The new HFP chat thread – Thursday 26th March

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

• Rob2 says:

  26 Mar26 March 09:27

  FYI – KLM not providing a refund on flights which have now been cancelled. Needing to go down S75/ chargeback route. Only been offered voucher/ rearranging flights.

  • Rob2 says:

    26 Mar26 March 09:28

    Also – used FB messenger rather than waiting on a call centre. Also has the benefit of having it in writing.

    • E says:

      26 Mar26 March 10:43

      We got refunds for KLM agreed last week for a cancelled flight. Had to persist past them trying to push us to a voucher though. Went through to the Platinum Flying Blue line.

• Michael says:

  26 Mar26 March 09:27

  Hi, my Amex Gold is about to clock the annual fee. In all honesty I’m looking at resetting the clock with Amex (2 years) so will probably close it off. I will need to clear the membership reward points – typically i would withdraw them to BA Avios, but a little reluctant to do so in the current climate.

  any suggestions?

  • Sandgrounder says:

    26 Mar26 March 10:17

    I think the consensus is that the big hotel brands are probably pretty safe. Depends on your existing balances and the number of MRs you wish to convert.

    • Rob says:

      26 Mar26 March 10:48

      Marriott is an interesting option because of their decent conversion rate to airlines:

      1 Amex point = 1 Avios
      1 Amex point = 0.66 Bonvoy points = 0.825 Avios assuming you convert in chunks of 60k Bonvoy

      Not a huge loss of value and extra flexibility because you can use them for hotels too.

      • Genghis says:

        26 Mar26 March 11:45

        Right argument but with the wrong numbers.
        40k Amex MR = 40k avios.
        40k Amex MR = 60k Bonvoy = 25k avios
        I.e. a 37.5% reduction in value, not the 17.5% you propose.
        The numbers change if you add in say a 35% bonus hotel points to BAEC, assuming BA would still be around, but I don’t think you can include that given the diversification argument in the first place.

• Charlie says:

  26 Mar26 March 09:29

  Just an observation about anyone ordering wine with Avios, it would appear that Laithwaites are broken, they are not taking calls. I suspect that they have been overwhelmed with demand. I ordered on 17th March, but nothing yet.

  • Also says:

    26 Mar26 March 10:01

    Got my first order from them yesterday, now need to cancel the subscription via email

  • Allan says:

    26 Mar26 March 10:04

    Their website says they are temporarily shut.

    • Rob says:

      26 Mar26 March 10:51

      Yes, they’ve stopped taking orders directly. Not sure if Avios orders are going through. Off-licences are now allowed to be open to the pressure may come off them a bit!

  • Anna says:

    26 Mar26 March 10:35

    I’ve had a text saying my 18 bottles are arriving today! They must have been drunk dry 🍷

    • Anna says:

      26 Mar26 March 12:11

      Just arrived lol. Some very nice bin ends. Weekend starting on Thursday at the moment!

• JD says:

  26 Mar26 March 09:48

  So here’s a question… Have received my refund for BA cash flights I had booked this month. Amex have also unsurprisingly taken back the 3 x Avios awarded on BAPP card. Have also had the 3000 avios removed from the spend incentive earlier in the year. At present this is just on the card, however I’m assuming whatever negative balance I have in place during the monthly sweep will be reflected in my BA Exec Club balance after tsaid sweep? So question is, if I cancel the BAPP (which I’d be ok with at the moment) does anyone have experience of cancelling a BA Amex with a negative Avios balance? I’d obviously clear any £ balance to zero. Many thanks in advance.

  • Stu N says:

    26 Mar26 March 09:56

    They don’t sweep negative balances over – they sit on your Amex and reduce as you accrue points then when you get back to a positive position they start transferring again. Never closed a card with a -ve balance. I’ve had refunds through and “spend” points have been clawed back but not Promo points by looks of things.

• Stu N says:

  26 Mar26 March 09:52

  Hi – I had a trip to the US booked for last week, cancelled as FCO advising against all but essential travel at that point. The main bit was a BA Holiday which we’ve had refunded already and most of the rest has been cancelled without charge.

  We had a couple of AA internal flights that were non-refundable (separate bookings) – I’ve cancelled those online and submitted a claim to Amex Platinum Travel Insurance. Early days but anyone got any experience – I think they should pay out based on guidance on their website but any experience most welcome.

• Diydegsy says:

  26 Mar26 March 09:52

  I have a hotel booking with IHG for April in Manchester which is an advance booking. It says they are waving cancellation fees on their website until 30th April so should I just cancel the booking online and see if I get an automatic refund or do I have to email them first? Also anyone have any dealings with Melia getting a refund on an advance booking ? Thanks

  • John says:

    26 Mar26 March 12:28

    AFAIK the hotel would have to process the refund manually even if you cancel online – they also take the payment manually when you book. So you might as well email them if you have the address

• Isobel Brown says:

  26 Mar26 March 10:00

  I am still trying to sort out retention of silver status. On 485 tier points and had Club Europe flight to Catania cancelled early April which would have awarded 160 tier points to get to silver retention. Tier point collection year ends 8th April. Concerned that if it rolls over I won’t be able to prove my situation. Don’t want to ring as they’re dealing with folks stranded etc. Was given exec club email but after 2 weeks no response. Virgin have extended status for 6 months but BA – nothing. Any thoughts/advice?

  • jack says:

    26 Mar26 March 10:06

    Not a lot you can do other than wait in my opinion. I don’t think they’d offer an extension even if you did call – but would expect there’ll be some kind of universal announcement/policy soon about this…

  • Polly says:

    26 Mar26 March 13:34

    Isobel, you do get 2 weeks grace to fly that sector, but also worth a call. Many people in the same boat as you, right now.

• Nick_C says:

  26 Mar26 March 10:20

  Anyone flown long haul with BA recently?

  My nephew is coming back from Osaka in Economy on Saturday. Wondering if I should tell him to get a couple of bento boxes.

  (He was due to fly with AY via HEL, but AY have already closed that route, and he had no problem getting rerouted on BA)

  • Rob says:

    26 Mar26 March 10:46

    He’ll get virtually nothing. Club World is now just a sandwich.

  • Michael C says:

    26 Mar26 March 10:51

    As Rob says, I was offered a sndwich for HKG-LHR.
    Is your son’s flight definitely on? I was due to get the “return” LHR-Osaka the next day (Sunday) but it was cancelled a few days ago.

    • Nick_C says:

      26 Mar26 March 11:42

      BA are still selling tickets for Sat KIX to LHR. Looking at ticket availability, that might be the last flight back.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.