The new HFP chat thread – Monday 30th March

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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/2020/03/30/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-monday-30th-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 continue to monitor how this is working:

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.

Anna says:

30 Mar30 March 10:38

On our timeshare forum there are a number of posts from Americans who have re-booked trips to the Caribbean for May and June and seem to think they will be able to travel by then!
- Jeff says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:15
  
  Some people are ridiculously deluded
- Lady London says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:37
  
  Ahhhhhh,…….sweet.
- Alan says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 13:25
  
  Interesting. Which timeshare forum is this? Thanks
  - Anna says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 14:28
    
    It’s our timeshare in Grand Cayman but I think it’s optimism over any inside knowledge!
    - Alan says:
      
      30 Mar30 March 17:14
      
      Ah, ok thanks
SimonW says:

30 Mar30 March 10:46

BA refunds from a cancelled 241 booking. Confirmed last Tuesday. Avios and 241 voucher all returned next day…..but no cash yet….. Has anyone received the cash back on any refunded booking???!
- mr_jetlag says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:24
  
  Simon, I have the opposite – cash went straight back into the CC (Amex), but no sign of avios or 241 – under the circumstances, I would sit tight and wait and follow up with CC company instead of BA if you really need the cash back.
  - SimonW says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 11:34
    
    Thanks. Very odd. I’ll wait till end of the week then give Amex a call.
Captain Ads says:

30 Mar30 March 10:53

Not Covid-19 related:
Can anyone remind me why the following behaviour occurs on the BA App when searching for Premium Economy flights? I vaguely recall an article on HfP about this some time ago but have searched and can’t find it.

Different fare prices are quoted for WT+ depending on whether you search for Premium Economy (results displayed are WT+, CW and First) than if you search for Economy (in which case the results show WT, WT+ and CW). Looking for flights to NYC towards the end of the year and the difference is several hundred pounds.

Thanks in advance.
- Rob says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:01
  
  Weird. Never written about this. How does desktop behave?
- mr_jetlag says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:24
  
  Have you got “fully flexible” flag set on the app by any chance?
  - Captain Ads says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 15:57
    
    Nope. You made me re-check though!
    Fare class T on both searches.
    Desktop site behaves better but not consistently.
    
    Sorry Rob, thought I recalled seeing an explanation somewhere on the site in the past as it’s not the first time I have seen this.
    - Sam G says:
      
      31 Mar31 March 02:48
      
      I think the total price would end up being the same, some weirdness / difference by how BA calculates the “per leg” pricing for display
Ian M says:

30 Mar30 March 10:55

I’ve just received an odd email regarding a transfer from Virgin to Hilton.

I called Virgin last week and transferred 300k out of Virgin to Hilton. The miles left my Virgin account on Wednesday, nothing has arrived in my Hilton account as yet, and until now I had not received any email confirmation.

However I’ve just received the following email from VAPartner.Miles at fly.virgin.com, seems rather odd. The person I spoke to on the phone last week said everything was done, and as I said above, the miles have already left my Virgin account.

Dear Ian

Thank you for contacting us regarding your HH transfer.

With the current pandemic Covid19 and the extreme amount of calls that we have on hold for customers with flights in the next few days.

We have decided that we are going to cover Data Protection over email instead to help our members.

Can you please forward the following information please.

Name

Date of birth

How have you earned your miles

Kind regards
Flying Club Support
- Rob says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:00
  
  Others have reported getting that.
  - Doug M says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 11:03
    
    Data protection – Insecure Email 🙂
  - Bentoni says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 17:04
    
    Thanks Rob,
    
    I’d be more than happy to keep the card, if they could just extend the renewal date by a few months, just like some hotel chains …
- Genghis says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:02
  
  It’s a badly written email, I know, but it’s all kosher. There was some discussion a few days ago about it.
  - Ian M says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 11:07
    
    Yeah, very badly written.
    
    I went through data protection checks on the phone last week. Seems very odd to email me these questions now without even explaining why they need it!
- Peter K says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 16:21
  
  Mrs K had a very similar email. I checked via the text service initially used to start the transfer. They went off and checked and confirmed it was legit.
  
  On the other hand I never had an email (or my details checked via text either).
Aleks says:

30 Mar30 March 11:02

Hello, I booked flights using my Virgin Atlantic credit card that I’m now looking to claim S75 back against. If Virgin Atlantic goes under, does this hinder my chances of claiming S75 given I used the VA credit card? I’m assuming if VA goes under then that means my credit card will also cease to exist (or am I incorrect here)?
- Arnie says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:05
  
  The VA credit card is part of Virgin Money and its a separate entity and its Mastercard so you should actually be ok – I think.
- mr_jetlag says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:26
  
  “The Virgin Atlantic Credit Card is issued by Clydesdale Bank PLC (trading as Virgin Money). Registered in Scotland (Company No. SC001111)”
  
  The card will be OK for s75 and future use. Your miles / points are a different matter, well covered here.
Arnie says:

30 Mar30 March 11:04

I’m struggling with BA. I filled in a refund request and the system would not accept the card ( AMEX Plat ) despite I had the statement showing the charges in front of me. I managed to find a way to submit the request but thats been two weeks. I e mailed BA customer service – these were paid Biz tickets to Turin that BA cancelled. Customer service have replied 3 times saying go to the refund site but refuse to answer the question where is the money. I can’t get through on the phones at all and now the booking is shown as PAST so I can’t even get into the booking. Anyone got any ideas as to how I can push this refund through. On another topic both Hilton and Avis have fully refunded their part of the trip within 48 hours.
- Lady London says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:40
  
  Ask card to refund it.
  From your story you have enough audit trail of having tried.
Ianmac says:

30 Mar30 March 11:26

Two rants this morning. (Apologies if these have come up before)

Rant 1
I booked daughter on Heathrow Express on Friday 3 April Paddington-LHR back in early February (£10 sgl).
BA cancelled her flight home that day.
Filled out a ‘date change’ online form on Heathrow Express website
Received a reply that it would take 10 working days and then 20 working days to respond.
HE e-mail to myself suggested “The quickest and easiest way for immediate assistance is to give one of our friendly team a call on +44 (0) 345 600 1515.”
I’ve tried calling four times and it forwards to an O2 voicemail. I’ve left a message but no call back (yet).
Wondered if anybody else had the same problem / solution ??
- Jonny says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 12:40
  
  I got through by selecting option 1 on the line instead of going through to the refunds option. HEx is offering free date changes on all advance tickets, up to 12 months from the original date of travel. You have to call them to rebook though when you have the new date of travel, with the original booking reference number. No refunds are given unless its a refundable or a day ticket. Hope that helps.
  - Ianmac says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 13:41
    
    Done Thanks
    HE can (would) only issue tickets for the next 6 months
    (I requested a date change to 23 December 2020)
    Agent told me to call back in late June and I will have a FOC ticket issued for the December date
Vit says:

30 Mar30 March 11:38

BA cancelled my outbound flight and keep my return flight as it is. I understand I can get full refund from this but been struggling to get in touch with them as they never picked up the call and the trick proposed by HFP page (i.e. disable JS) does not work for me. My flight is within 2 weeks. I don’t want to approach credit card as per chargeback policy based on this as I think there is better way… but I am running out of idea. Anyone else has any advise? Maybe just sit tight at the moment as I’ve still got time.

Cheers,
Vit
- Ianmac says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:42
  
  Vit
  See my note above rer Rant 1
  BA cancelled my daughter’s flight which was booked for 3 April (with return 12 April).
  I called the BAEC GGL helpline and the agent gave full Avios and cash cc refund for out and in sectors.
  (I’m no longer GGL – expired end 2019 but still use that number anyway)
  - Vit says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 12:09
    
    Thanks. Can you advise the number to be used? I tried the number above. It is actually HE number and not CGL?
- Charlieface says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 11:51
  
  Why is there a better way? Chargeback should sort things out
  - Dave says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 12:45
    
    I’m reluctant to to a chargeback as worried that I’ll then forfeit the Avios used to UUA the flights
    - Vit says:
      
      30 Mar30 March 13:16
      
      Yes, Dave if the booking is made up of all or part of avios — I would not try tot he s75 chargeback. Mine is full cash though so might have to do that if BA keeps ignoring.
    - Charlieface says:
      
      30 Mar30 March 19:00
      
      So do a S75 claim, not a chargeback, the credit card then needs to cover the value of the whole ticket, including the notional value of the points. You could claim either a refund or a reroute using this, as well as duty of care. In other circumstances you could even get 600 EUR compo.