[ColinThames]

Currently staying at the Park Plaza London Waterloo. Upgraded from lowest category to Studio King Executive, though currently no Exec Lounge as it’s used for private functions apparently. I did jokingly ask about suites but it got laughed off by the check in agent. Interesting to see that someone else got one. Unfortunately, I’d booked before I got VIP status so had booked a breakfast inclusive rate. Schoolboy error.
The room interiors are almost identical to the Art ‘otel Hoxton’s, so I wonder if it has the same owners? (I share Miss London’s dislike of the glass bathroom doors, and the lighting system is a pain – most time it’s too dark, but at night it’s too easy to accidentally turn the room lights on full when trying to turn on a bathroom light at 2am!)
Breakfast not a patch on the Art ‘otel’s full service breakfast though. Park Plaza is more like a HIE or Hampton Hilton – self service buffet and an interior room without daylight.
It’ll be interesting to see what room I get when I go back to the Art ‘otel in April, having booked lowest category (post VIP status). Got upgraded last time on a Premium status and very nicely treated.

[ColinThames]

OMG, I didn’t know this. Better start shredding my till receipts! 😱

[ColinThames]

Remember you can always request a 2 or 6 month extension to your Ambassador if you don’t want it to lapse. It’s a stated offer in the T&Cs.
I tried to wangle a Diamond extension today if I renewed. No dice. May try again but in the meantime got a 6 month extension as I don’t have any plans to stay at an IC. Interestingly, the chat agent said “who knows IHG might launch a promotion offer to help our member extend their Elite status” [sic] Might mean nothing, but maybe there are rumours in IHG…

[ColinThames]

Thank you BA Flyer IHG stayer and Lady London. Your knowledge and empathy are much appreciated. I’ve claimed the reimbursement and will report back on what is offered.

[ColinThames]

That seems bizarre! So if you pay for a £9000 but you get a car worth £4500 you only get a refund of £2700? In what world is this fair?
I will post a claim and hope they offer the right compensation.

Is it on this page?

Bookings and Reservations button?
Then I ask for Downgrade Reimbursement?

[ColinThames]

The Club Europe segments were 9000 euros each, whereas Eurotraveller was 4500. So 30% of 9000, ie 2700 Avios back does not seem fair, or am I missing your point? Is the ‘reimbursement’ in ADDITION to the 4500 Avios difference between the seats paid for with Avios and those given?

[ColinThames]

Thanks Anna and JDB
Unfortunately, BA gave no reason for the cancellation, but given it was 21 hours before the flight, that suggests an operational cancellation rather than weather?

JDB, where does the 30% come from? I’ve not seen that anywhere? And whether it’s 30% or 75% how is the percentage calculated? Does that mean x% of the Avios and taxes I paid, or x% of the Club Europe cash fare and, if the latter, where do I get that figure with dynamic pricing?

[ColinThames]

Knowing Barclays, the Barclaycard Avios+ Lounge access with Dragonpass might at some point appear in a hidden corner of the app. Otherwise, perhaps we’ll get an email around the 7th December.

I remember the process for getting the Dragonpass card with Barclays Travelpack had been quite convoluted and I had to call up to ask about how to register. It is managed through Lifestyle Services Group. The big bonus at that point was that as our Premier account was joint, and the Travelpack was applied to that account both my wife and I got insurance cover and lounge cards for one fee, though we had to share the 6 free passes.

Let’s see what happens. I’m expecting to be able to add 4 more passes to my existing 6. I just don’t think it’ll be easy to set up[sigh].

[ColinThames]

Luca M wrote:

One thing to be very aware of:
Barclays’ DragonPass Premier+ has a more limited acceptance than the regular DragonPass! This is the same subscription you get with the more expensive Travel Pack on your Barclays account, and my SIL signed up to it before our Summer Holidays as we were to families travelling together, and mine already had lounge access (PP via Amex plus LoungeKey via HSBC).

However, at the Lounge in Doha they had a sign and then explained that DP Premier+ (by Barclays they added) is not accepted there whilst the regular DragonPass was.

That’s a total surprise. I hadn’t noticed any lounges where Barclays DP wasn’t accepted but PP was until now. Was the Doha lounge showing in the Barclays app? Mine only shows a “sleep’n fly Lounge” and that’s it. Are there others available to regular Dragonpass cardholders? This might suggest the need for a standard DP account (the free one available through Regus for example) as a backup.

[ColinThames]

Apparently the £5 fee refund into your current account will occur one month after the first statement on which the monthly fee has been charged.

[ColinThames]

I also had trouble using the form that others had posted the link to, as it wouldn’t recognise me. But today I discovered there is an easier way of subscribing to the Apple services that come for free under the Barclaycard Avios offer. This works whether you have the Barclays app or the Barclaycard app on your phone.

In your Barclays or Barclaycard phone app, scroll down in your main accounts page. You will see a “Products” area. Tap on “View All Products”. On the next screen tap “Barclaycard”. At the top of the list of benefits you should see “Five Apple subscriptions free for up to five months”. Tap on that and you should find a list of buttons including Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Fitness, Apple News, and Apple Arcade. When I tapped on Apple TV+ it then opened a browser offering “Enjoy 5 months free Apple TV+”. Then click the “Try it Free” button. If you are doing this on an iPhone, it will take you to to ApplePay subscription page to sign up for the subscription for when your free period ends. Confirm you want to go ahead and it’s done! Oddly, it gave me six months, though it may be because I’d just got a new iPhone.

If you’re worried about going into the paid for period by accident you can immediately go to the Your Apple ID section in Settings, then tap subscriptions. You can cancel your Apple TV+ or Music etc subscriptions now and it will run to the end of the free period, so no having to remember to cancel just before. And of course, once it expires, you might find another free trial offer to use!

I’m not sure what happens if you try this on an Android phone, though only the Apple TV+ will probably appeal, whilst the other offers require an iPhone or iPad, I think. Perhaps you get a code or something to input on your Apple TV+ apple?

If you have previously subscribed, or had a trial offer, make sure your subscription has finished before you try to start a new trial. It’s good that Barclaycard allows you to take out the trial at any point.

This method is certainly easier than filling in a form. Hope this helps!

[ColinThames]

I’m also seeing weird issues with defaulting to Amex Companion Voucher if you change the search.

Also, Rob’s article suggests that you can only book using the normal RFS rates.

But when I searched for two one way domestic tickets using Barclays upgrade voucher, the result came back with 50p taxes each, ie £1 total, plus 18,500 Avios for a domestic flight. So not only were the taxes wrong but the Avios required were more than twice what they should be (8,000 Avios). No apparent way to change to taxes.

Anyone been able to book over the phone when this happens?

[ColinThames]

Thanks dundj

[ColinThames]

Thanks Rob
I thought I was going mad. Looked for it but there was no My Profile button showing. After a hard reset it appeared. Bingo!

Next question is will Skyteam Elite Plus get me into the KLM lounge in AMS this Easter or would anyone recommend a better one available to Priority Pass/Dragon Pass? Flying back to Edinburgh so it’ll be non-Schengen

[ColinThames]

Have I downloaded the wrong ITA app? On the iOS app there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to log in to my ITA account and view the digital status card
Any tips please?

[ColinThames]

Got my complaint response letter from Creation mid December. Registered my complaint with the Ombudsman (Ombudsperson?) yesterday. Let’s see how it goes…
In the meanwhile, no way of earning any points with IHG other than Amex MR points, which is irksome. Is hoping they’ll find a new provider pointless? Surely if Marriot can make it work with Amex then so could IHG, and Hilton for that matter?

• This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .

[ColinThames]

+1
In the same boat. I’ll be going to FOS as point of principle once Creation have responded to my complaint. Or once the 8 weeks have expired. Their service over the years had been dreadful and their final badly managed action has left me gobsmacked.
They claimed that not awarding my earned certificate was ‘a business decision’. My going to the FOS is a direct consequence of their poor decision making.
Thank you everyone for your encouragement and information. With so many of us in the same boat I can’t help wondering if the Creation’s management underestimated the cost to them if cancelling our accounts whilst not honouring their agreements.
If ‘treating the customer fairly’ is a key FCA principle they should maybe have their licence removed.
Rant over…