The new HFP chat thread – Friday 10th April

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

• Slim chance says:

  10 Apr10 April 17:16

  Hi, although I know the 2-4-1 vouchers are different to miles and points etc., has anyone heard if Eurostar might extend the expiry date of club Eurostar points?

  • Genghis says:

    10 Apr10 April 17:25

    Sorry can’t help with the direct question but something g to bear in mind: as I’d not been on Eurostar for ages – no work in Paris last year – I sent across 1,500 MRs to keep points alive.

    • Slim chance says:

      10 Apr10 April 17:48

      Thanks Genghis, that sounds like the best option. Don’t think there is an alternative ‘cheaper’ option.

• Ben says:

  10 Apr10 April 17:42

  Hi
  Does anyone have any tips or ways to cancel a BA future travel voucher and go for refund? I applied for one in a panic and now have it, but made a mistake in doing so.
  I spoke to someone at BA who after a while spoke to a manager and said they could cancel it for a refund, but I would lose a part of the taxes I paid. He couldn’t tell me how much though as ‘that system was down’. He said he’d ring me back but never did.
  I wonder if there is no way of reversing a voucher, if anyone knows what percentage of tax I would lose?

  Cheers
  Ben

  • Andy says:

    10 Apr10 April 17:53

    If your booking had a flight that was cancelled you should lose no portion of what you previously paid.

    If you are cancelling an avios booking and there were no flights in that booking that were cancelled then you lose £35 of the surcharge paid, per ticket.

    • Ben says:

      10 Apr10 April 17:58

      Hi

      Both outbound and return were cancelled and all was originally booked with avios.
      My problem is that they are saying once they have issued a voucher they cannot convert it back.
      I thought I would only get a voucher for what I paid ie actual money for the taxes. But it’s swallowed all my avios and a companion voucher too. I’ve lost all flexibility as when you use this travel voucher it is treated as a cash booking.
      Also I thought it was a full 365 day voucher, but it turns out you have to have returned within 365 days (this bit is in the terms)
      Really frustrating!

      • Anna says:

        10 Apr10 April 19:52

        I’ve got a text from BA saying my “voucher” (in reality a card credit following a future booking) will be valid for a trip starting on April 1st next year. I didn’t specify a return date. This was a cancelled car hire booking, so if I rebook car hire they would actually have no way of knowing when I’m going to return, because it’s not necessarily the day you return the hire car.

  • Rob says:

    10 Apr10 April 18:31

    Can’t be done. However, I think in 3-4 months you could try CEDR arbitration on the grounds that BA did not legally make your rights clear, and force them to swap.

• Ben says:

  10 Apr10 April 18:05

  Any ideas when the Capital On Tap bonus points appear after spend. This was from the offer in January. I seem to recall 4 months? Anyone else?

  • Rob says:

    10 Apr10 April 18:22

    It’s after the 4th statement I think. If you think you are missing something I can chase them up with our contact, but no-one so far had been missed – they were all correctly queued up for the appropriate time.

  • Reeferman says:

    10 Apr10 April 23:02

    I asked them this a week or so ago and was told it’ll be after the 3rd billing cycle.

• mark2 says:

  10 Apr10 April 18:52

  From the time it takes to get paid, I would guess that they get paid first.
  But they could still go bust.

  • Rob says:

    10 Apr10 April 19:44

    Unlikely – I have seen the data. Yes, travel / airline stuff is massively down (tell me about it) and admittedly this is high value but there are big surges in online purchasing in other sectors. I doubt they will be hit too hard by falling revenue.

• Anna says:

  10 Apr10 April 19:46

  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8207869/Private-jet-super-rich-holidaymakers-turned-away-French-airport.html

  Nice try 🙄

  • Anna says:

    10 Apr10 April 19:47

    Or even Marseille try.

    • Michael C says:

      10 Apr10 April 19:49

      Love it, Anna!

    • Simons Schus says:

      10 Apr10 April 19:50

      lol. Good joke!

  • Kev 85 says:

    10 Apr10 April 19:59

    I probably would have laughed if the plane had been shot down.

    Entitled scumbags.

    • Lady London says:

      10 Apr10 April 20:34

      Completely, completely OT. I wonder how many of them were married?

      • Anna says:

        10 Apr10 April 20:46

        Probably all of them, but not to the ladies they were travelling with!

    • Don says:

      11 Apr11 April 02:07

      They’re not even British.

      • Rob says:

        11 Apr11 April 08:56

        They live in Britain.

• Anna says:

  10 Apr10 April 19:48

  No, in fact quite the opposite, I’m getting emails continually saying my Avios will post within 72 hours! Usually takes weeks.

• Anna says:

  10 Apr10 April 20:00

  I have got a text from BA confirming that my “voucher” is “valid for 12 months from the original date of travel”. It doesn’t specify whether this is outbound or inbound. I would argue that it’s valid until the date that my original travel period ended.

  • Ben says:

    10 Apr10 April 20:25

    This is the text from the voucher application page and the email you get.

    “It must be redeemed for travel on flights taken within 12 months from the date of the first flight in your original booking.”

    • Anna says:

      10 Apr10 April 20:48

      Well I’m going to hang onto my text messages as it would suggest I have been substantially misled by BA!

      • Anna says:

        10 Apr10 April 20:49

        Also, if I use my voucher to pay the fees on a one way award flight, they won’t know when I’m returning.

        • Ben says:

          10 Apr10 April 21:02

          Weird as I never got a text (but I did for the flight cancellation)
          One thing I read was that if you use the voucher for something less than its value, they will issue you another for the remainder.
          I am yet to find out if the expiry of new voucher will be renewed eg in 6 months you buy a one way £50 ticket and renew your voucher.
          It still doesn’t help with the flexibility of being able to cancel though.

        • Anna says:

          10 Apr10 April 21:12

          Mine was purely a car hire booking so I don’t see how they can impose conditions relating to flight dates. They texted me last night and offered me a voucher for the full amount. I’m not sure that I would have got the full cash amount if I’d cancelled so I accepted, on the proviso that I could use it for a trip starting April 1st next year, which they said would be possible. I didn’t an end date.

        • Callum says:

          11 Apr11 April 04:24

          Why would they care when you’re returning in that scenario?

          And for the original question, it’s always worth trying to argue, but it’s fairly clear what that means. If I asked you when you’re going on holiday, would you reply with the date you’re leaving or the date you’re returning?

          I’d be fairly confident getting a “gesture of goodwill” on the basis they said it was fine to use in April without mentioning a return restriction though.

• Lady London says:

  10 Apr10 April 20:07

  The short answer is avoid using them or know that their official payout time of 35 days seems to be exceeded, in some cases, by months.

  Good on you for screen recording – btw are you deleting cookies before each transaction and doing them singly like this?

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