[rams]

Yes it will cancel when you cancel your card

[rams]

Any tips for hire in Australia? We will be there mid Dec arriving into Melbourne where we want to lick it up and then driving to Sydney which will be where we’d like to drop the car off before flying home.

[rams]

They can transfer to their BA account. You would need the recipient to be in same household as you and then you can use them

[rams]

A small update. Not quite relevant to the title though. In the end we won’t go away in Oct 🙂

We did Dalaman Hilton at Easter. As a points redemption was really good value (370k points for 5 nights). Weather was very good – mid to high 20s every day. Food options excellent including their buffet. The a la carte all inclusive was extra and not sure worth it food wise but was nice to have a sit down meal with the other family we were with. Kids club and activities looked varied, our boy was only 2 so unfortunately not so good for him. So many pools including kid specific ones. Recommend

Off to Ikos Olivia next week and really looking forward to seeing if quality can justify the cost. Will report back

[rams]

Need to change outbound to Kul and it came up via Seatspy alert. Was on hold and never got connected as it was pulled. Could have booked as a single with full avios and asked them to merge but not sure if that works if you already have a flight. I’ve done it before to add a return to an outbound where no return was booked

[rams]

So I’ve been on this site for a while. Been in points game before that. Had the BMI card which helped fund star alliance trips to Kenya and Kuala Lumpur in business.

Over last 10 years used BA Amex to make trips to Chennai, Kuala Lumpur, Cape Town, Rio, Lima, Tokyo and have a trip booked to Kuala Lumpur next March. We used to have 2 cards but now just player 2 has a the card.

Have used virgin card to upgrade and fly upper class to New York and Orlando. No longer have the card as don’t think it’s value. In fact at Covid I had transferred a lot of my miles to Hilton as a hedge against Virgin going under!

HSBC prem elite is my go to. Have used the points to top up BA when there are bonuses and also Singapore Airlines. Have sponsored mother-in-law and sister-in-law trips to Sydney in business. And have one coming up for 3 of us this December. Had to top up the miles with a transfer from Marriott…

And on hotel points, down the years have had various ones. Marriott Amex which I did well out of. The ihg creation card and did very well out of that as many of us did. Lots of great stays with the free night voucher and still have lots of points to use. Did have the Hilton barclaycard and amassed a ton of points and still have a very healthy balance despite stays at plenty of Hiltons down the years.

All in love a points bargain and the community. Look forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones tomorrow.

[rams]

I used my wife’s voucher 18 months ago, have the rules changed since then, think I was red at the time

[rams]

what does pre-load mean here? You pay off the card then spend?

[rams]

Apologies if I’m being dumb but pre-load spend means you add cash to card with zero balance then spend that to get the increased rate?

[rams]

Had an odd experience yesterday for what I think is a popular route – Lon -> Kuala Lumpur for flights just released for March 27th 2026. Tried at 1am and didn’t see any flights released so presume they got snapped up quickly. Set up Seatspy alert which pinged at 8.40pm last night. Managed to grab 2 seats using 2 for 1 voucher. Still need 1 more seat but hoping 1 will be easier than 3. Seatspy sub paid for. Presume somebody who had booked changed their mind.

But maybe a good lesson to have alerts set up even on day they go on sale t-355.

[rams]

My 1% cashback has not been tracking properly. Raised a month ago in chat and no response despite chasing last week. So have emailed the complaints team to see if they respond

[rams]

Great thread!

[rams]

rams wrote:

offered 10k avios for 5k spend in 6 months

This was player 2. I was offered nothing so cancelled. Surprised no offer made but we don’t need 2 BA cards at the moment

[rams]

offered 10k avios for 5k spend in 6 months

[rams]

Thanks all for the replies.

Turkey is out as some of us will be there in Easter.

Sounds like Canaries may win. From what I can see Iberostar or Gran Melia Palacio de Isora seem best. Anyone been to either?

[rams]

Capital on Tap

[rams]

Thanks @northernlass. Will give the Canaries a look. Quick google did show Tenerife has better weather

[rams]

Stick to HSBC and use Singapore Airlines assuming you’re going to the far east. For rest of Asia may depend on where you want to go

[rams]

By way of update – saw business Sydney to London seats last night at midnight on BA. Snapped up quickly

[rams]

strickers wrote:

@rams Was that Amex MR points per person?

Sorry that was 130,500 Krisflyer one way each (LHR to Melbourne and Sydney to LHR – Perth is less for example). Unfortunately MR transfer rate was devalued a few years ago so it’s 3MR for 2 Kris flyer miles. Whereas HSBC is 1 mile per £ spent (with occasional transfer bonus). Marriott is 1 mile per 3 points with 5k bonus miles for every 60k Marriott points converted.

The most efficient way cost ways is via HSBC but unfortunately didn’t have enough points.

[rams]

phantomchickenz wrote:

rams wrote:

strickers wrote:

Just out of curiosity how much was Singapore airlines one way?

130,500 points

I didn’t think they did redemptions to London?

Singapore Airlines most definitely do. You need to book directly with them

[rams]

Separately it’s making me think to spend more on my HSBC card to build up a balance for Singapore Airlines. Player 2 and I have BA Amex but will limit spend to 15k on each to get the voucher

[rams]

NorthernLass wrote:

@rams, they are though, and many other destinations also. First week in Jan is when everyone is trying to get home for re-openings of offices and schools.

You sometimes see cancellations on these routes eventually as people change their plans, but of course no guarantees.

Oh I agree they may well have been snapped up. The issue I have is with no seats at all showing just after midnight. I’ve been watching this route for a few weeks and just after midnight you see them but the seats quickly get snapped up. I’ve booked Cape Town before – you always saw the seats even if someone else was quick enough to book before you

[rams]

strickers wrote:

Just out of curiosity how much was Singapore airlines one way?

130,500 points

[rams]

Noticed BA seats not being released for Sydney to London early Jan 2026. I refused to believe all business, economy and premium economy could have been snapped up by midnight plus a few seconds when I checked. Been the same the last 3-4 days. Qatar have the odd double Avios seats but not many.

I ended up booking a Singapore Airlines return as two singles. Had to empty out my Amex gold card points (500k accumulated over years – card now cancelled and clock ticking for bonus in 2 years) and most my Marriott and player 2’s Marriott points. But 3 seats out mid Dec and back 5th Jan secured.