[runnerbean]

sinc1000 wrote:

SamG wrote:

Did you get through now?

+442032500145 I believe is 24hrs for disruption purposes but imagine they’d assist in this scenario too

Hi

I called the Hong Kong office and I have a girl working on it for me

The problem she is having is removing my son from the booking

So she is waiting on the UK office to open so they can assist her with it

Lets see

Time will tell

I know this is a horrible situation and wish you all the best with getting home ok.

But ‘girl’?
Really?

[runnerbean]

Tracey wrote:

runnerbean wrote:

Tracey wrote:

Highlight: visiting Angkor Wat at sunrise and sunset.

Lowlight: overnight in Dublin.

Hmm, late catching up on this thread. Would you like to elaborate on Dublin?

OH had a trip “starting” in DUB, so we decided to overnight in Dublin. Stayed in an airport hotel that was OK. Walked into town that was overcrowded by a mixture hen parties and Palestine demonstrators. Had to try 4 restaurants before we could get a table anywhere. Then a cold walk back through again overpopulated town centre, now with drunk hens and bored demonstrators, to the bus to the airport hotel. To make it worse, OH had booked our flight back on Aer Lingus, so I had to navigate the terminal change at LHR to retrieve the car, Elizabeth Line closed.

I see why it was a lowlight now!

[runnerbean]

Tracey wrote:

Highlight: visiting Angkor Wat at sunrise and sunset.

Lowlight: overnight in Dublin.

Hmm, late catching up on this thread. Would you like to elaborate on Dublin?

[runnerbean]

freckles wrote:

Jan – Marrakesh on a cheap package, so cheap it’s using the yellow bus to fly there and back.

Feb/March – New York and Washington DC twin centre; I was lucky to book a F redemption using a CV out to JFK before BA changed the release of these seats, and using a Virgin voucher to come back Upper (which so far is sticking with a neo, so not coffin class. Will be making good use of IHG double points for accommodation.

Apr – down to London Town for ICPL stay and Paddington Musical.

May – group tour to Uzbekistan (seems popular this year) – usual route of Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.

July – Arctic cruise, plus couple of days in Oslo and 1 day in Longyearbyen before.

August – Icelandic cruise for hopefully seeing the eclipse.

Plus a few assorted short stays in UK.

Haven’t got round to later in the year as yet – pondering a return to Australia or perhaps a tour in South Africa, or somewhere completely different!

I’ve also been looking at group tour to Uzbekistan.

We normally do our own thing but I don’t fancy trying to navigate the bookings or transfers there. Seen v similar routes with two of the big companies, so will be interested in your experience. My OH has a horror of being compelled to do group activities or “cultural”evenings.

[runnerbean]

My BAPP was raised to a similar amount. Useful when we put estate agents fees through and buying a used merc.
Then when I applied for a platinum they initially declined, then traded some of the credit limit from BAPP to platinum which worked fine.

[runnerbean]

@JakeWS I absolutely share that view, we love a good restaurant and lovely hotel and more happily spend on those. issue now is enough watches (OH may disagree).

I’m thinking adding to the Avios/ 241s with eg trains, medium haul premium economy, stopover flights etc.

[runnerbean]

I’ve relied on Avios and 241s for our hols for years. Apart from the occasional internal flight we’ve only flown business and sometimes First.

Now we’ve got spare income I’m finding it really hard to pay £000s for long haul business class. It just feels like such poor value for money for a ‘nicer’ journey that lasts say 7-12 hours. Our BA flights and service have been generally very good, but there’s been a few blips eg the last club world flight with BA was ‘functional’ and if I’d paid hard cash it would have pushed me from feeling irritated to very grumpy.

Meanwhile I’ve got ££ for hols burning a hole in my pocket..

[runnerbean]

Aston100 wrote:

runnerbean wrote:

oddly no mention of PMSL in this list or one of @JDB’s from ?last year which was so naughty that I deleted my search history after looking it up

Last year?
what have you been drinking? it was a few weeks ago!

Fino, suitably chilled.
Was it really that recent?! I’m losing it..

[runnerbean]

davefl wrote:

runnerbean wrote:

There’s no end to the number of useful acronyms I learn through HfP 😊

Thought it worth reposting this if you haven’t seen it

https://hfp2026mar.kinsta.cloud/2025/05/19/frequent-flyer-glossary/

🙏 oddly no mention of PMSL in this list or one of @JDB’s from ?last year which was so naughty that I deleted my search history after looking it up

[runnerbean]

There’s no end to the number of useful acronyms I learn through HfP 😊

[runnerbean]

@davefl Did you by any chance audition for a scene in Casino?

[runnerbean]

davefl wrote:

Some hotels still appreciate your “loyalty”

I got a bottle of wine delivered personally to my room just after checkin at the HIX in Tbilisi. Being a HIX there was no corkscrew but I always carry a pen which works well for pushing in a cork 🙂

That’s some pen! And in these times of HBO it won’t be confiscated.

[runnerbean]

We’ve generally had good or very good experiences in CW, but we had unusual (for us) very ‘reluctant’ service on our last DEL-LHR flight.

I should have raised it at the time and with BA when we got back but instead I’m just grumbling about it and feeling irritated.

I hope you will raise it with them formally. It should help you and it may help others to get better service.

[runnerbean]

cin3 wrote:

Serrae Villa Fiesole was lovely. Don’t eat bistecca In Florence, far better quality stuff found a shirt drive outside the city. Worth clearing a whole day for the Uffizi.

Thanks. And if you have any other lunch or dinner recommendation for Florence (I’ve got @JDB’s suggestion for near the hotel) I’m all ears

[runnerbean]

We’ve just had an extremely mixed experience with Luxury Escapes. They came up trumps in finding a bunch of great hotels that I was trying to book direct but showed as unavailable.

That was a good result and the hotels and rooms were was mostly very good and the prices comparable, but we had two issues.

The first was that unknown to us they cancelled and rebooked one hotel and rebooked it the same day. This meant that the airport pick-up we’d arranged direct with the hotel was ‘lost’, so we were standing around and making calls to find our car at 8am after a night flight. The hotel staff were great in responding but the smooth transfer we arranged just disappeared.

The second was worse – one hotel was a complete horror to the extent that we bailed out the same evening.

LE have “requested” a refund from the hotel given the complaint we made to the hotel at the time and to LE the same day in writing with details of the shortcomings.

[runnerbean]

I gave OH choice of out of town and in the centre, and surprisingly he’s opted for central, so I’ve just booked the Antica on a flexible rate which felt pretty reasonable given the headline prices in Florence.

Id be interested in your feedback on the Ville Sull’Arno.

[runnerbean]

JDB wrote:

And if you are in the Via Tornabuoni, lunch at the Cantinetta Antinori is a great Florentine experience. Simple traditional Italian dishes perfectly executed, a beautiful old dining room (avoid sitting upstairs), great service and their many wines to taste.

Noted. And added to my folder for when we’re there. We have five nights/ four days of lunches and dinners and I’m looking forward to everyone of them..,.

[runnerbean]

redlilly wrote:

runnerbean wrote:

Following up and looking for help..

Flights are booked for Florence in March (we’ve been before). I’d like to be in Florence or v close to see Florence and use the trains.

For a hotel in Florence, any views on Antica Torre Di Via Tornabouni? Audley Travel has it on their shortlist and TripAdvisor seems ok. Or the Golden Tower Hotel? Or other suggestions that won’t break the bank with good service and rooms.

For outskirts of Florence, I’ve looked at Fiesole but it seems to be Il Salviatino (Belmont) or small places/ agroturismo/ B&B which would give OH the wobbles.

What have I missed or should consider? I’d be very grateful for any feedback.

We ended up booking Ville Sull’Arno, which is 20 minute walk (approximately) from the edge of the city. They run shuttle buses in and out of the city regularly, which is a plus.

The other hotel we looked at was Hotel Villa Fiesole in Fiesole. It looked decent, but location didn’t suit us for a wedding we are going too. Not sure what you thought of that/what your OHs thoughts are on that one? Personally we love agrotourismos – have had some of our most memorable holiday experiences in them.

Can’t comment on the other hotels in your post, but likewise to @Richie – think Via Tornabuoni is a good location.

One thing to bear in mind, if staying out of the city, is you can’t drive in to the centre of Florence and they don’t have uber. Taxis outside of the city can be quite rare late in to the evening.

Thanks @redlilly. The Ville Sull’Arno looks really interesting. Have you booked there or already stayed there?

Hotel Villa Fiesole also looks interesting.

[runnerbean]

Richie wrote:

Via Tornabuoni is my preferred location, there’s a room mate hotel nearby which is good.

Thanks @Richie. I’d not heard of Room Mate before but looks an interesting small chain. What was the street noise like there??

We used an AirBNB a couple of years ago just off the Ponte Vecchio and the double glazing couldn’t compete with the scooters on the cobbled streets several storeys up. I’ve promised OH something quieter this time.

[runnerbean]

Following up and looking for help..

Flights are booked for Florence in March (we’ve been before). I’d like to be in Florence or v close to see Florence and use the trains.

For a hotel in Florence, any views on Antica Torre Di Via Tornabouni? Audley Travel has it on their shortlist and TripAdvisor seems ok. Or the Golden Tower Hotel? Or other suggestions that won’t break the bank with good service and rooms.

For outskirts of Florence, I’ve looked at Fiesole but it seems to be Il Salviatino (Belmont) or small places/ agroturismo/ B&B which would give OH the wobbles.

What have I missed or should consider? I’d be very grateful for any feedback.

[runnerbean]

Thanks for the suggestions all, it’s broadened my search. And I also conjured up those images of HRH Princess Margaret sipping whatever was the cool drink at the time on Mustique!

[runnerbean]

AFKAE wrote:

I’m just back from Antigua. We stayed at 3 different places in 2 weeks. 6 nights in a condo at Dickenson beach-ate in local restaurants every night. 5 nights in an absolutely fabulous apartment (Energie) at English Harbour, again ate local every night. Finished 2 nights at Tamaring Hills, this is the only place we ate in the hotel.
Weather was glorious.
Don’t know about snorkelling places.

Thanks @AFKAE. I’ve bookmarked and will come back for more info nearer the time.

[runnerbean]

HampshireHog wrote:

Difficult as I think you’ve been to the best island, Grenada. Antigua over touristed in my view

That’s a surprise. We liked the island but struggled with the food

[runnerbean]

jumpersforgoalposts wrote:

Consider St. Lucia.

Plenty of local non chain hotels in the north of the Island (Have a look at Cap Maison) which has excellent local food.

Some of the hotels (if you avoid the big chains) around soufriere are also excellent and will provide shuttles to the beaches where the snorkelling is excellent. Check out Anse Chastanet hotel here which is on the beach and does local food.

St Lucia is a volcanic island so fresh local food is plentiful.

Good one – thanks

[runnerbean]

NorthernLass wrote:

Grand Cayman touts itself as the culinary capital of the Caribbean and is very safe to get around (driving on the left) so you can visit the restaurants and local sights. It’s generally a very pricy island but it does have many different levels of food options. We’ve been going there for years on quite a normal budget.

Avios availability is usually pretty good, especially if you book early, and there are several hotel options for points bookings via Marriott and IHG, plus a Hampton by Hilton. The snorkelling and diving are world class, and are the reason many people visit.

*Though if you want a lot of locally-grown food, you might need to go to a bigger island like Jamaica or the DR, the smaller ones tend to import a lot because they don’t have the land area or soil quality to grow loads of their own.

Thanks, I know from your posts you’re a GCM’phile. We were surprised at the amount of frozen containership foods on the two islands we’ve been to. I’ll look again at GCM.