[Chas]

I’ve just left this lounge again, after a 5 hour transfer between our flights from OAX and to ZIH. I thought it would be helpful to clarify pricing for food and drink options (there is no buffet, everything is table service). Whilst the menu has prices against every item, I accessed the lounge via my (UK) Amex Plat card, and on enquiring was told that all food and drinks for me were free. Not withstanding the “tips are in cash” comment…. The prices are applicable to customers who have accessed the lounge via other routes.

[Chas]

elguiri wrote:

Is this challenge just appearing for those that were Diamond before? The 8 nights are probably achievable for me and am currently lowly platinum at the moment…

I think so. I’ve just dropped from Diamond, and the thrust of my email is about earning Diamond Elite status again.

[Chas]

I shifted from Diamond to Platinum during the day yesterday. I have Ambassador until the end of this month, so that is correct irrespective of any soft landing criteria, but I’d also had the SILVER and PLTN lines on my statement from the legacy creation cards.

The free breakfast will be missed, and will mean that my stays now get shifted elsewhere. The “buy Diamond” offer I had at the end of last year was too rich for me – I would have bitten at the cheapest tier.

[Chas]

Thanks @JDB – much appreciated.

@CJD – we decided to do an overnight in MEX on the way back, mainly to avoid the risks of any delays to the domestic causing issues with the international flight back. It also avoids the enforced long connection you’d need to mitigate that risk. We’re getting the 09.30 flight to MEX, staying in a different part of town to experience a new area (Polanco v Centro Historico), before flying home at 21.00 the next day (we’re doing BA to LHR).

[Chas]

@CJD – will do so on our return towards the end of Feb. Do you have a trip booked yet, or are you still in the planning stage?

[Chas]

Thanks NL – will look out for that tour operator when I research the Teotihuacan tours later. Yes, I’ve seen the FCDO advice – we’re flying into Zihuatenejo from Oaxaca (via Mex), so no issues on that front.

Re Polanco – Apple Maps tells me that the airport to there is c1 hour travel irrespective of whether by taxi or metro. We won’t have explored that area at the start of our holiday, so staying there made sense and with luck will help it feel like still part of the holiday rather than hanging around close to the airport which might be more akin to waiting to fly home. We’ll arrive there around lunchtime, and don’t fly out until 21:00 the next day, so with a 4pm checkout that will hopefully make for a reasonably full day and a relaxed taxi journey back to the airport 🤞.

[Chas]

Thanks @NorthernLass for all the details contained in your posts – all very informative.

Who did you use for your tour to Teotihuacan? We’re going in just under 6 weeks, and I’ve left it quite late to book all of our activities – that’s something I need to rectify in the next few days… Will probably go via Viator like you did, and my original research several months ago showed a plethora of similar looking excursions. We’re more than likely to book a sunrise balloon trip followed by a (guided) tour, preferably a small group or maybe private.

After a few days in CDMX (similarly in the Centro Historico district, but in a different hotel to you), we are then going to Oaxaca for a few days, then on to Zihuatanejo for some R&R, before returning to CDMX (this time in the Polanco district) for an overnight ahead of our flights back.

Other things I’m likely to book are a food tour in Oaxaca (looking at With Locals whom we used for something similar in Vietnam previously) and a Mescal tasting “tour / education event”, although not sure where yet. Whilst we will obviously visit some of the historic buildings, we’re not typically “culture” people, and won’t overdo it on the museums / galleries / arts scene – we much prefer to experience the outdoors / scenery, people, atmosphere and food. Any top tips along those lines that you haven’t already mentioned? We’re certainly looking forward to booking a whale watching trip whilst in Zihuatanejo, and will look at Vallerta tours if they’re not too local to where you stayed.

[Chas]

CarpalTravel wrote:

Chas wrote:

As far as I am aware you only get the interest on prepaid corp tax when it is paid c2.5 months before it is due. For me, with payments due on 1 Jan for a 31 March Y/E, only payments made from 16 Oct will earn interest. Earlier payments don’t accrue interest I’m led to believe.

Not correct:

“The earliest date they’ll pay interest from is 6 months and 13 days after the start of your accounting period.”

I think you’re disagreeing with me over the sake of a day or two! I’m just counting backwards from when the payment is due (on 1 Jan), whilst you’re working forwards in line with the language on the link you quote.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/get-refund-interest-corporation-tax

I have done well out of this over the last couple of years. It always amazes me how accountants never mention it, shows how lazy/clerical they really are.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates-for-late-and-early-payments/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates

[Chas]

Ian wrote:

laughingplace wrote:

Curve 3k fronted a month. Virgin works for no-fee points on HMRC spend. CoT 1.5k a month (counted within the 3k fronted allowance) is also an option.

Unfortunately I have a lot of HMRC spend (over 3k a month) that is currently not generating any points.

Tesco card works I think but earning rate is terrible, I haven’t been bothered to do it

Thank you.

So is this Curve Black or Metal? I have Black version.

Are you then linking the company COT card to that?

3k is better than nothing I guess. I also believe we can prepay corporation tax and we get interest from hmrc.

As far as I am aware you only get the interest on prepaid corp tax when it is paid c2.5 months before it is due. For me, with payments due on 1 Jan for a 31 March Y/E, only payments made from 16 Oct will earn interest. Earlier payments don’t accrue interest I’m led to believe.

[Chas]

@davestat – I used my Ambassador free night in Vienna last December, but I recall an oddity when booking it. I can’t recall exactly what, but I think it only worked when a Friday night was included in the booking.

[Chas]

I love Mangoes, so that’s an unexpected bonus! Emails sent to both Marea and LCQC, so we’ll see what sort of pricing they come back with. Thanks again for your detailed insight.

[Chas]

Take two (I wrote my response, then lost it through incompetence…!).

Thank you so much for the detailed response as always @JDB. We’re really interested in your suggestion of splitting the stay across two hotels as both Playas Ropa and Blanca seem so different. I’ll contact both Marea and LCQC for quotes as quieter and more peaceful hotels definitely suit us better.

Would you recommend a hire car if staying at those hotels, or are there sufficient restaurants etc within walking distance to make that an unnecessary encumbrance?

Presidents Day (17 Feb) seems to fall in the middle of our dates, but I don’t know enough about US holidays to understand how that might be driving demand / pricing.

[Chas]

I’ve got two Avios J tickets to MEX next Feb using a 241, and we are thinking of spending the majority of our time on the coast near Zihuatenejo. We’ve narrowed down the hotels which are most likely to suit us to either La Casa Que Canta, Thompson or Marea Beachfront Villas, yet the prices are coming up much higher than I thought they might (Marea is the cheapest, but reports of the sea being rough there are off-putting). I think that JDB has previously said in another thread that contacting the hotel(s) directly is likely to result in a significant discount from their published prices (up to 50% IIRC?) – have I recalled that correctly, and is that really likely to be correct in mid Feb when these hotels already appear to have limited availability?

Separately, we’d really like to spend some time in Oaxaca inbetween our arrival in MEX and our beach-time. It seems that to travel onwards to Zihuatenejo we’d need to reverse our steps and go back via MEX which we’d rather not do (need to allow additional time / possibly another night in MEX to account for potential delays). You can fly directly from Oaxaca to Puerto Vallarta, but I’ve seen JDB’s comments that it is quite high-rise now, and that doesn’t appeal at all. Does anyone know of an alternative, or are we just best to suck up the indirect flights to Zihuatenejo?

[Chas]

Whilst I can’t help with the main query on flights, as I lived in Nepal for 8 months I can suggest some other things to do to turn it into a bigger itinerary (although given that it was 30 years ago, I can’t give specific recommendations…!)

Trekking is something that I would highly recommend, and as JDB has already suggested there are some wonderful routes from Pokhara, which is also close to where I spent a lot of my time. Depending on the time you have available, you might consider doing an out-and-back to Annapurna base camp (the most incredible views of mountains surrounding you) in less than a week, or do the Annapurna circuit (closer to 3 weeks). You could also consider going on a white water rafting trip for a few days on a river like the Khali Gandaki.

Slightly more relaxing would be head to the plains in the south of country and visit Chitwan National Park where (at least when I was there) you are all but guaranteed to see lots of rhinos.

Further afield, after I visited Chitwan I then headed to India where I visited 2 completely contrasting areas: Darleeling (a beautiful, cool hill station) and then Varanasi (or Benares as I think it’s now known). The later definitely requires a much greater sense of travel adventure. The Indian locations may be something to think about for a separate trip, but as they’re close to Nepal they might still be worth considering depending on your other plans, and time available.

Whatever you do I’m sure you’ll have a remarkable trip. Nepal remains one of my favourite countries, not only because of the beautiful landscape, but because the people are so wonderfully friendly.

[Chas]

Chas wrote:

We’re off to Vienna in 9 days time, and in my planning have found this map which someone had compiled of the various Xmas markets. I obviously can’t vouch for its accuracy, but it may be useful if you choose there. When we’ve done other Xmas markets in previous years (Cologne and Berlin) finding a map showing the different locations has always been something we’ve struggled with (when I asked at Berlin’s tourist information office last year it was clearly something that they had never thought would be useful…!)
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1IV8M9-mH8kPwIX-r4le-2hv35XE&hl=en&ll=48.211013374127205%2C16.393441550000002&z=13

@Misty – I got back last night, and this map was really useful and accurate. What I hadn’t realised until we there was that this map comes from the following website:
https://www.visitingvienna.com/sightseeing/christmas-markets/
This gives a quick overview of each market, but when you click the “continue reading” button it gives a load more information including opening hours. It was the main resource we relied on whilst there, and had been updated with references to changes in 2023.

[Chas]

I too am just back from Vienna, where my wife and I splurged our foreign dining credits (plural, as for the last couple of years it has just about worked financially for us to maintain a card each) at Tian Restaurant (not the bistro).

It is a 1 Michelin star restaurant, that importantly is entirely vegetarian. I am an ardent carnivore (my wife is veggie), yet I have to say that it was one of the most incredible meals of my life. Really innovative menu ideas, exceptional execution, and attentive but relaxed service, and whilst I was worried that it may not properly fill me up that was not a problem at all.

It really wasn’t cheap: 9 course tasting menu with wine flight, and I had an optional additional course and wine, (plus aperitif) came to £300pp incl service. The dining credit essentially gave us a half price rather than a free meal, but what a meal it was – one we will remember for all the right reasons for many years to come. And it’s just a 10 min walk from the IC, so very convenient if you have an Ambassador voucher to burn too…!

[Chas]

@Aston100 re Da Nang beaches (at least the part by our hotel) – I’ve rarely seen such huge sandy beaches that were virtually desolate, it was very surprising. People just weren’t using them c500m either side of our hotel. But after that distance south of our hotel it was packed – there seemed to be a public access road directly to the beach, and some lifeguards who were containing people within roped off areas. There wasn’t a hotel at this point (although one under construction – possibly an MO?), so I think that these could have been locals at the weekend.

There is a second VinPearl hotel closer to Hoi An that we had considered, but my wife dismissed it after reading various reports of dirty beaches in that area. I can’t comment on the beaches at the north end closer to Da Nang where you will be staying as we didn’t visit them, but my recollection from our drive by were that they were quite a bit busier than further south (but not necessarily packed).

I’ve just had a look at the location of the 3 hotels you’ve mentioned, and my observations are as follows: Hilton – I think it’s located on the river, so I doubt there’s a beach, and you’ve got the furthest trek to the beach of all three. The other two are both situated across a busy main road from the beach, so no direct access. You have to go further south to where the coast road kinks inland slightly (just north of “Furama Resort”) before you get direct access to the beach. That may not be an issue for you, but at your end of town you’re definitely staying in a city with a beach, rather than a beach hotel.

Our Hue > Da Nang transfer did include various stops. In the end though we asked our driver to miss a few out as the rest of the family were a bit cultured out and just wanted to get the beach relaxation aspect started ASAP! The benefit of a private tour / transfer is that you have that flexibility. We booked that via Viator (via TCB or Q obviously!), and there were loads of operators offering similar services.

Our Hue guide was booked directly with “Adventure Journey” dot vn. It was a “Hue City Tour 1 Day” trip which included the imperial city, pergola, river cruise, 2 x tombs, conical hat making, English speaking guide ~(and a separate driver which we hadn’t expected), lunch stop and pick up and drop off from our hotel. Our trip cost 39USD pp (for 4 pax) although the cost of lunch and entry tickets were not included. Paid a 20USD (total) deposit via PayPal with the balance meant to be paid in cash on the day, but when I WhatsApp’d them the day before they sent a PayPal link so that I could pay the balance (I was low on cash at that point). Maybe it was our specific guide who was awesome, but I would definitely recommend this outfit not only for the knowledge of teh guide we did have, but for their flexibility; for lunch they took us to a restaurant that we had eaten at the night before, and although it had been great we wanted to try somewhere different. It wasn’t a problem for them, and having popped in to explain to the owner, they quickly suggested somewhere else (which frankly was even better!).

Hope that helps, but happy to share more details of our trip if you want. We had an awesome Food Tour in Hanoi provided by Lien from “WithLocals” that I would recommend, although a similar one we did in HCMC wasn’t as good (food choices, rather than the tour guide).

[Chas]

We spent just over 2 weeks in Vietnam this summer, travelling north to south: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Da Nang (with a couple of visits to Hoi An), then onto HCMC / Saigon. We took internal flights from Hanoi to Hue (then private road transfer to Da Nang) and from Da Nang to HCMC. There’s already some great advice in the posts above, but some additional observations from our trip:

We much preferred the hustle and bustle of Hanoi (staying in the Old Quarter) to HCMC which seemed a bit sterile. Although whilst you’re in HCMC do go to the Tunnels and the War Museum (the later is quite harrowing in places).

Ha Long Bay cruise – do NOT use “Signature Halong Cruise” dot com. We had splashed out on their top-end 2 bedroom suite at the stern, which had a huge terrace for our 1 night tour. We boarded to find that that room type didn’t exist on our boat (the only boat with it on had already sailed), and they accommodated the four of us in one room… We were offered a bottle of wine as compensation, despite our room type costing nearly double what two separate rooms would have cost.

Hue – we also stayed at the Melia Vinpearl, and it was incredible value for money (even ignoring the discount I got for booking via the app and by using our 20% off vouchers). They don’t really make clear the differentiation between their room types, but after various back and forth e-mails I established that their “with view” rooms are essentially corner rooms. All rooms have floor to ceiling windows, but due to the room shape the corners rooms have about triple the window area of other rooms without “with view” for less than £10pn more. The citadel was really interesting, and we had a private tour guide who was well worth the money – I doubt we would have found it anywhere near as informative if we hadn’t had him telling us all about it.

Da Nang – this was purely about spending time chilling by the pool / beach. We struggled to find the right place to stay that wasn’t extortionate (amongst others we looked at the IC, but cost was prohibitive and no points availability), but eventually plumped for Vinpearl Resort & Spa where we had a huge 3-bed villa literally right on the beach (saving 20% going via TCB and hotels dot com). Restaurants there were a bit meh and lacking atmosphere, but it seems that most of the guests ordered room service rather than eating in the restaurants.

We went to Hoi An for two evenings (less than £15 via grab) and loved the atmosphere there. The only reason we didn’t look to stay here was the lack of a beach which was non-negotiable for the rest of the family. Can highly recommend the restaurant “The Sea Shell by Nu Eatery” – it’s a tiny place down an alley, paper table cloths and budget prices, but the food packs a huge flavour punch. We returned there for our second visit too.

Internal flights – we used Vietnam Airlines rather than any of the LCC operators. I’d read quite a lot of reports of the various LCCs cancelling and changing their flight itineraries, and with our schedule being very finely tuned we didn’t want to risk the impact that could bring. Whilst Vietnam Airlines did retime our flights a couple of times, it was never by more than an hour.

[Chas]

We’re off to Vienna in 9 days time, and in my planning have found this map which someone had compiled of the various Xmas markets. I obviously can’t vouch for its accuracy, but it may be useful if you choose there. When we’ve done other Xmas markets in previous years (Cologne and Berlin) finding a map showing the different locations has always been something we’ve struggled with (when I asked at Berlin’s tourist information office last year it was clearly something that they had never thought would be useful…!)
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1IV8M9-mH8kPwIX-r4le-2hv35XE&hl=en&ll=48.211013374127205%2C16.393441550000002&z=13

[Chas]

I’ve just noticed that whilst I’m still showing as Classique on the website, on the app I’m correctly showing as Avantage.

[Chas]

This is a known issue according to the Eurostar customer services agent I have just spoken with. All current statuses were meant to transfer over to the new scheme on a like-for-like basis, and everyone’s membership date re-set to 1 October, with current progress towards the new status wiped to zero. Apparently about 20% of members statuses haven’t transferred correctly, and they think it will take 2-3 days to resolve.

I was Avantage, with my membership year finishing at end-Nov. I currently haven’t met the limit to retain my status, but would have done so with a trip I am doing in 5 weeks time. Today my status is showing as Classique.

The agent I spoke with said that going forward membership years will adjust to whenever you gain the next level up; I can’t recall how the old scheme treated increases in status, but it seems that you’ll only get a max of 12 months in a new status, rather than all of the remaining membership year, plus one full year as is common with airline and hotel schemes.

[Chas]

Harrier25 wrote:

Chas wrote:

So that sounds like there will be no free limit at all – I thought I had read a comment saying that it was being reduced from £10k to £3k? I still haven’t received any communication from them, so have nothing to refer to.

“The said fee will still be subject to your subscription tier fee-free limit”.

Did you miss that important sentence @Chas?

Yup! 😄

[Chas]

Skywalker wrote:

@NorthernLass – thanks for the update

I’m tempted to say we all should bombard Curve with messages about this, but let’s be honest, the advisor you’ve got is probably Curve’s only advisor on shift for the week 😀

So that sounds like there will be no free limit at all – I thought I had read a comment saying that it was being reduced from £10k to £3k? I still haven’t received any communication from them, so have nothing to refer to.

[Chas]

Was lots and fun, and great to meet a few of you, including SSS and your lovely guide dog.

[Chas]

Curve: pay your £5k on credit card, and the rest on curve. I pushed a very large chunk through that way a couple of years ago (on 2 cards, on 2 separate days to get around the daily limit that was in place at the time). Dealer was initially slightly disbelieving, but once I showed them that curve has “debit” stamped on the back they were fine with that approach.