[davestat]

With aircraft getting more Premium heavy, should they release more seats for Redemption bookings up front? (Looking at you BA)

[davestat]

You also don’t need to spend in a Waitrose to avail yourself of the free coffee. Just scan your My Waitrose card and that’s it.
On BAC , it’s a bit like Virgin and I sense that it’s a general direction we are seeing. It’s relatively easy to earn Avios etc but it seems to be getting more difficult to actually spend the points, particularly in long haul, unless you want to go to the USA.

[davestat]

I asked part of this question a week or two ago so bear with me. I had a couple of trips booked in CE. Booked in Nov 24 for travel before end June 25. No issues with the Avios but I’m confused about the tier points during the transition period at BAC.
Tier points for the flights all posted correctly using the 13.33 conversion factor. 100% bonus on tier points awarded as a hangover from the previous BAH double points logic.
But no tier points awarded for Car Hire and no Cabin bonus despite registering. Not being greedy but totally confused as to whether it’s an either/ or system as not clear on BA.com and MBB is of no use. I’m sure others have faced the same issues and would appreciate advice. Just doing the maths as to whether to stick with BAC for future flights or migrate to another scheme.

[davestat]

I did an article on yesterday’ forum to say that we sailed through FAO on Wednesday evening as all gates were manned. The issue is that when they only choose to man a couple of kiosks is that the queue gets so bad that you can’t even get down the steps into the immigration hall so U.K., E.U or special needs, you all stuck.

As reported above the surge capacity plastic tent is being readied for summer. If it doesn’t have A/C then it will be hell in summer.

Wierdly we have only seen the eGates open a few times ever. We know they work as we have used them. A passport officer waiting at the end of the process to give your passport a stamp. They currently aren’t even open for EU citizens.

You couldn’t make up the excuses they were giving in The Portugal News (newspaper) last week about their checks covering the purpose of visit, conditions of stay, xchecking against various databases and means of subsistence. I’m pretty sure that’s what all countries do .

[davestat]

Greetings from FAO where is was 32C at 9pm last night. Sailed through the airport despite all the doom and gloom articles in the Portuguese press about Armageddon approaching with Passport staff burn out and systems issues.
No gate for the BA flight despite almost every gate being available – but saw an interesting sight on the way to the terminal – a new temporary facility with what looks miles of queuing barriers and new style entry machines. It’s a giant plastic building so it’s going to be super hot for anyone unlucky enough to use it in summer. Hopefully it’s just for the likes of Ryanair who make all passengers walk to the terminal come sun or rain.

[davestat]

I’m visiting New Zealand next Feb and as it’s such a long journey, I was thinking of adding Fiji afterwards before the long trek back to the U.K. However the travel guide say it’s either the warm or the wet season or both. Does anyone have any hands on knowledge of what it is like in late Feb. Don’t mind the odd heavy shower but OH wouldn’t like rain nearly all day every day. Thx

[davestat]

Does anyone have any experience as to booking a BAH (Flight plus Car) as to how long it takes the Tier points for the Car to post in the new BAC world ? Only my flights have posted so far. Thx

[davestat]

I have 6 return trips in CE per annum and won’t make Silver again. The seats are the same at the back, so will book just enough flights in CE to get to Bronze. Book the rest of my trips in Y as BA Holidays (to get free luggage) and with my savings I’ll book a better non BA flight to Asia each year.

[davestat]

NorthernLass wrote:

I think that’s another clumsy one, as it reads as thougb you would be free to depart the UK, for example, several times as it’s not your country of residence! But the fact that it says “country of residence” and not specifically the UK suggests to me that BA intends people who live outside the UK to be able to earn TPs on BAH’s.

I guess this is how it would apply to say USA citizens flying BA to LHR and getting a connecting flight to say Italy

[davestat]

Man of Kent wrote:

Any particular restaurant you would recommend in Lisbon @MGW?

Senhor Peixe at the Parque das Nacoes. Not cheap but many fish you probably haven’t seen before. You choose the fish from the counter that you want them to cook. We had Turbot once and a giant Golden Bream (Dorada) the last time

[davestat]

Garethgerry wrote:

Can expect Gatwick fleet to start conversion by 2036.😞

And we will end up flying on aircraft older than us

[davestat]

I’m booking any travel I have with BA as a BAH and paying the minimum deposit until a month before departure. I don’t see why I should fund BA when they keep making so many customer requested improvements to their service. I’ll wait until April to see what other news comes out.

[davestat]

Just think how much they would have saved on both Consultants Fees and IT spend if they had simply increased the Tier Point Threshold’s. Simply make Silver say 800 Tier Points. Easy to understand and implement. I would also have thought that the ending of the double tier points on BA holidays would in itself sort out any lounge overcrowding within 24 months. Zero spend required.

[davestat]

And for a direct flight, we noticed there was a LOT aircraft at Langkawi airport this morning. We had Malaysian Foreign Minister sat opposite us on flight down to KUL. Half the airport staff came out for his departure and a large gathering was in KUL for his arrival

[davestat]

Westin is in a good location and if it is good enough for the ASEAN Foreign Ministers, then it’s good enough for me. What you don’t see at first glance on the website is that it also has lots of villas with plunge pools. You can use Grab for all your trips and hotel has a pick up service albeit at near £30. Westin has lots of steps and you can walk up to the St Regis.

Going down into Kuah is Jake’s Charbroiled Steaks. Very nice food – thoroughly spoiled by Australian and Argentinian steaks. And everything cheaper that at the hotel. There are at least four coffee shops down at the Ferry Terminal in Kuah.

Our second stay here and plan to come back next year. Super nice staff versus going West from the U.K.

[davestat]

Definitely recommend the E&O but not for a long stay. Georgetown is authentic but it’s actually pretty rundown as well. Try and avoid Saturday as much is closed. Penang is surprisingly busy (two bridges to the mainland and two more being built by the looks of things. Puts the U.K. to shame. Lots of big apartment developments by Marriott , Hilton and IHG on the way to Batu Ferringgi. Book the best hotel you can afford as they genuinely aren’t expensive. If self catering, I spotted a giant Lotus hyper market. Drinks are expensive everywhere.

[davestat]

For anyone looking at PEN and Batu Feringgi in particular, there is no beach at the Shangri La Rasa Ria. It looks to have been completely washed away, so currently fenced off with a ten foot drop to the sea or simply giant heaps of huge boulders, sand bags and car tyres. Beach further along looks ok.

[davestat]

Just wrapping up our stay at the IC in KUL today. Thoroughly recommend it.
On arriving back at hotel last night they were rolling a red carpet out to the front door. I said to the manager that it wasn’t necessary for us, to which the answer was “The Japanese Prime Minister is arriving shortly and is staying here “. At least he laughed at my comment.
Moving on to the Eastern and Oriental in Penang next

[davestat]

I would pick Air Asia out of the two options but also think that MH flies the route. PS I don’t think the rail link between the terminals has operated for several years and is due to be replaced in 2025 or the year after. If flying MH you would get to the right terminal avoiding any transfer

[davestat]

Just received mine as well. A shame as they had canned the IHG card a while back as well. No way I’d want a generic Creation card

[davestat]

I’m holding off from making any BAH bookings for after June 25 to see if the offer is extended. I typically book five CE bookings a year and if it isn’t extended, I’ll simply book one flight to Asia on QR and fly Y in Europe to maintain my Silver status. I couldn’t justify double the number of flights in CE to maintain status.

[davestat]

Should the FWN certificate be valid at all IC’s. I was hoping to stay at the IC Vienna but when searching for availability it said that “this hotel does not accept FWN certificates “. Advice appreciated

[davestat]

I find the most annoying bit of searching is constantly getting a message saying the website is busy, try later ! Even got it when 95% through making a holiday booking earlier in the week

[davestat]

I was in BKK a few weeks ago. Airport full of Europeans so obviously many airlines other than BA make it work. Hotel prices were ok, although more than on our visit pre Covid. Still way cheaper than Singapore though. Conferences have started up in BKK – several hundred Dassault Systems employees in our hotel.

[davestat]

Is there any way to easily and cheaply upgrade flights on a BAH booking ? OH needs more tier points than I thought. I can only see a change fee of £100 whereas it’s usually painless and free to upgrade flights on a non BAH booking. Having only paid a deposit it might be cheaper to simply cancel and make a fresh booking. Advice appreciated