The new HFP chat thread – Saturday 28th March

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We have decided to run this new daily chat thread on Head for Points.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the defacto repository for random comments and questions. It is unlikely that the news flow will be so big over the next few weeks that we will need many ‘Bits’ articles, however.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind. At this tricky time, and given that many of you are stuck at home self-isolating, we want the HFP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article. This has long-term benefits as its keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

By default, HFP shows the last page of comments under the article. If you want to see the first page of comments and read them all from beginning to end in order, click here: https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/03/28/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-saturday-28th-march/comment-page-1 The page will refresh with this article but the comments will now show the first page and not the last page.

We will review how this works after a few days:

we could potentially split it into a daily travel and non-travel chat thread

we may install some basic forum software

we may start suggesting potential topics for daily discussion

Let’s see how it goes.

We will do a separate article in a day or so about how we plan to run the site over the next few weeks. Take care!

Category

General

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

Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

28 Mar28 March 09:27

A friend and I each have Amex Platinum cards that we want to cancel, but want to retain the points. Am I right in thinking we can refer each other for the free Rewards credit card and pick up 12k points each for doing so?
- BJ says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 09:32
  
  Yes, no problem there.
- Rob says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 10:05
  
  Correct.
- the_real_a says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 15:50
  
  Downgrade to the Gold Charge (free for 12 months) retains the same account/limits/whitelists/offer history. Isn’t the “swap” from charge to credit a new application? That may or may not be a concern.
BJ says:

28 Mar28 March 09:30

A feel-good story for Saturday, never give up hope, a 75 year old survives hospitalization for Covid-19 despite having suffered two heart attacks, multiple strokes and quadruple bypass surgery since October.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/health/warrior-scots-grandad-beats-coronavirus-21760101
- Harry T says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 12:15
  
  Couldn’t access the article due to ads but I do think more positive news should be shared.
  
  Was also going to say he probably survived because he’s Scottish – tough as old boots all of them 😉
  - BJ says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 12:26
    
    A sister paper of the Mirror, the ads etc are a real pain.. I don’t read the thing, just scan all the UK and Scottish front pages daily. People will die here just like anyplace else but it is important for people to know that just because they old and/or sick, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will succumb to the virus.
    - Lady London says:
      
      28 Mar28 March 13:56
      
      I have that call with my Mum later today. Planni g to say even if you land up old on a ventilator with preexisting actually it’s 4/5 chances you get through. Some places 3/4 but seems 4/5 in developed world.
      
      I do think that once most populations are tested then the true average will be shown to actually be much closer to Germany in any developed world country with a decent health system. Still not to be underestimated. Herd immunity currently a myth as immunity partial and short lived so far.
      - Alan says:
        
        28 Mar28 March 18:59
        
        Initial data being reported on survival rates of those admitted to ICU in the UK with COVID-19 are not as good as that I’m afraid.
ChrisD says:

28 Mar28 March 09:34

I’ve had an internal Thailand flight on AirAsia cancelled this morning by the airline, but they’re only offering vouchers. It was booked directly with AirAsia. Anyone have experience of getting cash refunds from this particular airline? Thanks.
- Andrew MS says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 09:55
  
  Air Asia cancelled my Phu Quoc to KUL flight and invited me to apply for a refund via their bot . They tell me that this refund is being processed. I couldn’t take my KUL to PQC flight due to change in VN entry restrictions so was told I could apply for refund of taxes but I haven’t had any luck claiming the taxes back via the bot .
  - Andrew MS says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 09:57
    
    The refund on my PQC to KUL is a cash refund . This was about 8 days ago
- BJ says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 09:58
  
  On Air Asia you have to request changes and refunds where applicable using the ask AVA system in their customer support. Trying to call or asking at airport desks is pointless, you just get directed to AVA. On the plus side, the sophistication of AVA when compared to similar approaches used by other airlines is very high and works remarkably well. The downside is that it is generally slow even in normal times so patience was needed (even if it feels nothing is happening to your case, it is, just sit tight it can take weeks). Under current circumstances it is going to be worse than usual but I think you should go to AVA and type ‘I would like a cash refund for my cancelled reservation XXXXXX (your PNR) and see what happens. My guess is that it will again ask you to take a voucher, if it does try saying ‘no, I want a cash refund’.
  - ChrisD says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 10:10
    
    Thank you all
    - BJ says:
      
      28 Mar28 March 11:32
      
      Can you report back on your experience please. I’ll likely likely be in same situation with two flights soon.
  - Andrew MS says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 12:33
    
    AVA (the bot) is not that clever !
Munch says:

28 Mar28 March 09:41

Anyone have problems receiving the bonus 10,000 points for the IHG Basic credit card promo. Just past the £500 before the last statement date but no bonus points posted? Anyone had any luck calling customer services?
- Secret Squirrel says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 09:54
  
  Mine took about two weeks after hitting £500 spend.
  Check your IHG account rather than your Creation account for the points. My first 10k showed in my ihg creation account, the extra 10k did not but showed up directly in my IHG acc.
  - BJ says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 10:22
    
    Ah, what I thought, good thanks.
  - Munch says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 11:16
    
    Thanks
- BJ says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 10:21
  
  Got my standard 10k with my first statement, waiting for my additional 10k. I think earlier comments might have suggested those just appear directly in our IHG accounts.
MattB says:

28 Mar28 March 09:42

In Jan 2019 I used my amex plat to get Hilton Gold status. Based on the recent announcement of extending status, when should I expect this to drop off? March 2021 or 2022?
- Andy says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 09:48
  
  It never drops off.
  - Secret Squirrel says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 09:55
    
    Are you saying then you get Gold for life then via this route – Andy On?
    - J says:
      
      28 Mar28 March 09:59
      
      Probably will drop off eventually… better not to shout too loudly! 🙂
  - Rob says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 10:03
    
    Yes it does! I had to re-up my wife last year and I just dropped from Diamond to Silver (albeit Hilton will put me back to Diamond).
  - BJ says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 10:16
    
    You seen Rob’s comment, move on please.
- BJ says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 10:13
  
  Correct.
ee says:

28 Mar28 March 09:50

Is anyone else experiencing delays cancelling Amex cards? I cancelled via chat on Monday but the card is still showing as active on the app and online. Contacted them again today and the agent can see the cancellation but it’s in a queue for action. Hopefully when they do get round to it the pro rata refund will be calculated from the request date!
- BJ says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 10:42
  
  Green cancelled instantly on the phone last Monday, so I guess on chat you are only making a cancellation request. You can probably still get it done instantly if you call.
  - Harry T says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 12:17
    
    They always tell me to call if I try to cancel over chat.
  - ee says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 15:32
    
    Thanks – called them up and sorted in less than 5 mins. Showing immediately on the app!
  - Polly says:
    
    29 Mar29 March 00:37
    
    My BAPP was cancelled instantly on live chat, all confirmed, done and dusted. Wanted it done just before new statement was prepared. Very efficient.
- Nick_C says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 11:46
  
  Amex chat now seems to operate from New Delhi, and they are as useless as the call centre in the Philippines. Contactless seems to have stopped working on my BAPP. I was declined twice yesterday for small transactions, and had to use a MC instead, which worked fine. (I also did a chip and bin transaction during the day, before being declined a second time.)
  
  I contacted Amex by chat, explaining the problem, and asking them to issue a new card. The CSA first tried to tell me this was simply a need to enter my PIN more often due to PSD2. Then he said there is no issue with my card. I asked him “Are you certain there is nothing wrong with my card?” and he replied “I see no there is no charge denied on the account at all. It seems that there was a temporary glitch at the merchant’s end.”
  
  After 20 minutes of arguing with the guy, he conceded that there might be a fault with the card, and agreed to issue a replacement.
  
  Coincidently, the £195 annual fee hit my account this week (BAPP). I’m seriously thinking of downgrading or cancelling. Apart from the uncertainty over BA and Avios, I don’t see the point of paying £195 a year for carp service.
  - the_real_a says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 15:37
    
    Contactless will stop every random number of transactions by design. You need to do a chip and pin to start it up again. Same with all cards in the UK. Agents will not see or be able to support this. Best to do a C&P transaction if you ever get random declines.
    - Polly says:
      
      29 Mar29 March 00:39
      
      Yes, had to do a random one the other day in Morrisons. Thought it was declined because of gift card total. But c and p worked fine then.
Bushra says:

28 Mar28 March 10:13

Hi all,

I have 60,175 Virgin air miles on my Virgin Atlantic account. With news of Virgin asking for a bail out, I need some thoughts on whether to retain the miles or transfer them out.

Has anyone transferred out and if so, to where?

Thanks for your support
- Rob says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 10:20
  
  https://headforpoints.com/2020/03/17/will-avios-and-virgin-flying-club-go-bankrupt/
- Filthy Phil says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 10:23
  
  Hilton. After seeing how Branson treats his staff, and how he conducts his business I won’t regret transferring them out even if Virgin survive because I won’t be flying with them in the future anyway, on principle. Even if they do survive this time, the opinion seems to be that the coronavirus will be back next year and probably subsequent years. No way are they going to survive multiple occurrences.
  - jack says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 10:28
    
    You have no idea. No airline is perfect but Virgin have much better industrial relations than BA. BA have treated Mixed Fleet crew worse in this crisis than Virgin.
    - Filthy Phil says:
      
      28 Mar28 March 10:39
      
      I’ve no love for BA either, but I don’t remember BA suing the NHS, unlike Branson. The same NHS that is now struggling for resources to keep the country alive. Why the hell would I want to give my money to help prop him up? His reputation is shot now.
      - jack says:
        
        28 Mar28 March 10:47
        
        Why hurt VS staff because you don’t like him? Any govt bail out should be in return for equity. There is an existing albeit weak competitor to BA. If VS goes nobody else is going to emerge offering the same number of direct routes to compete with BA.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        28 Mar28 March 10:55
        
        Sue the NHS?
        
        Look beyond the dramatic headlines and into the detail they were calling out an NHS trust and it’s commissioners for it’s bidding process for being flawed. What’s wrong with them highlighting the fact there’s a dodgy set of people handing out dodgy contracts to their buddies?
        
        If the commission didn’t sign their new contract without talking to Virgin care it wouldn’t have become about compensation. If the commissioners weren’t wrong they wouldn’t have paid out.
  - Doug M says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 10:43
    
    I think you need to look outside the airline industry to see staff treated well.
    And to repeat a previous point, the large hotel groups like Hilton own very few hotels, they’re booking/branding operations. It’s much easier to refund cash that you were only going to get a proportion of. Read their own and other sites about them, they’ll all describe themselves as asset light business models.
    - Rob says:
      
      28 Mar28 March 11:49
      
      If you look at dedicated travel industry sites there are a lot of very angry hotel owners who are being forced by Expedia, Booking etc to make refunds despite bookings being non-refundable. Many of these are family run independents and the traveller could have claimed on insurance. You can be sure that the companies running Hilton franchises are bitter as well.
John Smith says:

28 Mar28 March 10:28

I’m booked on Etihad to travel next week but flights are cancelled. Their website says you can get a refund for cancelled flights only if your fare rules allow. Is this correct? Do they not have to give a refund for any cancelled flights? I don’t want credit or to rebook. What’s my options?
- Dave says:
  
  28 Mar28 March 11:27
  
  Not correct if they cancelled the flight. If you paid by credit card, contact them for a section 75 claim.
  - John Smith says:
    
    28 Mar28 March 14:04
    
    Paid via PayPal. Do I still have the same rights?
    - the_real_a says:
      
      28 Mar28 March 15:40
      
      What? Why on earth would you pay on paypal???? No S75 using payment aggregators… however PayPal does have its own “breach of contract” refund process that you can use. This might be an expensive lesson for you unfortunately.
      - John Smith says:
        
        28 Mar28 March 20:31
        
        Etihad had a 10% discount promo on at the time for paying through PayPal, not usually my first choice but saving over £200 made sense at the time.