[KevinC]

New Hilton Experience up to watch the England v Uruguay match at the BoTree Hotel and meet Paul Merson and a Lioness (tba). Am pretty sure this was put up as a redemption this morning but it has been switched to an auction starting at 50,000 points.

[KevinC]

I don’t have the debit card yet. I’ve just been doing a few of the PayPal plus offers from the website.

[KevinC]

I don’t fully understand PayPal Plus. Payments in January are still pending but those I’ve made in February have already paid out.

George was offering 20% last week but has now disappeared. I’ve never had John Lewis.

[KevinC]

It’s not a ‘health’ store. It is one of those places that sells headphones and plug adapters. Now it has a shelf of paracetamol.

[KevinC]

Boots closed mid January I think. The WH Smith owned travel store – InMotion – stocks some pharmaceuticals. There were lots of things missing and they said they were sourcing more when I went through a couple of weeks ago.

But Boots closing is very annoying.

[KevinC]

The codes often have a P in them (for Premier I’m guessing)

There are specific pages to book. The Home & Away page takes you to them. I was able to use the Expedia code yesterday. It’s HSBCPUK12 (for bookings over £400) and HSBCPUK10 (for under 400). That seemed the best current offer for the hotel I needed.

[KevinC]

Question about travel offers.

I get a big banner for the Booking.com 10% wallet offer, but when I click through I go to the Homeandaway portal, where it’s nowhere to be found. I can get the Expedia discount so it’s not the end of the world but I just wonder if I’m missing something and it is hiding somewhere.

[KevinC]

I stayed at this hotel a couple of weeks ago, booking through FHR, pay on departure.

The stay did not show on the app in advance and the hotel did not have my Hyatt number when I arrived. They were happy to add it on check in.

A day after checking out, I got my Hyatt points and a stamp on brand explorer. I received the £75 Amex rebate within a couple of days.

I did mention in a customer survey that amex hadn’t passed on my Hyatt number and got an email acknowledging this. You could always ring the hotel and ask them to add your number in advance.

I thought the hotel was absolutely lovely. We got a one category upgrade to a river view. Breakfast was fantastic. You can also choose to have breakfast in your room. We ate in Yu Ge, which was good but pricey. Staff were great. Didn’t use pool. Would very happily go back.

[KevinC]

I don’t think BA make arbitrary decisions about what’s essential. I’ve had two occasions in the last three years where BA left my case behind. The last one was especially annoying as they only flew twice a week to that destination. Both times BA paid up for everything I claimed. Obviously I did only buy essential items. You have the opportunity to explain as part of the claim why you needed to buy the items.

Of course on outward journeys you may also have insurance for delayed luggage through Amex but that doesn’t apply for return journeys I don’t think.

[KevinC]

There was a similar offer last spring. I prepaid for a Movenpick in Germany while the offer was running but stayed after the offer had ended. I didn’t get any cash back. Fair enough really.

[KevinC]

My membership was meant to renew this week but payment was rejected. I can’t manually renew because the system think I have but it doesn’t say I’m a member in the app and they haven’t tried to take payment again.

Ideas as to what to do next are welcomed. Contact customer services I suppose.

[KevinC]

You should be fine for someone else to attend.

Marriott are doing more auctions now. Some go for little more than the reserve – big names can go for a lot more. There are still bargains to be had – Diana Ross for 20,000 instant redemption was a steal. Madness got snapped up this week for 30,000 points. I don’t believe Marriott have put up a single Radiohead date which is a shame – the concert is played in the round so it will be a good view. Would have been expensive though.

[KevinC]

How weird. I used a UK credit card to book SATA flights. Maybe something has changed.

This summer BA were flying twice a week to Sao Miguel. Saturdays and Wednesdays. I think the Terceira flight was dropped after the first year.

My Doubletree info is now out of date. It went up to 35,000 points a night in one of the many recent Hilton deflations.

[KevinC]

Also consider Scott’s and The Wolesley. Or got to the Ritz restaurant.

[KevinC]

Someone will correct me if I’m wrong but I think there’s very little chance of Accor giving you a retrospective discount. You would need to cancel and re-book, but as you say, you can’t.

But you could get a discount for next year’s grand prix!

[KevinC]

Potentially stupid question but as a Titanium member can I match to keep Titanium for next year? I’ve had a look and can’t see why not but may well be missing something.

[KevinC]

JR,the rail company, have some nice hotels.

And going back to the Western chains, it’s worth looking at Hyatt point redemptions if you have an account with them. Points are on sale at the moment. There’s a Hyatt Place in Kyoto and a Caption in Osaka plus more expensive options.

[KevinC]

I wouldn’t pay for one of the Hilton f&b packages unless I was given a special offer. They are there to be given away as incentives to paying customers at quiet times of year. I have never eaten a pot noodle in the Maldives but personally I’d much rather eat in the bar than pay for one of those buffets. We have often found that room service is a reasonably priced option.

I really liked the Rangali – especially the Manta Rays.

[KevinC]

The Amex Bonvoy card is good for UK hotel spend, but obviously not for Travelodge. But when a cash back offer is running, you might find the hotels just as cheap.

If nothing else it would be worth getting one of the free Amex cards for any UK hotel offers.

The HotelTonight app now gives 10% back in the form of Airbnb credit. There are often some fairly cheap options on there.

[KevinC]

We are recently back from two weeks hiking in the Azores. We were incredibly lucky with the weather and had two weeks without rain. We visited Sao Miguel, Pico and Sao Jorge (our favourite). Lots of waterfalls were visited. Thank you to everyone who have contributed tips on here.

In case it’s useful to anyone, there are now a few hotels that take/give points on Sao Miguel. A Mercure opened in Ponta Delgada in April. It’s really nice with an excellent breakfast. It is very central and is a lovely place to start your trip, especially if BA leaves your luggage in London for four days and you need to be somewhere you can buy supplies. We didn’t have a car in Ponta Delgada but apparently my gold accor status would have got me free parking.

We ended our trip at the Doubletree in Lagoa which opened last year. It’s designed and built to a very high spec, the rooms are all big, the breakfast is okay. It’s currently a bit of a points bargain. 30,000 a night for a room that costs 250 to 320 euros in season. There’s loads of parking. BUT it’s on a science park outside of Lagoa and Lagoa is not hugely exciting either. I would rather stay in Ponta Delgada personally.

There is also a Delta just opened on the outskirts of Ponta Delgado. I haven’t visited but you can see it from the freeway.

And no, we didn’t just stay in chain hotels. We liked the Terra Nostra in Furnas and absolutely loved Abrigo de Cascata on Sao Jorge. This property isn’t for everyone – it’s a bit out the way and isn’t suitable for young children or if you have mobility issues. You have stunning views of Pico, hikes on the doorstep and on request they make delicious and very reasonably priced home cooked dinner. Amazing tuna and very good food for vegetarians too. Your neighbours are lots of lizards, local small bats and, best of all, a colony of Cory’s Shearwaters making the most wonderful racket from 10pm. Oh, and it’s owned by a winemaker so they have lots of nice wine.

Everything is reasonably priced on The Azores except for hire cars which cost us a fortune. You will need cash on Sao Jorge; even in some petrol stations.

[KevinC]

Did you win tickets in the auction or at the hfp raffle?

If you have a £400 tab, my advice would be to go straight to the 93rd when it opens and get a cocktail. The Amex lounge is perfectly nice but 93rd is in a different class.

If you have a smaller tab, it might be worth going to the Amex lounge but I’d be tempted to stick with the 93rd.

The 93rd opens early but I’m not sure if it stays open after the gig.

[KevinC]

Paul B wrote:

KevinC, any tips on how to grab these ‘Redeem Now’ items so quickly?

Not really. You can get a seat spy subscription for events but recently the notifications have been coming days or even weeks late. I’m not into boxing but the boxing ‘redeem now’ tickets went before I realised they were there. There’s also no guarantee an event will have redemption tickets – Blackpink (which seems to be drinks in on twenty but food in Bobby Moore) are auction only.

[KevinC]

Tariq wrote:

KevinC wrote:

If you are going to one of these, have fun and let us know how you got on.

Sounds like a good deal for 100k. Were the stadium seats that you were allocated in the same area as the football ones?

They are in the same section but further to one side so you are closer to the stage. The seats had ‘The Residence’ covers which I don’t remember them having for the football.

[KevinC]

I was back at the One Twenty last night for Duo Lipa. This was a straight redemption for 100,000 Hilton points.

The offering is a bit different for concerts and if you’re heading there soon (perhaps you are the person who bid over 900,000 points for Oasis tickets plus hotel), you might want to know what to expect.

We really enjoyed it. The club wasn’t remotely full but there were a lot of people downstairs in the Bobby Moore and there was a better atmosphere at the One Twenty than at the lionesses game. We had cocktails on arrival, followed by a very nice meal with three choices of menu items and a choice of premium wines or Laurent-Perrier Heritage Champagne. There was a lady doing free airbrush ‘tattoos’ and someone coming round with oysters.

As it’s a concert, they give you plastic glasses so you can take drinks outside (there is no alcohol permitted outside for football). You also get popcorn and tubs of pick and mix. Seats were excellent (considering it’s a stadium).

When the concert ends, and back indoors, instead of pies you are served a platter with skewers and assorted snacks. We also got a goodie bag each. You may also go downstairs to the Bobby Moore where there’s dancing and yet more food (sausage rolls mainly).

Some of what we got would be bespoke for Dua Lipa (unless Guns and Roses guests also get a cocktail named ‘Pop Princess’, but as one of the Post-Show-Bites is named the Wonderwall, I wonder if they are a concert fixture.

If you are going to one of these, have fun and let us know how you got on.

[KevinC]

I stand corrected! Thanks.[/quote]

Cheers, Rob. Obviously it’s still a very smart venue, whatever the size.