We got lucky with the timing too – hitting Osaka and Fuji at prime Sakura.
We were fortunate enough to see Himeji Castle grounds in full bloom. One of the highlights of our trip.
Did you get a chance to go there from Osaka?@Cat – just seen the date of the HFP party. Would you believe I will be on taxi duty that afternoon as it’s the last day of maths A-level exams, which my son is having to re-sit to get enough UCAS points for the degree apprenticeship he’s aspiring to?! 😬🙈
BTW Nationwide £50 cheques have started to arrive in the post.
Blimey, cheques! Who new such a thing still existed, I’m sure we are just receiving a credit to our current account?
I was thinking along the same lines. May be they send cheques out to mortgage holders for example who don’t have a suitable account to credit?
I got the account credit a couple of weeks ago.
BTW Nationwide £50 cheques have started to arrive in the post.
Blimey, cheques! Who new such a thing still existed, I’m sure we are just receiving a credit to our current account?
It may just be members only. BTW many bank apps allow you to scan in cheques using your device’s camera.
We ended the tour at the day at the Hindu Temple at Uluwatu which is definitely worth a visit. We were warned to protect our hats, sunglasses and mobile phones. Within 3 minutes of entering we witnessed a monkey in possession of a very large mobile phone as it ran across our path and shortly afterwards encountered a very distressed young German guy who was searching for it!! Seems like the advice we received was spot on!! I just hope he had activated the ‘find my phone’ app!!😂
Apparently, there are a few people who hang around this place and if you pay enough cash, they’ll get the monkeys to return the stolen items, by offering them food in return for the items.
Wondering if the temple is worth the trouble.Great that Virgin have finally announced Seoul, who knows if it will actually happen after the false starts with Brazil…
Visited South Korea & Taiwan late last year for the first time and thought it was great. Finnair offered reasonably priced business fares from the UK (maybe less competitive now with the APD increase) – £1,600 on the dot, I think their cheapest is £1,800 now.
Guess they have to compensate for the detoured 12-14 hour flight time!I was thinking along the same lines. May be they send cheques out to mortgage holders for example who don’t have a suitable account to credit?
I got the account credit a couple of weeks ago.
Exactly this…. my mortgage is in a joint name with my wife.
My £50 went in to my bank account the mortgage DD comes out of.
She got her £50 by cheque !We ended the tour at the day at the Hindu Temple at Uluwatu which is definitely worth a visit. We were warned to protect our hats, sunglasses and mobile phones. Within 3 minutes of entering we witnessed a monkey in possession of a very large mobile phone as it ran across our path and shortly afterwards encountered a very distressed young German guy who was searching for it!! Seems like the advice we received was spot on!! I just hope he had activated the ‘find my phone’ app!!😂
Apparently, there are a few people who hang around this place and if you pay enough cash, they’ll get the monkeys to return the stolen items, by offering them food in return for the items.
Wondering if the temple is worth the trouble.It’s worth it if you can see the Kecak Fire dance but do beware of the monkeys on the way!
Good afternoon from the Jersey Airport Lounge. Remember when this used to be a genuine BA Lounge (the BA livery tail still behind the desk) and now it’s a priority pass lounge – from when I started coming here 15 years ago or so, it’s become so busy with basically every man and his dog on Easy Jet, Blue Island, Aer Lingus. It’s packed. Very worn out and tired too. It’s not changed since I’ve been coming here. My question is – now work is underway with the lounge upstairs from the old waiting room which overlooks the runway, will BA move there when No1 take it over? Better view, be new, larger etc. It’s far too cramped here now….
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