[Panda Mick]

Something not talked about on here (it is a travel website, after all), is mental health.

“WTF!” You’re all thinking…. Bear with me:

Currently in the SAS Gold Lounge at CPH. They have a “Daylight top up” room, which has this bright white light. Lounges are not known for being the brightest of places (nor are aircraft), and, especially as we go into winter, it’s easy to forget the impact that a lack of daylight can have on people. As a sufferer of SAD, I think this room is a genius, and, frankly, amazingly obvious thing to offer travellers, especially as jetlag interferes so easily with our rhythms.

[Panda Mick]

Datapoint: flew SAS LHR-ARN-HEL on Friday and TPs/ miles have posted already to Virgin. (36 Hrs ish)

Quickest I’ve seen points post in a long time!

[Panda Mick]

davefl wrote:

Lady London wrote:

Excellent.

Did your journey depart from MAN to somewhere else via DOH on a through ticket?

You know why I’m asking.

If this delay increases at your final destination then MAN is your departure point so you can let us know how your UK 261 delay claim goes if the delay turns out to be long enough – think it’s 4hrs – at.the far end.

Lol, you’re always on the ball @Lady London

It’s actually one of those occasions when the airline has done everything they can and kept us informed, so ethically I wouldn’t feel right claiming.

There should be more of you in the world. I know many here would be all over the EU261 claims like a cheap suit. Still claim, but the fact that you took the time to ponder this makes me think their’s hope for humanity.

[Panda Mick]

Because of the Lufty lounge being closed at T2, I had to walk over to the PP lounge instead (flying SAS, so couldn’t use any other lounge

There’s a bit of a queue so I start listening as to why people were being turned away.

First person was turned away because they were only letting priority pass in less than 2 hrs before their flight

But the next person was trying to get in with their BA Amex! For a second I thought, “what cheek” and then quickly remembered some of the lame ways I’ve tried to get into lounges

Seems stranger that Air Lingus revamped their lounge here, given their ties to BA. Surely T3 would have been better (more connections, easier to get to T5)

[Panda Mick]

CF Frost wrote:

Morning all. Doing some research as am beginning the job of hiring occasional office space, or ‘rooms’. Is there a good single source or information here – someone who has worked out which card has the offers, who has the points, and what the slam dunk best London play is? Regus, WeWork, etc. Searches so far a bit inconclusive. Thanks for any comments and thoughts.

Fora. I just prefer their spaces. Regus try so hard, but miss the target and avoid WeWork at all costs

[Panda Mick]

RE: Plaza Premium Lounge T4: Wow, what a change from the old one! It’s much nicer, and larger and the view is better. Can even see Concorde! Food is better. But the piped music is quite loud. Even with my noise cancelling headphones on, I could still hear it 🙁

[Panda Mick]

Regarding driving in France: Drove to and from Milan a couple of weeks ago

Stayed at Dunkirk on the way back, which I can’t recommend enough. Was lovely and no English in sight

Tolls are hideously expensive. Racked up £80 between Le Shuttle and Basel

However, the Roads are excellent, and there are plenty of nice places to stop en route, especially handy if you are travelling with a dog

Good to know that we could have gotten a tag whilst in the UK.

[Panda Mick]

Curve International cashback has just launched:

As a premium Curve customer, you will now earn 1% cashback on all your spending* outside the UK & Europe.
The smartest way to spend abroad

Your Curve Wallet is now as essential as your passport. Earn cashback and save hundreds in hidden conversion fees every year. Remember to use Curve every time you travel to make the most of your premium benefits.

https://www.curve.com/en-gb/?_branch_match_id=1202962070819445884

[Panda Mick]

phantomchickenz wrote:

Andrew. wrote:

anuj wrote:

Very Off topic but just wanted an opinion on what you would service recovery you would expect in this scenario:

Ordered a fridge from Samsung, took over a month for them to finally deliver it, arrives with damaged door and broken shelf and drawers.
Rang up Samsung they can’t replace as out of stock, can’t supply similar fridge at price I paid, can’t return the fridge they took away for a trade in discount, and also can’t reinstate the birthday discount code. So begrudgingly ask them to repair it but can’t help but feel they should offer a discount for me effectively having to keep a refurb fridge for full price. Am I being unreasonable? Can’t return my original fridge so refund will be inconvenient at best.
Was over £1k and now the same fridge elsewhere is out of stock or no longer on sale.

Search for Miele Outlet Abingdon if you want immediate delivery of top-brand kit. You get to choose whether you want “A” grade end of line equipment, or you can have C-grade bashed stock with full warranty for your “dirty kitchen”. Stock list updates daily.

https://application.miele.co.uk/resources/pdf/MieleOutletPricelist.pdf

Someone (might have been you) gave me similar advice a few weeks ago re a new dishwasher. It arrived last week and I thought I’d be clever and fit it myself saving £90. Took the best part of a day, but got there in the end, and now very happy with the purchase. Ordered on a Monday, was delivered that Wednesday.

Also fitted my own a couple of months ago. The trickiest part, and it was only tricky because I didn’t have confidence, was drilling the small holes in the piece of ply(*) I used for a door (and cutting the thing down to size) to hang on the dishwasher. The supplied template was easy to follow

[Panda Mick]

strickers wrote:

Good afternoon from the White Hart Hampton Wick, seeing my lad prior to our flight to Vancouver tomorrow. Nice welcome, proper coffee machine, fresh milk in the fridge, standard hotel kettle, two ply loo paper and six non nickable hangers.

Have stayed here. Perfectly situated for the 300m walk into Kingtston / SL7 (nee X26) bus to Heathrow

I quite enjoyed my night there too! Lovely little room. Made friends with a dog in the most agreeable bar too

[Panda Mick]

For those willing to venture out of zone 1, Buenos Aires in Richmond has a great steak, and their Dulce De Leche….

[Panda Mick]

Giardini Naxos near Taormina was lovely

[Panda Mick]

Day use still qualifies.

[Panda Mick]

Don’t forget that class of US ticket will determine the tier points that you get too.

Whilst G & Z get you 100 TP one way, (J, C, D, I) will get you 200. A quick tootle on ITA Matrix will find fares that contain the lowest fully flex class, minimising the flights that you need to take

[Panda Mick]

JDB wrote:

You can see LTPs in the app under the ‘cake’ showing TP progress for the YTD. Hope you are close! I’m worried they will move the goalposts as they are now so easy to earn and even being gifted for spend on the BAPP. Or, as suggested elsewhere, they might just reduce the TP earned on the anomalously priced European routes.

This is not the forum you’re looking for!

Virgin, not BA

[Panda Mick]

I had to go through the exec office to get my refund. Refunds are having to be manually approved, and Tel Aviv is the reason for the backlog, from what I was told.

Still not good enough, though

Exec office were brill, however.

[Panda Mick]

marks7389 wrote:

Shai.Weiss@fly.virgin.com

Thank you!

[Panda Mick]

This doesn’t even need thinking about…. I’d have replied instantly

Also, don’t forget, you’d have been able to claim “original mileage credit” ensuring that you got the tier points and, well, points for the cabin you should have flown in

A free, round trip, in upper, inclusive of tax? TAKE MY MONEY!

[Panda Mick]

Waldorf on Aldwych is approx £90 on a day rate. If you get there early enough, you’ll get breakfast thrown in too!

[Panda Mick]

Having travelled with AF / KLM / SQ / DL and VS this year….

AF / KLM post the day after.
DL takes three days
VS four
SQ takes the longest at nearly a week.

Only the AF / KLM flights have not had to result in a “missing points” form this year.

BUT: The team that add the points are normally VERY quick. Normally overnight and even with SQ not being part of SkyTeam, that only took three days

[Panda Mick]

I’m having only 50%* of stays post points: You’ll see the stay appear and it may also have a receipt attached to it, and it may also have an effect on diamond qualification, but there’s never any points

* have stay at 4 hilton properties in the US in the last 15 days and only 2 stays have posted correctly

[Panda Mick]

Thanks for the comments above….!

small update:

There’s no automatic refund, which is a little shady.

You have to email customer.service@fly.virgin.com

And then you hear nothing for 5 days.

However, the refund was then processed and refunded within 48 hours, which wasn’t bad.

Cheers all.

[Panda Mick]

Would it be correct to assume that this could be a decent gold run opportunity?

[Panda Mick]

Annie wrote:

Which hotel brand is the easiest to accrue points and therefore free nights? Most of my travels are USA, Canada, Belgium and France. Should I look at a credit card or stick with my Amex?
I guess this might be a how long is a piece of string type question but grateful if anyone can help me.

So,
1. You won’t gain any points personally by booking hotels for others. Most hotels insist that the points account owner is the person actually staying there.
2. Which leaves the only points earning potential to be a card like gold / plat amex, or others

[Panda Mick]

Having transited through ICN on the way to Osaka, this really does open the door for Japan flights with VS miles without the ANA lottery