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BA ends ban on short-haul sales, and Heathrow improves
British Airways has frequently only sold the most expensive fully flexible tickets or stopped sales completely on short-haul sales due to Heathrow’s passenger number cap and their own lack of staff. The latest ban on sales for short-haul aircraft was due to end on 15 August, and the good news is that for now, it is not being extended as it had before.
Overall the picture at Heathrow has improved dramatically since the start of the school holiday. I flew back from Jersey last week and arrived early, went straight on to a stand, and there was someone there to operate the jet bridge. I was in an Uber by the time I should have landed. I was hand baggage only and treated as a domestic flight, but that’s still impressive.
Heathrow released a statement earlier in the week stating that their performance had improved with less last-minute flight cancellations and better aircraft punctuality and timely baggage delivery.
It’s interesting to note that Heathrow claims they are back at pre-pandemic levels for security staff and, while acknowledging that newer staff may be slower, blamed leisure passengers for not knowing liquids rules for queues! I mean, seriously, blaming it on leisure travellers not knowing what they are doing (and we all know a few people are like this) is not really going to endear you to the public after Heathrow’s dismal performance for much of the summer!
Luxury London hotel from £139
I have always fancied staying on one of the Sunborn yacht hotels. As well as the Gibraltar one we have written about before, there is also one in London. As well as being a unique experience that’s probably as close to a super yacht most of us will get, it is also excellent value for money given the crazy prices in London. Hopefully, I will get to do a review there soon, but in the meantime, there is a decent deal with Groupon.
The offer is very limited in terms of dates in August and September, but the prices definitely represent a saving as the cheapest I can see rooms direct is from £150 without breakfast rising to well over £200 a night.
The deluxe yacht hotel is located in the Royal Victoria Docks. It was built specifically as a yacht hotel and does not actually have an engine. However, it has the sophisticated feel of a classic sailing yacht with teak wood panelling, a sweeping glass staircase, and vast decked areas, ideal for sundowners looking out across the skyline of the city of London.
There are two options:
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Classic King Room with Dockview for Two From £139/nt
- Classic King Room with Dockview for Two with Breakfast From £139/night
- Executive King Room with Dockview for Two from £169
- Executive King Room with Dockview for Two with breakfast from £199
You can find the offer page here.
If you can’t find dates to suit, you can see the best prices for your dates and reviews on Tripadvisor here.
25% Marriott buy bonus
Until 15 September 22, Marriott Bonvoy members globally can receive up to 25% bonus points on purchases of 2,000 or more points. Unless you are desperate to top up and can’t use Amex points, I would wait until another offer as this is particularly weak compared to previous offers. Even with exceptionally high prices, it would not make sense to buy points at this rate in most circumstances.
New Members may purchase Points thirty days after enrollment in the Marriott Bonvoy program.
In 2022, members may purchase or receive as a gift a combined maximum of 100,000 Points per calendar year.
Marriott Bonvoy now allows you to top up points as part of the booking process on Marriott.com. Members can choose the number of points they want to buy to cover a shortfall for a redemption stay while in the booking process. You can purchase up to an additional 100,000 Points annually while booking a hotel stay on marriott.com.
6 comments
Yeah but at the same time a lot of passengers do seem to be boneheads now !
Braininsuitcaseitus is the medical term for a condition that afflicts every traveller at least once in their lifetime. Even the most frequent flyer shows symptoms of this by walking through airport metal detectors with a phone in a pocket, or arriving at a destination with a suitcase full of nothing to wear. The examples are endless. ????
That being said, it’s appalling that any individual or organisation thinks it’s acceptable to blame their customers for their own shortcomings. The sooner they have the backbone and decency to admit they got things wrong, and apologise to their customers and staff for the way they were treated, the sooner things will improve. Until then, we have to accept that the only people they are fooling with their ridiculous excuses is themselves.
This only highlights Heathrow’s own failure to investigate in CT scanners that don’t require anything to be removed from bags. If low capacity LCY has then,why not LHR? Should be a condition of their operators license.
Quite. They were supposed to have introduced them ages ago as I remember them trialling it pre-pandemic.
I meant invest!
The first time (of several overseas) that we were told to put our liquids back in our luggage because the scanners dealt with them was, from memory, Austin Texas in 2018! Enough said about the ludicrous delays in installing the technology in the UK!
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