[dst87]

Adding here for anyone curious – I just used the Confirmable Suite Upgrade voucher on a Railcard booking and that did not cause any issue, so this rate appears to be valid.

[dst87]

I called IHG this morning and the process was reasonably smooth. I first got through to someone on I guess the wrong team who seemed confused, but once I got to the correct person they were friendly and helpful.

Upgraded from a 1 Queen Bed Essentials room (booked using the Railcard rate) to a 1 King Bed 1 Bedroom Suite (not the bottom suite, but the lowest they had showing online).

Very happy, and glad to see that the railcard / corporate rate didn’t cause any issues. From a £289 / night room to a £708 / night room (not that I’d have been willing to pay it).

[dst87]

My assumption is that they’ll upgrade you to the lowest suite available, so if you booked the basic room and then got an Ambassador upgrade to the next category, I don’t see why that’d affect what they upgraded you to – it’d still be the lowest suite, at least to my understanding.

I’m going to call tomorrow to attempt to use my voucher for a 4-night stay… we’ll see how it goes!

[dst87]

NorthernLass wrote:

Check your e-upgrade offers – I booked a “cosy” room for early May bank holiday and got an offer to upgrade to a junior suite for £54 pn!

Oh, interesting. I’ll keep an eye on that. I didn’t realise there were e-upgrade offers for redemption bookings. Good tip!

[dst87]

Speculatively booked two nights over hogmanay at IC Edinburgh. Not bad, though I worry that a basic room (or even one up from a basic room) will be pretty grim at that hotel. We’ll see!

[dst87]

PeteM wrote:

dst87 wrote:

If it works, report back! I’m staying there at the start of Sept.

You can look forward to a bar of milk chocolate 🙂

Wow – so exciting. 😆

[dst87]

Olly wrote:

Anyone know if there is a password live at the moment?

Staying at the Kimpton Fitzroy this weekend

If it works, report back! I’m staying there at the start of Sept.

[dst87]

Rui N. wrote:

Considering it takes 3 months for the bonus to be posted, you’ll be waiting for a while.

Wow – that’s a bit of a joke, but I suppose I’d better wait until then to cancel the card. 😆

• This reply was modified 53 years, 1 month ago by .

[dst87]

I saw the same 50 Avios bonus and was confused / concerned. I hit the £500 recently and so far no sign of the 3000 Avios. 😒

[dst87]

Anyone hit the £500 target for this card yet? I did yesterday (£500.01 spent, clearing out the balance) and I’m wondering how long it takes for the 3,000 Avios to be credited.

[dst87]

AnotherUser wrote:

Does the Railcard rate mean you don’t get points from the stay?

You still get points etc. for a railcard rate.

[dst87]

Scott wrote:

Another one here who bought a YouChoose ‘All Access’ giftcard from the Paypal website.

Got the confirmation email from Amex straight away, and the cashback credited a few days later.

Activated the giftcard with no problems and used it to purchase a Sainsburys E-giftcard, which I have since redeemed online.

I missed that Sainsburys was an option for that. Were both cards digital, and can you simply add the gift card to your Sainsburys account to be used automatically for future shops?

[dst87]

meta wrote:

Because with low return, you’re better off spending money on another card that gives you more and costs less

If taking those transactions independently, I don’t see how someone getting, say, £1,000 of statement credit in a year would possibly get that net £300 of value on a different card with those same transactions. Ok, Platinum’s 1 MR point / £1 is not the best you’ll get, but also having the card doesn’t preclude having other cards for spend that isn’t eligible for a Platinum statement credit.

Plus… the card is pretty cool. That’s gotta be worth something, right? 😉

[dst87]

meta wrote:

I’m not suggesting it’a free lunch, but if you’re not getting at least 5x the value of annual fee in statement credits, you shouldn’t have the card.

Why at least 5x? Why should someone getting 1x or 2x the fee in statement credits / value not have the card?

[dst87]

Andrew J wrote:

And I’m the same with the HN credit – I’ll spend that anyway so it’s as good as a £100 discount off my annual fee.

I’m _mostly_ the same with the HN credit… I used it this year to buy a bottle of whisky / rum – something I’d do anyway – but the HN prices are inflated a little, so I’m not getting the full £100 value IMO. Close enough, though.

[dst87]

If this becomes a recurring benefit as suggested then it effectively works as a £150 discount for me, as I will easily spend that every year at The Ivy or Hawksmoore in Edinburgh. Not bad, so long as the fee doesn’t increase as some are suggesting.

[dst87]

Another ++ for AirTags – they worked so well, and let us see when bags were coming round the belt. There’s also a nice peace of mind sitting on the aircraft waiting to take off and seeing the luggage near the plane etc. (though I suppose this could just as easily result in stress…)

[dst87]

It would be nice if tagging someone notified them, too.

[dst87]

I know that (at least previously) supplementary cards that have the same card number as the primary card can’t both be added to different Curve accounts. I ran into this with a Nationwide credit card; both primary and supplementary had the same card number and my husband was unable to add his as it considered the card already added to a different account.

[dst87]

Heh, I appreciate the reference. 🏆

[dst87]

I remember reading that Amex will promptly sent a replacement card anywhere in the world if necessary – is it worth asking them? I don’t know how fast that is, or if there’s a cost involved, but it might be a solution if you’re desperate to use the card before you get home. Perhaps someone else here has used this service before and can share their experience.

[dst87]

I know it doesn’t help you now, but I keep all of my credit cards in my password manager. That way card information for all of my cards is available anywhere I go, along with logins etc.

I’ve used 1Password for over a decade now and love it (I also now work for them, full disclosure) but any similar system will allow you to store and access credit card information as well as logins and other sensitive information.

One thing that may help… have you ever asked any of your web browsers to save card information before? Some are quite keen to remember them for you, and you may be able to access the full card information that way.

[dst87]

memesweeper wrote:

I sent back a bag at 99 days to swap for one of a different colour which wasn’t available when I purchased. No quibble, they even sent the new bag before receiving my return to ensure my travel wasn’t disrupted. That’s the kind of customer service that has me on a forum at the middle of the night promoting Away Travel. And the bag itself is bomb-proof.

Skip the battery though. You don’t need it.

Good to know, thanks! I’m tempted to get the one with the battery as I can imagine it being useful sometimes and although I’m astonished they haven’t updated the battery to be all USB-C, I figure I can upgrade in the future if they release an update (which surely must be round the corner…?)

Plus… the one without the battery is out of stock. 👀 I agree though that I’m most likely to have a small rucksack with me that I’d keep one of my existing batteries in anyway, but I don’t know that getting the case with the battery will be much of a downside.

[dst87]

I’ve enjoyed reading all of the responses and discussion around benefits of various bags. Thanks for the input everyone.

We re-examined our checked luggage and I don’t think they’re in as bad nick as I remembered. I think I just wanted something new and was pretending they need replaced when really I’m just being an obedient little consumer. I’m going to stick with those for now (Antler cases, and they’ve served us very well to be fair).

That said, we do legitimately need better hand luggage and I’m now considering the Away Carry On Aluminium edition. I think the extra rigidity sounds good, as does having clasps instead of a zip. If it doesn’t appeal I can always put their 100 day return policy to the test!

[dst87]

mark2 wrote:

I have bought gift cards here https://www.paypal.com/uk/gifts/all in similar offers.
Not the best selection: I would only buy garden centre cards but others will have different view!

Oh nice! I had no idea PayPal sold them directly… it looks like you can add multiple smaller gift cards to your card too, which I assume are processed in a single transaction?

This should be perfect, thank you!