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The new HFP chat thread – Monday 20th 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/2020/04/20/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-monday-20th-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

Comments (178)

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

  • Anna says:
    20 Apr20 April 08:59

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/could-vitamin-d-help-protect-coronavirus-symptoms/

    3 years ago I was (wrongly) diagnosed with COPD after suffering a long period of chest infections and told that I could expect to be a semi-invalid during the winter months. A newly qualified GP at my surgery then tested my vitamin D levels and found that I was deficient. I started taking a daily supplement and within 3 months my health was utterly transformed. Suffice it to say I didn’t have COPD and have barely had a sniffle since.

    • Kev 85 says:
      20 Apr20 April 09:14

      “ Could vitamin D help protect you from coronavirus symptoms?”

      The question wasn’t answered in the article.

      • Anna says:
        20 Apr20 April 09:32

        I think it’s the University of Granada doing the study, it should be possible to follow their findings.

    • Peter K says:
      20 Apr20 April 09:22

      There’s a lot to be said for newly qualified GPs (or even F2s). They often spend more time on things. This of course is counterbalanced against less experience, but they can really get things done!

      • Anna says:
        20 Apr20 April 09:46

        It was very interesting because he said all medical students are being told to test for vitamin D deficiency in general practice but older doctors don’t know about this! It’s scares me to think that if he hadn’t been doing his placement at our GP surgery my life could have been quite different. I never considered I could be D deficient because we holiday in sunny places but apparently using high SPF sunscreen can significantly decrease the amount you make from sun exposure.

        • Darren says:
          20 Apr20 April 10:25

          What supplements did you take? Simply vitamin D pills or did you increase natural foods high in it, oily fish etc?

          • Anna says:
            20 Apr20 April 11:42

            A supplement in tablet form. I already eat lots of vitamin D rich foods but clearly they weren’t working for me – I am told it’s virtually impossible for anyone to get enough D from food sources and also some people are genetically inefficient at synthesising it full stop. Sunlight is the only natural source of sufficient amounts, and we just don’t get enough of it in Northern Europe.

          • Jody says:
            20 Apr20 April 12:39

            I use a vitamin D spray: https://betteryou.com/vitamin-d-vitamin-k

            Can buy it from Amazon or Holland & Barratt.

            It has worked very well for me in terms of upping my Vitamin D levels. I have a thyroid problem and it is one of the recommended supplements.

        • Lady London says:
          20 Apr20 April 12:33

          Which brands of vitamin D3 would you suggest?

          • Liz says:
            20 Apr20 April 19:32

            We’ve been taking a Calcium and Vitamin D supplement from Healthspan for several years.

          • Anna says:
            20 Apr20 April 21:11

            I take 25 mcg tablets from Holland & Barrett.

  • PJ says:
    20 Apr20 April 09:39

    Are Amex UK still playing hardball with platinum fee refunds or credit? Other than downgrades, is anyone getting anywhere?

    • Oh! Matron! says:
      20 Apr20 April 09:52

      Had no problem at all getting a refund, but was downgraded for free to Gold for a year, despite having a corp green that could have kept my reward points alive. Weirdly, my new card arrived just two days later!

    • Rob says:
      20 Apr20 April 10:21

      Best offer seems to be letting you downgrade to Gold charge (not Gold credit) without a fee for the first year.

  • marcw says:
    20 Apr20 April 10:22

    An open letter to Virgin employees (virgin.com/richard-branson/open-letter-virgin-employees)

    “Together with the team at Virgin Atlantic, we will do everything we can to keep the airline going – but we will need government support to achieve that in the face of the severe uncertainty surrounding travel today and not knowing how long the planes will be grounded for. This would be in the form of a commercial loan – it wouldn’t be free money and the airline would pay it back (as easyJet will do for the £600m loan the government recently gave them). The reality of this unprecedented crisis is that many airlines around the world need government support and many have already received it. Without it there won’t be any competition left and hundreds of thousands more jobs will be lost, along with critical connectivity and huge economic value. Virgin Atlantic started with one plane 36 years ago. Over those years it has created real competition for British Airways, which must remain fierce for the benefit of our wonderful customers and the public at large.”

    Good luck with your Virgin FC miles.

    • Freddy says:
      20 Apr20 April 11:04

      Sounds like virgin up just upping the ante with the government to give them some cash. Hardly a letter you’d send your employees is it really

    • Jack says:
      21 Apr21 April 00:24

      Marc, you really are relentless (obsessive) with this aren’t you? 🥱🥱🥱

  • RussellH says:
    20 Apr20 April 10:30

    Anyone else not had their Marriott points from their Marriott M?Card this month? Creation are usually very quick with this, but it is two weeks tomorrow, with no sign of the points yet.

  • RussellH says:
    20 Apr20 April 10:32

    It is really nice to see the option to be able to start at the beginning of the comments available on these chat threads.
    Could this not be a standard feature, please?
    As an old-fashioned so-and-so I really appreciate being able to start at the beginning and read through to the end, rather than the current vogue for starting at the end of the story and then working your way back to the beginning.

  • AndyF says:
    20 Apr20 April 10:34

    Virgn to Hilton transfer April 1st. I haven’t yet received the points has anyone else who transferred points around this date received theirs yet?

    • Jonty says:
      20 Apr20 April 12:10

      Mime from 30 March posted a couple of days ago

    • Leo says:
      20 Apr20 April 16:56

      Mine were transferred on 31 March – they haven’t made it across yet. Not sure if there’s a particular day/s they go over during the week.

  • George C says:
    20 Apr20 April 10:44

    Why is that Sunday Times piece sitting at the top of the subjects when there’s hardly a post on it for a month?

  • Patrycja says:
    20 Apr20 April 10:57

    Hi all,

    Could you please let me know how I can contact Flyertalk helper to try to get my BA taxes back?

    Thank you!

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

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