The new HFP chat thread – Wednesday 25th March

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• Paul says:

  25 Mar25 March 03:17

  ‪@HeadForPoints hi Rob I don’t see any avios reward availability for Cancun to London route in business class or even premium economy. Is that usual or do they release later ? ‬

• Vicky says:

  25 Mar25 March 06:12

  How long is it taking BA to refund the tax on cancelled flights?

  • Spursdebs says:

    25 Mar25 March 07:04

    Took ten days for my last cancelled flight but only couple of days for previous cancelled one. Think it’s up to ten days. But maybe longer under current circumstances.

    • James says:

      25 Mar25 March 08:07

      I’m up to 11 days and so sign. Flights removed from my account and avios & 2for1 refunded. I never had a confirmation email though..

      • Spursdebs says:

        25 Mar25 March 08:56

        I never received email either but not bothered.

  • stevenhp1987 says:

    25 Mar25 March 08:37

    Cancelled one fight only and one BA Holiday on Sunday. Refunds hit our Amexs this morning.

  • Tracy says:

    25 Mar25 March 18:54

    I’m on day 7. I was told by BA today that it could take up to a month 😱

• Justin Carpenter says:

  25 Mar25 March 07:06

  Virgin Flying Miles, with the possibility of airline going into administration and the government not looking willing to help should we hold tight with our mike’s or spend them on other goods?

  • J says:

    25 Mar25 March 08:50

    I think it’s unlikely that Virgin will go into administration.Branson isn’t an idiot and is pouring hundreds of millions of his own money into his businesses. In normal times Virgin is a well known and well liked brand (in comparison to BA), it would send out a disastrous message if the govt let it go under. But anyway if you want to cash in for Hilton would suggest you do the maths and think about what you use Hilton points on. I don’t have any interest in redeeming at a Hampton or boring city centre Hilton. To me, the value is in getting 5 nights somewhere really aspirational I would not otherwise be able to stay – so I recently did 5 nights at the Conrad Ko Samui (which was amazing, and I highly recommend). At 95k Hilton points a night, with fifth night free, that’s 380k… and you’ll typically need that for a Conrad, Waldorf Astoria, etc. I have 125k Virgin miles – if I cash them in for Hilton points, I might get £500 or so of value with Hilton but it’s not going to get me to the Waldorf Astoria. As Virgin miles though it will get me a decent upper class redemption or perhaps some decent value in premium economy or partner airlines, and potentially several thousands of value. So I’m happy to take the risk as I think it’s small enough.

    • Rob says:

      25 Mar25 March 09:52

      For clarity, Branson is NOT pouring ‘hundreds of million’ in.

      He is spending $250m ACROSS EVERYTHING including Virgin Hotels, Virgin Cruises etc. The airline might get $100m if its lucky.

      Then remember than BA is apparently losing €200m per week if you believe the Sunday Times. How long do you think $100m at Virgin Atlantic will last?

      • Doug M says:

        25 Mar25 March 10:39

        Isn’t a big factor whether you own or lease the aircraft? I appreciate fixed costs are probably high, but leases must be a big part of that.

      • J says:

        25 Mar25 March 11:07

        Still, he’s ruthless – he wouldn’t throw good money after bad. And point still stands that ultimately govt won’t let otherwise successful businesses go under because of this… especially not in a strategic sector where doing so would create a monopoly.

    • Doug M says:

      25 Mar25 March 10:37

      Virgin is a well liked brand by certain people. Those that think of his legal action against the NHS don’t feel the same.

      • Cat says:

        25 Mar25 March 10:43

        + 1

• Chris says:

  25 Mar25 March 07:28

  How do you go about transferring your VS points into IHG? Is there a way of doing it without clogging up the phone lines when people are trying to get through and get home?

  • Rob says:

    25 Mar25 March 10:08

    No

  • Genghis says:

    25 Mar25 March 10:15

    Use the text service.

• Matty says:

  25 Mar25 March 07:47

  My flights to Italy in a couple of weeks have disappeared from MMB. When I try to search using the PNR I get an error message. I’ve not had anything from BA. BA stopped selling the flight a couple of weeks ago. Can I use the workaround to claim a refund?

  • Shoestring says:

    25 Mar25 March 08:00

    you generally need to log into MMB to be able to cancel for a refund

    worth trying carious angles as long as you’re sure the flight is already cancelled

    try https://www.britishairways.com/travel/webforms/execclub/_gf/en_gb?eId=120001&wfpId=mmb_ticket_refund

• Erico1875 says:

  25 Mar25 March 07:51

  Forget the compo.
  I cant believe you would even think this was possible or even justified

• Ant says:

  25 Mar25 March 07:52

  What number are people calling for BA? I have been trying 0800 727 800 for w few days and every time I get the message “we are too busy please try again later” and the line goes dead.

  • Louise says:

    25 Mar25 March 08:37

    Just keep redialling until you join the queue.

    • Shoestring says:

      25 Mar25 March 08:53

      but if it’s for a cancellation refund use the online workaround (see another thread here)
      https://headforpoints.com/2020/03/19/how-to-trigger-an-online-avios-flight-refund-using-google-chrome/

• Kevin 9876 says:

  25 Mar25 March 07:53

  Ring them up to get your refund

  Zero chance of compensation

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