[brian]

I’m still down as VIP but I recall mine taking about two weeks to be actioned this time last year.

[brian]

Pebbles wrote:

brian wrote:

It’s now over a year since I got VIP status via this route and according to the app I’ve yet to drop back down to Premium which I get from my Platinum. It’s still showing the 12/99 tier update date which I believe is the same for many others.

Mine is the same and it’s starting to annoy me a bit; I wish it was clear in my account when VIP was going to come to an end. My status should have dropped down to Platinum by now but hasn’t yet, and I haven’t managed to rack up enough stays to legitimately requalify as VIP. I’m in the middle of booking accommodation for next year and would definitely book a few more Radissons if I was still entitled to the free breakfast, but without that benefit I’m more inclined to stay elsewhere. I don’t want to connect support and ask when I’m going down though in case that reminds them that they should already have downgraded me 😀

I’m in the same boat, looking right now at booking something for Easter but it’s unclear as to whether I’ll have VIP status of not. Unlikely but it’ll annoy if I do continue to have it further into the year.

[brian]

It’s now over a year since I got VIP status via this route and according to the app I’ve yet to drop back down to Premium which I get from my Platinum. It’s still showing the 12/99 tier update date which I believe is the same for many others.

[brian]

rams wrote:

A small update. Not quite relevant to the title though. In the end we won’t go away in Oct 🙂

We did Dalaman Hilton at Easter. As a points redemption was really good value (370k points for 5 nights). Weather was very good – mid to high 20s every day. Food options excellent including their buffet. The a la carte all inclusive was extra and not sure worth it food wise but was nice to have a sit down meal with the other family we were with. Kids club and activities looked varied, our boy was only 2 so unfortunately not so good for him. So many pools including kid specific ones. Recommend

Off to Ikos Olivia next week and really looking forward to seeing if quality can justify the cost. Will report back

I’m just back from Dalaman Hilton. Temperatures reached 43 degrees one day but on average it was closer to 32 degrees.

Would strongly recommend redeeming a standard room then requesting a paid upgrade to a lakehouse on arrival.

Curious to hear how Ikos Olivia compares as there’s a big difference in price from what I can tell.

[brian]

Hadn’t considered looking at the website.

https://amexdining.com/

Would be great if Platinum reverts to the 20% discount and they broaden the participants ahead of August.

[brian]

Shame that this seems to be shelved. Got some decent value out of the offer, even at the reduced 10% offering.

[brian]

tf2025 wrote:

Just stayed at the Radisson Blu Dublin Airport. Overall a clean and comfortable 4 stay property, and very convenient for terminal 2.

Upgraded? No, booked a High Floor Premium Room and received it. Request for airport view not honoured, so I enjoyed a fetching car park vista instead…
Breakfast: Yes
Welcome gift: Small box of chocolates and a note.

No acknowledgment of status at check in, no offer of upgrade paid or otherwise (though 3 suites showing as bookable). Check in was perfunctory at best, though I wasn’t expecting more. It’s an interesting one with so many of us having done status matches; one thought is that it weakens the offering and you don’t get perks you haven’t earned, but then the company is the one giving their status away – I would be more inclined to treat newly minted status guests particularly well, in the hopes they will see the value and be incentivised to pay and retain that status. While this stay was fine I will not be rushing back, free breakfast or no, but it’s nice to see other properties are doing better.

Was going to give this a try for my next trip to Ireland as opposed to travelling via Dublin City and stopping off at the HGI so it’s a shame to hear that you didn’t get anything beyond breakfast.

[brian]

Managed to add it to my Platinum but dissapointed to see it’s reduced to 10%. I was getting plenty of use out of the 20% offer as it’s certainly a big enough discount to sway my opinion on where to eat.

It does look like a few more restaurants have been added but hoping we see a return to 20% at some point in the future.

[brian]

The Savage Squirrel wrote:

brian wrote:

Looking to use my VIP status upgrade over the next few months but I’m finding that given I’m booking for a family of 3 (2 x adults and a 5 year old), I need to book a Premium room to begin with. Given my son has recently turned 5, I’m not sure if we’ve crossed a threshold that is likely to apply to all chains going forward (mostly stick to Hilton due to Gold status) or whether this is very much a Radisson thing.

Booking engines and hotel group websites are, as you’ve found, inflexibile and bound by pre-programmed blanket rules, and Radisson’s IT in general is especially rubbish. If you contact individual hotels, most are very helpful about what would be most suitable for your family (and if they’re not you can reconsider whether you want to stay there) – this will often be different to what the website offers. This can generate quite a saving too.

Thanks for the response, unfortunately it’s the convenience that comes with booking engines and hotel group websites/apps that really helps with my travel planning process. If I see two hotels side by side and one states upfront that there’s the option of a rollaway bed and the other requires me to book a family room for 4 or a suite I’m more likely to just go with the former. However, maybe reaching out to the latter wouldn’t be that much additional effort.

[brian]

Looking to use my VIP status upgrade over the next few months but I’m finding that given I’m booking for a family of 3 (2 x adults and a 5 year old), I need to book a Premium room to begin with. Given my son has recently turned 5, I’m not sure if we’ve crossed a threshold that is likely to apply to all chains going forward (mostly stick to Hilton due to Gold status) or whether this is very much a Radisson thing.

[brian]

That is correct.

[brian]

meta wrote:

@RonnieB read the T&C and it says to best category in the hotel subject to availability (with few hotels not participating).

Which is followed by:

Upgrade to suites not always guaranteed: it may vary by property and seasonality

[brian]

I was there yesterday too, at 17.00. Had booked as we had Amex Platinum credits available to use before the end of the year.

I was very impressed with the space and am now hoping Amex continue this initiative into 2025 as I would definitely pick No 1 over the Plaza Premium even though it’s a much smaller space.

Being right beside the EI gates is a big plus, it was very quite when we arrived but pretty much full as we left at around 18.45.

Cold food on offer (wraps, couscous, salad) but thought it was much higher quality than what you often get elsewhere. The porridge / soup pot was being used for Mulled Wine.

Birra Moretti on draft, had a Makers Mark too.

I spotted the “we are not taking any walk ups” board tucked away but not in use.

Will definitely head here next time I’m in T2.

[brian]

Ruralite wrote:

Any recommendations for one of the Hilton’s (Park or Plaza) or the Intercon please? Visiting with my daughter & want to be fairly central for a couple of nights visiting the Christmas markets & taking in a bit of culture. Thanks

I stayed at the Intercontinental in the lead up to Christmas last year and thought it was great. Booked using Amex FHR for $100 credit and free breakfast.

Location was perfect, easy access to the airport by train and just outside the Old Town.

Got one of the rooms that looked out onto the ice rink behind.

As pbcold says, it’s old school beautiful as opposed to modern but was done up nicely for Christmas.

[brian]

https://www.visitingvienna.com/songsfilms/before-sunrise-locations/

An excellent resource if you want to retrace Jesse and Celine’s steps

[brian]

runnerbean wrote:

We’re off to Vienna next week, Lonely Planet in our hands and Before Sunrise in our hearts….

I definitely noticed more Before Sunrise enthusiasts in Vienna than Before Sunset fans in Paris.

[brian]

+1 to Winchester.

We visited two years ago and enjoyed it. Last year was Vienna. This year will have to be a UK weekend break or see what Dublin is like in the lead up to Christmas as will be passing through.

[brian]

Think I’ve finally fell into the trap of dining at a restaurant and using my Amex Platinum with the expectation of receiving cashback on a dining offer to then find out that the restaurant has been removed from the list of participants.

Looks like Honest Burger has been removed from this offer, it was even prominently highlighted as a participant in the post from only 2 weeks ago.

https://hfp2026mar.kinsta.cloud/2024/09/09/get-20-cashback-at-1300-restaurants-with-amex/

What’s worse is that I have a 12% cashback on Monzo that I didn’t use.

[brian]

I really enjoyed reading this trip report, thanks so much for taking the time to write it up. I had seen that you intented on doing a report from reading the Bali & Lombok thread but I just assumed it was going to cover some high end hotels that I’m unfamiliar with. Instead you’ve triggered a flood of memories as I covered a very similar trail to you about 15 years ago and I still to this day consider Flores to be one of my favourite destinations of all time.

I saw little of Bali beyond Kuta as I had just arrived from a sizeable time in Borneo so was happy to base myself there for a few days before travelling east.

I then stayed a few days in Gili Trawangan rather than Gili Air stopping off somewhere along the way that I genuinely can’t remember where it was. I also considered getting the slow boat to Flores. Instead I opted for possibly the most gruelling trip of my life where I set off from Gili T at 7.00am and arrived in Labuan Bajo about 40 hours later crossing both Lombok and Sumbawa by bus along with the two ferry rides between islands. The first thing I did the next day was book a flight back to Bali.

I adored Flores and visited all the sites beyond LB that you listed. Did Rinca Island rather than Komodo. Can’t remember exactly why. The highlight for me was my time at Riung visiting the 17 Islands National Park. I don’t think I’ve ever (and may never again) felt as far removed from modern life as I did during my few days there.

As you mention, accommodation was very basic while in Flores. Coincidentally, I returned to Bali and treated myself to a few nights in Poppies Kuta where I did get to experience the swimming pool.

Thanks again for the write up, it really has brought me back to a trip that I will never forget. Sounds like you’ve had equally as good an experience.

[brian]

My recent experience is the same as @Gavin454.

I thought I last got my offer on June 30th 2023, so I tried again two weeks ago. I was told the only offer available to me was downgrading my card. Fortunately towards the end of the conversation the agent said my last retention offer was on the 31st July 2023 so I knew I was likely to have a different outcome in a few weeks. I just reached out and was instantly told that the 35,000 MRs offer was available to me.

[brian]

@Nomad312 thanks, sounds like all customer agents have access to that information, albeit not instantaneously

[brian]

I’ve just reached the one year anniversary of my last retention offer so time to try again.

It’s probably been mentioned numerous times in this post so apologies for asking again. When using the online chat, do you take a similar approach to if doing so over the phone (eg ask to speak to someone from the retentions team?). I think all my attempts to do get some points using online chat have failed so clearly I was doing something wrong. I assume using the app as opposed to the website is irrelevant?

[brian]

kpinc wrote:

People are guaranteed to take advantage of this, pre-booking slots that there’s every chance they don’t turn up to. Therefore you need some bespoke mechanism to disincentivise this behaviour.

They could charge for no show, unless a flight has changed / cancelled on short notice. Changes can already be made up to 48 hours in advance should plans change in advance.

They may end up doing so as it probably is the solution that best serves all parties. My assumption is that it was easier to roll out the 4 auto pre-booking entitlement per card capabilities to initially test the waters.

[brian]

@kpinc, Instead they should ensure the maximum allowance is offered, ideally unlimited, as lounges are starting to charge extra for a guaranteed spot.

As I said above, I’m not quite sure how they offer this without coming up with a turnkey solution for No 1 lounge pre-bookings. Hand out unlimited complimentary lounge pre-book entitlements? People are guaranteed to take advantage of this, pre-booking slots that there’s every chance they don’t turn up to. Therefore you need some bespoke mechanism to disincentivise this behaviour. It’s possibly what Amex will end up doing should the pre-booking trend continue but it wouldn’t be that simple to roll out.

No 1 introducing pre-booking for lounge pass holders into the mix has clearly complicated matters. Amex are at least trying to address the issue and 8 No 1 pre-booking entitlements every 6 months isn’t a bad place to start (the offering very much seems to be an initial trial / work in progress).

[brian]

Will be interesting to see at the end of the year how many have used up their entire allocation. 4 (x 2) over a 6 month period seems like a good starting point.

I’m not sure I’ll even get to use any of them but I actually do value the addition.

Based on my flying patterns it pretty much guarantees me access to any lounge while they are accepting Priority Pass entries. Not sure what more they can do without coming up with some turnkey solution.