[warrior01]

I saw someone (likely) from the Indian subcontinent taking a small TV and his wife/mother taking on a mini fridge filled with some kind of food into the cabin on J on QR from MAD – DOH. I assume they were flying on towards Asia somewhere from what I remember of their passport covers. No issues with that as far as I could see.

[warrior01]

I’ve never heard about this being possible. I’ll have c.12+ hours to JNB and back in mid May-early June on BA (economy!!), so I’ll give this a go and report back if nobody else does before then.

[warrior01]

The Iberia customer services are really awful IMO, and if you try to redeeem avios on IB, there are no refunds at all allowed. They also seem to be really slow at updating accounts/crediting the right number of miles to accounts.

But I do agree, their requirements to get to OW Sapphire are comparatively low and cheap, reflecting the reduced spending power of the Spanish consumer market. A couple of weekends in Spain, flying on a cheap IB metal across the country (and to the islands) would be a fun way to rack up the segments for low prices.

[warrior01]

Royal Air Maroc’s Safar Flyer programme and Alaska Mileage Plan may be some good alternatives with easy ways to OW Sapphire (and cheap-ish). I’ve been doing some digging, trawling through the T&Cs of these schemes, and talking to their customer services to get as much detail as I can over recent weeks.

If you’re interested, I’m going to be trying to talk through the RAM scheme in a video I have scheduled for Saturday afternoon and Alaska’s scheme next weekend (and Malaysian Airlines in a few weeks time) over on my fairly new youtube channel (sorry if self-promotion isn’t allowed here). I struggled to find any detailed reviews of these programmes, so thought I’d give it a go myself: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsMVBYz36X8iOOaCWjs6Z6g

[warrior01]

Name: Radisson Red Helsinki
City: Helsinki
Upgraded? Yes, from Standard to the lowest category of Premium room.
Lounge Access: No – they don’t have one.
Breakfast: Yes, large selection of fresh fruits, local porridge and oat-based dishes, local meats and hot options. A corner of gluten free cakes, biscuits, bread and granola, and various types of juices and smoothies made from local berries. Breakfast in a bright and airy dining room past reception.
Welcome gift: 2 Euro bar of white chocolate.
Stay Duration: 3 nights

[warrior01]

Thanks both

[warrior01]

tootsci wrote:

My 3 so far have been BA, but I do have a couple of IB coming up so let’s see. I was also looking into Malaysian Enrich, seems like a close second to RJ if you want to earn status on cheap segments. RAM requires minimum number of RAM flights. There’s a useful thread over on FT, with a Google Drive document outlining the pros and cons of the OW FFPs if you’re not already aware of it

Do you have the link to this Google Drive please? I may have missed it, but been trawling through FT for an hour and can’t find one

[warrior01]

Optimus Prime wrote:

“From 3 June 2025 onwards, you’ll collect Avios and tier points based on the money spent on your flight ticket and the tier-specific multiplier. This means that you collect Avios and tier points for Finnair codeshare flights in the same way as for Finnair scheduled flights. The change applies to new flight bookings.”

https://www.finnair.com/fi-en/finnair-plus/collect-and-use-avios/collect-avios-and-tier-points-from-flights

Looks like Matt’s Planet has to update his video…

That’s just for AY codeshares though, right? If you did other Oneworld airlines that aren’t codeshare, you will still go by the assumption that Finnair has no clue how much you spend on the flight and bases it on distance only…

[warrior01]

Nothing in my Statusmatch account, which made me question if it was a genuine email. If I get anything back from RJ about this, I’ll post it here so we’re all in the loop.

[warrior01]

I’ve definitely made good use of the status. An arbitrary estimate from free seat selection and lounge access alone (not including priority boarding, etc.) would well cover the cost of this renewal offer. I haven’t credited anything to RJ. I mainly use Avios for flights, so status helps to smooth over the rough edges when flying economy on BA and the likes.

[warrior01]

I used to spend a lot of time in the Gulf when I was a travel writer, and Doha is a close second to Muscat as my fave city. For a “rural” type escape in Doha, I’d recommend a couple of nights at the Al Samriya Autograph Collection. It’s like a country house/castle surrounded by horse farms and attached to a grand museum about 20 mins from downtown. Quite a calm area and gives you a bit of a flavour of “real life” away from the skyscrapers.

[warrior01]

I’ve got a few Radisson stays coming up in April/May. Any VIP experiences with the below?:

– Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre OR Tambo Airport
– Radisson RED Helsinki

Contacted the OR Tambo one about early check-in (didn’t ask for a specific time). I know it’s not a given and VIP status doesn’t mean they need to give me particularly special treatment etc etc – the response I got was basically, our check-in time is 3pm, your flight arrives at 7am, not our problem.

[warrior01]

If you haven’t already, check out the YouTube video made last week by Matt’s Planet (don’t think I can post links here). It took me a couple of times to get to grips with how complex the AY system is compared to BA, but worth a watch.

[warrior01]

BA IT strikes again!

I was hesitating, but bit the bullet and went to boost x4 all 2024 transactions to get about 114,000 avios at 0.91p each. Got to the payment page, clicked pay, and then all of a sudden the screen flashed back to the page where you click transactions to boost, and they had all disappeared. The avios haven’t come through, I didn’t get a confirmation email, I can’t now see any transactions that are boostable, but the purchase is pending on my Amex.

Contacted BA and they told me to contact Points.com – who told me they just supply the infrastructure and it’s BA’s backend problem. Contacted BA and they are adamant that they don’t have anything to do with boosting. Looks like i won’t get any boosted points this time around and will need to file an Amex dispute.

[warrior01]

Mine is 0.91p per Avios (£1079.34 for 117,320 Avios) with the 4x boost.

I wish we could boost Alaska Airlines miles instead! They now let you earn status from redemption flights.

[warrior01]

Thanks for the responses all. I always forget how big the states is compared to the UK! Will definitely have a look through Reddit and play around with maps to see what looks interesting. Definitely not keen on arriving in some small, remote town in the middle of the night.

[warrior01]

Shameless self-promotion, but I’ve written about Oman (and the Gulf) for most of my travel writing career, and advise the likes of IHG and Marriott on Oman. Have a look through my portfolio for some inspiration (I’d recommend the Frankincense Trail article)

joeworthington . contently . com (remove the spaces)

[warrior01]

Sorry for hikacking this discussion! I’m going to be in Seattle at the end of November. When I was booking it, I didn’t realise I’d be flying from Ketchikan to SEA on Thanksgiving (I’ve now realised and have a non-refundable flight).

Does anyone have experience of Thanksgiving in Seattle? Are any food shops/restaurants going to be open? Will transport be available from the airport to downtown?

[warrior01]

Great write up. Definitely on my bucket list, so saving this. The thing that’s always put me off is the perceived lack of spoken/written English there and the reports of corruption by the police. Maybe that’s no longer the case.

Did you ever have to pay a small donation to any security officials at any of the sites you visited?

[warrior01]

I was flying in F. Never thought of people arriving in F and flying elsewhere in a different class. So that probably explains it.

[warrior01]

I went up to the information desk in Al Safwa and asked how long the walk was to whichever gate it was for the BKK flight, thinking I’d need to walk there myself. The 2 people on the desk looked at me in absolute confusion, told me to take a seat near the sushi restaurant for a few minutes, and the a man was called to escort me 20 steps to the lift down to the first bus. He even pressed the lift button for me!

[warrior01]

Took this in reverse (DOH-BKK) in F a few weeks ago on the leased Cathay aircraft – one of the 777ERs. Have to say, I preferred that seat over their own Q suites. Less privacy, but a lot more spacious. The attendants were super friendly and really attentive, addressing everyone by title and first name. The food was also marginally better than I had in business.

The experience boarding from the Al Safwa lounge via the luxurious first class bus that travels all the way to the other side of Hamad Airport was a memorable experience. Ended up with the bus to myself and was welcomed onto the plane by all of the business and first crew as I was climbing the stairs.

[warrior01]

Great trip report! I’ve done Georgia a few times, probably seen everything there is to see from top to bottom. But be warned, if you’re a non-drinker like me, you feel left out. Everyone (including tour bus drivers) drinking lots of wine costing pennies and copious amounts of super high strength cha cha spirit.

I got a taste for Borjomi water. It’s fizzy salty water that’s sold everywhere in Georgia (apparently was popular with Tsar Nicholas). Doesn’t sound particularly appetising, but when you’re faced with alcohol or that, you get a taste for it. Now I look for it every time I travel through eastern Europe/central Asia. It’s never the same as the authentic Georgian version though.

Svaneti, high in the Georgian mountains is well worth a detour to see. Probably the most authentic local village left in the region these days, and the views are Unforgettable.

[warrior01]

Had a couple of really bizarre experiences with being RJ Gold Sparrow over the past few weeks. I was flying AY economy from SIN – HEL, my RJ number was attached to my AY booking so showed OneWorld Sapphire on the boarding pass. Went to the lounge (think it’s the rubbish Marhaba one) and the guy at the desk said “oh wow. Royal Jordanian elite” – then led me into the Qantas 1st class lounge next door. I obviously didn’t tell him that I’m not Emerald equivalent. So that was fun for 2.5 hours!

And in Hamad Airport, I was flying QR business class from Madrid with my RJ number attached to the booking by the check in agent in Madrid. I was escorted off the aircraft and put on a bus directly to the lower ground lifts to the Al Safwa lounge (I had a connection in First), but I’ve never heard of being transported directly to the lounge. I asked why, and they mentioned the RJ Gold Sparrow, combined with the first connection, flagging on their system as a VIP traveller. Odd.

I have no clue why people are interpreting gold sparrow as higher than the OW equivalent (Sapphire), and these may have been one offs that will never happen again, but it made for a few interesting experiences.

[warrior01]

My RJ app says 46 segments are needed to retain Golden Sparrow