[Michael Scott]

I would cut down on the BA part of the trip and fit the Bariloche area in personally. Iguazu falls is also worth thinking about!

[Michael Scott]

We went in Nov/Dec on a 241 MAD-EZE on Iberia and absolutely loved it. We took inspiration from previous threads on HFP and ended up doing 3 nights in Buenos Aires, then flew to El Calafate where we spent 1 night, got a bus to El Chalten for 3 nights, back to El Calafate for 2 nights, flight to Bariloche for 3 nights (only place we hired a car), flew to Iguazu for 3 nights and then finally back to BA for a night. We were worried that we’d crammed too much in and possibly too much travelling but worked perfectly for us.

[Michael Scott]

I would agree with JDB about Argentina. We’ve just been using a 241 companion voucher on Iberia from Madrid, great use of avios! We travelled around the country a bit and it’s awesome…and incredibly cheap at the minute!

[Michael Scott]

We stayed in Qunci Villas in Lombok back in 2017 and loved it. Not sure if it’s still the case but the breakfast was a la carte and probably the best we’ve ever had. Easy access to the Gilis too.

[Michael Scott]

JDB wrote:

Michael Scott wrote:

Any recommendations for the Madrid restaurants please?

I have been looking at this for December – last chance for my wife to use her credit and the choice is poor. There are 16 restaurants on the Plat list, and 130 in the Michelin but only one in common – Corral La Morería. The Michelin isn’t the be all and end all but it’s a generally very reliable guide with restaurants right across the price spectrum.

I did look at the other fifteen (although not all are really restaurants) and struggled! The majority form part of two chains and either look like no gos or very expensive vs. quality/reality.

We just came back from a Madrid to Buenos Aires retun trip and went to 2 of the restaurants on the list. I had a look at the one you mentiioned but didb’t really fancy the flamenco show aspect. We ended up going to Bibo which was a very modern and bright restaurant and the food was good. Spent about £100 between 2 of us which was pretty good value. On the way home we went to El Barril de las Letras which was also not bad. £100 spent on that meal too so after the rebate a total of £50 out of my own pocket spent. Can’t grumble!

[Michael Scott]

Any recommendations for the Madrid restaurants please?

[Michael Scott]

If it’s one of the new style vouchers then yes you can. You can’t book it on Iberia’s website it has to be done on ba.com

[Michael Scott]

We visited Sabor in london last night with our credit, would definitely recommend, especially if you can get seated at the counter. Great use of the dining credit

[Michael Scott]

If you’re in Stellenbosch the Delair Graff winery is really good. Amazing food, drink and views of the mountains at a really reasonable price compared to the UK

[Michael Scott]

We’re not normally in to all inclusive holidays but went to Ikos Dassia earlier this year which would be a great place for a honeymoon

[Michael Scott]

A nice little offer of spend £10 get £5 back if using a mobile wallet just appeared on my platinum this morning. It’s not on my wife’s or the supplementary cards though. Not sure why my card has been targeted with the offer as I already use it a lot with apple pay.

[Michael Scott]

AndyGWP wrote:

Hi folks – any thoughts or opinions on the Manchester restaurant offerings?…

Tripadvisor reviews don’t seem that complimentary about any of them about from Hawksmoor (which I noticed someone on here referenced as being a bit like a naff chain steakhouse… tho I can’t recall which exact one they referenced!)

Anyways, current selection is:
– 20 Stories
– Erst
– Hawksmoor
– Tattu
– The Ivy

We ate at Erst a last week and really enjoyed it although see my previous post about it getting credited.
Tattu used to be very good but recent reviews arent that great. Ivy Asia was also good but not sure if the Asia part is included in the dining credit?
We’ve not been to Hawksmoor but it’s one I want to try, it gets very good reviews

[Michael Scott]

I spent £170 on my card (used Apple Pay) at Erst in Manchester a few days ago and has posted as ‘IZ Erst Ltd’. I’m now a little worried as I think the IZ stands for Izettle, is this what Amex class as a payment facilitator? If so, according to the terms I won’t get the credit. How on earth are you supposed to know what payment system the restaurant uses?

We’re now in Paris and planning on spending £300 over 2 cards but don’t really want to do that if we’re not going to get the credit.

Has anyone had experience with this?

[Michael Scott]

MCO wrote:

Any suggestions for Paris?

I’ve read good things about Mosuke but it’s quite hard getting a reservation. We managed to get in for lunch at the end of October so I’m hoping it lives up to the hype

[Michael Scott]

I can only think of transferring them from Amex to Marriott and then out to United. You get 25k United miles for every 60k Marriott plus there is an offer at the moment where you get an extra 10%.

[Michael Scott]

I’ve had the value of numerous vouchers from cancelled BA holidays applied to existing bookings as have many others on HFP. When you get the email containing the evoucher you just need to reply to the email and state the booking reference that you would like it applied to.

[Michael Scott]

memesweeper wrote:

Partner redemption bookings with Virgin miles on ANA was suspended during Covid. Double check its been reactivated before transferring too!

I only booked a couple of weeks ago and I saw someone else on hfp did too so it’s definitely still an available option

[Michael Scott]

You can’t see ANA availablity or book on the Virgin website but you can go to united airlines or aeroplan to search for your award flights. Once you’ve found availability then you have to call virgin to book them. I’ve just booked a return this way for Nov 22 and it’s not an easy task finding business class award seats. I’d suggest reading the threads on flyertalk for some very helpful info.

[Michael Scott]

acsh wrote:

The ANA fees are more than £100 (from LHR). I booked business a few months ago one-way LHR-HND and the total fees were just over £300 per person. It’s still an amazing deal though.

The fees are about £100 the other way though (HND to LHR) or if you depart from BRU or FRA. But as mentioned you unfortuantely can’t use the virgin voucher with ANA flights

[Michael Scott]

yorkieflyer wrote:

Rhys Jones wrote:

Redeeming on ANA, especially now that they have the pretty astonishing new business and first class seats, is typically a sweet spot. Although the struggle is finding the availability.

Typically only one seat per flight

It’s 2 business class seats per flight generally. I’ve just managed to nab 2 one way tickets from TYO to LHR in November with the new business class seats for 47500 per ticket plus just £100ish of taxes/charges. Bargain!
It is tricky finding availability though and I still need to get a one way going from here to TYO. Here’s to hoping Japan will actually even be open to tourists in 2022