[Grant]

Sounds very civilised and nothing like the internet memes would have us believe.

I’m just sorry that you had to miss out on being witness to the valentines day massacre that occured at Murrayfield whilst you were on your way home.

P.S. we very much enjoyed our quick stop off at Dusit on the way back to our hotel after the game, so thanks for the recommendation. Excellent food delivered in record time – I think we were in and out within an hour so perfect for what we wanted.

[Grant]

Slightly OT, but I have noticed recently that in some locations IHG now allow you to book redemptions for higher room categorys for more points. I’m probably late to the party here, but it was a welcome surprise for someone who is still burning down their stash from our friends at Creation.

[Grant]

Lammy52 wrote:

Hi,

I haven’t heard of the Railcard rate previously. Is this literally hard a UK Railcard?
If so, is it use Corporate ID and enter Railcard number.

Thank you.

Corporate ID code for the Railcard rate is 786996886.

[Grant]

AndrewT wrote:

davefl wrote:

Amex app no longer allows you to pay your bill with a debit card, only direct debit. Have to go to the website if you want traditional

The Android version does, although it’s well hidden. After selecting payment amount you scroll all the way down through the list of ‘Pay with bank transfer’ options to get to ‘Other payment method’ = debit card.

So does the iOS version, in exactly the same manner.

The obvious (to me) reason why apps, and banking / financial institution apps in particular, are no longer supported on older handsets is that they are no longer supported by Apple or Android for operating system and / or security updates. Nobody wants to be conducting such affairs on systems that are vulnerable to security breaches. Any fury should therefore be directed at Apple or Android for stopping support to older handsets, and not the financial institutions themselves.

[Grant]

The one that immediately springs to mind is Val D’Europe near Disneyland Paris which is easily accessbile from Eurostar services.

[Grant]

You’ve received the standard opening offer which I’ve received on every occasion when I’ve stayed. Email them, or better still call, and you’ll find they are very willing to accommodate reasonable counter offers. The obvious caveat is that this will be a very busy period for the hotel and there may be a lot of guests who just take them up on that initial offer without batting an eye lid.

[Grant]

Does anyone know how the quarterly subscription options work? I’ve worked out the cheapest way to top up my status points to tip me over in to Platinum is to pay for one quater of the Explorer tier. This will work fine so long as the quarter is taken to be the three month period after I subscribe and not tied to the calendar year or some other period determined by Accor.

Using my specifics – I am 1,435 status points short of platinum. If I subscribe to the Explorer tier on 1st July, this should net me 1,800 status points by 1st September for approx. £160 assuming points on / around the day I subscribe and at monthly intervals thereafter.

Thanks

[Grant]

A few times in recent weeks, but only without any checked baggage and using the fast track security lane. I always either arrive by train or park at the train station so I can use mono rail straight to security level. It has generally been fine, however I was there for a 7am flight on a Sunday two weeks ago and the standard security line, at approx. 6am, was horrendous.

[Grant]

Thanks @CamFlyer and @masaccio

Re Fellows House, we stayed there at between Christmas and New Year and really liked it. We had the kids with us and it’s ideal for a family set up with suite style rooms which connect to one another to offer plenty of space.

F&B is good, although we didn’t try the restaurant other than for breakfast. The hotel was busy so breakfast was a bit of a scrum but staff were good and efficient at clearing tables quickly.

The pool area is nice but the pool itself is very narrow, with a ledge along one side further reducing the useable space. Fine if it’s quiet but not great if there are more than a few people wanting to swim.

IIRC parking on site was £25 per 24 hours. Car park is fine, well lit and secure but not many spaces and they are a little on the tight side if you have a large car.

[Grant]

I’m heading here this weekend. Bit of a flying visit, but wondered whether there were any cocktail bar recommendations for a pre-dinner drink (we are not dining in the hotel) or is the bar in the hotel the best bet? I’ve read about 196 on Mill Road, but that is in the wrong direction for dinner.

[Grant]

BBbetter wrote:

DoubleA wrote:

A lot cheaper than the buying points offer!

The net cost on that offer was about £400 after deducting the redemption value assuming 0.4p.
So, unless you are in a region where you can find rooms for less than £50, not sure its massively cheaper.

There are plenty of people who didn’t get that points offer, or got offered a poorer rate, so this is an attractive alternative IMO if it aligns with your plans for the rest of the year.

If you are in easy reach of any of the bigger cities around the country then I am finding plenty of Sunday nights between now and 20 March at various HIEs for <£45. If you have some stays planned at nicer IHG properties later in the year then the maths might work for mattress runs.

[Grant]

We are trying Turkey this year, albeit in May half term rather than Ocotber, for our first foray in to AI. There seemed to be no end of options to choose from for a range of budgets. Temps should still be mid 20s in October.

[Grant]

The offer was for a 15% bonus on manual transfers and a 25% bonus on autoconvert. The deadline for transfers was 14 October so you may be out of luck with your second transfer, although autoconvert usually happens on a Monday which was 14th IIRC so you may want to check your dates again.

https://hfp2026mar.kinsta.cloud/2024/10/02/nectar-avios-transfer-bonus/comment-page-3/#comments

[Grant]

Thanks Wally. Mine is QEZ5

[Grant]

Same for me

[Grant]

Great stuff, thank you

[Grant]

Thanks all, couple of options I hadn’t considered.

University Arms is looking like the favourite at the moment so keen to hear any tips you can share @Man of Kent. It seems there that you can book higher category rooms if you are willing to splash the points (or put cash towards the booking) which doesn’t seem to be the case with the others who are only offering base rooms, at least for the dates I am looking at.

[Grant]

It changes as soon as you’ve earned the status points in my experience.

[Grant]

Without wanting to sound too harsh, the inference from your post is that you’ve read the other thread on this topic. If you had done so properly you’d have the answers the your questions – one method is even set out in your post.

In short, if you want to benefit from your RJ status benefits on BA booking then you need to attach your RJ FF number to the BA booking. The various methods for doing so, and whether they are currently working or not, are all set out in the other thread. Your status with BA, or any other Oneworld carrier, will not change.

[Grant]

Joe G wrote:

I would say it’s definitely on AMEX for having a strategy that seems to favour new (and often temporary) customers over loyalty, it must work for them or they wouldn’t be doing it.

The way I see it is for every one customer like the OP, there will be many more who sign up reap the benefits to varying degrees and then don’t cancel the card either through laziness, forgetfulness or potentially ignorance.

The same is true for a lot things like insurance, mobile phones, fibre, Sky TV etc.

[Grant]

Newton train station would be the alternative if heading in from the Hamilton direction. But I’d suggest being lead by the direction you are heading in after Glasgow and plan from there.

Paring around the university is mostly residents’ permits and paid for on street parking as far as I am aware.

[Grant]

Are you arriving at GLA and picking up the hire car there? I’m going back a few years now, but you used to be able to park for free at Bishopton station which is a short drive from the airport and from there it’s a short train journey to Glasgow Central and an easy walk to Blythswood Sq.

Very much depends on where you are picking the car up though and where you are heading after Glasgow. If you are heading east towards Edinburgh, it would be a pain to have to get the train out west to collect the car.

[Grant]

Man of Kent wrote:

Does anyone have any recent experience of using the Park, Sleep & Fly package at Sofitel Heathrow T5. In particular do you self park and keep your keys and where is the car park located? Thanks.

Yes. A quick tip I found by accident on a recent stay – if you park on the lowest parking level in the hotel, -3 I think, and park next to or near to the lift (there are signs for where the lift is around the car park), the lift takes you directly to the bridge link to T5 opposite the Sixt desks. This means you can be on your way quicker on your return as you don’t have to negotiate the escalator down to the hotel reception and fight for a lift with the hotel residents.

It also meant I could go straight from the car park to overnight bag drop in the terminal before checking in to the hotel, and I dropped our small overnight bag off in the car on the way to the terminal in the morning.

[Grant]

strickers wrote:

Had an email to ask me to confirm my address before they send the new card, the link just opens the app. Anyone in the same boat?

Yes, I think they want you to make sure your address in the app is up to date by Wednesday of this week, before they dispatch the card to that address on Thursday. If your address is correct then there is no action needed.

[Grant]

Hilton give you the option to guarantee connecting rooms, so presumably you could book 2 connecting rooms, one of which was a twin, and benefit from the 5-4-4 on each room. Appreciate this could potentially chew through more points than just booking one room, but if you are only searching for rooms that can accommodate max 2 people, then it often opens up availability at the lower end of the redemption scale, i.e. 2 x 60k per night is cheaper than 1 x 150k per night, with the bonus of getting more space and privacy.