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Parking at the Hilton is limited so don’t get there too late. When we were last there, there were only a couple of slots left.

Another option is to park at the Hilton overnight then drive to the short stay at T5 in the morning. Not as cheap as long stay, or hotel plus parking but reliable, at the time of your choice, and the car is right there on the return. The POD car park is almost as good.

TFL buses start early enough to get to T5 from T4 but are less convenient with big baggage.

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Just to be clear, TP collection years end on the 8th of a month, status lasts until the end of the following month.

So, her TPs will reset to zero on 9 Feb and her status lasts until 31 Mar. Since Blue is the base level it really need not have an expiry date.

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Yes – lots of people. See the comments following this article:https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/01/26/win-300000-avios/

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I think MAD-PMI is only 20 TPs. Check here:https://www.britishairways.com/travel/flight-calculator/public/en_gb

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Strangely, T4 can be a good base, even for T5. The T4 long stay is usually cheap and usually half empty. The official bus is frequent but you can also walk out onto the perimeter road and get the 482/490 which stops right outside the T4 PremierInn.

When you come back, exit at T5 and get the same buses back to the car park – or take the airside bus to T4 and exit there.

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The business lounges are fairly close together but can be a fair distance depending on the gate – follow the signs, past the Qantas F lounge sign, and then up an escalator. We did the BA lounge outbound, were the first to arrive and there was one shower left, which they let us share. We were able to use the F ‘inner sanctum’ but you are actually just as well off in the main lounge. It is the same food but self-serve so a lot quicker – and good!

In practice you will probably only get about 30 mins in the lounge itself. The QF lounge doesn’t announce boarding but in the BA they will come round and tell you when to go back to the gate. We left when they said and were some of the last to re-board. So you don’t get long.

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You should be able to do that – we have just done that trip albeit it was originally booked pre-pandendemic and moved several times. The new issue with GUF into First is that it is not covered by the new RFS pricing so it is generally more avios than it used to be AND still the old high taxes – which is what the article is about.

The GOOD think about using a GUF at the time of booking is that you don’t need avios availability in club, just availability in A. If you call up with preferred dates they should be able to see when there is A class available – although that is also likes hens teeth.

I think that trying to do it online (under the book and upgrade tab) only sees reward availability in F, whereas the agent should be able to put you in revenue A. Either way, you can call up and try to find availability, and get it priced, without committing yourself.

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I think those those flights are operated by Qantaslink? This article may be of use: https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/12/05/how-to-book-qantaslink-flights-with-avios-points/

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We stayed recently at Cape Otway lightstation – it is fairly remote but good for a night on the Great Ocean Road. It is scenic and quiet with plenty of wildlife – we saw several Koalas in the trees along the road to the cape itself. There are guide-led evening wildlife walks too – see https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/great-otway-national-park

We also stopped at the Kangaroo Golf Course in Anglesea – a bit of a tourist thing but you do get up close to wild kangaroos. https://www.angleseagolfclub.com.au/cms/kangaroo-tours/

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See previous thread: https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/ba-cabin-upgrade-voucher-can-2-be-used-at-the-same-time/

Almost certainly, as for anything other than straightforward bookings, it will need to be done on the phone.

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I think that statement has appeared on every reward e-ticket I have ever had – but have NEVER been asked for anything at the airport.

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It never did work properly even before reduced thresholds complicated things.

If you achieved a ‘new’ status it would update straight away with corresponding expiry date. If you ‘retained’ an existing status, it would say retained, but expiry would not update until the end of your year.

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Scottpat78 wrote:

I’m back at the Hilton Sydney with work and the setup here works well for Diamonds.

You can take breakfast in the Exec Lounge or you get full access to the buffet & made to order items in the Glass restaurant. It’s AUD$45 normally for the buffet, and it’s huge plus very good quality.

We are here now, same as above but Exec lounge much quieter and almost same menu apart from a la carte egg options. Melbourne was continental only in the restaurant.

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As an update – this is another hotel-specific thing.

For the first place, we ended up with the room I picked at OLCI and they insisted there were no other upgrade options even though I could see a better room available to book. That was Melbourne, where diamond breakfast is continental only, with option to upgrade to full, and barista coffees are extra.

Now in Sydney, where I looked more closely at the app messages. It showed an upgrade at OLCI but also clearly said that even if we picked it they would still try to upgrade further on arrival. There was possible further upgrade but not for the entire stay so kept the perfectly acceptable deluxe room. Breakfast is full option for free in the restaurant, but a bit of a zoo, or excellent ‘continental plus’ in the lounge. Full continental plus limited hot choice of eggs, bacon etc. Also afternoon tea and excellent canapés later.

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Barclays voucher can only be used from UK, so you can do one voucher for 2 people outbound, or one person return, but not for 2 on the inbound leg.

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There are several previous threads asking similar questions as well as a load of info in here https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/cabin-upgrade-voucher/page/4/

Ts&Cs say yes but I’m guessing it would require a call – see point 18 here https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/collecting-avios/personalbanking/cabin-upgrade-terms

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Thanks – that all makes sense and pretty much what I was expecting. We have ended up in the room I picked at OLCI so who knows.

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No need to open a qantas account, just book through BA if there is availability. We have just done that exact trip SYD-MEL with Avios.

Here’s another article which might turn up increased availability: https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/12/05/how-to-book-qantaslink-flights-with-avios-points/

No need to have a qantas account, or can add your qantas booking to the qantas app as a guest and check in online there.

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pelicanicecoffeeolaf wrote:

DazW wrote:

Can anyone advise, really simple question. Can I use two Barclays upgrade vouchers on the same trip for 2 return tickets in CW? I cannot seem to get it to play on the site, it shows the two vouchers but will only let me select one. Any help is appreciated.

I believe you would have to make two separate bookings, one per person/voucher.

If DanW can see 2 vouchers in their account they must both belong to them – rather than one each.

You can use 2 vouchers on the same booking (if they are both yours) as per the Ts&Cs, but I am guessing you would have to call – see point 18 here: https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/collecting-avios/personalbanking/cabin-upgrade-terms

They are not the same as the old Lloyds vouchers as they can only be used for trips starting in UK – so if you have one voucher each I think you would have to make 2 separate bookings – which is doable but I guess each booking could potentiall be treated differently (offloads etc). ie you can’t use one voucher outbound for 2 and the other one inbound for 2.

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davecatt wrote:

I’m planning a mileage run to retain status before 31st December and LHR-MAN would be ideal.

If you just need the one return, then booking 2 singles is going to be easiest, but as mentioned not necessarily the cheapest. The point of coming back on the same aircraft is that if it is delayed, so inevitably will the return be delayed, and you can’t miss it. If you plan 2 trips on separate aircraft a few hours apart, and the first is delayed by more than the interval, you miss the return. ABZ is good as you decant into the departure area – there is even time to go to the lounge.

If you are going to need more TPs than the one return, then you can ‘nest’ return trips, ensuring that the flights are going to be the same aircraft for each rotation.

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Highly recommend a SSD external drive such as: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08RSH8YDJ

No moving parts so stands up to knocks and bumps of travel and tiny size for the capacity. I use it with a SSD MacBook and together they are lightning fast.

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Sorry, don’t know – but I think there is a paid lounge option at T4S which might be a lot cheaper than the upgrade to business?

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drdan wrote:

Note that Amex do not allow dynamic conversion, so you will always pay in the local currency.

The Ts and C’s are just standard copy and paste with respect to paying in GBP given the overseas list

Wish I had known that – and that’ll teach me for reading the Ts&Cs.

We got the cash back on a different card for cumulative spend although we made a complete horlicks of the payments, including a refund to the offer card. So I think the nett payment won’t have reached the required spend after the refund – I wonder if they will claw it back?

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It is a common complaint – that BA says we don’t fly to that place or on that date, when they really mean they are not currently selling tickets or that it is full. I don’t know why they can’t just say it is sold out.

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Ah well – should have seen all this before the trip – but was going by the Ts&Cs which specifically say ‘settled in GBP’. Ho hum, next time.