Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Forum Replies Created

  • in reply to: Chat thread – Monday 10th February
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    Eurostar resumes direct trains from Amsterdam to London

    HT: Man in Seat 61

    👍 Intention is to increase from 3 to 5 daily trains.

    And after a bit of searching, it seems the new terminal at Amsterdam Centraal does have a Business Premier lounge. (No idea if they accept Amex Plat, but I would hope so.)

    The Amsterdam lounge is a NS Railway lounge, not a Eurostar lounge. So no Amex Plat access; only by ticket class.

    in reply to: Monaco – October 2025
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    What’s the hotel budget looking like and are you looking to use points if possible?

    in reply to: LHR T3
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    I’d likely just go to BA or AA. Cereal, a bacon sandwich, maybe a pastry if fresh. That would leave me happy enough.

    in reply to: Gatwick Pizza Express PP Benefit – Breakfast?
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    Is there a breakfast menu at Gatwick? I suppose a breakfast pizza is possible.

    in reply to: Gatwick Pizza Express PP Benefit – Breakfast?
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    We went in October. I’m not a fussy eater (more of a glutton 😉 ), but I struggled to finish the pasta as it was just grim and contained minimal chicken. It’s a while since I’ve been in an LGW PP lounge, but I imagine Pizza Express would have been comparable food-wise.

    Well if you will insist on having pasta at PIZZA Express….

    in reply to: Chat thread – Tuesday 4th February
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    Looks like HSBC Premier have announced the new health focussed benefits:

    Digital GP access by phone or video, and get prescriptions without visiting a surgery.
    Second medical opinion and advice from a specialist via video call.
    Remote physiotherapy includes an initial assessment and a personalised treatment plan.
    Mental health support from specialists via video consultations.
    Health check kit to test over 20 key markers with a simple blood test.
    £2000 cancer bereavement cover.

    That could interest some older account holders who were used to having such cover as a work benefit but are facing into retirement relying on the NHS.

    in reply to: Is the Virgin+ card worth it?
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    “I recently upgraded 2 of us one-way from economy to UC with the voucher because the total points required for that was fewer than 75k.”

    @NL I find this fascinating. The changes have generally been dreadful but as someone who can travel whenever I like I am going to look out for this. Did the agent you had on the phone appear to realise the double cabin upgrade was happening?


    @Harry
    , I think the maths on justifying the Virgin card has now become very complicated. I know for sure I could not have used the 2 vouchers I had in 2024 without needing the Silver/Gold boost to 150K value. I only redeem as an upgrade, not a companion.

    Also mindful of you saying collecting Virgin miles is useful for hotel transfers. Be careful that the exchange rate could change on a whim, or a hotel partner could disappear. My view would be if you can’t find a use for Virgin miles themselves, it’s probably not a card worth having.

    in reply to: Radisson reviews following my VIP status upgrade
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    I am reading this thread with astonishment. I did 5 nights at Radisson St Helier and got placed in the room I had booked.

    in reply to: LHR T3
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    Hi,

    I realise there is a lot of chat about the best OW lounge in T3, but a lot of it seems to be based around evening meals. I will arrive at a lounge around 9am. Do any of the OW lounges offer a good a la carte breakfast, like Virgin? Thanks!

    How are you entering the lounges? By virtue of ticket type or OW status? If status, which status? We’ll then know exactly which lounges you have access to

    in reply to: Chat thread – Tuesday 4th February
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    Good morning. Did I hallucinate an article comment thread yesterday where someone got outraged over short haul flights? And at one stage claimed no domestic flights in France? I could have sworn Rob replied to 2 of their comments. Can’t now find it to see when Godwin’s Law was proven.

    Yup it was some troll called Pat

    Yes defo a troll. I cannot believe someone as shrill as Greta would comment so actively on this site.

    in reply to: Chat thread – Tuesday 4th February
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    Good morning. Did I hallucinate an article comment thread yesterday where someone got outraged over short haul flights? And at one stage claimed no domestic flights in France? I could have sworn Rob replied to 2 of their comments. Can’t now find it to see when Godwin’s Law was proven.

    in reply to: Chat thread – Monday 3rd February
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    IC Lisbon club lounge has its kitchen closed for renovation for the foreseeable. Meaning no breakfast, no afternoon tea, evening happy hour is drinks only. Really poor that this was communicated to me via email on week of arrival, not flagged on the website at the time of booking.

    That’s annoying. We have a booking next month using Ambassador weekend certificate plus an extra night – we’ve been there every March for the last 3 years. Their communications are usually very good, but we’ve heard nothing and there is nothing on the app to indicate this either. We like the Lounge for breakfast and usually a quick drink before going out to dinner. Do you know if this means the restaurant is also closed as I assume being so close together they use the same kitchen?

    Restaurant and first floor breakfast room still open. Separate kitchen. The lounge has always had its own apparently. I’d have expected it joins up with the restaurant one at the back but perhaps not. It’s a very good lounge for all 3 services each day. I’d have likely stayed elsewhere had I known at the time of booking.

    in reply to: LH connection – MUC vs FRA?
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    I rate the MUC lounges. I always say one would never go hungry in a Lufty lounge – plentiful good cheeses and deli meats, and plentiful good bread. With hot options if you please, but I am usually happy with the good bread compared to the poor stuff one gets in the UK

    in reply to: Chat thread – Monday 3rd February
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    ITA-Lufty integration press conference: https://newsroom.lufthansagroup.com/en/integration-of-ita-airways-into-the-lufthansa-group-has-commenced/

    Mutual Lounge Access coming in March. ITA to leave Sky Team as expected and join Star Alliance in 2026. Still unclear if Volare is subsumed into Miles&More before then.

    in reply to: Chat thread – Monday 3rd February
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    IC Lisbon club lounge has its kitchen closed for renovation for the foreseeable. Meaning no breakfast, no afternoon tea, evening happy hour is drinks only. Really poor that this was communicated to me via email on week of arrival, not flagged on the website at the time of booking.

    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    This crops up now and then with US airlines not liking foreign credit cards. Can you try using the United app and paying with Apple Pay?

    in reply to: Cambridge – Gothenburg – bookable?
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    Sun Air still appears as a contracting airline on the entrance banner for Escape Lounge MAN T3.

    It’s been a while since I have spotted the aircraft

    in reply to: Chat thread – Wednesday 29th January
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    @NorthernLass I can’t even say the word Ecuador now without exclaiming it in the style of Sash! 😂

    Count yourself lucky, I can’t hear the word without picturing Hamza Yassin tossing Jowita around like a ragdoll on Strictly

    in reply to: Chat thread – Wednesday 29th January
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    The new The View lounge in BRU B gates (non-Schengen) is closed for the next 3 weeks. Passengers being directed to the Diamond lounges on either side of the corridor.

    in reply to: New A320 interior – more cabin bag space!
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    LH Group airlines allow 2 cabin bags for biz passengers, plus a personal item. It somehow doesn’t stop them taking off on time.

    in reply to: British Airways lounge at New York JFK
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    Sisters love a good catch up so enjoy that Soho Lounge alone Oliver

    in reply to: New A320 interior – more cabin bag space!
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    A soft bag could easily get snagged on something under a seat, and rip. Especially a concern when the bag replacement cost is expensive. One of the advantages of the European short haul biz cabins is that the overhead space only has to cover 4 passengers per row, rather than 6. It’s a fair expectation that passengers up front have more capacity to put their bags up overhead.

    I am sure the bag(s) the cabin crew were trying to find space for belonged to a Group 4-9 passenger. Such passengers are typically told at the gate that their bags may be gate checked. More fool the cabin crew running round finding space. A US airline would tip the bag into the hands of a baggage handler at the aircraft door.

    in reply to: BAEC changes
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    There were 3,857 comments in the article a good number which weren’t related to the topic!

    Still must be one of the highest ever commented articles?

    I think the only thing that will top that is if BA moves to dynamic pricing on reward flights!

    Hopefully the HfP readership will read the tea leaves and earn and burn/hedge their bets with future bookings in place to keep Avios balances low. Better to be holding refundable reward flight bookings at the time the dynamic pricing hits

    in reply to: BAEC changes
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts
    in reply to: Chat thread – Tuesday 21st January
    Blair Waldorf Salad 1,353 posts

    Morning. We are taking the eldest daughter’s boyfriend on holiday in the summer, he is 16 years old. We are headed to US & Caribbean.

    Am I right in thinking that both Amex Platinum & HSBC Premier insurance coverage won’t apply to him? If that’s correct, anyone have any suggestions for a single trip policy that I can take out for him?

    Make sure his booking is refundable. Teen relationships end on a whim.

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.