Marriott are offering some special deals for their hotels in Southern England until 31 August.

Properties include

  • Marriott Bexleyheath
  • Bournemouth Highcliffe
  • Portsmouth
  • Waltham Abbey
  • Hanbury Manor
  • Lingfield Park
  • Meon Valley
  • Tudor Park

The last four are pretty good properties if you want a country stay.

The deal, code M11 includes

  • Breakfast for two
  • 20% discount on food and drink
  • 2,000 bonus points
  • 10% discount on golf tee times or spa treatments if you have their credit card

Rate at Portsmouth, based on a two night stay, is £141 per night, Meon Valley us £145 per night, Bexleyheath is £114 – all including VAT

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | No Comments

UK news reports that following a ‘problem’ MS985 diverted to Prestwick Airport today. It landed at 1425 local time. The flight patch is at FlightAware.

BBC news report here.

No clues as to what this might be yet.

UPDATE

It appears as if a note threatening to set the plane alight was found in an on-board toilet. The passengers are disembarking.

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | No Comments

The French unions’ counterparts in some other European countries are set to join in the strikes on Wednesday or hold other industrial action. They are those in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Slovakia.

BBC article here

Disruption to train journeys:

SNCF – a strike has been scheduled to take place on Thursday 13 June 2013. This action will begin at 20:00 on Wednesday 12 June and run through until 08:00 on Friday 14 June. The following information relates to travel between the times/dates stated only.

Rail Europe Update here

Looks like No Trains or Planes this week!

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | No Comments

Lots of posts popping up from airports and airlines saying that French ATC are having a strike from tomorrow.

Appears SQ has cancelled it’s flights to Paris on 12 June and the return on the 13 June.

London City are asking you to call your airline.

If you are going to/from/via Paris, start calling I would suggest.

Air France statement

 SQ Announcement

Due to a planned strike by French air transport unions affecting French airspace from 11 to 14 June 2013, the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) will impose a 50 per cent capacity restriction for services to and from Paris. The following Singapore Airlines flights will be cancelled.

SQ334 (Singapore to Paris) on 12 June 2013
SQ333 (Paris to Singapore) on 13 June 2013

Singapore Airlines will endeavour to contact affected customers for alternative travel arrangements. At this point, we expect to operate all other flights between Singapore and Europe as scheduled. However, the situation is fluid and we seek our customers’ understanding and offer our apologies in advance should there be further flight disruptions. Customers with onward flight connections from Paris to other cities in France may also experience travel delays.

Singapore Airlines will waive administrative fees/penalties for refund, rebooking or re-routing, for customers holding confirmed tickets bought on or before 10 June 2013, for travel to and from Paris from 11 to 13 June 2013. This applies to KrisFlyer redemption tickets as well.

BA Statement

Advice for BA (125) ticketed customers whose BA flight is still OPERATING

Airports affected Paris Orly(ORY) and Charles de Gaulle (CDG)Nice (NCE)Marseille (MRS)
Toulouse (TLS)
Bordeaux (BOD)

Lyon (LYS)

Tickets issued by 09 June 2013
Ticket Travel dates 11-13 June 2013
Rebooking allowance for travel between 14-20 June Travel in the Same cabin must be booked
Rebooking Allowance for after 20 June The same class in cabin must be booked, travel within one year of ticket issue
Destination Change on tickets No
Refunds Allowed No


What to do if your flight has been cancelled

If your flight has been cancelled, please do not travel to the airport.

We have a policy in place outlining the options available to you and how to make changes to your booking.

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | No Comments

I have made a last minute booking to the USA for July and managed to snag an upgrade to F on the new 777-300 from JFK using a friends upgrade certs.

The advance meal booking applies for International First and I have been offered a choice as follows:

Any suggestions on what you would pick?

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | 7 Comments

American has announced an increase for passengers checking a second bag to and from Europe from $60 to $100. This applies to tickets purchased after 6 June. Those buying before that date pay the old $60 rate.

Exceptions apply for AAdvantage Exec Plat, Plat and Gold who get two free bags. Travellers in First and Business class get three free bags.

Full details are here – UK Web Site

The total dimensions of each checked bag may not exceed 62in / 157cm (length + width + height) for all customers.

 

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | One Comment

Manchester airport has launched a new service for its passengers, one that comes with a hefty price tag.

Prices are advertised as:

-Arrivals service £40 (for up to 4 people)
-Departures service £50 (for up to 4 people)
-Transfers £60 (for up to 4 people)
-Additional people may be added to bookings at a supplementary cost of £5 per person, up to a maximum group size of 6.

And what do you get for this? This is what they say:

Departing
-We’ll meet you kerbside at the drop-off point, at the Meet & Greet reception or even collect you from the train station depending on your preferred method of transport to the airport.
-Need a trolley? We’ll have one ready for your arrival.
-Your personal guide will escort you to your check-in desk and wait for you until you’ve completed the check-in process.
-You’ll then be ushered through the fast lane at security and escorted in to the departure lounge.
-We’ll guide you through departures and assist with any shopping you might want to do before your flight.
-Friendly Guide will see you all the way to your boarding gate and if you wish, we’ll even let a friend or relative know when you’re boarding.

Arriving
-Friendly Guide will meet you at your gate, escort you through immigration and in to the baggage reclaim hall.
-If you’ve got bags to collect we’ll provide you with a trolley and guide you through in to arrivals.
-We’ll make sure that you link up with the person meeting you or to your onward means of transport.
-If you’re booking for a friend, relative or visitor, we can let you know when they have met their onward means of transport to give you that extra peace of mind.

Transferring
Are you transferring in Manchester between two separately booked flights?
If you have a landside transfer i.e. the passenger has two separate itineraries, two separate tickets and the passenger’s luggage is not through-checked but checked in by the passenger for the second flight, Friendly Guide is here to help.

Availability
Initially Friendly Guide is only available to book for passengers traveling through Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport. For the time being Friendly Guide is available to book for travel between the 3rd and 20th June 2013

Based on the dates above it seems like a bit of an experiment to see how it goes down.  The full terms and conditions are here.

Quite interesting to read what you’re NOT getting for your £50:

3.13 The Service:
• is not a porterage service; We will not carry or push cabin or hand baggage;
• is not a PRM service – please see paragraph 5 below;
• does not include pre-assigned aircraft seating, priority boarding and express check-in;
• does not include Escape Lounge and car parking. These products can be added at an additional cost;
• is provided subject to satisfactory completion of security, immigration and customs screening.

Is it me or does their logo look as if two fingers are being used?

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | 2 Comments

For those unfamiliar with fares in London, they are, like many European cities based on a zoning system. The zones run from the centre and each station is in one or two zones.

The zones are important as they are used to calculate your fare on the tube. (Buses have a standard fare per journey).

If you buy a season ticket that includes the central zone, Zone 1, then the price is significantly higher than just having a season ticket for other zones. For example, my Zones 2-4 season ticket is £1,008, whereas if it included Zone 1 it would be £1,744. I don’t travel to Zone 1.

Now, if I have to travel around in Zones 2-4 I am careful not to enter Zone 1. However, it now turns out that just avoiding Zone 1 is not enough, TfL require you to use one their approved routes.

Take my recent journey from Finsbury Park to London City Airport. My chosen route is via Highbury and Islington and Shadwell, but this is a chargeable route. You have to go via Stratford which is much slower and involves a set of stairs where there is no lift as an alternative in order not to have to pay TfL extra.

And how do TfL expect you to know this? Why of course you use their web site and their Single Fare calculator:

The link is here.

Madness if you ask me!

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | 6 Comments

Heathrow Airport announced yesterday that they were one year away from opening the new Terminal Two, which is slated to be the home for Star Alliance airlines at the airport. They also announced that the move-in airline would be United, presumably with their ex-Continental flights to Newark and Houston relocating across the southerly runway from Terminal 4 to the brand spanking new T2. Also moving in will be Virgin’s Little Red, Aer Lingus and Germanwings.

Hoping to learn from the fiasco that was the opening of Terminal 5, United will hold sole residency for three weeks. Personally I’d wait a little a longer before I checked my bags in after the experience at T5. 28,000 bags became seperated from their owners when T5 opened.

The pictures of T2 look pretty good, as they often do:

 

I imagine everyone is hoping it doesn’t turn out to be another Berlin Brandenburg, which actually might open around the same time – about 2 years late.

 

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | One Comment

AA are offering double miles to their AAdvantage members for AA or BA flights in premium cabins.

31 May to 15 July 2013. Pre-Registration required – UK2XM. The web site suggests it is designed for AAdvantage members living in the UK. Details here.

Full Terms and Conditions

*Includes First Class or Business Class fares booked in P, F, A, J, R or D on American Airlines operated flights; First Class or Club World fares booked in F, A, J, C, or D on British Airways operated flights.

Registration prior to travel is required. AAdvantage bonus mile offer is valid on American Airlines or British Airways operated and/or marketed nonstop flights for travel on selected routes from London Heathrow to Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Raleigh/Durham; From Manchester to Chicago and New York; and from Dublin to Chicago, 31 May 2013 to 15 July 2013. Offer applies only to AAdvantage members who are residents of the UK and Ireland who purchase and fly on eligible published-fare tickets. Flights operated by other codeshare partners are not eligible for this promotion. Bonus miles do not count towards elite status qualification or Million Miler status. Double miles will be calculated at 100% of the base miles earned.

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | One Comment

The soon to be closed (15 October 2013), Coke Zone in the UK allows you to collect codes from larger bottles and multipacks to earn rewards from Coke.

A pretty poor selection of items really, with these being the highest reward options:

The UK scheme never got the travel goodies enjoyed by the US scheme at various time – airline miles and hotel points and it is interesting to note that the US scheme appears to continue even as the UK has announced its closure later in the year.

You can get a ticket to a Vue cinema (my local) for 150 points:

There are lots of other coke branded items.

Overall – A shame it’s closing, so be sure to cash in your points before it goes!

Posted by MilesFromBlighty | One Comment

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