[CJD]

Froggee wrote:

@CJD – totally yes. Going to the airport the night before clearly takes a good whack of time but it reduces stress the morning you depart and also affords the luxury of being able to cut things fine which equals more sleepy time. Like many things it’s a personal choice but I hate stress!

I’m only a 20 minute drive from GLA so for a 7am flight seems like it’ll be worthwhile.

[CJD]

Overnight bag drop a winner then?

We’ve got an early morning flight when we go to Morocco from Glasgow in January, bag drop then level 2 of the car park and straight to security could be a really good shout.

[CJD]

Did the same thing not happen last time Israel and the US had a stooshie with Iran? Seem to remember Doha airport having to be closed at short notice due to Iranian missiles.

[CJD]

Lynda wrote:

Email from Amex saying we will earn tier points again this year and a special anniversary offer
Spend £4,000+ in one or more transactions, Get 25% more Avios, one time.
25th Anniversary Bonus Avios
EXPIRES
08/04/2026

£2,000 on the free card.

Are people reading this offer as cumulative spend?

[CJD]

JDB wrote:

NorthernLass wrote:

I meant as in police equipped with firearms, which of course is the exception rather than the rule in the UK. It was more the sheer number of them that was striking, but they were mostly on static posts above ground, I only noticed a couple in the metro stations. Definitely the most I’ve ever seen in a city, anyway!

Try central Paris if you want to see a lot of armed police on every street corner!

I commented because the post about all these armed police, assassinations etc. and your OH not wanting to go back isn’t accurate, gives the wrong impression and unfortunately reinforces silly tropes about Mexico.

You chose to stay in a big city on the Pacific (not endorsed by anyone on HfP) rather in any number of beautiful, small, very calm towns or resorts that don’t have much or any security presence and where people leave their front doors open. Thus you got a rather different impression of the country than those going to Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Zihuatanejo, Troncones, Costa Alegre, Mérida, Campeche etc.

I’ve lost a comment to the ether, I noticed in your links that the US advises against travel to all of the state of Guerrero, which includes Zihua, which surprised me and seemed to be ignored based on my visit there.

Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing much of any sort of law enforcement presence in Zihua.

Totally agree about the tropes about Mexico; I was asked by my team on my return to work whether I saw any guns in Mexico during our holiday which felt ridiculous as I never felt unsafe at any point when I was there.

[CJD]

JDB wrote:

tootsci wrote:

@JDB Yes true, I think she was just so relieved to get booked onto a better flight (brought out her best Met officer negotiation tactics) she didn’t give too much thought to the hotel situation, but hopefully it will just be for a night

As for my Mexico post, do you have any suggestions for local advisory sources?

Re Mexico, the Mexico Daily website is a good and well updated English language source but otherwise I tend to look at the local newspaper sites so e.g. in Yucatán

https://www.yucatan.com.mx/

Although ultimately it’s the FCDO advice that determines whether you will be covered by insurance or can cancel. It’s worth looking at the US and French equivalents as well. Between them, they are very good.

https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel/travel-advisories/mexico.html

https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/conseils-aux-voyageurs/conseils-par-pays-destination/mexique/#derniere

Yucatán and Quintana Roo are quite complicated in terms of govt vs cartels anyway, but with the latest events nobody really knows what might happen. The govt has for some years put in huge resource to protect the big QR resorts. I don’t think the authorities would tolerate too much in CDMX and it’s an easier area to control.

Interesting that the US advice is to avoid all travel to Guerrero, whereas the UK and France regard Zihuatanejo as being safe to travel to as long as you arrive by air.

[CJD]

NorthernLass wrote:

El Pais had a good write up about the current situation yesterday. I agree that the level of security in CDMX – armed police literally on every corner – is a major deterrent to criminal activity, but there were political assassinations both there and in PVR around the time we visited in late 2024 which convinced OH that it’s not somewhere we’ll be rushing back to.

Hopefully it’ll become clearer which way things are going over the next couple of weeks so people can make decisions about their travel. FCDO advice is crucial, of course.

Having just been in CDMX a month ago I don’t remember seeing armed police cutting about. There was a noticeable police/security presence, but I don’t ever remember seeing guns. And that was with fairly extensive travel by metro throughout our 4 days there.

[CJD]

mzb wrote:

MGOR wrote:

Looking to book Mad-BA with Avios Y for 2 for next Feb/early March (no241 sadly) Flights bookable upto mid Feb at the moment with availability. Will go LPL/Man the night before on LCC.

Coming back from either Rio or BA depending on what we do as we are looking to go for at least 3 weeks could be a pain with IB looking like no longer serving Man. Either get to Mad and have another night on the way back before LCC to LPL/Man or try and get flights with BA/IB via Mad / LHR using Avios or cash flight on TAP via Lis in Y. May not be that expensive compared with an extra night in Mad and LCC flights with luggage?

Another option is cash with the likes of Latam etc and save Avios but for what?

Any thoughts or advice appreciated

Thanks

Only advice is that if you are planning to fly on two separate tickets into Madrid and then out, be mindful of the time it takes to collect luggage. From my experience at T4 it takes usually close to an hour since you aircraft gets to the gate before the luggage makes it to the carousel. In other words I would not book anything with less than 4 hours in between flights (and more if you need to switch from T4 to T1/2/3).

We had 3:10 scheduled between arriving at T4S and departing at T1.

Our inbound flight was an hour early, however this didn’t actually end up making much of a difference as the baggage took over an hour to arrive in line with the scheduled arrival, and we ended up hanging around the gate area at T1 for ages.

[CJD]

When we used the overnight bag drop at MAD our cabin bag was also weighed and tagged to avoid the need to do so at the gate the following day.

[CJD]

Peggerz wrote:

freckles wrote:

Gordon Dewar stepping down as CE of EDI – maybe his successor will finally look at improving the international arrivals experience rather than just concentrating on extracting the maximum spend from departures traffic 🤔

Of course they have a way to go to match the MAN experience 🙄

I couldn’t agree more. Though they announced this for EDI this week;

5 new aircraft stands by June 2026.
– 8 new departure gates by April 2027.
– Expanded departure lounge by June 2028.
– Merged international arrivals by April 2029.
– Terminal upgrades (baggage, immigration, gates).
– Larger car rental area with EV charging by summer 2026.
– New eastern access road by May 2028.
– Runway resurfacing (£30M) completing March 2026.

It really cannot come quick enough. And A LOT MORE.
Maybe include escalators for a start….

The outside of the terminal also impressively manages to have a really bitty feel that makes it feel like there’s permanent construction going on.

[CJD]

NorthernLass wrote:

I always thought that unless you showed your UK passport, Border Force would assume that you’re not necessarily entitled to enter the country? Didn’t this happen with Rob’s wife once when she showed her German passport at immigration?

I did think it was different rules for Irish nationals though. So will NI people who currently hold only Irish passports now have to apply for a UK one (at £90 a time or whatever it is now)?! I know someone from NI who currently lives in Manchester but only has an Irish passport.

Irish citizens effectively have the same rights as UK citizens when it comes to living and working in the UK.

[CJD]

Maybe I should appeal the fact that I haven’t hit the threshold as a result of cancelling my BAPP in September.

[CJD]

NorthernLass wrote:

Maybe that needs to go in one of the threads as a tip for getting the unicorn routes, @Roberto?!

Speaking of reward seats, has anyone else noticed that Virgin doesn’t seem to have released any for a few days now? Nothing bookable beyond Jan 9th.

I did notice that on vseats.io they had very little beyond the first week in January which surprised me.

[CJD]

JDB wrote:

Entering Serbia, Albania or Australia with a UK passport using e-gates is certainly far quicker than entering the EU/Schengen.

It’s also quicker to enter Argentina, a country that learnt the art of bureaucracy from the French as is China where they may require a photo and all ten prints, but they have fast technology and well staffed immigration.

You can add Mexico to that list as well.

[CJD]

My only business class experience is Iberia’s A350 seats and I found them really uncomfortable, particularly the foot well.

[CJD]

S879 wrote:

I have a last minute trip coming this weekend via Madrid. I can see that I can take the train to the city from the airpor. Any recommendations for where I could use my Platinum dining credit? Also need to figure out a hotel that is not too far from the train. It’s just an overnight stay before I move onwards so not keen on taking multiple taxis. Will look at Tim’s dining map, but if anyone can share any tips or recommendations, would be useful. I know quite a few head to South America via Madrid using Amex 2 for 1 on Iberia. Thanks.

My method of transport between Madrid and the Airport has been to get on the Cercanias at Sol for one stop to Nuevos Ministerios and then get the metro line 8 to the airport. Fairly straightforward, the Cercanias from the airport to Recoletos would also have worked, there’s loads of decent hotels in the Gran Via area.

[CJD]

JDB wrote:

NorthernLass wrote:

I’d much rather spend money on a short break than APD so a night or 2 in Madrid would be my preferred option, but it obviously depends on how much time people have.

We too are absolutely loathe to pay £506 APD but having discussed this extensively at home last weekend, actually concluded that, for us at least, the forced short break or two tickets actually adds not only cost but also so much inconvenience and wasted time that it easily outweighs that £500 ‘saving’.

The equation changes IMO if you’re in the regions and will be connecting anyway.

[CJD]

JDB wrote:

@Scott – yes, you should be able to do this with a 241, but you would need to call. The 24hr gap starts from your arrival in Spain on a multi leg journey as you propose. The rules are here:-

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/air-passenger-duty-and-connected-flights

As a practical matter, given the EZE departure times from Madrid at 08.45, 12.15 and 23.59 it’s actually more difficult than it might seem to engineer the 24 hour break while saving any money as it effectively rules out the morning flight unless you stay two nights and it’s quite a stretch even for the lunchtime flight so you are sort of limited to the midnight one. By the time you have paid for a hotel which may not be a very nice one at the airport and enjoyed some Spanish food, you probably haven’t saved anything and have created quite a lot of hassle at MAD and wasted a lot of time on arrival & departure as as unpacking, packing etc.

Yes, you can think of it as a ‘mini break’ but particularly if one has limited holiday time, the final destination would seem the better place to spend time and if travelling to EZE for the southern hemisphere summer, it means packing colder weather clothes as Madrid is pretty cold and often very wet in the winter – it’s 8 degrees today vs 18 in Cannes.

No reason why it needs to be a crap airport hotel.

We flew EDI-MAD on easyJet, arrived around 4pm Madrid time. Picked up bags from T1, airport shuttle bus to T4, then bag drop at T4, which you can do 24 hours in advance. From T4, it’s 25 mins or so on line 8 of the Metro into town. We stayed at the Principal Hotel just off Gran Via, had a lovely evening of tapas and wine, slept, had breakfast at a nearby cafe in the morning and from the hotel it was a 10 minute stroll to Sol, 1 stop on the Cercanias to Nuevos Ministerios and onto the metro to the airport. Because we’d dropped bags we could then go straight through security and onto T4S and into the lounge for our flight.

In terms of monetary savings, they were all eaten up by the hotel and the flights to Madrid, but the Avios savings on Iberia are still very attractive – a business class redemption to Mexico City and a planned redemption, possibly to Costa Rica next year, will set me back a total of 187,000 Avios. You can barely get one return trip on BA for that.

[CJD]

NorthernLass wrote:

I’m pretty sure someone has reported doing this, but you’ll have to call and ask BA to book it, which means getting an agent willing and able to do it!

IB still does seasonal (?) departures EDI-MAD, AFAIK.

They’re summer only which is really inconvenient for a 2-4-1 as a lot of their long haul routes are very attractive winter routes.

I’m surprised that Iberia don’t operate year round to Edinburgh, anecdotally easyJet flights I’ve been on have been full of Spaniards so there’s obviously some demand there.

[CJD]

freckles wrote:

I don’t know ABZ either, but even if arrivals put you directly into the departure lounge, the gate for KOI may well close 30mins before departures amd/or it only takes a minor delay on the LHR-ABZ flight to mean you are scuppered, so its not a risk i would take.

Domestic arrivals at EDI definitely put you into departures lounge (Unless you’re very very unlucky with a bus arrival, although BA flights generally land and turn around at gates during the day), sonif you can get a LHR/LCY flight that arrives around an hour before the KOI departure that will give you a better chance.

Domestic arrivals at GLA does the same.

[CJD]

Mull is beautiful. My wife and I love it there so much we got married at the rugby club in July. It’s surprisingly big and there’s loads to see and do, and other than the main road between Craignure and Tobermory it’s all single track roads, so can take quite a while to get anywhere.

[CJD]

Despite Iberia’s best efforts, with bags taking an hour and a half after landing to start being loaded, we’re now on our way to the A gates in T1 with 90 minutes to spare for the final flight of this mini odyssey.

Business class lie flat beds are thoroughly over-rated, managed a couple of hours sleep overnight at most.

[CJD]

polly wrote:

@CJD hope you made that transfer, and had a good flight. We have never risked it yet!

Arriving in Madrid an hour early will hopefully help!

[CJD]

Good evening from the Grand Lounge Elite in Mexico City, a couple of hours in advance of our flight back to Madrid.

This is the point where I pray that 3 hours from T4S to T1 for our easyJet flight to Edinburgh was enough…we’ll find out in around 13 hours!

[CJD]

Will post other thoughts on Mexico in the coming days, but can second a previous recommendation for Tentaciones. We splurged a bit on our last night and it was a superb meal.