[FH2]

Got it – thanks everyone. Very helpful.

[FH2]

Thanks @AndrewT. So it looks like a glitch then. Hopefully not an issue with my booking! I have checked and it has been ticketed.

[FH2]

Hi @Kat78 – we are in a similar position to you. We (2 adults and 2 teens) have booked flights to Brazil for Aug 2026. I booked BA flights in Club World to Rio from London and returning from Sao Paolo using the Amex 241. Unfortunately Iberia didn’t work out for us as they only seem to release 2 business class reward seats on each flight and we don’t want to split up. I am starting to plan our 3 week itinerary and so far am thinking Rio; Iguassu; Amazon; Salvador and Praia do Forte.

[FH2]

@JakeWS – I am considering either Havemore or Gulati for butter chicken in Delhi! @mzb Spice Court looks very nice – thanks for the suggestion.

[FH2]

Many thanks @JakeWS. I was planning to book Bukhara in Delhi but am put off because it appears to be low seating and none of the chairs have back support! I will check out Suvarna Mahal.

[FH2]

We are going to India this October – Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Goa, Mumbai. Flying with VA in PE from LHR. Then next August is Brazil – haven’t started planning that yet but thinking Rio, Iguazu Falls, Amazon, Salvador, Praia do Forte. Flights booked on BA in Club using companion vouchers (Iberia didn’t work out for us as we need 4 seats and they only seem to release 2 seats in business per flight).

[FH2]

Jovihammer wrote:

Many thanks to all the super helpful people on this thread. Thanks to your guidance I have booked 4 rtn tickets to Orlando in the peak August school holidays next year usung my 2-4-1 voucher.

I was able to book the outbound flight at 1am online and following some expert advice had to make the dreaded 1am phonecall to book the return. The agent stayed online with me whilst we waited for the seats to become available. On both legs all the Avios seats were shown to be gone by 0110! Thank you guys!

My question is my reservation has been updated to show the return leg and my avios have been debited. I paid the return leg taxes over the phone to the agent using my Amex (£300) but they said the payment would go through the back office and be taken within 48 hrs. I still dont have a pending payment on my Amex 48 hours later? Is this normal or should I call them straight away?

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. It took 5 working days for the payment to be be taken for the return leg and for it to be ticketed.

[FH2]

Similar thing happened to me. I booked outbound online using a Companion Voucher- avios and payment were taken immediately and I could see the ticket number on the app. I booked the inbound by phone on 30 Aug. The payment for the inbound was not taken until 5 Sept and that is when the ticket number for the inbound appeared in the app, and I also received an email confirmation. My flights are in Aug 2026.

[FH2]

AFKAE wrote:

FH2 wrote:

I am considering a trip to Brazil next year. Does anyone have any travel agency recommendations (UK or Brazil based)? I plan to ask Trailfinders for a quote (Audley seem very expensive generally). Any others that people here have used? Thanks.

I used this organisation https://trips-southamerica.com/about-us/ for a trip that got interrupted by Covid. I used them again when I went back to finish off the stuff I hadn’t done. They are based in Argentina and I’m not sure if they are strictly consumer facing or more B2B. Everything they did worked well and otel choices were good (not luxurious-as I specified what I wanted). Won’t do you any harm to ask them for a quote. Covered Argentina/Chile and Brazil.

Many thanks @AFKAE – I will check them out.

[FH2]

I am considering a trip to Brazil next year. Does anyone have any travel agency recommendations (UK or Brazil based)? I plan to ask Trailfinders for a quote (Audley seem very expensive generally). Any others that people here have used? Thanks.

[FH2]

@Olly we went to Lombok last summer (family of four) and stayed at the Oberoi Lombok. They have interconnecting rooms and 2 bedroom villas. The interconnecting rooms are not advertised on their website but you can email them to book these. It is a beautiful hotel and service was amazing. The only negative is that it is in the middle of nowhere so no shop or restaurants in the immediate vicinity.

[FH2]

I just contacted BA via webchat and the response was “We’re currently aware of multiple technical issues affecting executive account-related services. Our IT team is actively working to resolve these as quickly as possible, and we truly appreciate your patience and understanding in the meantime.”

[FH2]

To dare is to do wrote:

The whole website is a problem, no idea if this will work but it did for finding my household account. Type in search “ add payment card” and see if you can get in that way. Which is my tip for finding your missing household account!
The whole system is shambolic.

Thanks. That worked for finding the household account but unfortunately not for payment cards. It just took me to the new BA website whereas searching for household account took me to the old BAEC page. Very frustrating!

[FH2]

NorthernLass wrote:

Your first option is fine.

Many thanks!

[FH2]

Thanks @Gordon – just had a look at Portobay website and it looks like a good property and decent rates. Will bookmark it!

[FH2]

@Gordon thank you very much! That sounds like a great trip. To be honest the only reason we are are going to Sao Paolo is to catch the flight to Manaus. But maybe it is possible to fly to Manaus from Rio -I have not looked into that. I have to admit that I have chosen Brazil over Colombia in order to maximise use and value of our 241 CV, as BA does not fly to Colombia and Iberia only seems to release 2 business class flights and we are a family of 4 (we don’t want to split up and take separate flights).

I am not familiar with Tijuca Forest – will look that up. Which hotel are you staying at on Copacabana Beach?

[FH2]

Hi – resurrecting this thread as we are still considering Brazil for July or August 2026. I am aware that it will be winter but my research tells me that the air temperatures are still quite warm (mid-high 20s, cooler in the evening), and this is the only time of year that we would be able to go. We think we could go for 3 weeks. Grateful for any thoughts on this potential itinerary:

Day 1: arrive in Rio
Days 2 and 3: Rio
Day 4: fly to Iguassu falls
Day 5: Iguassu visit (Argentine side)
Day 6: Iguassu visit Brazil side, fly to Sao Paolo
Day 7: Fly to Manaus, transfer to Amazon lodge
Days 8 and 9: Amazon
Day 10: fly to Sao Paolo or Rio then fly to Salvador
Day 11 and 12: Salvador
Day 13: transfer to Praia do Forte or fly to Jericoacora or Fortaleza (tbd)
Days 14 – 18: Praia do Forte or Jericoacora or Fortaleza
Day 19: fly to Rio or Sao Paolo
Day 20: fly to London

Not sure if this is too much travel, and also wondering whether to go to the Pantanal instead of Amazon. All comments welcome! Thank you.

[FH2]

NorthernLass wrote:

Has anyone been whale-watching there? I am absolutely hooked after our experience with humpbacks and orcas in Mexico (I’d seen pilot whales previously, but they’re basically just big dolphins, so, meh). Also – any tips for the best scuba diving?

I’ve seen that IB flies MAD-PDL which could be a good option for anyone wanting to stick with OW.

Yes – we went whale and dolphin watching in Sao Miguel in July 2023 and were lucky enough to see lots of dolphins and a giant humpback whale jumping out of the water! We went with a whale watching company called Moby Dick. There are a few companies that sell tours at the harbour in Ponta Delgada.

We had a great time in Sao Miguel. Visited a number of thermal baths and did some great hikes with amazing views – Sete Cidades is stunning.

Restaurants – if you like steak I recommend Associao Agricola (not sure I have spelt that right!). Also recommend Quinta do Sabores – lovely farm to table restaurant.

We did this trip through BA Holidays with direct flights from LHR to PDL and stayed at the Santa Barbara Eco Resort which is a nice property. They have their own surf school and scuba diving if you are into that.

[FH2]

rams wrote:

We want a week’s holiday with wider family in October half term. Is Ikos the only high quality all inclusive option with kids aged 2-13 in Europe – any other recommendations? Apparently weather in the Greek Ikos locations may be early 20s so not suitable for beach holiday?

Welcome any thoughts.

We went to Ikos Dassia in Corfu for Oct half term a few years ago and the weather was variable. We had one full day of rain and in the evenings it was too cold to sit outside without a jacket. I wouldn’t go back at that time of year. The resort is lovely though.
If you want guaranteed sunshine and are willing to travel a little further, maybe consider one of the Red Sea resorts in Egypt.

[FH2]

tygerbright wrote:

Thanks for the responses!

Hoping for 3rd week of June (son doing A levels) and back mid July so should escape the peak school break dates.

Costa Rica also looks amazing Memesweeper – but will save that for a future trip once we are not so tied to school holidays.

Nairobi is a great shout FH2 and availability seems to be decent looking … that with a side trip to Mombassa could def work. Would love to hear what your itinerary looked like FH2 and if you had any trouble booking CW x 4. Also, I assume the A350s that BA use for Nairobi are all fitted with CS now and not the old ying/yang layout?

I’ll keep Nairobi in my pocket as a plan B but will if I can get in/out of JNB and then hit Botswana for safaris and Victoria Falls in place of a beach break.

edit: Thanks NorthernLass – I’ve been using the BA site as I was thinking Seatspy was not so accurate and didn’t show the extra reward seats with the new CV BA provides now … has that changed?

We did our Kenya trip in July 2022 and booked our BA Club seats using 2 companion vouchers in Aug 2021. There were lots of seats available at that time, probably due to the pandemic restrictions in place. At that time the plane used for LHR-NBO had Club Suite – not sure if that is still the case.

We spent one night in Nairobi at the Tamarind hotel, which is very convenient if you have an early flight from the domestic airport the next morning. We would have spent an extra night in Nairobi to see the Giraffe Sanctuary but our schedule didn’t allow for it. We flew to Masai Mara and did a 5 day safari, staying at the Sarova Mara Camp which I highly recommend. Then we flew to Mombasa and spend a few nights visiting family in Diani followed by 5 nights at White Sands hotel on the North Coast.

It was a great trip. Happy planning!

[FH2]

You could fly direct LHR to Nairobi and and do a Kenya safari followed by beach in Mombasa or Zanzibar. We used our companion vouchers to do that trip as a family of 4 a few years ago and it was a great holiday.

[FH2]

Hi – we did a similar trip last year with 2 kids ages 15 and 12. We stayed in the Swissotel Stamford in Singapore in 2 interconnecting rooms. They don’t advertise these on their website – you need to email the hotel directly and they will guarantee these. A cheaper option is 30 Bencoolen which has family rooms. I had originally booked there but then switched to Swissotel as the rates were pretty reasonable. We also spend a couple of nights on Sentosa Island at the Village Hotel which has family rooms.

Ubud – we booked a 2 bedroom villa at Adiwana Suweta. it’s a very nice hotel but not a large resort. There is a pool though to keep your kids entertained, though I am guessing that you will be spending most of your time in Ubud sightseeing.

I can’t comment on Sanur as we did not go there.

[FH2]

BBbetter wrote:

No. Indigo is just a codeshare partner and you can only earn virgin points and only on connecting flights.

Ah ok thanks. I hadn’t realise that you could only earn points on connecting flights. Shame!

[FH2]

Hi – I used Agoda to book a hotel in Bali last summer and no problems whatsoever. It was a flexible booking and full payment was taken from my card by Agoda a few days before arrival. The Agoda rate was much lower than booking directly with the hotel and also lower than on Booking.com. You could email the hotel direct and ask them to confirm the terms of the booking that you have made with the OTA.

[FH2]

Hi – we flew from Changi to LHR on a BA reward ticket in CW a few months ago and were able to access the Qatar lounge. We didn’t try the Qantas lounge so not sure about that one. The Qatar lounge is very nice with a la carte dining.