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This has been warned against in the strongest possible terms here, including by Rob iirc.

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Carlos wrote:

Has anyone claimed over the phone/post?

My only claim using the Plat insurance was settled incredibly easily over one phone call. No documents needed at all. It was car hire related and all the extra costs were charged to the card so it was obvious what I was claiming.
All in all I was extremely impressed.

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@Aardvark @degsy thank you for this info.

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Jon, congratulations and also huge thanks for keeping us informed of the progress of your case. Those of us waiting on the FOS can perhaps be heartened that someone without particular legal expertise has achieved a result against Creation at MCOL. Well done again.

[zio]

*diamond… sorry!

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Spend that £70 in the next 2 weeks so the voucher is in your account ready to book at t-355.
Amex give a pro-rata refund on the card fee, so there’s no immediate need to cancel before your card anniversary. Why not see how the redemption process goes? In fact the recent changes to the BAPP vouchers have added flexibility and potentially given access to more seats. (I’m unclear from your post if you are after 2 or 6 seats to the Caribbean. I’d be confident of 2, but bagging 6 redemption seats on the same flight will be luckier)
Club suites are gradually being rolled out so your chances are going up, but route is more important than time of year.

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That’s the theory so there are no guarantees… but if a hotel has better rooms why wouldn’t those go to status holders? I’m currently platinum (thanks to HfP) and in Oxford last week I got one of their bigger corner rooms.

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Yes!
Edit- it’s included anyway so would be a bit mean not to give it to top tier guests.

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I appreciated the thread title!
The Gabriel- Curio in the art deco district- was nice if the area interests you. I’d stay again. 80k points. Very hard to get excited about the Hampton Inn on Marathon (80k) or Key Largo (74k). Found value for money in general difficult to come by in the keys. Favourite was Casa Morada, Mr and Mrs Smith on Islamorada, but not spectacular by any means.

[zio]

Hmmm, the 25k does not show in my avios rewards tab where the 1500 appear. The BC rewards tab (where I guess it would more likely appear) is glitching, looping between Nov 22 and Dec 6, so I can’t see the relevant date. 25k appeared in my BA app with “finance card” by it on the 17th.
I wouldn’t give up hope as for some reason no avios transferred at the start of this month. Hopefully you’ll get yours when the next sweep happens.
I perhaps wasn’t clear that I actually became a new BC holder back in the spring when the card was first launched. I am taking this 25k to cover 4 phone calls to get the accounts linked and 8 months of no £5 fee rebate.

[zio]

My timeline:
Oct 24 spoke to Barclays about accounts still not being linked
Nov 4 email saying eligible for 100k
Nov 17 25k avios posted as new BC holder! 😀
Dec 5 first £5 avios dual reward credit

Good luck!

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@nwoody2001
I’m not sure I see grounds for a complaint. Frustration, sure, and only you can decide if the frustration and annoyance warrant changing bank.
I think phoning to try your more personable approach is likely to lead only to further frustration, waiting to speak with someone who isn’t able to make a personalised decision.
Sometimes jumping on an offer is the winning play, sometimes it pays to hold back. Never pays to get too riled when it turns out you made the wrong call.

@Carlos
Yes, had the same with the address on my new BC application not exactly matching the one on my 30 year old current account. I resolved this on the phone… eventually… and received the 100k email about a week after. I didn’t expect the email and wasn’t chasing those avios. What I wanted and got was my BC to appear on the Barclay’s app, and the £5pm fee rebate.
I rate my chances of getting the 100k as about 60-40, but as an existing premier customer I’ve already got more than I expected when Barclay’s first announced the avios tie-up. Some you win.

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@strickers @Lula did you use points or money? I assume both options are still open but would appreciate confirmation.

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Hopefully it will all join up for you automatically, but details have to match exactly. It’s taken me 6 months to get everything linked. I put my middle name on the BC application which I didn’t use when opening a student account at Barclays decades ago.
I have been waiting 8 days and counting for a replacement card. Ironically given the trouble people have been having using apple pay, my card was apparently compromised… it had been linked to apple pay despite me not having an iPhone.
Remains to be seen if I will get 25k avios promised before I got things linked, the 100k promised after they were linked, or nothing at all.
Good luck!

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In a word, no.

You can upgrade a cash ticket using avios, but there has to be avios reward availability in the class you want to upgrade to.

Try Rob’s article here: https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/04/08/how-to-upgrade-british-airways-flights-with-avios-2/

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@Olly thank you for posting the complete text of the email.

I haven’t received this email… am I an outlier in this respect?

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Quite right. No secret at all. They expire naturally. Just like giant tortoises.

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NorthernLass wrote:

Just out of interest, is there a point at which the FOS itself will be out of time and can no longer pursue these cases? Just thinking it’s over 5 months now and I haven’t even had a case handler allocated.

Strange…I submitted on the 12th of this month and had an email today from my case handler introducing herself. I know there has been discussion of the merits or otherwise of being pushy but given it has taken 10 days for me to be assigned it seems worth making contact after 5 months. Did you get an initial “do not reply, we’ve received your complaint” email? Mine said it could be 4 months before I would be assigned so I was shocked at this afternoon’s email.

Assuming of course that the outline of our complaints is the same: no voucher after spending 10k, points not transferred following notice of account termination etc.

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Thank you for posting. Along with the surcharge figure, it would be a helpful data point to know which destination you booked.

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@Marc in awe of your IT skills…I think BA need you! Thank you for sharing- very interesting.

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It’s very much worth visiting, but I have no idea why you would lack confidence in Ethiopian Airlines…?
If you just want to see the falls you have a choice between seeing them from Zambia or Zimbabwe.
VFA airport (Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe) is closer to the falls, LVI (Livingstone, Zambia) is about 30km away, but there are hotel options right by the falls.
The quickest route from the UK will probably be Ethiopian to ADD (unless perhaps you are entering as a Tigrayan, you shouldn’t have any concerns) and on to VFA. You will have more options flying via JHB (as well as being able to use your avios on BA) but it take longer.
In September you are probably better off viewing from Zimbabwe as flow stays more impressive. However, it is more difficult/expensive to do my favourite thing… Livingstone Island to stand on the edge of the falls…from the Zim side.
If you are interested and happen to be there on the 9/10/11th the National Park opens at night around the full moon and you might get to see a moonbow (try viewpoint 7).
Edit- should have said, if interested in the moonbow I think by September the Zambian side has stopped opening at night. It is the best side to see it in July/Aug though.

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Have been using metal with avios BC in Peru for the last month. No problems, no fees.

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A few other notes, not all of which strictly fall under “Sacred Valley”. Sorry, long post, but something may help someone…

Like @meta my experience (as diamond) was that the Hilton Lima Miraflores is a very impressive hotel. I stayed 3 times (6 nights in all) as I made my way around Peru. Example, final night I arrived at 1940. Upgraded to junior suite (for the 2nd time), my left luggage had already been taken to the room. Offer made to take my other luggage to the room if I wanted to go straight to the lounge (closes at 2030, but they were fine with me taking some food and a beer back to my room, where welcome macaroons were waiting). Conversation then went “Do you have an idea when you are leaving tomorrow?” – “I need to leave for the airport at 4.15” – “4.15 in the morning?” – “No, in the afternoon.” – “In that case we will give you a 4pm checkout.”

The free breakfast is also an extraordinary 4 course affair if you can manage it!

And they cared about finding me somewhere I could watch the Chelsea-Spurs match on Sunday morning.

In Cusco I stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn. Excellent staff, well run. As seems to be the way for HGIs, upgrade options are limited. I got a courtyard balcony king room, which I think is their top room category, on my first stay.  No upgrade on the 2nd (one night) stay, but a 2pm checkout as requested.

The hotel is at the top of a steep climb.  It needs fitness or a taxi on the way back from town.  It’s reasonably priced but if you aren’t tied to Hilton there are definitely better hotels in the centre.

If renting a car, try Sixt but don’t leave it until the last minute. By the time I got round to it, the only place I could find with a car was PeruRentalCar on Calle Saphy. They aren’t crooks but the only car available (an aged manual Toyota Ineos) was without doubt the worst car I have ever driven. Says something about the car and the roads that they seemed more interested in checking the spare wheel than the bodywork.

I used Inca Rail (bimodal service) to get from Cusco to Machu Picchu. Very impressed with the organisation and punctuality. I’m not sure they would have been any better than Peru Rail in a situation such as that faced by @meta but I could have no complaints at all.

Sites in the Sacred Valley:
Pisac- very impressive archaeological site. I found parking on market day stressful. Guess I should have got up earlier…
Chinchero- my personal favourite, very peaceful and good artisan craft shopping around.
Moray- interesting terraces, a bit different from elsewhere.
Salinas- interesting in itself (think Pamukkale), but not much to it. Go early or late as I’d say it isn’t worth a long queue to get into the small car park.
Ollantaytambo- interesting and extensive site. For a different perspective and fewer people, try Pinkuylluna, the site on the other side of the modern town- from the ruins of Ollantaytambo you can see it on the hillside opposite. Cheap parking just around the bend past the site of Ollantaytambo (estacionamiento acceso Ollantaytambo on Google Maps).
Machu Picchu- yes, the view from the top near the entrance really is that good. 3 hours will be enough for most people to see everything. I found the one way system a bit restrictive, and you certainly don’t want to miss out on the famous view by doing one of the “low” routes. The restriction on numbers means it isn’t a complete zoo. If you get there at 6 you won’t have much company, but otherwise don’t expect peace and solitude in which to contemplate the beauty of your surroundings.
Rainbow mountain- it’s painful but it’s worth getting a tour leaving Cusco at 3am. You will likely be on a minibus of back-packers, but crucially you will be ahead of the crowd. If you arrive with the big tour groups it will be a real scrum to get the photo you are going for. The “red mountain/valley” next to the famous mountain gives better views overall, and will be almost empty, but you can’t see the rainbow stripes from it. It was an optional extra walk for the tour I was on (10 soles payable at the start of the trail, and 10 at the viewpoint).

Internal flights- I used LATAM throughout and was lucky (no delays or cancellations) but was also impressed by their organisation. I took @meta’s advice and booked premium economy. Apart from the blocked middle seat and snack this does get priority boarding, and perhaps more usefully priority disembarkation and priority baggage that actually does arrive first. At every Peruvian airport, though, you can see how a small problem could quickly escalate into huge queues.

Finally, OT, Doubletree Iquitos. Almost certainly the most upscale hotel in town, so possibly it doesn’t feel it has to try. No mention of status and no sign of an upgrade (2 one night stays).

MAD-LIM/LIM-MAD-LHR Iberia A350 redemption in J. Knocked spots off my BA Club Suite redemption to MIA at Easter, with only a quarter of the cash component. Not hating on BA, just sayin’…

Overall a terrific holiday. Friendly people, excellent food, interesting things to see and do.

[zio]

Such a fantastic destination with so many options. There is a danger of trying to cram too much in. Although amazing, Vic Falls for example is of course an entirely different country, or two…

Another +1 for hiring a car for the KNP. Go for an SUV for extra height. I would always also spring for at least one game drive as the guides’ “bush eyes” are so remarkable. Book accommodation in the park as far ahead as you can.

The Garden route is famous for a reason, but take your time to get out of the car and explore a bit. For a slight detour try the Schoone Oordt in Swellendam (Mr and Mrs Smith, bookable via IHG)… how many hotels have you been to which wash your car every morning?

A shame you aren’t there (this time) for whale watching season: I am an evangelist for de Hoop, where there is another Mr and Mrs Smith property.

The wineries… Cape Town itself… decisions, decisions. Enjoy!

[zio]

No, it’s still there.