[phantomchickenz]

Jim Utd wrote:

davestat wrote:

Good evening from AKL after flying up from Queensland with Air New Zealand. Super nice compact airport and really nice airline. Puts BA to shame. Positive features includes a choice of 3 free snacks in Y including Dr Bugs Hokey Pokey Ice Cream flavoured Popcorn. Yes that’s a real name.
Shame about the Domestic and International sides of AKL being disconnected. It really was the advertised 15 minute walk which wasn’t fun with four cases between us. It brought back memories of MAN.

I know what you mean, reminds me of the doubletree across the dual carriage way, through the bus station and then up into the train station at Manchester!!
We went int to domestic at AKL, walk was a bit fresh at 4am and I really don’t know why they aren’t connected via a bridge or something similar

The Master Plan for AKL is aiming to join things up better – but in the meantime there is a regular bus shuttle service that does the trick if you have luggage. And the walk is no longer than some of the journeys between terminals at Heathrow.

By 2029 the regional jet service (I.e. Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown) will be in the same building as International departures, with turboprops to follow in future years.

https://corporate.aucklandairport.co.nz/content/dam/aia/files/corporate/futureakl/akl-master-plan-summary-2025.pdf

[phantomchickenz]

My Hilton hasn’t been ‘re-registered’ for years and is still gold. Noticed the other day that Marriott dropped to silver though so have reapplied

[phantomchickenz]

MGOR wrote:

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.

Enjoy, I’m back there again in Sept/Oct for my old man’s 80th.

I pulled together the below for a work colleague who was looking for ideas – hope it helps.

Queenstown, adventure capital of New Zealand
– Shotover Jet
– ⁠Hydro Attack (you have to Google this)
– ⁠Home of the original bungee jump

Wanaka and Lake Hawea also very nice

Doubtful Sound
– A quieter, more serene version of Milford Sound

Milford Sound
– Very touristy, but spectacular

State Highway 8 is a very scenic drive, stopping at Lake Tekapo on the way to Christchurch

OR, go west coast via Fox Glacier, coming back to Chch via Arthur’s Pass and a wander around Castle Hill

Continue north to Hanmer Springs, then on to Kaikoura for whale watching.

Either get the ferry to Wellington from Picton, or continue on to Abel Tasman National Park

Wellington has plenty, lots of info on tourist sites. Te Papa is a highlight.

Taupo great for lake fishing, charter a skippered boat and they tell you what to do. Fresh rainbow trout for dinner

Rotorua for hot pools

Mt Maunganui for a beach fix

Hobbiton near Hamilton if that’s your thing

Coromandel Peninsula is great
– Hot Water Beach to dig your own hot pools
– ⁠Cathedral Cove

Auckland is full of Aucklanders, but has good boat links to islands for walks (Rangitoto, Waiheke)

Further north the Bay of Islands is worth a visit if you have time. Scenic, with a lot of NZ history.
– Russell was the first capital of NZ
– ⁠Waitangi was where the British signed a treaty with the native Māori people’s

Across to the west coast to see Tane Mahuta, the oldest Kauri tree in the world (circa 2000 years old)

[phantomchickenz]

Ragman wrote:

Sorry to double post but I posted this late yesterday on the Chat Thread and so didn’t really give people much time to respond…
Does anyone know the phone numbers for either the contact centres in the US or Japan. Google isn’t very helpful and the number I had for the Japanese CC doesn’t seem to work now (+81 3 32985209)
Thank you

Contact centre for what?

[phantomchickenz]

I didn’t realise there was a £40 referral offer, and applied from the link found on google. 10k Avios arrived a couple of weeks later.

[phantomchickenz]

You’d be very unlucky to encounter snow on the Lindis in November. It can happen, but very rare and usually short lived. Of more interest is that you may encounter blasting season! The crews regularly drill into the cliff face and shove a bit of dynamite in to create controlled rockfalls rather than allow it to fall down as and when.

I’m with the “south to north” crowd, and whilst you can wing most of the trip you should book in advance any key touristy things you may want to take part in.

Glad to know Doubtful Sound is on your radar. It’s one of my favourite places. Do the overnight cruise, it’s amazing. Nothing quite like a dinner of Blue Cod you caught an hour earlier, crayfish you helped haul up in the nets that afternoon, and venison shot off the hills the day before.

If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, check out Hydro Attack in Queenstown…

[phantomchickenz]

Wondering if anyone has successfully re-status matched once their RJ status match has expired? T’s & C’s say no, but curious if anyone has tried?

[phantomchickenz]

davestat wrote:

Good evening from the Sudima hotel in Kaikōura (NZ). It’s not a brand I’ve experienced before but thoroughly recommend it. Much lighter decor – could almost be in Scandinavia. Exhilarating drive again with super strong winds along the coast. All the smaller towns probably large by NZ standards) seem to have Air New Zealand service with turboprop’s.
Will do a trip report but yesterday’s interesting facts were;
You can buy a BYD electric car for £14,000 and upwards.
Everywhere sell Graham Norton wine, and
Kit Kats still have the original amount of chocolate on them

Lovely part of the world the Kaikoura coastline. Stop in at Nins Bin (if it’s still there) for freshly cooked crayfish caught earlier in the day.

20+ years ago that used to be my ‘patch’, looking after the maintenance of State Highway 1. I understand it’s quite different now following all the quakes and slips in the last decade!

[phantomchickenz]

Found something (thanks Flyertalk). https://www.sofiaairport.bg/bg/blog/novini/novi-biznes-saloni-letishte-sofiya-ot-2026

New lounge opening “early 2026”. HfP going to make it to the grand opening?

[phantomchickenz]

Now seems to be closing at the end of Feb. I can’t see any mention of alternatives so far – hope it’s got something else for my trip in September!

https://www.executivelounges.com/airport-lounges/sofia-airport-aspire-lounge

[phantomchickenz]

can2 wrote:

If you haven’t done AU/NZ before, it is brutally a long flight. When I will do it again, I will definitely break it into 2 day stopovers.
Particularly for NZ even border check takes forever because of their ecological protection etc measures.

Passport control is similar to anywhere else, and customs can be a breeze as long as you have nothing to declare. Just make sure you know the rules in advance (in short – no food, flora, or fauna).

[phantomchickenz]

You can also get circa £2,400 from Oslo to Auckland on Turkish with 23hrs in Bali for good measure. That fare might not be available to the layperson – I had to book something similar (ex Sofia) using Propeller Travel.

But in general, unless you’re not comfortable doing so, searching around on Google Flights is generally your best bet.

[phantomchickenz]

No, there aren’t any points rooms available, and cash rates are double some of the FHR ones.

[phantomchickenz]

Reading today’s chat got me thinking about my 23 hour layover in Bali in a few months. Currently booked the IC Sanur for the Ambassador 4pm checkout, but considering the Ritz-Carlton on a FHR rate. @polly what was the traffic like? I don’t want to go there only to find it takes an hour+ to get back to the airport.

[phantomchickenz]

I note the CSU uses different language:

“Confirmable Suite Upgrade is valid for 12 months from milestone selection”

[phantomchickenz]

“Beginning in 2025, the Annual Lounge Membership is valid for the remaining days in the year, if any, following the date the Milestone is achieved, plus one Calendar Year, regardless of when Milestone selection occurs, e.g. an Annual Lounge Membership Milestone choice achieved in June 2025 and selected in August 2025 will be valid until 31 December 2026.”

I see the potential ambiguity, but suspect it is a) as well. Looks like it changed recently as well, so past experience might not be relevant. Perhaps email the ambassador folk for a definitive answer?

[phantomchickenz]

@suecar22brooks95 – best to look at options online around the 360 day mark. You can quickly see the cutoff when Avios seats are no longer available.

I’m of the belief (but can’t be certain) that the midnight thing is a red herring – when booking AKL flights previously I have looked at 9am UK time and some flights were available on the ‘last day’ (360 days out or whatever), and then by the evening on the same day more flights were showing up.

[phantomchickenz]

In my experience Curve deal solely in emails. What you describe was almost certainly a scam – if Curve were worried about fraud they’d block your card immediately.

[phantomchickenz]

KookyCat28 wrote:

Hello, is anyone more savvy than me able to provide some insight please?

The flights have plenty of seats left but when it tries to process my payment it comes up with:
Something went wrong. Somebody must have purchased those flights while you were completing the booking and they are unfortunately now sold out. Please choose alternative flights or contact us.

Which is a bit daft, there’s loads of seats and I’ve been trying for several days on different devices etc. chatGPT says it’s because of a limitation in the WTP fare bucket?

1 adult & 1 child 5yo (overnight connections are wanted)

17th July – BA709 LCA-LHR economy plus then overnight connection 18th July BA265 LHR-SAN WTP

2nd Aug – BA280 LAX-LHR WTP
(Overnight connection)

4th Aug – BA706 LHR-LCA economy plus

The BA website prices this at €3440 but won’t let me buy it.

I called BA and agent said it would only price us with business on the return journey for £5000 total. As much as I’d love to I can’t afford that.
I’ve tried building it multi city with 4 legs, and splitting it into 2 round trip flights, etc and all price up wayyy more expensive.

Am I stuck with a WTP fare bucket issue? Or if I keep calling and trying another agent might one of them know how to make their system do what the website shows?

Perhaps try a specialist travel agent? Following a recommendation on here I managed to book a fare that couldn’t be ticketed online using Propeller Travel. It wasn’t fully smooth sailing, but I got there in the end.

…and apologies for accidentally hitting the report button!

[phantomchickenz]

Greenpen wrote:

My JP Morgan investment has plummeted to £496 but when I looked this morning my 10,000 are nestled in my account. I thought it was 55 days to qualify and I am about half way through that period. So time for that £496 to soar!

Consider yourself lucky, mine has dropped an astonishing 20% more and is sitting at £495!

[phantomchickenz]

Nope

“Either the Credit or Continental Breakfast will be given to you and up to one additional guest registered to the same room each night of your stay.”

[phantomchickenz]

Is that likely to be an overall improvement with Platinum? There aren’t any bonus MR’s to discontinue, so everything will be net positive?

[phantomchickenz]

Firstly, change your username from an email address 😉

Qatar is simple – they take Avios as their reward currency, so so you can either:

a) Create a Privilege Club account and book from their website; or
b) Book directly from the BA site.

I prefer the former to get fuller functionality.

You won’t get to use your 2-4-1’s, but arguably you’re better off anyway on Qatar for the superior product.

[phantomchickenz]

10k for £1k spend in 3 months offered and accepted. Negligible spend in the last few months while we chase the SUB on my wife’s card.

[phantomchickenz]

£10k in three months isn’t exactly spare change! Unless of course there are some big holidays planned.