[ukpolak]

Thanks for the tips for PR.

When we last went, indeed we visited Culebra and then Charlotte Amalie as Mrs UKP’s cousin out there has a small-ish boat moored up in Fajardo PR. A LOT of work cleaning, fuelling (never knew a pump could show numbers that high!), prep and docking etc so may choose a more relaxing adventure next time we’re there! I seem to remember some amazing rated beach in Culebra which a bit meh.

PR was a lovely place – jungle rain forests, flora and fauna, beaches and traditional customs inland. And lots and lots of damn iguanas. And tree frogs (cocee?)

Let me see what we can arrange – thanks again.

[ukpolak]

Mrs UKP is of PR decent and we’re overdue a visit to her relatives there at some point. Sorry for basic question but what are the chances of getting 4 x J (so 2 x 241 companion vouchers) on MAD-SJU return?

We managed JFK and MIA albeit with BA over the past year using 2 x 241s (thanks to the tips on here!) but San Juan could be a good option for next time around.

Froggee’s USA trip reminded me of my last visit to family in PR, so this time I’d insist on a hotel with my own agenda and plan. Hopefully there aren’t as many iguanas as ten years ago!

[ukpolak]

In late December we ate in “Mozart more than just ribs” or something… delicious and plentiful but do reserve in advance as many people were being turned away on the night.

Canal tour was great and per the above, do go up the belfry but reserve before. Even if you show up early, get yourself a ticket for later in the day (if they have availability in any case). You can get tickets at the machines underneath the actual belfry.

I’m not sure if it’s still the case in Belgium, but unlike France (and here?), they are still able to charge for still water as an option – ie not law to serve (free) tap water just yet.

Enjoy!

[ukpolak]

I can remember a trip when we travelled via Iceland on our way to the US for Christmas. It was great and can’t wait to return, and to be honest better than the next part of our hols Stateside!

Clearly the hardest part was the lack of day light. It actually made us feel very jet lagged. We booked organised tours which made sure we did the inside “stuff” before sunrise and then outdoor activities for the few hours it was light.

The food was hearty but delicious but also I seem to recall it was expensive. Delicious soups and stews as they clearly know what they’re doing.

Finally – and unlike European or US destinations over winter – I seem to remember iced up snow all over the ground in Reykjavik, ie no real effort to clear up snow from pavements and very slippy underfoot. Take decent footwear! It really was freezing on the tours around the geysers, like two hats / long john type freezing.

I have retained Reykjavik on my list of apple weather destinations just to see what it’s like there (temperature and extent of daylight or nighttime) and it’s already hovering around 0C! Summer seems to max out at 15C or so. Enjoy!

[ukpolak]

LOL I wondered if this was going to be about some scandalous “now then now then” story.

[ukpolak]

Good luck @yorkshireRich

I look back at holidays with curve-balls (little one crying the plane down, other one vomiting in the car just as we were boarding Chunnel on way to Eurodisney some years later!) and they’re all conversation points even today and here to test our resilience!

Sounds like you’ve done all the right things.

The isolation is a bit of a pain but hopefully you have a decent room / terrace / balcony. Good luck and hope little one gets better soon.

[ukpolak]

@yorkshireRich I concur with all of the above.

We had a dilemma with our (now) five year old in that she never got it due to nursery shutdowns during Covid, so we ended up paying to have the jabs at our local Boots pharmacy, I think £80 or so. She screamed the whole place down but an ice cream straight after sorted it. Our eldest caught it through the regular nursery contact with kids but back in 2018/2019 pre-lockdowns.

We went for the private jabs just because our youngest was starting school and also (selfishly) we were resuming foreign travel again and didn’t want to risk her catching it abroad etc.

I did plenty of googling before going down this route and unbelievably, we read of countless examples of parents just applying Calpol, calamine lotion and then make up to conceal spots before proceeding with their travel plans. Good on you for wanting to do the right thing.

[ukpolak]

Thanks @ChrisBCN and of course @JDB.

I was never very direct (which I regretted whilst at uni!) but slowly slowly catchy monkey seemed to work out when in the big world of work and had more of a long term horizon, marriage included!

You’re spot on with the children and tbh it’s our main driver nowadays – rooms with some sort of divider or better still, a bedroom contained within, all of which takes time to locate through searching hotels and then observing layout pics to see if they’d work for us.

Will try the contact us approach. I do think engaging in some relationship and rapport building has value, and I’d have no issue returning to properties if they work out, ie ongoing custom for them.

Thank you again!

[ukpolak]

I had the same error 404 message this time last week, then it popped up a couple of days later all of a sudden and we did some transfers last Sunday evening.

The 30% promo was due to end for purchases around now; I don’t think the workflow is the same but perhaps something going on behind the scenes?

When the transfer did work, it was instantaneous.

[ukpolak]

Thanks @JDB I stand corrected.

Ps – I did see your point above around rate negotiation – do you call or email directly to see what they can do?

I’ve only ever contacted hotels when booking to confirm certain details (eg arrival times) or make particular requests ahead of arrival. We did call a property in Majorca last year because we were making a booking for three rooms at the same time, and they did give a small discount relative to the online direct rate because of the bulk purchase, however this was done via contact with the generic central reservations team rather than the hotel direct. Thank you.

[ukpolak]

I thought I’d read about the offer also working on a Supplementary Platinum and so you could (try) booking consecutive nights but with different cards to try multiple £100 credits (book night one with one card, then night two with the other but without actually checking out – of course ask reception when you arrive). I cannot vouch for this.

I’d read Vegas was another destination where this was possible and relatively easy given the close proximity of hotels down the Strip. £100 in one hotel, then move next door for another etc and less upheaval given proximity.

In any case and to answer your question – my wife would also go mad and the faff of packing / unpacking etc would lead us to just leaving our bits in our cases and never really settling in to enjoy things.

[ukpolak]

Thanks @NorthernLass in retrospect I probably acted too soon but when I saw flight prices elsewhere etc I thought LHR would do, and it’s not too big a deal. EZY have also been unreliable out of SOU – in many cases they operate SOU-destination as the last leg of a 5-leg day (so cancellations are commonplace).

May be a bit cheeky for me to claim parking at LHR from BA, given they did cancel with eight months’ notice!

Im just more sad that it looks like BA are pulling out of Soton as we managed a record 1h from wheels down to washing machine on, after summer hols last month 🙂

[ukpolak]

@NorthernLass no other alternatives available at this time unfortunately but thanks!

EZY don’t appear to have released their schedule yet, and Ryanair from BOH want £2000 where we’d paid c.£1300 to BA originally. LHR routing for a fresh booking would be £3000 but I guess it is half term hols!

[ukpolak]

I just received an email advising that our May 2025 BA flights from Southampton to Malaga have been cancelled and indeed, upon checking all regular BA departure routes out of Southampton (Faro, Palma etc) for random days in 2025 notes zero.

Customer services advised they’d received emails advising them of cancellations impacting SOU which is a shame after using the airport twice this year. They moved us to LHR routing instead, for free.

On of my experiences this year had a short notice outbound cancellation (we were moved to LGW), then on other legs the planes must have been half full, so I do question how sustainable the routes were and with EZY loading up A320s as direct competition.

[ukpolak]

We had the same on my wife’s so she contacted via chat (icon top right of app) and they confirmed indeed it was £400 travel bonus and 40k MRs. I screen printed the conversation. So, nothing to worry about.

They too said something along the lines of “you only have £xxxx of spend to go!” which made me chuckle – spend spend spend to avoid disappointment!

[ukpolak]

Many thanks @Froggee and @BBbetter.

Interesting re the 0.5p value as I have checked a number of US Florida Marriotts for next August and they all seem to coming out at 0.7p/point with the exception of two (WDW Disney Swan/Dolphin at 0.58p/point and on the other side RC Orlando for closer to 1.5p/point), ie never close to the 0.5p floor. Anything on the Gulf Coast for 5 nights is 0.7p/point – Westins, Marriotts through to RC and even St Regis.

Also in terms of relative movement, we booked a couple of nights in NJ before Christmas at 64k points for a $645 hotel (£488) for two nights but for the same cash price if I booked today, redemption is now 80k, thereby eroding value in the redemption for booking today.

I’ll take your advice and purchase my small shortfall, book a refundable rate and check if rates change over time in my favour!

My wife is wondering why I seem to always be on XE and using calculators all the time, but it’s all in the pursuit of value 🙂

Thanks again.

[ukpolak]

Wondering what you went for @Jonathans

For 7 nights for Bonvoy in August 2025 I’ve been comparing flex cash rates with points bookings for cheapest available room (usually standard 2 x double)

The Dolphin and Swan do indeed come with early park entry etc but the comparative value cf other Bonvoy properties is far worse eg same points value gets you in to a JWMarriott with cash rates almost double.

JW Marriott Bonnet Creek – 7 nights
$4405 or £3358 = 398k points
0.84p/point

JW Marriott Grand Lakes – 7 nights
$6800 = £5184 hotel = 400k points.
1.2p/point

Orlando World Center Marriott – 7 nights
$2885 or £2200 = 263k points.
0.84p/point

Sheraton Dolphin WDW – 7 nights
Early park entry, Free shuttle to parks
$3025 or £2305 = 398k points.
0.58p/point

Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes – 7 nights
$10749 or £8195 = 434k points
1.88p/point

WDW Swan – 7 nights
Early park entry, Free shuttle to parks
$3627 or £2765 = 416k points.
0.66p/point

[ukpolak]

Thanks @LadyLondon v sound advice – will add to my list of daily hotel price checking! Appreciate the top tips.

[ukpolak]

That’s a great point – top tip thank you.

Interestingly enough, the cheapest options are pick-up trucks (like $600) alas I don’t own a cement mixer! My father-in-law used to have a Dodge pick-up in PA and I was always wary of our cases being in the open air, if we’d stop anywhere en-route to or from the airport.

I tried Hertz just now and Nissan Rogue (so Ford Edge equivalent) is $1449 / £1108 albeit no insurance protection included so I’d rely on my Platinum credit-card for cover.

I will take your advice and look for a “just large enough” car. I don’t think our mileage will be as much as on your trip but worth knowing what to expect when we arrive. Many thanks again.

[ukpolak]

Thank you @davefl. I now need to work out what the minimum size class I can get away with for a family of four with 3 – 4 cases ideally in the boot (trunk)!

Kayak is throwing up some options on Turo – great pricing but looks like some sketchy car sharing marketplace I’d never heard of before.

Good to know the UK site pricing is all included but wasn’t expecting to pay that much for a car for a fortnight – oh well!

Appreciate your help – thanks again.

[ukpolak]

So, 2 weeks in August 2025 to/from MIA trying (presidents club) with AWD K850800 all on Pay Later basis.

Avis UK, signed-in and providing AWD K850800 (so recognising Pres Club)
Ford Edge – Group W – £1348 – looks like no excesses at all

Avis.com, not signed in but putting in AWD K850800:
Ford Edge – Group W – $1575 + $424 fees = $1999 however excluding the following which add another $950 to the price
– cover the car / LDW
– Cover my liability / ALI
– Cover myself / PAI
– Cover my belongings / PEP

The UK site does not prompt for all of the excess / protection coverage at all and under excesses notes 0.00 DAMAGE EXCESS and 0.00 THEFT EXCESS. I just need to work out if I interpret this as “all included” or do I assume nothing is included but expect the big upsell at airport (and decline on basis of holding Plat card).

[ukpolak]

I was “that guy” insisting on parking in the village (kerbing wheel) rather than at the station and paying a few £. Never again.

Tbh after my experiences on the Costa del Sol (eg Ronda centre) parking of late, even covered car parks are mega tight and squeezy on the continent. I didn’t see a single car without some kerb rash or scuffed corner bumper and an absence of “premium” brands presumably as bumps and scuffs are common place so why bother with a decent car. It kind of reminds me on NYC where folk drive with what look like rubber floor mats hanging over number (license) plates, as people actually use adjacent cars as guides to nudge in to when parking. I’d be fuming!!

[ukpolak]

@NorthernLass QQ – if you are fully Plat’d up, doesn’t that come with the car hire cover (ie no need for other cover)? I was kind of hoping that our Platinum card would compensate for not needing to tick any other boxes when we next have to rent a car on hols but looks like you have another third-party policy?

Btw – I once kerbed my own car’s (black) alloys and used a black sharpie to fill in the scuff and it’s hardly noticeable now. The one and only time I’ve had to parallel park in the past few years, in a quest to get as close to the kerb as possible! Good luck with the fix.

[ukpolak]

Thanks both – yes looks like I’ll nail down days first and then start tracking prices thereafter. Good call re Kayak as hoping something off-airport will be better value.

[ukpolak]

Many thanks @davefl.

I just signed up to Hertz Gold Plus Rewards too – wowee quite the process

DOB
Address
Passport number, issue date and expiration
Ditto from driver’s license
Then full Amex card details and a £0.00 to authenticate me

This comes after a last-min car hire in the Costa del Sol last month where reception sorted me a runaround for a couple of days for (what I thought was) a cheap price for no such admin.

Will have a read and do some comparisons. Fun and games!

Thanks again.