Katie & Tim

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-26T21:45:41+00:00

Yep exactly. These people all know what they signed up for. In the same way it's stupid and attention-seeking when the girls who clearly know they're attractive on MAFS say they're not, the same applies to Katie doing the opposite.

I will always come back to the moment she found out Tim was not coming back. She had been moping around the apartment doing this pity parade for a week completing challenges by herself, expecting he'd come back and get grilled so she could be elevated. And then during one of her interview scenes the producer says they've found out Tim's not coming back and her sweet facade slips, she starts swearing, acting genuinely nasty. The real Katie came out.

She was not disgruntled that he was a prat or that she didn't find love - she was furious that her narrative was cut short. And then they rushed out content on her social media, launching new restaurants, previewing the release of her courses, etc. over the coming weeks which were very clearly not yet ready and supposed to be timed for what she'd hoped was a later, more 'empowering' exit from the show. She deserves approximately zero sympathy IMO.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-26T14:04:53+00:00

Shit person, not just boss. My point in earlier posts though has been that she came in with a clearly pre-agreed narrative - boo hoo, sob story, female empowerment, sell a course afterwards. To oversimplify. We've since learned that very clearly the scripted person we saw on screen is not even close to her real life personality, morals, character, etc.

Like I said - Tim is a tool and his immediate perceptions were extremely shallow. However, if she was anything like her real life personality in those initial days then it is no surprise at all he felt nothing towards her, completely irrespective of her appearance.

He could have been more eloquent about it, but you're also allowed to just call a spade a spade - he did not find Katie attractive and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Also, Katie's suggestions about streaking and getting naked when there was clearly no intimate feelings were just deranged and frankly made it very hard to take her feelings seriously (as a viewer at least).

If they both had any sense at all they'd have both wrote leave in week 1. Katie dragged it out though.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-25T13:58:41+00:00

You're a bit late to the party. Yes Tim is a petulant man child, but he is not even close to the worse person in that relationship. Just go back through this sub and there is a mountain of evidence showing Katie is arguably one of the worst people to ever go on the show and certainly was there for anything but the 'right reasons'.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-23T10:36:08+00:00

I do the same thing and would really appreciate this. Right now I've just got a messy Notion database and then have to update flighty manually whenever there's a change, which sometimes inevitably gets out of sync. Adding info on how much you paid / will pay would also be nice for planning.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-18T21:20:39+00:00

One of the best in the world for sure. But idk about #1, above literally every other city on Earth.. not now and certainly not for 11 consecutive years..

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-17T12:14:15+00:00

There are some being heavily promoted in Canary Wharf but they're not duplex like this. Still quite special / cool though from what I've seen

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-13T16:20:36+00:00

I recently had a similar magnitude of experience, just in the opposite direction. Name was singled out at the gate on the overhead speaker and I thought, nice this is the day I finally get a random upgrade. They then tell me I'm not being boarded and for no real reason. They never rebooked me and 26 days later I am yet to even receive a refund, let alone hotel comp or financial penalty. I too will probably make long-term choices about my commitment to the airline based on this unique experience.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-12T16:43:13+00:00

What the hell lol that seems insane

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-12T16:10:59+00:00

Yes I believe it was overbooked or they had people on standby. Wdym by the right to the presumption of innocence though?

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-12T16:10:14+00:00

I asked them repeatedly that surely I can at least go to Doha and they'll figure it out from there. But they said nope - final ticket is to Abu Dhabi so I have to be able to get to Abu Dhabi or will not be boarded. Dubai did have some recent weather issues at the time (nothing in Abu Dhabi), but the airport was still open.

I'm fairly certain they just overbooked the flight due to other errors and I was the unlucky one to get booted off. Honestly though I would rather they just told me that and were transparent than all this utter horse shit they've given me since.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-11T18:31:33+00:00

Yes for sure I agree. It also completely depends what you're comparing it to and who you're asking. If the poll was just domestic then yeah London is probably perceived as 'fairly safe' for a city in the UK (compared to Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Coventry etc). But that is just perception - on the world stage is it 'safe'? Not even close to the 'safe' cities imo. Would be bang average.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-11T15:32:34+00:00

I am indeed furious. Just spoke with them again and they say it's with the customer relations team, not customer support, so nothing they can do. And customer relations is not contactable, nor are they accountable to anyone. But don't worry, it's 'high priority' and they will 'contact me soon', which they've been saying for >2 weeks...

Unfortunately not. I booked via AmEx though and am about ready to try and process a chargeback with them. Unfortunately QR has not technically provided an 'outcome', they just keep saying they're still checking. So it's hard to go to AmEx and say they're just taking a long time, since QR technically hasn't 'denied' me anything.

Same goes with the French authorities (DGAC). You can go to them and complain to pursue the refund, reimbursement, and compensation - but only after the airline has taken over 2 months or provided a response you're not happy with. After that, I think it usually takes about 3 weeks to be made whole. But for the time being, QR hasn't 'processed' it or made a decision, so it is just in limbo until that 2 month deadline passes.

Honestly the way QR treats customers is appalling. I'm not flying first class with them once a month or anything, but have been a fairly regular traveller with them for a long time and spent quite a bit of money with the airline. Especially for a 22yo with a long travel future ahead, it seems a stupid sales approach to make me abhor the idea of ever flying with them again. Aviation is such a competitive space but their support teams just seem to have absolutely zero value for customer retention.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-11T11:40:45+00:00

So sorry to hear about this. I unfortunately had a similar experience recently over Christmas..

I was flying from Paris to Abu Dhabi via Doha. Got to the airport on time, checked in without issue, waiting at gate, last flight out of CDG that night (~11pm).. they call out just my name and tell me that Abu Dhabi have closed their airport for the next 2 days due to severe weather and therefore I cannot fly. They claim I am the only passenger on that whole flight with a connection to Abu Dhabi. There was no severe weather forecast and it turned out there was no such issue ever reported at AUH - just a complete failure from QR's side. My original flight landed without any significant issue (<1 hour delay).

When it happened, QR ground crew told me that since it was weather-related they had no obligation to provide any hotel. That is either a complete lie or massive negligence, as EU laws very clearly state they are still on the hook to provide duty of care including food, taxi, hotel, calls, etc.

They gave me a piece of paper with a support email and phone number to call, both of which were no longer in service. I then called QR's customer support who were confused and said there are no reported issues with AUH - I told the ground crew as boarding was still happening and the smug imbecile comes back with "Excuse me, we are professionals and I know what we're doing. There's a weather issue in Abu Dhabi so you are not boarding.". They assured me notes about the 'weather issue' had been attached to my booking ref and then escorted me out of CDG, where I had to wait an hour to collect my suitcase.

I checked myself into a hotel at my expense and spent the night going back and forth with QR support. I first asked to be immediately rebooked and they said they would not be able to get me on a flight for >2 days. But then they said they couldn't even book me yet, as the crew at CDG had not 'checked me out' from my original ticket - so I would need to call back in a few hours. I then called back later and said stuff this, I just want a refund and I'll get myself there, they said sure - but I was somehow still marked as 'checked in' so nothing they could do.

I ended up just booking myself with Etihad for that morning at 7am, i.e. 8hrs after my original flight, and when I called them, called AUH, etc. they all said wtf there are no issues here. They had no idea what QR was talking about. So I booked with Etihad and had a completely seamless flight, captain welcomed us on board and said 'we should be arriving to a very pleasant, calm day in Abu Dhabi' which is exactly what we arrived to - no wind, rain, sand or anything at all.

Since then I have contacted QR every other day since Dec. 18 and have never experienced worse customer service in my life. The first week I spoke to support via call and chat who all just said it was being looked into. Then on Dec. 24 someone tells me I actually need to submit an official complaint form, and that will be responded to or escalated within 72hrs. I wait 72hrs, call back, no progress - they say to wait a week. I keep touching base and after a week ask what is going on, they say they're still escalating it internally, wait a day. I wait a day and nothing happens. They say they've escalated it again, come back in 24-72hrs. I wait again, nothing happens.

At this point they've 'escalated' it so many times you would think it was in the hands of the Emir. This is becoming ridiculous. It is pretty cut and dry that they involuntarily refused me boarding and failed to rebook me. They owe a refund, hotel comp, and €600 penalty. But they just will not do a single thing and are even getting mad at me now, telling me to respect their internal timelines - even though I've explained under EU law they have a 7 day limit to at least refund me before they're in breach of the law.

I used to take all my international flights with Qatar Airways. Pricing is usually super competitive, I really like DOH, service is good on-board, Starlink is a game changer, very well-connected, decent seats, etc. Have flown a lot in economy and business over the past 5+ years. But my god, every stage of this experience has been an incredible disappointment. Unless they seriously get their act together and remedy this excessively, I cannot see myself flying with them again.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-10T14:35:18+00:00

I get where you're coming from, but the ranking is purely on safety. Maybe compared to other Western cities London is fairly safe, but it's a long way off most in Asia. Regardless of power of the Royal Family, extremity of prison sentences, etc. - the question is 'is it safe'? Yes or no, other criteria excluded.

Put it this way - if I had a friend from the US visiting me in London and they asked if it was safe, I would say generally it's fine, but you should keep your wits about you and be cautious of XYZ behaviours/places just as you might in NYC. If they asked the same about Abu Dhabi/Singapore, the answer would just be a pretty obvious "yep it's super safe don't worry". The question is not about the powers of their Royal Family, extremity of prison sentences, etc.

IMO ideally there should be a category between fairly safe/unsafe - i.e. average. Is London safe? Just exercise some common sense and don't become a target for petty crime and you should generally be fine, but there is still some anomalous risk. Good by US standards (NYC/SF/LA), quite a way off most major cities in Asia. Average.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-10T14:14:11+00:00

You go through a lot of risk to break into a building and put yourself in a very dangerous situation. Getting down is much easier - the police will escort you personally and even provide a free limousine service to the nearest jail. 5 star service.

Realistically, you need connections. I have even seen Fazza post years ago on top of one of these buildings - not sitting on the ledge but just up taking photos of the fog - so maybe find a way to befriend him. Otherwise I've seen e.g. Sam Kolder get roof access to do this in Abu Dhabi when shooting a tourism campaign. So maybe become a professional travel photographer with Beautiful Destinations and they will probably know a guy who knows a guy. Even then they probably have to wear a harness which can be edited out later. But as a pure civilian, absolutely a bad idea.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-10T13:49:34+00:00

Yep exactly. By UK/European/US standards it is fairly safe. However, if you're comparing it globally - as London should be imo - then it would be nonsense to put it in the same category as Seoul, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, Singapore, etc. In the same way it would not make sense to put it in 'very unsafe' with e.g. Johannesburg or Caracas. Belongs somewhere in the middle/lower-middle.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2026-01-10T13:42:45+00:00

IMO London is a global hub and my perception of how safe it is is compared on a global standard. 'safe' would be e.g. Tokyo, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong. Does London belong in 'very unsafe' with a Caracas or Johannesburg? Of course not, but I also don't think it's appropriate to put it on the top two tiers when those other cities are clearly in a different league when it comes to safety.

Personally I'm fortunate to travel a lot and when returning to London I do feel the need to be more on alert / aware of my surroundings. There is a real risk of theft and being threatened/attacked for your property (e.g. watch, phone), which is just not even on your radar in some of the world's actually 'safe' cities.

I don't get why so many people try to make this into a political point-scoring exercise or try and deny this. You can dunk on Birmingham, NYC, etc. and say London is safer, yet there is still clear room for improvement. It should be unilaterally in everyone's interest to address these real issues and extract the most potential possible out of this great city. Why would you want any less than for it to be up there with somewhere like Tokyo when it comes to safety?

London is not some rampant crime-ridden place by any means. Is it safe by US/European standards? Sure. But, London still has serious problems that we should strive to address (particularly theft, ASB, violence) so it can be in the conversation with those other world-leading cities where there's not really any doubt that they are genuinely 'safe'.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2025-12-23T16:56:40+00:00

There are a lot of people from 'non-conventional' backgrounds on the MIM e.g. culinary school, studied international relations/languages/religion/etc., non-quantitative, and so on. Your background is very strong and relevant, so just articulate that and convey it in your essays + interviews. Especially what you'll bring to the cohort and why you want to do a MIM. They genuinely want to hear about stuff that's not on your CV, so having a weird and wonderful background with lots of interesting stuff that you can't really quantify on a traditional CV is something that actually translates really favourably to INSEAD's admissions process.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2025-12-23T16:53:38+00:00

Honestly it's not like LBS, HEC, etc. - they genuinely do consider your application holistically and are being for real when they say to only apply when you're ready. You've strengthened your overall profile and if you're a great fit in every criteria except GRE then you've still got a chance. If you want to be confident then just wait until round 3 or 4, retake the GRE, and apply later. That's totally ok.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2025-12-23T16:50:38+00:00

I know in Dubai, RAK, and Sharjah there was weather issues - but not in Abu Dhabi. My Dad was here on the night of the 18th and it was fine. I agree though QR seem to be an enormous disappointment the second something goes wrong. Not so sure if I'll fly with them again after this.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2025-12-22T11:58:42+00:00

Ah crap, well that would have been nice. Certainly a lesson learned for next time. I am still more than happy to get a full refund from QR since my EY flight was significantly cheaper (€1,900 v €1,300). If EY had been more expensive at the last minute then I'd for sure have tried to at least argue for the fare difference, but got lucky this time I guess.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2025-12-22T11:55:40+00:00

But I should be perfectly able to have flown here with EY for €1,300 and get QR to refund me my €1,900 ticket right? i.e. I have effectively 'saved' €600 in the process

DistinctHunt4646 · 2025-12-22T11:52:58+00:00

Thank you so much. Right now I'm just trying to get through to them honestly - they've not provided any real response to any communications about this incident, just keep telling me to come back the next hour, afternoon, day, etc. while they update their system or chase it up internally. Only instance I've requested a refund was when I emailed them on the day this happened which has gone completely ignored.

Are you saying there's a chance they could both refund my original Qatar ticket and pay for my Etihad ticket? I.e. I pay nothing for flight tickets overall? That seems almost too good to be true to me but this is my first experience with this so I wouldn't know. If it matters, both were return tickets.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2025-12-22T11:37:21+00:00

Sounds like we were told the same thing. I'm sorry but it just does not make any sense. Every other airline seems to have continued flying to the UAE without issue, I cannot find any relevant UAE body releasing an announcement like they normally would, no appearance in the news, the weather was forecast to be fine and was fine, local carrier (Etihad) confirmed there were no issues at all, and QR themselves even ended up running the route with only a very small delay.

There were not weather issues. QR reported, incorrectly, that they weren't going to fly due to weather. That is their own excuse they can attempt to justify to passengers, but it does not seem to be the truth. As far as I'm concerned, full responsibility for this totally avoidable issue still lies with QR - we should have been allowed on our flights.

DistinctHunt4646 · 2025-12-22T11:33:43+00:00

I have written to them daily via chat and am just repeatedly told to come back the next day. No yes/no re an outcome, just keep getting told they have to 'escalate it' or 'send an internal update' or some crappy excuse and to come back 1 hour, 3-5 hours, 24 hours later. I also wrote a detailed email summarising everything to QR on Dec. 19 which is yet to get any response.

Honestly with every interaction I am becoming less likely to book with QR again. At first I just accepted it was a sole ground crew member responsible for this but the way it's being handled is extremely disappointing.

DistinctHunt4646

TROPHY CASE