The new HFP chat thread – Saturday 4th April

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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/2020/04/04/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-saturday-4th-april/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. Take care!

Category

General

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

Amit Rana says:

4 Apr4 April 10:12

Just downgraded Amex Platinum to save the fee and moved to the Amex Rewards keep my MR points.
I am struggling with which credit/charge card to replace it with.
I qualify for the HSBC Premier cards but not sure which card would be best given the current climate.
Any advice?
- Lady London says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 11:38
  
  Rob has done articles on here on the IHG card which would give you a free expensive hotel night for £10k spend. Some people on here are combining that rather nicely with Ambassador free weekend night in places like IC Paris, IC Porto, IC Amstel Amsterdam, IC Lyon.
  
  There is also info in a few articles here on the 2 Virgin Money cards however those incentives are around Virgin Miles and some people on here feel the Virgin Flying Club program may have some negative changes upcoming. The card itself is now Clydesdale Bank owned so that is not Virgin itself anymore.
  
  If your earning strategy had a bit of MS in it perhaps with Curve or other channel then you might still like the Virgin alternative above as it may provide another route however if you stay in hotels and like the idea of a £250 free night for spending £10k then personally I would look at the articles on here about the IHG card right now.
  - Lady London says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 11:46
    
    PS if you qualify for HSBC and havent taken that out yet personally I’d do that first. Reason is that’s a hard one to qualify for and we can expect banks to tighten consumer credit requirements following the current crisis. That card is in World Elite which has some good offers and benefits. you might not use the cards travel benefits right now but I would still grab it while I could. You can follow up another one about 6months after that to save dings on your credit file too close together.
    - Amit says:
      
      4 Apr4 April 13:12
      
      Good shout on the HSBC card. Thanks
TGLoyalty says:

4 Apr4 April 10:50

Probably a little niche but Hyatt have just sent out emails about extending their cancellation waiver and extending all status as at 31st March 2020 to Feb 22 expiration date.

Also no points expiry until 31st Dec 2020
Andrew says:

4 Apr4 April 10:53

IHG finally updated my Spire account to reflect the lower nights required this year. I still don’t think this is good enough and would expect them to see a full year status extension more reasonable, as Hilton have done.

And interestingly, according to Business Traveller – back in February, after just a month of travel restrictions, all China IHG members were given a year extension – so why not everyone else?

“ IHG launched its status extension policy for its IHG Rewards Club members in the Greater China region on its official WeChat account on February 18.
According to the hotel group, eligible members refer to those whose account address was in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as of February 17.
IHG said its Gold Elite, Platinum Elite and Spite Elite members now have their current membership tier extended by 12 months from December 31 this year until December 31, 2021”
- Lady London says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 11:49
  
  Accor keeps doing nice stuff for China or Asia Pacific only as well. This is very annoying and has several times led to me booking away from Accor just out of pique.
- Genghis says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 13:05
  
  +1. I’ve now qualified for SE (currently on 71k). No sign of the 25k bonus for making SE though. Perhaps with the IT set up will still need to get to 75k?
Roger says:

4 Apr4 April 11:23

On EZY

Anyone who has done Amex chargeback seen their booking disappear from EZY website without any warning?
- Big Dave says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 17:49
  
  haven’t done a chargeback yet but still requested and still waiting for a refund – should I do the chargeback anwyay?
Julie says:

4 Apr4 April 11:25

Has anyone heard from Priority Pass with regard to extending annual membership this year? I have 7 visits left on my membership which will probably not be used under the present circumstances.
- Rob says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 11:31
  
  No. I am planning to write about this.
  - Julie says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 11:32
    
    Thanks Rob – always on the ball!
  - Genghis says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 13:03
    
    Or HSBC WE with Lounge Key…
- Lady London says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 11:53
  
  I am not sure about Priority Pass as I always only used to have the unlimited visits version (Prestige). However Dragonpass has cheerfully refunded me visits promptly without fuss on two occasions now.
- Catalan says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 13:17
  
  I called Priority Pass on Thursday 2nd April. They said apart from extending membership by one month for those whose passes are due to expire in May, they had nothing planned. They advised me to check their website periodically.
  In other words, “we’ve got your money, tough!”
  - Lady London says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 18:01
    
    +1. You summarized it well @Catalan.
Roger says:

4 Apr4 April 11:46

An IB booking warning:

I have an IB booking made on IB app.
This particular flight between LHR MAD is one of the few flights which are still operating (albeit only at weekends – downgraded from A340 to A319).
When I go to obtain a voucher a message comes up to say:

Your reservation is a corporate booking or is linked to a holiday package. Please contact your travel agency to manage the related request.

I am hoping contacting IB customer service will sort it out but just to share here for people who may be in similar situation.
- Roger says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 11:52
  
  Forgot to say it is flight only booking but system doe snot recognize it.
  - John says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 16:37
    
    I’m afraid the system does recognise it…you are simply being given the runaround.
Benilyn says:

4 Apr4 April 12:31

Surprised that Amex spend offers with more retailers are not showing up (unless I’m not getting targeted). Surely with retail spending down, this could be a way to get sales?
- rams1981 says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 13:00
  
  Yep I barely have anything on my cards
- PJJ says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 13:12
  
  Are the offers that have disappeared, restaurant offers for which they have had to close ?
  - stevenhp1987 says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 22:20
    
    I had loads of offers disappear a week or so ago. All restaurant or bars.
    
    Presumably they’ve been pulled, for obvious reasons.
- Crafty says:
  
  5 Apr5 April 20:30
  
  Most retailers are either dramatically cutting marketing spend, hesitant to be seen to exploit the situation, or both.
Craig says:

4 Apr4 April 12:31

Good afternoon all

Apologies if this has been covered. Has anyone had any experience recently trying to “switch” 241 vouchers? I have a booking for May this year using companion voucher A and another for March next year using companion voucher B. Voucher A expires a year before voucher B, but is valid until April next year (both extended). Therefore is my flights for May 2020 are cancelled/I decide not to go etc, can I call BA and switch the companion vouchers over? Then ideally I would have voucher A on my booking for next March and a longer dated voucher in the bank.

There was a flyertalk thread about this but dated 2013 so interested if anyone has tried to do this recently. Thanks
- Rob says:
  
  4 Apr4 April 13:38
  
  It’s not something they will usually do – not even sure if it is possible. Obviously you could cancel and rebook if the seats were there but it could be pricey, unless the call centre would let you off the fee. Check taxes have not gone up too.
  - Craig says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 14:34
    
    Understood. Thanks
  - Geoff says:
    
    4 Apr4 April 16:43
    
    What ‘taxes’ do you believe have gone up? Hint: none.
    
    Maybe you mean whether BA have unilaterally increased their own (sneaky and opaque) surcharges?
    
    By referring to them as ‘taxes’ merely dupes your followers and plays into the hands of BA’s (ever increasing) underhand tactics.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      4 Apr4 April 18:44
      
      All types of genuine taxes and fees change on a regular basis especially around tax years.
      
      I wouldn’t assume it’s just the surcharges that change.