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@asp – I’m so sorry to hear you’re stuck in Dubai with 2 children aged under 5. I can’t imagine how I would feel. Firstly stay safe. @Roberto offers some good advice. Also look at the information that @davefl has posted in his link – Abu Dhabi supporting and paying for hotel extensions and there have been reports that Dubai has said similar.

Have you been on our Government website (FCDO) for Dubai; read the information given; and registered your presence? If you haven’t, I suggest you do so. It looks like plans are being put in place to repatriate those stranded. A large number of people are involved so it could take a while.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/united-arab-emirates

Take care

* was writing above whilst others have posted, so some info might be duplicated or updated.

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Morning everyone from Palawan. Flight was delayed at Caticlan yesterday. Terminal too small to cope with the number of travellers, so passengers for all flights appeared to be taken to sit on a bus on the side of the runway until plane is ready for boarding. We waited for half an hour but that’s nothing compared to all that’s going on in the world!

Interesting conversations at airport and hotel last night. A lot of travellers stuck here and can’t get back to Europe as flights are via the Gulf. Most have decided to head back to main hub with the hope of continuing their travel. The consensus seems to be that the only way back is to fly east via the US, as it seems impossible to get on direct flights from Asia heading west. Assume other travellers around Asia and Australasia are doing the same so can see these flights are likely to fill up very quickly, if they haven’t already.

Hotels that were full now have rooms becoming available because travellers have cancelled.

Thinking of everyone in the Gulf at the moment and their families, friends and colleagues and those of us who are trying to change flights and travel plans. If and when you get through to someone at the end of the phone and however frustrated you might feel, please think of everyone working in the travel industry at the moment who are working long hours and over the weekend trying to find solutions to the unprecedented situation in which we find ourselves.

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@BadOmens – sorry to hear the issues you have regarding transfers in the Maldives. Do talk to the hotel as others have suggested, politely, as it looks as if you don’t have anything in writing about transfers being included. My daughter works in travel for a UK tour operator, and in the past looked after the Maldives and visited many times. One of the advantages of booking through her company was that transport to hotel was included. When friends and family have travelled there, she has always stressed the importance of checking whether travel to resort is included or not, because the cost can be incredibly expensive if requiring sea plane transfers. Good luck and hope you get a positive outcome.

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Feeling fortunate that I’m now in Borocay, having passed through Doha this week. I was really concerned last weekend. Thinking of family and friends in Bahrain and Dubai and everyone else affected by current events including habitants of the entire area and travellers. Safe travels everyone.

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@freckles – also wishing you a good day in NYC. Have enjoyed the city in all weathers. Central Park was beautiful when covered with snow and on another occasion when the frozen ice droplets on the trees glistened in the sun. You’ll have an amazing time.

@polly – I’m still suffering from jet lag. That’s why my message welcoming you back late on yesterday’s thread was sent in the middle of the night Philippines time!

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@polly – welcome home. Pleased you had a good flight. Not sure if you ask for assistance whether you get a guaranteed aisle seat, but I think you can choose your seat at time of booking even if you don’t have status (have to telephone?). Overheard a conversation that went on when we were on upper deck of an A380 last year.

We have a roundabout near us in Surrey which sits under the A3. The daffodils are always in full bloom at Christmas! I do love this time of year in UK.

Been to Pujols many times but like so many pretty villages near us in France, we now only go out of season. Didn’t realise it had a heated pool.

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@qc – we visited Jordan just before covid. The huge tent cities spread along the road from Amman just south of Jerash going north towards the border. Don’t know if they are still there, but there were thousands of people/tents. From what I recall, there were charitable foundations in Aqaba. Not sure about elsewhere.

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@TJones – every local I have met from the security guard to the tuk tuk driver has been extremely friendly and helpful. I think the security guard just wanted to help me with my luggage and I could imagine him helping someone in a shop. I didn’t change planes within terminal 3 as I stayed in a hotel in Manila. Bag drop for Cebu Pacific internal flight was chaotic as there were only 5 diy machines very close together and it was impossible to get to one without help of a member of staff – access was blocked by many people with trolleys and luggage. The plane seemed to be a new or refurbished A320 as it appeared sparkling and without any blemishes.

@redlilly – hope all goes well for baby’s first flight.

@Gordon and @Michael-C – will try to do trip report as I go along. We were supposed to come over 20 years ago, but had to cancel because of local issues. Interestingly found old flight reservations and at the time paid more for our flights then than if we had bought them today!

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@polly – it was intimidating when one guy suddenly started to walk towards me and moved his rifle or whatever firearm he had. I immediately stopped and put up my hands without even thinking! No different from what we’ve experienced in places like KL. 2 single people sitting near to each other in Lounge, we started talking when glasses topped up. OH always complains I talk too much! Chatted about travels, Avios and the HfP came into conversation. Hope you get seats in J and preferably close to each other and may be first and final rabies jab goes ok. Safe travels.

@redlilly – if you contact Rob, I’m happy for you to have my email details. T3 check in is chaotic – I suppose it’s what I expected. Suitcase over 20kg, but didn’t get charged – flying Cebu Pacific. Qatar to Manila was a 777, 2-2-2 so had a chat to my close neighbour from Berlin! The beds were really uncomfortable and slope downwards so you think you’re going to slide to the floor!

I’m staying at Modala Beach hotel from next week. Go to El Nido first. Finding Japan tour rather challenging as I’m far more organised than tour leader. Still don’t have details of hotel for night before tour, so have got Plan B! My daughter still can’t decide whether to join me. Possibly last minute Avios ticket. Have decided to go to Shikoku for a week if she doesn’t come so have 2 different itineraries! She works in travel and is usually my ‘agent’ but this time it’s down to me as it’s “my” trip! You’ve got this all to come!

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Morning from a sunny and hot Manila where security personnel on streets, in shopping malls and outside hotels have more than hand guns.

Met a fellow HfP reader and had a nice chat in the lounge of CP Dublin Airport last week. Lounge reminded me of CP T4, without Michelle. Reception staff at CP really friendly and helpful, especially when I found I couldn’t get on a bus to the city without a Leap card or €2.60 in change.

Had enough time at Doha (an hour) when changing planes. It was a long walk and not entirely clear where to go through security as it said “B” not “C” where I was heading and a number of us waiting to go through fast track security had the same question. Drinks of any kind had to be thrown. Al Mourjan was closest lounge to C gates, but when boarding pass checked at bottom of escalator I wasn’t allowed up to Lounge as was told flight was just about to start boarding. If you want your choice for second meal, either book online (if you can) or order early. Otherwise you won’t get your choice. When first order was taken I was not asked for 2nd meal choice. A lot of unhappy travellers as no internet but lots of excuses eg “a lot of countries block it when overflying” – we were over Western Europe! Eventually after many complaints and when we were beyond Turkey, one member of crew helped some of us get onto a special private network. Rugby scrum to board plane in Dublin, not quite so bad in Doha but was worse than at LHR where boarding groups were enforced.

Waiting to experience entry to Borocay NP from Caticlan as I’ve not been able to complete entry and make payment on website!

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@pbcold – I was going to ask same question as there seems to be quite a few Avios flights available first to Doha and then business to LHR for next year. I wasn’t sure whether to take long layover or actually break journey and stay in hotel. Decisions, decisions!

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@LittleNick – I took a screenshot of my membership card from the BA App on my IPhone and had no issues (night first advertised) and was accepted within 24 hours. As I think was mentioned, it might be that someone has to manually process the applications. It’s strange you had to submit three.

I’ve only flown Virgin a few times and that was on “party” flights to Havana. I just happened to have a reward flight booked in April. Whether I use Virgin again, I don’t know but as I’m only travelling Premium, hopefully there will be a Lounge I can use at ICN and I’m likely to need the extra baggage allowance. My daughter who flew with Virgin just over a year ago to JFK and on to Lima (return) said never again.

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@strickers – would definitely overnight in Lima with such a short time between flights especially if not in the near future. We found that Latam often changed flight times, not by very much, but as said above, it’s a very busy airport too. When we were in Lima for a few days we stayed in Miraflores, but when we did a quick overnight, we stayed at the Holiday Inn which was fine. You can just about see it from outside the terminal, but don’t try to venture across the road! There is a regular shuttle bus which we found excellent for a late arrival (Latam flight from Arequipa delayed by 5 hours) and a very early morning flight to SCL.

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Had many interesting encounters at Eton, when we parents used to go there to watch our sons play rugby. Have to say, the lads were much more gentlemanly than some of the other schools they played.

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@Jill-Kinkell – it was a bit like being in the Highlands of Scotland – 4 seasons in one day! The worst weather we’ve ever had in South Island on multiple trips in October/November. But it can happen.

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@bungalow – I’m flying from Dublin to Doha this weekend, so your ship sailed 2 days before mine! Definitely won’t be going for Irish stew (sorry, to my Irish ancestors!). Enjoy Dubai.

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Interesting. I’m keeping fingers crossed and hoping nothing kicks off for a while, as I’m flying via Doha this weekend with Qatar.

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@MGOR – we have visited NZ many times as we have friends and family who live in Wellington and so have always done our own thing. Although travelling South to North is usually the best way for deals with car hire as most travellers do the opposite, if you’re travelling in November, I would do North to South. Because of snow, last time we were there in November there were issues driving between Wanaka and Queenstown (near Cardrona?) and the Lindis Pass on the SH8 was closed.

Sometimes we’ve taken the car on the InterIslander across the Cook Straight and other times we’ve travelled as foot passengers. It can get very rough! The car hire pick up and drop off at Wellington and Picton are very close to where you board the ferry. It’s worth getting quotes from different companies and for different directions. We’ve even had ferry ticket thrown in for free travelling north, if the rental company has a lot of cars that need to be repositioned to Auckland.

We really enjoyed taking the TransAlpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth over Arthur’s Pass, so that’s another possibility. In which instance, you’d need to drop off/pick up a car at Christchurch.

We’ve done the overnight cruise a couple of times on the Milford Sound, but have left booking too late for Doubtful, so would definitely book in advance. Things may have changed, but when we last went I don’t think there were overnight sailings in winter and just before they stopped/resumed, they weren’t every day. Assume November would be ok but worth checking.

As for flying, we’re at the age now and have the time, we wouldn’t travel that distance without a flat bed and we now always break our journey somewhere. Last time we went as a family, just before covid, the kids went via China, OH went via Doha and I went via Singapore. On our most recent visits, we have used Singapore Airlines. I don’t think Qatar has resumed direct flights between Doha and Christchurch, possibly other airlines too, so it’s quite likely you’d have to change planes in Auckland. No issues travelling between Auckland and Christchurch/Queenstown with Jetstar or AirNZ. Flying into/out of Queenstown is an experience in itself!

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@meta – I paid less than 20k Virgin points and around £120 surcharge for single redemption from Seoul to LHR in April travelling Premium, which I thought was quite good – especially as it’s a day time flight. My understanding is they need to fly the route for 3 years, but I could be wrong.

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davefl wrote:

Aww… maybe a little less grumpy. Just had my gold welcome letter plus a plate of assorted cakes/macarons (I spelt it right this time) delivered to the room

Enjoy! And hope all goes well with the flight with the empty middle seat. With the issues you’ve had on recent flights, I definitely don’t think you’re a mug and seems to me like £43 well spent.

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Have you checked their operating hours? I don’t think BAH phone lines are open after midnight to make/alter a booking.

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When I first linked my accounts I transferred 1 Avios from my BA account to my Qatar account to try it out, without any problem. But when I booked my last redemption with Qatar, Avios were taken directly from BAC, therefore no need to transfer.

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AndrewT wrote:

davefl wrote:

Sprout wrote:

My option to pay amex card bill with debit card appears to have disappeared. Is this just me or have I missed some sort of announcement?

Still there on the website

Still there in the app as well, right at the bottom of the long list of bank payment options

I paid my Amex card bill by debit card earlier today – didn’t go through on first attempt.

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I look frequently at Avios flights to from CPT and JNB. There are often seats available at short notice throughout the year to/from JNB including first. Less so for CPT.

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AJA wrote:

Simon de Scoob wrote:

Would anyone kindly have any tips for booking RTN cash flights to Australia (ADL) on any of the main carriers typically featured on HFP? Ideally, in PE or J.

So sorry to read this. I think you will find that business class is cheaper than PE to Adelaide. IF you use the explore function on Google flights https://www.google.com/travel/explore you can set your departure city and travel class and dates and it will show you where you can go for how much. Adelaide in May seems to be one of the more expensive cities. It looks much cheaper to fly to Melbourne or Sydney but then you’d have to buy internal flights.
The cheapest direct flight from LHR I could find was on China Southern departing 3 May returning 1 Jun for £2,986
https://www.google.com/travel/flights/booking?tfs=CBwQAhppEgoyMDI2LTA1LTAzIh8KA0xIUhIKMjAyNi0wNS0wMxoDQ0FOKgJDWjIDMzA0Ih8KA0NBThIKMjAyNi0wNS0wNBoDQURMKgJDWjIDNjYzagwIAhIIL20vMDRqcGxyCwgCEgcvbS8wbWdwGmkSCjIwMjYtMDYtMDEiHwoDQURMEgoyMDI2LTA2LTAxGgNDQU4qAkNaMgM2NjQiHwoDQ0FOEgoyMDI2LTA2LTAyGgNMSFIqAkNaMgMzMDNqCwgCEgcvbS8wbWdwcgwIAhIIL20vMDRqcGxAAUgDcAGCAQsI____________AZgBAQ&tfu=CnRDalJJYlMwelRURlVRMUoyU1ZsQlVXNTBUbWRDUnkwdExTMHRMUzB0TFdWbVpXNHlNMEZCUVVGQlIyMVVUM2h6VEhadVZsTkJFZ3REV2pZMk5IeERXak13TXhvTENLcmZFUkFDR2dOSFFsQTRISEREbUJnPRIGCAIgAigBIgMKATE

@Simon-de-Scoob – so sorry your wife’s sibling is very ill. The fare quoted above with China Southern seems a very reasonable price to me. I would be surprised if you could find much for less. We have friends and family who live in Adelaide and every year there is movement between UK and Adelaide by either them or us. They have always said that Adelaide is one of the most expensive cities to fly in or out. My cousin flew back there last Friday with Emirates and she paid a lot more than £3k equivalent in Aussie dollars to travel in PE. We’ve found in recent years starting in Europe eg Oslo, Frankfurt and Italy have been far cheaper than from the UK and the Chinese airlines are usually the cheapest. I think quite a few of the airlines are seasonal too. If your wife if prepared to change airlines, it could be cheaper to fly to Melbourne or Sydney and then fly back – Adelaide seems to be a fly over city. For example, after covid, Adelaide was one of the last major airports in Australia which Emirates resumed flying to. But then she might just not want the hassle.