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I’d be inclined to stay overnight on way back and take a flight the next day rather than risk a connection to another airline

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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

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@Dragonlady I thought Amritsar was a really special place and like you queued to get into the temple. There’s something very humbling about the place especially when you see alll the effort with the feeding. Enjoy the rest of India. It’s like marmite India you either love it or hate it. Once there you need to embrace the chaos.

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@phantomchickenz thanks for that. Gives me a head start. Not so sure about Hydro Attack though is ‘advice’ or a warning!

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Flights booked for Nov. Man-Ist-KL-AKL and return. Significantly cheaper than flying to Christchurch and out from AKL. Looking forward to TK and MH J class. 25 days in NZ so need to sort out itinerary and getting round. May fly to Christchurch and then work way round South Island 1st. Lots to think about.

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@LD27 thanks that’s an interesting point re snow I’d not thought of that. I had planned to go south – north and the train was on the list. Lots to think about. Definitely going to be flying at the pointy end – too old now to go down the back for that distance although I’ve never had issues with the 7 hours to ME with the likes of Qatar and Emirates in economy. It looks like it’s only Singapore and Cathay flying to Christchurch at the moment.

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@redlilly Thanks we’re looking at November. Who did you use for car hire?

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In process of sorting flights potentially Turkish and malaysian. Flights are easier to/from Auckland rather than into Christchurch and then out from Auckland. Next question sorry on car hire. Do we for instance fly from Auckland to South Island and hire car and then either drive back up or do 2 seperate car hires for both islands? Final question is it easy to ‘wing it’ ir get a TA to sort a pre arranged itinerary? I can see the benefits of both but worry if we wing it we may turn up a at say Doubtful Sound and find its full. Thanks

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Don’t think Indigo fly Man to BKK – that’s Norse. Indigo go to Del and Bom from Man. One of our flight options for a trip to Nepal next month was via Del from Man with Indigo. Our travel agent recommended avoiding them due to issues with delays and cancellations. We’ve had several flights back from Del in recent months and on each occasion I’ve noticed the indigo flight to Man has been delayed. We’ve returned via LHR or ME rather than direct.

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@dragonlady we’re just back from India and there’s ATMs all over. Generally used SBI or Baroda Bank. Having said that we didn’t use much cash as most places preferred card payments. Max to take out at any one time is 10,000 rupees about £85ish.

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I was going to be looking at booking Iberia to South America from Man so that’s now not an option other than using a LCC (would have probably used on way out to save tax) to come back with risk of missed connections and added time etc.

That may still be an option depending on alternatives. After recent experience with BA they are bottom of list.

As NL says OW less of a relevance now for those using Man. May have to blow my stash of Avios on a Qatar flight if I can find availability and then consider other alliances.

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Thanks that’s an interesting option from LHR with China Southern – I hadn’t thought about going from LHR. Something to mull over. Shanghai is somewhere I’ve fancied seeing.

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They also closed the Liverpool Airport one late last year. I wonder if it’s linked to airports reaching exclusivity agreements with WH Smith as they of course also offer meal deals and toiletries albeit I have found to be more expensive

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JaneDoe wrote:

I’d be interested to know what others usually do in this situation. Our return flight from Delhi to London departs at 3am. We’re staying at Le Meridien, with the room available until 1pm, and we then have an afternoon tour that finishes around 6pm.

I’m assuming we’ll be able to use the hotel facilities afterwards and have an early dinner. In situations like this, do you usually book and pay for an extra night so you can keep the room until departure? In our case, the additional night would cost £300.

We’ve had similar recent experience of the unfriendly return flights from India. We take the room to an extra night and check out very early. It gives us a chance for a few hours comfortable sleep and shower. It’s never cost us £300 though – £80/£100 extra usually. You also can ask for a breakfast box. It might be best to get a hotel nearer the airport for a quicker early morning transfer.

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Just returned from our most recent trip to India. We’ve been Y class with a variety of airlines. Qatar has been the best. The most recent trip was with Virgin to Delhi return connecting from the dreaded Man with BA. Both flights with Virgin to Delhi were better than their equivalent with BA we took last year. It confirms that BA remains my choice of last resort (even when we fly J) compared with a few years ago when I got to the giddy heights of silver and it was first choice. I’m not saying never again but there are better choices out there and I’m enjoying the fun of trying different airlines and routes to suit my needs rather than convoluted routings to just get some what are now worthless in my case TP.

As for the Man experience for BA. Flying from T2 is better than T3 (low bar to pass!) Arrivals is frankly a shambles. This time it was marginally better than last November when we were shunted to a WH Smith service access. We’d had the email from BA warning of the temporary arrival arrangements. There is still a bus and not pleasant going down stairs in cold and rain and queuing to get on a busy bus. After a 10 minute tour of the airport you arrive at what seems to now be the permanent‘temporary’ facility which gives the impression of arriving at a secure facility! There’s several hi vis clad clipboard wielding types standing round for what purpose I have no idea. You are discharged into a long featureless corridor and then arrive to a single luggage belt which had luggage strewn around on the floor from I assume previous flights. There is a single toilet for gents and ladies – large queues for both. It’s an underwhelming and frankly poor arrival process. Several passengers commented they’d had better facilities in the counties they’d flown from. It’s all seems haphazard and an afterthought. One bonus once out you arrive by the car parks access. Overall I’d be reluctant to now fly via LHR to arrive into this as there are better connections via other hubs.

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Yes the ambulance crew advised Airedale rather than Blackburn which was nearer which says a lot!

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@NorthernLass in my case I have nothing but praise for the NHS – the care and treatment I received at initially Airedale and then the new Royal in Liverpool was fine with no real waits in A&E. Perhaps I was lucky?

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This was the year I was supposed to be retired but it never quite happened! Nearly there though. Kicking off with a couple of weeks in Rajasthan in mid January, Nepal and Bhutan in March, a wildlife safari in India during April, Costa Rica in May, a week walking in Austria in July and 2 weeks of fly and flop in Sharm in September. Not made my mind up for the rest of the year yet. Glad I got a year visa for India last November before all the current issues getting visas arose. It’s always been a challenge though. Safe travels everyone.

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Highlight of the year was Namibia and in particular Sossusviei and Deadviei. The country was stunning, cheaper once there than expected and a real surprise. Lowlight – collapsing as I was checking into a pub for a weekend break in Ribble Valley and spending 5 nights in hospital. There’s a joke in there somewhere!

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Been looking to book flights to Buenos Aires next October/November from Mad (after a separate flight from Man to reduce taxes) and returning to Man via Mad – it seems Iberia stop flying from Man around September next year which makes planning the return now more convoluted if trying to use Avios. May look at a cash flight with Tap to return via Rio? It does seem to be getting harder now to use Avios from Man.

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I’d be worried about getting a nominal limit of say £1000 which would not be enough to cover holiday or flight bookings for 2. I’ve no intention of churning cards or having multiple applications as happy with the Barclaycard and would keep that anyway as back up for when Amex not accepted.

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I guess I’ll make the application at the necessary time and see if I get accepted and hope that my credit limit is such that I can take advantage and get the sign up and spend bonus. Let’s see next year!

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Hmmm wonder if charity trustee counts albeit unpaid?

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Thanks. My priorities will be changing once retired – more travel. Will have the time to plan it. At the moment I am targeting long haul travel whilst we have the health and inclination. I’m sure that will change with time. Food for thought especially with the potential for not getting accepted for the card once retired. When I cancelled the BA card in July 24 retirement was not a consideration. With hindsight I should have cancelled it earlier as I had not used it for over a year. If we all had hindsight life would be so much more different.

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Yep I’ve noticed that some of the connections involve long layovers in Madrid depending on the day. I’d prefer coming back to have the security of one booking in case of delays although a good point re cash fares. May look into transferring to Iberia but from memory once you’ve set up an account tou have to wait and or have activity before transferring Avios ?