Free eSIM with 1GB data roaming
Just saw this deal on hotukdeals, which might be useful to our readers.
It is a promotion run by Better Roaming, a company that provides eSIM service. If you scan the QR code below with your phone, you will be redirected to installing an eSIM:
Once activated, the eSIM comes with a 30-day plan including 1GB data. The package is valid at 148 countries, full list here.
It is a pretty good offer (and most importantly free). If you need more packages, you could consider Airalo as well which I’ve been using extensively in the last two years.
My review of Gritti Palace and St Regis Venice
My friend had an expiring 85K Marriott FNC from the Amex card and we were trying to redeem it together. We sifted through the high-end hotels in Europe and agreed on Venice, as it was easy to get to by flight and we could try out both the St Regis and the Luxury Collection hotels.
Both hotels are near the San Marco Square in the main island. From the Venice airport you could do either 20 minutes by bus (€20) + 30 minutes’ walk, or 80 minutes by boat transfer (€15) + 10 minutes’ walk. There’s no car inside the island, so the last option is “water taxi”, which will set you back €150!
Venice is very pact so hotels tend not to occupy a lot of space. The Gritti Palace hotel, part of the Luxury Collection, has quite a small entrance and you wouldn’t spot it easily.
Gritti Palace has a very long history that dates back the 14th century. It turned into a hotel in the 19th century.
I’ve stayed at my due share of “palaces” in Europe, and I’m still astonished at how beautiful this hotel is, which I guess is from the Venetian school.
The suite night award cleared into a one-bedroom suite.
Their bathroom amenity is from Acqua di Parma, and my friend loves them a lot. He took all of them before the turndown service however the housekeeping didn’t bring in any more supplies, and I couldn’t stop laughing…
It’s my birthday in couple of days and we left note. The hotel has kindly prepared a cake and champagne.
Have a look at the gorgeous restaurant:
Breakfast buffet:
A-la-carte menu:
I was wondering whether the complimentary breakfast covers all items, until I saw the caviar… Food is generally good especially the pastries.
My friend had a spa treatment and here’s a photo:
There’s another restaurant with an outdoor terrace, but probably seasonal and closed during the winter.
The hotel’s concierge is very friendly and professional. When we came back from sightseeing the second day he chased and told us that there’s a free tour to a glass factory, and he could coordinate with the St Regis if necessary. We declined the offer but really appreciated the gesture.
Our next night is at the St Regis, which is closer to San Marco and the port. Its entrance is in a hidden courtyard and very quiet.
In contrast with Gritti Palace it is a very modern hotel. The property was recently renovated and upgraded from the Westin brand – quite a climb up the ladder!
Interestingly I found this sculpture, which is the work of Jaume Plense like the one I saw at At Six.
The hotel has four buildings, however according to the staff they don’t really differ in terms of room types or themes. Our suite night award materialised as a Venetian Suite, which is a suite in one of the lower categories.
It is new and reminiscent of an upscale, expensive apartments. Made aware of my birthday they added some decoration in the bedroom.
Acqua di Parma again – this time my friend left a €5 tip and housekeeping brought two sets of amenities :p
Champagne and cake, but the cake from Gritti Palace is much more delicious.
Restaurant:
Breakfast buffet and menu:
The plates are so delicate and I love them, food quality not so much.
Couple of photos of the gym. Neither hotel has a swimming pool.
If I need to choose between the two I’ll go for Gritti Palace at the drop of a hat, as it’s got much more of a character and the service is also better. We had a coffee at the Aman as well, and I must say I was truly impressed.
My review of Goldair and Skyserv Lounges Athens, and a BA upgrade
After a nice week in Athens I’m setting off to the cold London. I used my Avios for an economy flight, and thanks to my BA status I could still use the fast track facility.
All non-Schengen flights depart from Hall A, and you pass border control first followed by the security check. Massive queue for non-EU passport, but I went through fast track in a breeze!
There are a few lounge options, all next to each other.
Aegean operates their own (Star-Alliance) lounge, and other airlines work with one of the three third-party lounges. British Airways partners with Skyserv, but after having read some reviews I decided to try out the Goldair Handling Lounge instead.
The lounge is a massive hall itself.
It is quite bright. There appears to be an outdoor area but that’s for emergency exit only. Here is the working zone:
And let’s have a look at the food and drinks:
Hot food of the day include:
- Orzo with mushrooms
- Turkish meatballs
- Vegetable soup
- Rice
Desserts look quite tasty.
I’m quite impressed by the fact that they have a dedicated shower & bathroom facility right across the alley. To be honest it looks even fancier than the lounge itself.
As I had enough time, I went for a sneak peek into the Skyserv Lounge as well. They do accept both Priority Pass and Dragonpass too.
A few random pictures:
It’s actually more beautiful than the Goldair – the different tones of blue and wavy decorations make you feel like in the Aegean sea. It is however a lot busier, probably because of its broader range of airline partners.
The buffet area is a quite small selection, with the following hot items:
- Turkish burger
- Veal with peas
- Rice
Having visited both lounges I made my way to the gate. The flight was slightly delayed so I checked BA’s app again to make sure. At this point I noticed a change to my assigned seat – I got upgraded to Club Europe!
It was a pretty full flight, so the upgrade made sense. But in case you didn’t know, the business class setup on intra-Europe flights is laughable – it’s basically exactly the same seat, but with the middle seat blocked.
There are *12* rows of business class on this flight, and I’m seated at row 7. My original seat at the exit row would have been better.
Good news is I’ve got free food and drinks for this four-hour journey. BA’s upgrade strategy is intriguing: I have been upgraded three times (the previous two on long-hauls) as Silver and Bronze, but never once whilst being Gold!
My extraordinary 4.5-hour flight delay with Storm Isha!
After I booked my return flight to LGW from Seville I realised there’s no train from Gatwick on that day (Jan 21st) due to engineering work. I was a bit annoyed, but the whole trip turned out to be much more complicated and dramatic than that!
I have vaguely heard about Storm Isha, and received an email from BA that my flight might be delayed because of it the day before. And it turns out to be the case, as I woke up on the day to a notification that my flight has an estimated delay of 1.5 hours due to late arrival of the aircraft.
It means that we would land at Gatwick at around 8pm, which isn’t too big a deal. The delay goes back and forth during the day though and I keep receiving emails / push notifications from Tripcase / Google. It is quite upsetting, and right before I was going to leave the lounge I saw the estimated arrival changed to 10.30pm. At this point I’ve finally made up my mind to book an overnight stay instead, and Courtyard Gatwick Airport is my choice.
It’s a very full flight, and we waited quite a while before the pushback started. According to the captain there’s some “computer error” following the late arrival which caused further delays.
After we are on the runway, another 30-odd minutes passed but we are not taking off. Passengers are getting noticeably irritated and the captain finally spoke again: Gatwick mistakenly stroke out our flight record, and although they are working hard to resume it, it might take another 1 hour and 40 minutes!
You can only imagine how everyone is feeling on this plane. Fortunately it didn’t take that long before they sorted it out – we took off after about another half an hour, some people applauded, and it’s an uneventful flight for the most part.
Until we got to the UK and started descending, and the very apparent turbulence came into play. It was windy and rainy, but we were approaching the land slowly, but the very second before we touched down they pulled up again. The runway’s condition is to risky for landing.
The aircraft circled for another half an hour and it’s the worst time I’ve ever had on any plane. The plane is visibly swinging all the time and I for the very first time have got motion sick in the sky. I’m sweating a lot and having a stomach ache, but luckily I haven’t eaten anything for almost half a day.
The woman sitting next to me was on Whatsapp and I had to tell her off. I can see some others who are undergoing a worse pain than I am. Fortunately, the second landing attempt is successful, and the nightmare is over.
It was an eventful evening and many flights were affected by the extreme weather conditions just like us. I should count myself very lucky as most of these flights were cancelled or, maybe worse, diverted. One reader @SBS2813J’s London-bound flight was diverted to Paris, followed by a whole night of buses and ferry to Gatwick. He went straight to work from Gatwick!
@X’s Wizz Air flight was diverted to Brussels and then heading back to Milan. Passengers who wished to offload at Brussels must sign a waiver as Wizz Air refused to cover their transport cost from Brussels to London.
It’s almost midnight at Gatwick and many passengers are stranded because of the storm. There’s a big queue in front of the taxi desk, and I got a quote of £50+ on Uber for a half-mile ride to the Courtyard! I’ll walk instead.
Booking the Courtyard is the best decision I’ve made this year so far. I even got an upgrade to the Junior Suite.
It’s a very basic and dated room, but I won’t complain. The hotel is overbooked, and there are a few guests at the front desk who paid but couldn’t get a room. I feel very sorry for them and can only imagine how desperate they must be.
[Compensation]
Well here it is – AirHelp comes to my rescue again! Since my flight is delayed by more than three hours (4 hour and 39 minutes), I’m entitled to a €100 payout from AirHelp Plus no matter what the cause is.
Their help page suggests 26 hours before I receive a confirmation, which is more or less the case.
After uploading the boarding pass and my passport, I received the payment in a couple of days.
I purchased AirHelp Plus Complete in November and now I’ve got the lounge pass, delayed bag compensation and the flight delay compensation – is it lucky or unlucky? The €250 compensation I’ve got more than quintuples what I paid already.
Sadly they devalued AirHelp Plus Complete on January 12th, and you can only register 7 trips per plan year now. It might still make sense, as you’ll get more than the cost back as long as one flight delay or one bag delay happens.
If you are interested, enter our unique promo code AHVERYL8 for 8% discount. Prices of the Essential / Complete plans are reduced to €22.99 / €45.99 respectively.
I submitted my claim to BA as well, in less hope as I know the delay is probably mostly attributed to the weather. To my surprise, BA responded in less than two weeks (much sooner than my previous experiences) with a positive outcome:
The total amount of compensation you’re due is £350.00 as there’s only one passenger included in your claim. We are happy to settle your claim for the expenses. We have managed to investigate your claim for your expenses for which the approved amount is £120.20 for your expenses incurred due to the disruption.
So it’s £350 compensation plus £120.20 for my hotel+train expense. I’m a happy man again!
My review of NEW Hotel Athens
After Melia Athens I wanted to move closer to the Acropolis, and decided on the NEW Hotel, a member of Marriott’s Design Hotel collection. 65,000 points for two nights is pretty good, and perfect for me to spend the 35k free-night certificate.
The location is excellent as you are only five minutes away from the main square and tube station, very convenient but also quiet at the same time. The Acropolis is within walking distance. In short it’s an ideal location for tourists.
The property is run by Yes Hotels, who owns a couple of other Design Hotels in Athens including Periscope and Semiramis. Unfortunately Marriott elite members receive very limited benefits at Design Hotels, and as a Titanium member all I get is 1,000 welcome points and room upgrade. Breakfast is not included, and the €35 price is bit insane in my opinion.
Good news is Superior Room is bookable using points, and I received a further one-category upgrade to Superior Plus.
The way how the basin just sticks out is quite weird, so is the mirror behind it.
The “ladder” by the wall is actually a chair. As a Design hotel there are for sure some design elements in the room, whether you agree with the concept or not is a different matter!
There’s no bathtub but the rain shower is powerful.
I received a bottle of water and some local delicacies as a welcome gift, and some more during the turndown service. I love baklava, but don’t think I’m a fan of Greek desserts otherwise…
As a result of the upgrade, my room comes with a balcony.
I went to the restaurant on the rooftop for some pictures.
Gym is at level -1. I’m sure there’s a jacuzzi hidden somewhere as well although I didn’t find it, as I was told by the staff.
I’m not necessarily fond of the hotel’s design choice, but the room is good in general and the location is perfect. Compared to the other Marriott hotels in Athens NEW does have some advantages, and is a decent option if the price is right.
My review of Melia Athens
Back to Athens after nine years, and it’s the rare chance for me to stay at a Melia hotel again. €178 for two nights with breakfast included is a satisfying price, until it dropped again by a further €30 not long after I booked, oh well…
Location of the Melia Athens is good, but not great. The neighbourhood seems a bit rough, but it’s just 25 minutes on foot to the Acropolis which is a nice stroll for walkers. The Omonia metro station is fairly close, which brings you to the Acropolis and seaside directly.
I got trapped in a big traffic jam in Thessaloniki, followed by a flight delay, and was exhausted when I arrived at the hotel. Man from the front desk learned Chinese for a few years – we had a short but delightful conversation before I went to my room.
I am Melia Gold, but it doesn’t come with room upgrade as a benefit. I did however claim a room-upgrade voucher as my birthday gift, and it is time to test it. The voucher allows you to choose the room of a higher category during online check-in:
It’s only one-category, and only confirmed 48 hours before arrival, so not hugely useful. On the bright side, they are very efficient and I could see my room number in the app in the morning.
I got an upgrade to Supreme Room VIP Experience:
View from my room:
The bathroom has a very funky design, which converts part of the bathtub into a shower cabin.
The tub has built-in jacuzzi jets for a nice massage:
Dates and preserved fruits as the welcome gift for my Gold status:
The room is more or less the same with a standard Supreme Room, but with some VIP Experience addons:
- Welcome drink
- Free breakfast
- 20% dining discount
- Free fast wi-fi
- Coffee machine
- Upgraded bath amenities
- Early check-in and late check-out
Although its rooms are tired, the hotel has a nice rooftop swimming pool on the 8th floor.
Nice view of Mount Lycabettus.
It looks quite fancy in a different way at night.
Gym, sauna and steam room are on the same floor.
My welcome drink:
Breakfast is served at the Vivendo restaurant on the mezzanine floor until 10.30am. There’s also a late breakfast option at Cafe Mondo afterwards, but I’m not sure whether the offering is the same.
This is the usual buffet you find in Europe. The Spanakopita – Greek spinach pie – is pretty good.
It’s not a top-grade hotel, but in general it doesn’t have any major flaw and the rooftop pool is a big highlight. If you don’t mind the slightly odd location, Melia Athens is worth considering when the price is right.
Error fare: Virgin Atlantic LHR-PVG Upper Class for 30k points
(UPDATE: Virgin woke up and pulled the “offer” – it lived for almost 20 hours though!)
Virgin Atlantic launched a new global reward sale:
- Book by Jan 31st
- Travel by Dec 31st
- Save 20% points on all reward flights
- Few destinations are excluded
It is a good offer, although not as good as the previous 50%-off and 33%-off sales.
More importantly, their Shanghai route seems to have loaded the sale fare erroneously.
You pay the following for PVG-LHR, off-peak and peak:
- Economy: 8,000 points / 16,000 points + 873 CNY
- Premium: 14,000 points / 22,000 points +1,565 CNY
- Upper Class: 30,000 points / 38,000 points + 1,719 CNY
To put it into context, the original price for Upper Class off-peak is 57,500 points, so it is almost half-price, not just 20% off. For LHR-PVG you pay the same amount of points, but taxes are gonna be much higher.
If you have an onward connection, the discount works too.
Just a couple of days ago VS had an £800 error fare to Shanghai in Upper Class too – something’s going on there for this route? Do not hesitate as it might get fixed anytime soon.
My review of the Amex Centurion Lounge, Stockholm
American Express has only two Centurion lounges in Europe, one in London and the other, quite surprisingly, in Stockholm. I’m intrigued by the reasoning behind, and as I’m flying from Stockholm I get to try it out.
Stockholm ARN is also one of the airports where Amex Platinum cardholders are entitled to security fast track. They have recently upgraded the screening technology, so you can carry large-volume liquid and don’t have to remove anything from your bag, which is a game changer. Hope all airports follow suit as soon as possible!
As you can tell from its strange name, it is a pop-up lounge rather than a conventional one. The formal lounge is still under construction so the pop-up is just a temporary alternative. If I remember correctly the pop-up was also recently relocated due to a dispute with the airport operator.
It is located at Pier F before border control.
The lounge look quite… temporary:
Thoughtful of them to have established a private section for Centurion members though:
It looks more of a restaurant than an airport lounge:
A small work zone:
Newspapers appear to be all in Swedish:
It’s a-la-carte dining only.
“Crayfish” caught my eyes immediately and I ordered it without a second of hesitation. However, it came out totally different to what I had expected, err something similar to the Italian bruschetta?
It’s served cold and can’t say that I’m impressed. Luckily I’m not hungry so the soup and coffee will do.
If you are in a hurry there are takeaway bags in the fridge by the entrance. I didn’t look inside but my bet is on sandwiches.
As it’s just a temporary lounge it would not be fair to judge it by the normal standard. There are places to sit, hot food and drinks to order, which is adequate I suppose.