Heathrow Rewards mega-bonus on electronics, watches and jewellery is back

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• Darren says:

  31 Oct31 October 13:16

  O/T

  What are the signs that a downgrade is possible?

  Checking in for a BA reward flight tomorrow, UK regional connection via LHR to the US, Check in completed and all boarding passes printed apart from my wife’s In CW. A seat is assigned but there isn’t an option to save or print just collect at the airport.

  Is this a flag for a possible downgrade?

  There are CW seats available to book right now on the flight.

  • Rob says:

    31 Oct31 October 13:57

    Yes, that is a flag.

    It doesn’t matter that seats are for sale. Look at how expensive they are. If someone buys a seat at those prices, BA will downgrade you as well because the compensation is a fraction of the current ticket price.

    • Darren says:

      31 Oct31 October 14:15

      Ok, to be prepared the strategy would be –

      Request both passengers to be moved to another flight in the correct class booked (unlikely to work? There isn’t one until the following day barring a convoluted route.)

      Take the hit and I’ll be in WTP (the trip is for my 50th but I’m sure that won’t matter.)

      Take the compo? Then claim via EU261? I realise it’s BA policy to say none is applicable until pressed legally.

      • Rob says:

        31 Oct31 October 14:18

        Are you on a 241? If the downgraded passenger is the 241 voucher user (ie not the main cardholder) then BA will refuse compensation and you will need to take them to arbitration, as TripRep did. For a clear, unarguable, run at compensation it must be the main cardholder who is downgraded.

        (You could swap seats on board, but the main cardholder should be the one with a WTP boarding pass.)

        You aren’t necessarily screwed. A reader in this position last week was saved when two passengers travelling on a connecting inbound flight were delayed.

      • Darren says:

        31 Oct31 October 14:40

        Yes a 241, I’m on the voucher and have a CW boarding pass. My wife, the cardholder doesn’t have a boarding pass at present.

        • Rob says:

          31 Oct31 October 15:23

          That’s OK, compensation-wise, then because BA will pay you the 75% of the one-way Avios back without fuss.

      • TripRep says:

        31 Oct31 October 14:48

        If you request to go on another flight routing in CW the next day, suspect BA will resist as IIRC you are then entitled to EU261 for the ensuing delay for both pax & is much more clear cut in terms of compensation. Plus BA have to pay for hotel & food.

        For clarity I was the downgraded pax my wife was the 241 voucher holder.

        Suggest you consult Flyertalk and Corporate-Wage-Slave.

        Again hopefully you will be okay and have a good trip for your 50th.

  • TripRep says:

    31 Oct31 October 14:21

    Darren – no guarantees but based on my experience, I’m going to suggest that you will be ok.

    For my downgrade from CW to WTP enroute to Maldives, I couldn’t check in at all.

    For my return in CW I could check in & chose it seat,etc but was also unable to print or download boarding pass, had to collect at the airport.

    Let us know how you get on in a Bits comments section 2moro…

    • Darren says:

      31 Oct31 October 14:42

      Ok thanks, will do.

      • JamesB says:

        31 Oct31 October 16:48

        Darren, the one time I was unable to print a boarding pass it was because the reservation was not ticketed properly despite everything appearing ok online so there can be other reasons. If the worst comes to the worst then don’t hestitate to lay the big 50 once in a lifetime emotional card on them too, they are human.

      • Stu N says:

        31 Oct31 October 18:09

        Don’t panic yet – it could also be that you have been selected for additional security screening. You’ll get the boarding pass and it will have “SSSS” on it in large unfriendly letters.

        Quick chat with a G4S person and some extra swabbing of electronics between gate check and airbridge and you should be grand.

      • Nick says:

        31 Oct31 October 19:16

        Relax everyone!! You gave it away when you said ‘to the US’. Your wife will have been selected for screening, not downgraded. The US authorities don’t allow mobile/self-print BPs in this situation.

        Even in the teeny tiny event she actually has been downgraded, there are plenty of alternative routes they can (and would) send you on if you asked not to be downgraded. The JB means they get the same revenue regardless, so AA connections would be used with no issue. We’re not talking a 3x weekly to MLE here.

      • Darren says:

        31 Oct31 October 21:58

        Thanks guys, fingers crossed.

        One thing I’d miss if downgraded is the CX T3 lounge, love it there.

      • Stu_N says:

        31 Oct31 October 22:13

        From experience you’ll be able to get your long haul boarding pass printed at your domestic flight check-in if all is well.

        The other possibility is they want to do a document check, I’ve had that as the reason for being able to check in but not get a boarding pass remotely too.

        Hopefully it’s nothing but let us know how you get on, hope it works out for you.

    • JamesB says:

      31 Oct31 October 16:40

      What if Darren’s wife was to insist on her legal right to be rerouted on a competing carrier the same day in business claas, or wait until BA CW the next day? What would BA do? They would be caught between a rock and a hard place, they either pay the competing carrier or the compensation. Surely they cannot force her to downgrade whilst denying her her rights? I bet this rarely happens to solo travellers anymore, it seems BA are deliberately targeting couples, especially on 241s, because they know they can screw the compensation. And then there is the emotional dimension to two passengers wanting to fly together which hampers their willingness to exercise the rights of the passenger being downgraded as this would result in their travelling independently.

      • the real harry1 says:

        31 Oct31 October 18:51

        https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Resolving-travel-problems/Delays-cancellations/Your-rights/Your-rights-when-you-are-downgraded/

        you can’t insist on being re-routed in this case – you get compensation for the downgrade but you will arrive as scheduled (barring delays)

        I don’t think you’re right about BA getting away without compensation on downgraded 241s, either – see the FT thread

      • JamesB says:

        31 Oct31 October 19:23

        I was posing the questions Harry, I didn’t know the answers. So we are only entitled to rerouting on another carrier if we get bumped off a flight entirely and an airline cannot reaccommodate us themselves on the same day?

      • the real harry1 says:

        31 Oct31 October 20:06

        I guess what’s reasonable comes into play

        if you get bumped & they offer you an alternative flight (with them) a couple of hours later, you might as well take it & claim your compensation (btw here’s Raffles’ EUR300 https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Resolving-travel-problems/Delays-cancellations/Your-rights/Your-rights-when-you-are-bumped-from-a-flight/ )

        if you get bumped and they offer you a flight (with them) the next day/ later, you would be within your EC261 rights to re-route yourself (if they refused) on an alternative carrier to get to your destination – say – 15 hours earlier than their alternative, then claim the cost of the fare difference & food & drink in the interim from the original carrier

        if they proved difficult, you’d win at MCOL – straightforward case and this is what Ryanair was ordered to do by CAA recently

• Jonathan says:

  31 Oct31 October 15:11

  Is Heathrow Rewards criteria one per address/family or one per person?

  • Rob says:

    31 Oct31 October 15:20

    One per postal address

    • EwanG says:

      31 Oct31 October 15:28

      One per identical postal address, however setting your OH’s account as “Seventeen Acacia Avenue” rather than “17..” is a solution, or use an address for a family member, work…

• Anna says:

  31 Oct31 October 19:39

  OT – I seem to have successfully used Clubcard vouchers to reduce the price of a 3 night stay in Washington DC next summer by about 60% on Hotels.com, very happy. The price was the same using the link as just going onto the website as normal.

  Otherwise, having an odd time with Hotels.com. In August I was charged $40 government tax for a 2 night stay where the price stated that it clearly included all taxes. At first, Hotels.com tried to wriggle out of any responsibility, but after I lodged a formal complaint with them, eventually admitted fault and credited my account with $45. In the meantime I reported them to the ASA, the result of this being that Hotels.com has told them that the hotel made a mistake and should not have charged me the tax! I’ve advised the ASA to double check this with the hotel as Hotels.com have now given two contradictory explanations!

• KevMc says:

  31 Oct31 October 19:58

  O/T – Marriott seem to have launched a new shopping portal called ‘Marriott Rewards More’. There aren’t many retailers listed on there, but one which caught they eye was Amazon, which gives 4 Marriott points per £1 spent. This will come in handy, especially during Black Friday next month.

  • Alex W says:

    31 Oct31 October 20:43

    Nice one, thanks.

  • Andrew says:

    31 Oct31 October 20:53

    Now that’s interesting…

    What’s the value of a Marriott point? My employers sell Amazon vouchers with 200 “WOW” points per £100 spent. 200 “WOW” can be converted to £2 by BACS.

    I can see the benefit of keeping my Marriott points alive.

    • Rob says:

      31 Oct31 October 21:14

      0.5p in general

    • Alex W says:

      31 Oct31 October 22:30

      1p for a travel package. Or even 1.5p based on today’s other article.

  • JamesB says:

    31 Oct31 October 22:08

    Good stuff but I have a sneaky feeling points will be earned on the bottom line price so likely no points for spending our stash of gift card credit that many HFP readers likely have.

  • Sussex bantam says:

    31 Oct31 October 23:13

    Great spot !

• the real harry1 says:

  31 Oct31 October 21:43

  O/T Daily Telegraph catches up http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/31/taxpayers-banned-using-credit-cards-pay-personal-tax-bills/

• the real harry1 says:

  31 Oct31 October 21:55

  O/T the good news is: there’s no news out yet about some silly competition on tesco.com to win a few Avios prize upon conversion

  I think we’re in with a real chance of +20% bonus Avios

  • Rob says:

    31 Oct31 October 22:00

    No chance!

  • JamesB says:

    31 Oct31 October 22:03

    Two years ago this quarter was the last one IIRC.

  • Tracy says:

    31 Oct31 October 22:09

    Hope so, I’ve got £349 in vouchers waiting……

    • the real harry1 says:

      31 Oct31 October 22:24

      holding a few hot vouchers here as well 🙂

• the real harry1 says:

  31 Oct31 October 22:34

  O/T ***NEWSFLASH!*** Simon Calder writes decent article
  http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ba-british-airway-cabin-crew-staff-pay-rise-dispute-resolved-a8029811.html

• Tom says:

  1 Nov1 November 15:11

  Can anyone work out how many HR points i would end up with if i spent £4500 during this promotion how many HR points i would end up with? I have never used my HR card before so i would assume i would get the 3000 bonus for spending over £150, which would trigger the 3000 bonus but would the £4350 left be at the premium membership rate of 2 points per £? Thanks guys

  • Rob says:

    1 Nov1 November 15:17

    You only get the 3,000 if you signed up using the Avios promo code originally.

    Good question about the 2nd bit though ….

    • EwanG says:

      1 Nov1 November 17:12

      I suggest you look at what the T&Cs say.

      It was my understanding that the 3,000 bonus points is time limited after your registration.
      From memory you are eligible for double points only once you’ve spent £500 and then you continue to receive double points for the remainder of the calendar year. If you can, split your spend into £500 and then £4,000. Refer to the T&Cs to make sure there is no restriction that the double points does not take effect a day after you become eligible (i.e. take a copy of the T&Cs to use to support any challenge later!)

      As a reminder there are also double points on offer if you reserve and collect (although these did not go through automatically for me so I have contacted their support to get them added).

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