Jamaica?

[Aston100]

…no, she went of her own accord.

Hello, I was thinking of booking a holiday to Montego Bay for someone. I’ve never been and so have a few questions please.

1. IHG & Hilton options seem to consist of only the Holiday Inn resort and the Hilton Rose Hall. Would welcome any opinions of these two places.
2. If I book through BA holidays, am I right in thinking these two properties won’t recognise status or award any points?
3. If I book directly with the hotels, will they allow points bookings if I don’t go there myself? similarly, would status benefits apply (inc room upgrades and such like).
4. I think the first 2 weeks of December are decent for weather and pricing. Looks that way to me based on limited googling, but would appreciate an experienced opinion.
5. I assume there is no way to use a companion voucher when I’m not travelling, right? I don’t want to pay full cash fare for a premium cabin for someone else so I may have to pay for economy tickets. Never done an upgrade with avios, is that a reasonable option here do you think?

Thanks.

[Mirp]

Weather will be fine.

Jamaica is usually far cheaper price wise than the rest of the Caribbean in my opinion.

If you are not traveling no point in using companion voucher as you would have to pay tax on flight you are not using. I think you will probably be able to upgrade with avios this far out.

[Keely]

Can’t answer most of the questions but was in Jamaica last week of Nov / first week of Dec last year. Weather wise, was nice enough, but not quite as nice as expected. Quite cloudy for a good part of the day most days and around 24/25 degrees. We had rain once late afternoon and overnight.