The new HFP chat thread – Wednesday 25th March

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• joe says:

  25 Mar25 March 15:22

  Rob, with airlines doing so badly, how are airports managing? Any chance they could be part nationalised?

  • marcw says:

    25 Mar25 March 15:29

    In my opinion, it’s more likely that airports are nationalised than single airlines.

  • Colin MacKinnon says:

    25 Mar25 March 15:31

    Why nationalised? Global Infrastructure Partners paid £800 million for Edinburgh eight years ago and were trying to sell it last year for £2 billion.

    I’d give them £100,000 for it. (I already own an airfield!)

    Meanwhile Scottish government paid just £1 for Prestwick International.

    What does nationalising an airport do? Ask the shareholders for more cash, ask the bank for bigger loans, or sell bits to other investors. I’d buy a bit of Edinburgh Airport at the right price, and I am sure others would too. So no need for government involvement.

    • Rob says:

      25 Mar25 March 16:08

      I agree, there is no real issue with airports going bust. Someone will pick them out of administration – most probably the original shareholders, who suddenly get a debt-free asset which (in 12 months) they can again try to sell for £2bn ….

      • Lady London says:

        25 Mar25 March 17:01

        Does that mean then the people who would lose would be the original debtors? Like banks that lent, investors that held bonds, trade debtors that kept the airport running, staff who don’t receive pay?

        • Rob says:

          25 Mar25 March 17:10

          Yes. But the Government can live with that.

• Henry says:

  25 Mar25 March 15:53

  My IAG shares bought Thursday on market close @196 are up nearly 20%
  V Happy with whoever panic sold them to me and i thank them for their liquidity.

• Craig says:

  25 Mar25 March 16:29

  Email just through from Hilton about status extensions.

  • HayMow says:

    25 Mar25 March 16:36

    Thanks, Craig! Good news

  • Alan Wan says:

    25 Mar25 March 16:42

    Just got an email with HH Diamond extension 😊

• Doogie says:

  25 Mar25 March 16:32

  Anyone able to show some insight into BA’s maths and suggest any route, ideally without calling again, to get some resolution, and also a full statement for insurance to pick up the remainder (amongst the couple of things that ended up inflexible even in current climate) ?

  We were due to currently be in Japan on a First booking, which was done in three parts.
  Outbound F booking on release – £390.73 per person (online)
  Inbound CW (due to availability) on released – £105.12 per person (online double avios and claimed back by phone)
  Inbound upgrade from CW to F £66.10 per person (on phone, not available online)
  Total paid £561.95 per person

  Refund via You First the other day (before the work around published), all avios but only £355.73 per person – i.e. inital booking -£35 fee, meaning an overall £412.44 shortfall.
  No fee for return cancellation as it was rescheduled. Refund posted last Thursday, so been holding out for another chunk, but suspect it isn’t coming.

  • meta says:

    25 Mar25 March 16:40

    Was it all on one PNR? If so, then you’re entitled to refund of everything, but if separate and the return has not been cancelled you won’t be refunded for that.

  • Lady London says:

    25 Mar25 March 16:49

    If your inbound was rescheduled by them you defnitely can claim a full refund.

    Departure time and/or arrival time can’t shift by very much at all on a reschule and you would have the right to accept a near rebooking, or take a late rebooking of your choice, or choose a refund. Whatever you choose applies to the whole booking even if only part was changed. So that means the booking ref (PNR) you were given for the booking.

    • Lady London says:

      25 Mar25 March 16:53

      If you paid upgrade fees, luggage fees ahead, seat reservation fees etc., those must all be refunded to you if it was BA’s reschedule or cancellation that caused you to decide not to take the flight and request a refund.

      if it was your choice to cancel or amend, then those fees are generally lost. I believe they might be able to be transferred to a replacement flight but not refunded.

      I don’t understand BA’s maths unless the return flight was changaed/cancelled by you and not them. Also even then the numbers stilldon’t add up. Did any of the charges go through a foreign currency and get converted to UK Pounds at any stage? such as was the return originally priced in Japanese Yen?

  • Doogie says:

    25 Mar25 March 21:08

    Thanks guys! Was two PNRs as they wouldn’t combine them (and would have been more expensive I think if they had flying that way)
    PNR 1 was unchanged for 19th March and has been refunded minus the fee as I cancelled due to FCO advice.
    PNR 2 was the book, modify to half avios, modify to F. Due to fly 4th April. It was changed by BA both because they moved from NRT to HND, and they changed the LHR to GLA flight too, I think due to cancellation/ consolidation for operational reasons. They said that this would not incur the cancellation fee due to these changes.

    The confusing thing is that the avios and 2-for-1 were returned in full, but (as yet, and it was a week ago) only the cash for PNR 1 was returned.

    • Lady London says:

      25 Mar25 March 21:35

      Give ita few more days and chase after that?

      • Doogie says:

        25 Mar25 March 22:30

        Good plan – will wait a bit until things calm down a little more and chase if it doesn’t show up, thanks very much! 😊

• Dave Barron says:

  25 Mar25 March 16:39

  My Hilton Gold was due to expire 31st March this year and now I’ve received email from Hilton confirming they are extending it a further 12 month – every cloud!

• Abbas says:

  25 Mar25 March 16:56

  Do we have any clarification or updates regarding British Airways On Business points? Thousands of points that were due to expire at end of 2019, were used to buy flights in 2020 which are now cancelled due to Covid-19. Those points have now obviously expired – Is there any talk of extending the hard expiry date for On Business points due to current situation?

  • Shoestring says:

    25 Mar25 March 17:03

    worth checking before you take action but it might work out well, ie give you a renewed expiry date down the line

    be careful to check though – somebody was in the same position with Iberia, the flight got cancelled, points were returned and then – past their 3 yr expiry limit – promptly expired

    • Abbas says:

      26 Mar26 March 16:37

      Just checked with the OB team, they will refund the points for flights cancelled and add them to the points expiring end-2020. Seems reasonable and fair instead of just losing the points outright due to their original end-2019 expiry date.

• mutley says:

  25 Mar25 March 17:00

  Interesting take from HH, extending my Diamond until 2021, in stark contrast to my Marriott downgrade to Gold from Titanium. What chance of a reversal from Marriott??

  • PJJ says:

    25 Mar25 March 17:10

    Or did Hilton respond to look very good against Marriott ?

  • Rob says:

    25 Mar25 March 17:12

    I’m in exactly the same position as you. I think a LOT of people have been hit by the Marriott changes and this may force them to backtrack. Even a soft landing would be OK, I can live with Platinum Elite.

    • mutley says:

      25 Mar25 March 18:02

      Agree, a soft landing to Platinum, is more like it, same 4pm late check out and room upgrade as you get in Titanium. Slightly annoying as I did 40 nights in Marriott up until end of February, and only 25 with Hilton, 20 IHG and 10 nights with Melia.

      I wonder if a Titanium challenge will be offered? If so I will likely to become very well acquainted again with the Moxy at Heathrow!

      • Lady London says:

        25 Mar25 March 21:36

        @mutley just counting up those nights you mentioned.
        Do you ever sleep at home? 🙂

        • Mutley says:

          25 Mar25 March 22:27

          Fortunately yes! I work for US based Corp they have a Marriott deal so five trips to US HQ sees the forty nights, Meliá was Spanish hols, the rest odds and sods taking a lot HfP recommendations, best last year were Kimpton in Russel Square, Conrad midtown NYC.

• Clive says:

  25 Mar25 March 17:11

  Just popped up on my booking page at BA:

  Receive a £50 statement credit1 and 6,000 bonus Avios2
  When you take out a British Airways American Express® Premium Plus Credit Card today

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