[Robm]

Yeah, CS can be a pain for young families. If we’d had a just turned 2 year old we’d have likely sacked it off for PE or something else. We were lucky our 4yo was very occupied by the screen and slept really well as well. As OP was saying flight is to South Africa, PE could work well as a day flight.

[Robm]

Our just turned 4 year old only needed the lap belt and he was okay – he is very skinny.

[Robm]

We did LHR to YVR and back in CS recently with our 7 month old and just turned 4 year old. As CS is 1-2-1 it can make it quite awkward – I was sat next to our 4 year old in the middle by the second bulkhead in a 777, row 10. It meant I could see him and hold his hand if needed (only just about through the partition). My wife was sat across the aisle from our 4 year old with our baby on the bassinet. It was only if both mummy and 4 year old lent all the way forward that they could see each other. Hope that helps!

[Robm]

Good to hear

[Robm]

@NorthernLass have you ever had issues with having 2 sets of PNRs? E.g. are you normally sat together? Have you ever had a PNR kicked from the flight or downgraded?

[Robm]

Those seats might be bassinets/ near to bassinets – bear that in mind.

[Robm]

Glad people are getting wise to these ‘sales’

[Robm]

Checked Ts and Cs. You don’t appear to need a minimum pay in/ direct debits. There is also no limits on the amount of referral bonuses you can receive:
There’s no limit to how many friends you can refer, so every eligible friend you refer will receive a £125 reward.

[Robm]

Cheers. I’ll look at opening an account and get in touch for the referral.

Do they still only offer a max of 2 referer bonuses?

[Robm]

Datapoint – called BA pre-paid twice this afternoon to cancel our cards. We got through and had the request dealt with in about 5 minutes both times. We were fortunate in both getting our 3k avios each, posted automatically.

[Robm]

I am pleased that there doesn’t seem to have been a Hilton wide policy change in complimentary upgrades – since they are now upselling them consistently in advance. I feel like it has always been the way with an element of pot luck/ some hotels being consistently poor/ seeming to purposefully ignore the “availability dependant” upgrade completely – even if they have lots of availability.

[Robm]

Cheers @TherealSwissTony – I’ll give that hotel a miss.

@ladylondon completely agree. I’d highly recommend St George’s Park. It is frustrating that it is inconsistent across hotels and can feel like pot luck/ no luck.

I sometimes use trip advisor and search the hotel reviews for “gold” “diamond” and “upgrade” to help me understand what the upgrade policy/ treatment of loyalty guests is like. It can help avoiding hotels which are dire – or at least helps me manage my expectations.

[Robm]

Yeah, that does sound like you have had a terrible experience multiple times – sorry to hear that. If the hotel is low occupancy and they have premium rooms coming out their ears, I’d be expecting an upgrade. Which was the hotel with at least 4 rooms in every category, and which one took forever with the bottle opener? Did I see you post about the Harrogate doubletree about the building work? Helps me and others avoid these hotels in the future.

[Robm]

The question this thread posed was whether there are no more complimentary upgrades – only the option to pay in advance. Based on my experience the answer would be no.

It has never been a simple formula as to how upgrades work, a lot will depend on the hotel and other circumstances.

I understand the point that if they are selling rooms in the category above, you should get an upgrade. However it might not be that simple – e.g. if there is one superior room still being sold, that does not mean it has your name on it as an upgrade. You might be gold and be trumped by a Diamond or a repeat customer – who gets the upgrade ahead of you. Sometimes the hotel is stingey and will either not upgrade you, even though they could. Or upgrade you a category – which might be meaningless – e.g. a king bed instead of a queen, in the exact same sized room. Some hotels are better than others.

[Robm]

Diamond. There will be a number of factors which will affect the chances of an upgrade. Are you a repeat customer? Are you gold or diamond? Who else is staying – e.g. are you the only Diamond or Gold? How full is the hotel overall? Logistically, a one night stay is far more easy to get upgraded than a longer stay.

If it would be beneficial to get an upgrade, a friendly call or email to the hotel in advance normally works well. As an example, if I am travelling for work, I don’t really mind. If it was a wedding anniversary or something special, then I might try asking nicely.

It depends a lot on the hotel – e.g. some Hampton Inns don’t really have rooms which are much above the standard room.

[Robm]

It is going to depend on a number of factors as to whether you get an upgrade. As a datapoint, I stayed at the Hilton at St George’s Park, got the same automated email upselling me better rooms. Ignored all that and was pleased to find out at check in that we’d been upgraded to a lovely, massive one bed suite. (A few categories above the basic room we had booked).

[Robm]

Whey – I’ve had the £160 refunded – Virgin didn’t uphold my complaint, however kindly refunded it as a matter of goodwill. It helped that the only transaction I made was the same day as the fee was applied (day 1 of the new card year). I would recommend cancelling the card well in advance of this and the end of month 12 to avoid the hassle.

I was told it was a business decision to be this rigid with the rules – which is their prerogative.

[Robm]

One other thought – if you are gaming sign up bonuses – e.g. spend £3k, get 25k avios, with Barclaycard, your returns will be much, much greater than 2%. It wouldn’t really work for me as I don’t have a huge amount of excess spending above what I use to hit SUBs.

[Robm]

Interesting concept – I guess this has only become relevant with easy access savings going above 2%. It might affect your credit score if you have high credit utilisation? You’d also need to make sure you have the money to pay off the balance when the 0% offer runs out. There is a risk you could spend more than you can afford and not realise it until later. With Amex, if you are paying it off each month, you’d find out quickly if your spending habits were unsustainable.

[Robm]

Interesting FOS decision where the £160 wasn’t refunded – a key part was there had been 7 transactions after the fee was applied.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-3342363.pdf

[Robm]

(Emphasis on “month 12” from the article – again – I do accept some fault as it would be a lot easier if I had simply cancelled it well before the renewal date)

[Robm]

One thought I had is that “waiting until the £160 fee hits, then stop spending” 100% does not work – with the way they are now applying the annual fee – based on how my fee was applied. I say this as it was mentioned in the Ombudsman article. The way they applied my fee was waiting until day 1 of the new year – I stopped spending the same day the fee was visible as a transaction on the app – however it was too late.

It is great they seem to be applying the fee later – however, waiting until the fee hits (to stop spending) does not work.

This is the quote from the article:
keep a daily watch on your statement once you get into Month 12 and stop spending on the card as soon as the £160 fee for the second year appears

[Robm]

@Harrier25 – I did get the email – part of why this was my fault for not closing it well in advance! I only remembered because my statement came today and had the £160 fee appeared on it – told too late as the new year started yesterday and I’d made a transaction.

[Robm]

@Northernlass, you are correct, however we can’t easily use the vouchers – it would be worth it for the 1.5 points per £1 spend. However it has left a sour taste in my mouth (even though it was my fault!)

@elguiri, aha, that is incredibly harsh. Seems like they have improved it from your experience at least.

[Robm]

Just a reminder to cancel your card well in advance of the 12 month anniversary. I’d forgotten mine and spent £10 yesterday on day 1 of the new year – and they won’t refund the annual fee. This is of course made clear – and it was my fault I had forgotten – however it really does seem like there is no wiggle room. I’ve closed the card and raised a complaint as the only transaction I made we’re on the same day the fee was applied, however don’t really expect it to be upheld.