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NorthernLass wrote:

I’m not – cash prices are very reasonable for a capital city and I want the 8k bonus points for 4 paid nights. I have seen the voco for 22k points pn though.
Actually opted for the airport HIX in the end for a whopping £70 pn, it has a pool and we’ll be Ubering a fair bit anyway to avoid the heat!

I’ve stayed at that hie a couple of times, has a small pool and hotel is fairly new, air con was great , which for me, is the best part.

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Erico1875 wrote:

tw33ty wrote:

Sitting in the new lounge at Edinburgh airport.

It’s a big improvement on the aspire lounge that it replaced.

We were in yesterday morning. It was quiet. Breakfast better than BA next door

The only thing I’d say about the new lounge is, due to the furniture and the fixtures and fittings, it will get dirty and show up the dirt very quickly, and look grubby soon if not kept on top off

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With it being 1st July, was just about to order something from Harvey Nichols to take advantage of the £50 on Amex platinum, went to double check its in my offers tab, and it’s no longer showing as an offer on my platinum card.

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Sitting in the new lounge at Edinburgh airport.

It’s a big improvement on the aspire lounge that it replaced.

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The indigo is much nicer in Stratford upon Avon

No lounge, but much much nicer.

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Just outside Edinburgh for me, but I travel most weeks for work, and I find the platinum card covers the cost of it for me.

£400 a year meal credit
£100 a year Harvey nicks
Lounge access
Travel insurance
Secondary card for OH

Are the benefits I use without factoring in the extra Amex offers to card, so for me, just on the listed offers, I’m paying £150 for 2 x lounge access accounts (OH travels too) and travel insurance.

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Swissports horizon lounge terminal 1 at Geneva, Marhaba lounge terminal 1 Geneva
The lounge terminal 2 cologne / Bonn

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As dundj says, on platinum, but also got it on £200 get £75 on the bonvoy card.

The non bonvoy card offer last time from memory was spend £300 get £100 was it not.

Never mind, in the most in Altona atm so will trigger them, so nice timing for me, this hotel and the residence inn next door has triggered the offer for years, but never actually been in any of the official Amex hotel list, good to see they’re both on there for once.

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Last year it was early feb, as I used mine at Hampton Park Royal for the night and hopped to cp Hanger Lane to use an IHG offer for the next night 😝

Sad how you remember these things, yet forget loved ones birthdays

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@jj sounds like you were at one of the swissport run lounges at Geneva airport, terrible aren’t they! Some of the worst lounges I’ve ever been to.

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Seen the Radisson offer this morning, got it on two cards, normally I’d book an easy couple of nights on a business trip to trigger it on both cards, but it still sticks in my throat how they screwed folk over with the loyalty program.

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The westin is very nice, with a great lounge.

Bit further out, but taxis are dirt cheap.

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The only way you are going to get a co branded ihg points earning card in the uk is if it’s a new player into the market, or someone with deep pockets trying to grab market share.

It would never be the same terms and conditions or earning ability.

The current big players in the uk wouldn’t touch it.

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@bh. Oh you’re missing out on loads!

The lounges normally have caviar, moet champagne, the finest steak, the finest French cakes.

Everyone gets their own butler who also shines your shoes and presses your suit while you quaff your champagne.

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That’s normal at crowne plazas.

Only paying for the club room or having it for forty nights gets you in the lounge.

Some crowne plazas lets diamonds in the lounge though.

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I risk the wrath of being shot down here, or typecast as a mini jbd, but, the airport lounge drink problem, or the problem of certain folk kicking the arse out of it, became exponentially worse when certain folk started to get lounge access with that annoying holiday mob with the smug family in the adverts.

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I done a pre payment for a pick up at Madrid, and pre paid on Avis uk.

The payment did trigger, but, a few things to note.

The exchange rate they done was terrible, in addition, because it was pre paid, the Avis site themselves weren’t making the money on the rental, so they lied on the bill at the end and said they had to refill it, and I’d asked for an extra driver to be covered, but, you don’t find this out until you get an invoice a few days later.

Also, if it’s a business rental for work, the terrible rate they’ve swapped the gbp to euro to act as a pre payment transfer on the invoice, means you’ll get less back in gbp.

All in, for £50 not worth the hassle and I would do it again, and in fact I wouldn’t use Avis / budget again because of it.

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@can2. I get what your saying, and your right, it does come up on the screen and say it, but I’m going to disagree on the sneakiness of it.

Ive used contactless regularly in numerous cities in Switzerland, and it’s only Geneva this has been coming up at some places, they are forcing you to make a decision, a decision that you have to make quickly while in a queue etc.

We’re all savvy on here and know what to do to avoid the extra charge, but it’s sneaky as it’s almost an idiot tax (maybe wrong words, but can’t think of anything better) or, even if not a idiot tax, a chance for someone who even knows, to just press the wrong option, so get end up being charged more, through either not knowing / understanding this, or through being panicked and flustered.

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@bbb yes, each place that was trying to make me force the option of making me choose to pay either gbp or chf, that’s when contactless didn’t work, the extra charge was only for the “convenience” for paying in gbp.

Obviously I selected chf each time as I’m using curve and also not a tourist who doesn’t know any better.

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I don’t redeem my avios for business flights, I’m Edinburgh based, so much less direct flights from here,so I don’t value avois that highly, I’d rather save the 1% than effectively be buying avios at a higher rate than I redeem them.

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@jbd I use zing at weekends in non euro or usd currencies for this reason on personal spend.

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@can2 – just flew back from Geneva today and I too noticed this at so many places!

Contactless wouldn’t work in the places that tried to charge extra, I thought it was sneaky af.

I don’t recall seeing this the previous times I was there.

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I travel most weeks for work, For personal spend abroad I use curve during the week or zing at the weekends.

For business spend, I use Amex bonvoy or whichever card I’m trying to put spend on, don’t care if there’s a charge, not me paying the charge.

[tw33ty]

All the hotrl offers this year but nothing for Hyatt so far.

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They do still count, had one come through from a stay on Sunday night.

This pops up from time to time of customer support not knowing properly.