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The new HFP chat thread – Friday 24th 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/2020/04/24/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-friday-24th-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.  Let’s see how it goes.  Take care!

Category

General

Comments (345)

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

  • Simon says:
    24 Apr24 April 08:01

    Hi all, have a new BAPP to earn a 241. Whats the fastest way to earn the voucher? For some reason my wife has a low limit of 6.5k. Im sure I read here one could buy a fully flexible fare and then change their mind in 24hrs, but the voucher will trigger and not be clawed back? Also any refund vs voucher issues in the above?

    • Anna says:
      24 Apr24 April 09:41

      Unless it’s your wife’s card the limit won’t be an issue, though you still easily earn the voucher in a couple of months if it is. Be wary of cancelling anything too soon as it takes a few days for the spend to hit the account and trigger the voucher, especially over a weekend. Also if you book with BA, you may well end up having a nightmare trying to get your money back!
      If you can pay your council tax on Amex (I do this via PayPal), it’s that time of year and provides a good chunk of the required spend. Depends on exactly how fast you want to trigger the voucher, I guess.

  • Harry T says:
    24 Apr24 April 08:05

    So I accidentally mistook Swiss’ “Hold the Booking” option as a traditional fare hold in the style of Qatar Airways… 72 hours later I’ve now been charged for the two business class seats and I’ve learned an important life lesson.

    • Erico1875 says:
      24 Apr24 April 08:10

      Ouch !!!

    • Rhys says:
      24 Apr24 April 08:25

      Don’t they have a 24 hour cancellation policy?

      • Harry T says:
        24 Apr24 April 10:52

        Just received the email but was allegedly eligible to be charged on the 22nd at 3am, so I think I’m out of the cancellation period.

        It’s fine, I wanted to take a trip at that time anyway and the price is good.

  • Kev 85 says:
    24 Apr24 April 08:27

    Anyone going to use disinfectant to kill the virus? 😂

    • Qwertyknowsbest says:
      24 Apr24 April 08:41

      Even as someone with no medical training, I can confirm that if you inject disinfectant you will NOT die of Covid.

      Any numbers or tips to ease getting a BA refund?

      Thanks

    • Dr Lee says:
      24 Apr24 April 08:41

      Nope, I’m sticking with garlic

      • Chrisasaurus says:
        24 Apr24 April 09:21

        Yes I heard the key is not to invite the virus in, it cant enter unless invited.

      • Anna says:
        24 Apr24 April 09:44

        I suspect garlic might be effective against Donald, along with crucifixes and holy water…

    • Michael C says:
      24 Apr24 April 08:53

      Put it this way, in the next Champions League, I’ll definitely be supporting Ajax!

  • Steve R says:
    24 Apr24 April 08:32

    Took out the Tesco pet insurance early March still waiting for the 2500 points, anyone else still waiting?

    • Pablo says:
      24 Apr24 April 09:39

      My points posted within a month. As an added bonus the additional payout through the site that shall not be named has now changed from pending to confirmed.

      • BJ says:
        24 Apr24 April 09:50

        +1, wish I had doje two now.

      • Harry T says:
        24 Apr24 April 11:25

        I forgot to double dip – I’ve let the team down.

        • Baji Nahid says:
          24 Apr24 April 13:40

          Whats a double dip? I got 2 cats and did one for me and my mother. My mother got a letter through the door about the insurance but I never so i dont know whats going on now

          • BJ says:
            24 Apr24 April 15:44

            Going via a third party (which we don’t discuss here) to take advantage of two different offers.

        • BJ says:
          24 Apr24 April 15:45

          Cannot win them all, all of the time Harry.

    • rams1981 says:
      24 Apr24 April 11:13

      Yes they associated the wrong clubcard number which was corrected and still waiting. I’ve made a complaint.

      • Boi says:
        24 Apr24 April 12:20

        my problem is we did 3. got 2500 for 2 in one clubcard account. Now I dont know which one didnt payout. How do I solve this?

  • Berneslai says:
    24 Apr24 April 08:57

    Quick datapoint: I complained about my Titanium to Gold Bonvoy downgrade to the Marriott hotels page on Facebook (I rarely stayed with Marriott in 2019 so I wasn’t a marginal case). It took four days for them to respond to my message but I’ve now been soft-landed to Platinum. It might be worth HFPers having a go if they want to retain Platinum status.

  • SteveSlow says:
    24 Apr24 April 09:14

    AMEX have closed a dispute I had for cancelled flights in the travel agents favour (flights got cancelled by the airline but the travel agent claims they are still charging their fees, so I’ve got nothing back).

    Has anyone got advice for any potential next steps?

    • Qwertyknowsbest says:
      24 Apr24 April 09:17

      Are you saying that flights refunded but not agents fees?

      If so seems fair enough, agents have still done the work and incurred the related costs.

      • SteveSlow says:
        24 Apr24 April 09:24

        They offered a 40% refund of the total cost, I refused to accept and we weren’t making any progess so I went to AMEX. Nothing has been refunded at all now.
        60% of the total cost being agents fees seems a little ridiculous

        • VJ says:
          24 Apr24 April 09:28

          I wonder what was the Nominal amount, % might be quite misleading on £9.99 flight.

        • Anna says:
          24 Apr24 April 09:29

          What were the original booking terms? It seems to me that unless 60% was stipulated at the outset, they can’t now decide that that’s what they are going to charge.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          24 Apr24 April 09:44

          was it specifically an s75 claim as its an agent and the flight was cancelled (contract frustrated / goods not delivered)?

          If not try MCOL and name both as 60% fees seems very unreasonable, if that means more than £20-30, when its a fight the airline cancelled and would have fully refunded them

          • SteveSlow says:
            24 Apr24 April 10:14

            The price of the booking was £135, and the agent said they would only refund £50 of the total cost. That seems unreasonable to me.

            I raised the dispute through the AMEX website, I believe it was just a standard AMEX dispute rather than S75, I’ll try to confirm with them if it’s possible to reopen the dispute through S75 this time

          • Lady London says:
            24 Apr24 April 11:12

            That proportion offered as refund definitely looks like them taking the p***. Unless somewhere in their contract terms from when you bought there is anything that adds up to an £85 fee for them. Think you need to check.

          • Doug M says:
            24 Apr24 April 11:42

            Why would you book a £135 flight through an agent? Yes £85 them £50 you seems an imbalance.

        • xcalx says:
          24 Apr24 April 09:45

          Could you disclose the cost of the ticket. It would make it easier to judge if the agent is treating you unfairly

          • r* says:
            24 Apr24 April 11:46

            I had a flight only booking with lastminute (id never normally use them but they were the only option, was a foreign domestic flight not listed anywhere else other than the airlines site which i couldnt use as payment kept timing out) which was cancelled (total cost was like £50) and lastminute offered full value as a voucher or £15 cash as they wanted to steal the rest as admin fees. I have issued a chargeback, but how can it be legal for them to try take admin fees when they have been unable to supply what they were paid for?

            If amex reject the chargeback, is there anywhere I can escalate it to, the value is small but its the principle.

          • Genghis says:
            24 Apr24 April 12:35

            @r* Legally are you paying an agent to supply a flight or are you paying them to book a flight? By definition, agents are agents: they don’t supply anything but the act of them being an agent.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            24 Apr24 April 14:01

            The agent is still due the fees regardless of the flight being taken as they have costs to cover etc

            The only debate is on whats a reasonable fee £30 or so may be fine for the work put in but asking for £100’s is a joke.

    • Vit says:
      24 Apr24 April 10:27

      I have raised 4 similar disputes — not realising it is just normal disputes and not s75 claim as previously been discussed here before. At the moment, 2 has been closed (1 dispute of £341 is within agent favour) as the CX flight was cancelled then I was rebooked into different flight and different day but later on. I have asked agent to cancel but they never responded. I only know the flight was cancelled only after talking to CX. Another dispute was put as closed (£401) and that was expected as the flight was cancelled since early Feb with CA. I was told though that agent can reopen this closed case anytime.

      I am currently waiting for the documents showing evidence by agent posted to me via amex and will reopen the dispute as travelup agent keep advising not to contact them at the moment. So I have no choice really.

      I will update here once I’ve got any further development.

      • Vit says:
        24 Apr24 April 10:31

        Just to add to further comment — I have now asked AMEX to raise the s75 against this agent but as it is a travel agent they said it is a bit in a grey area and quite complicated as it might be counted as 3rd party. So this s75 claim request is being dealt with a specialised team and will be advising me through post. Expecting a longgg process… but again I have no choice anyway as travelup never responded my email. 🙂

        • Lady London says:
          24 Apr24 April 11:24

          Flyertalk has a whole thread on the antics of travelup. Even in peacetime there are horror stories.

          You have s75 claims against credit card on 2 grounds- 1 for not receiving what you paid for at contract level is your ticket and 2 credit card is also liable to provide you what statute ec261 provides if ticket falls under that. The point is credit card is equally liable with airline, agent or whoever was paid even £1 worth of the cost, to provide you what you contracted for and also any rights under governing statute. They are also.liable under s75 for consequential losses.

          If you paid on a charge card you are at the mercy of chargeback rules or Amex’s if you paid by Amex.

          This is all if they cancelled the flight not you. And btw if covered by ec261 reschedule to following day definitely means you are entitled to a refund if you choose. You probably still have to pay agent fee if it’s in your contract in this case too.

          If you cancelled then what you get back is whatevers in your terms.
          I think you’re being given a runround.

          • Vit says:
            24 Apr24 April 12:27

            Thanks for the info. I definitely agreed with you after reading a few site but even at moneysavingexpert, it mentioned that travelagent is a bit in grey area. Not like I have any other choices beside keeping pushing this through amex and at the same time email travelup. Of course, and never go back to them or any TA in the future. 🙂

          • Lady London says:
            24 Apr24 April 15:01

            It doesn’t matter. Check if you were charged directly by airline as well as agent. Good chance you were. If so then s75 the airline charge in full job done.

            If you paid both airline and anything else to travel agent then that’s who you claim against. Check your terms in case there is a way the card company can say you had no contract that included a flight with anyone that was paid through the card.

            This is not going to work – the cardco trying to say agent is like payal and say no contract money was paid by them to the airline, PayPal had the contract with you not the airline, etc. Cardco will be thinking of trying to say the contract was only with travel agent so they are not liable for the flight.

            This argument wont fly for a few reasons. Either you paid just the agent or you paid the agent some and the agent arranged for the airline to charge your credit card for the rest. You don’t care just tell the credit card co you did not receive what you paid for under either of those scenarios and they can choose to apportion s75 refund by travel agent and airline that is up to them you did not receive what you paid for. You will have to pay whatever fee for travel agent is on the terms though.

          • Lady London says:
            24 Apr24 April 15:04

            PS read the flyertalk thread on travelup. You wi see others dealt with same problem. Travelup is not going to respond to your email and they are not going to pick up the phone. Hence you only have your cardco or your insurance to help. Learn from all the others in same position by looking in detail at the flyertalk thread.

    • Don says:
      24 Apr24 April 12:38

      There is a thread on FT where TravelUp changed the terms of their contract after the fact very recently. Illegal.

      I believe the old terms were more generous in granting a refund due to cancelled flights.

      • Vit says:
        24 Apr24 April 13:09

        I have read about that as well. I have been trying to get a copy of the old T&C. Actually there is a kind and smart guy who saved that and was willing to provide if you DM him. I am going to do it actually. I think the T&C has been changed from no admin fees if the airline cancelled the flight to £60 (down from £75 if you cancelled yourself).

        • Lady London says:
          24 Apr24 April 15:10

          The only terms that apply to what you have to pay travelup are the terms you bought under on the day you bought. People buy online from yraveluo so look at what you received there will be terms. Those cannot be changed unikatetly by them (or you) after the purchase.

          Surprised you would chase around getting terms from other people when normally you ei have an email with your own specific terms sitting there already.jn your own email from the date you bought.

  • Novice says:
    24 Apr24 April 09:46

    OT but where have all the treadmills gone. I usually go to the gym and recently thought maybe I should exercise equipment for my house but all decent stuff is out of stock.

    How is this possible? Can everyone afford to buy treadmills worth 600+ quid for their homes? Already I have to wait till July for the best mask to be stocked in my size.

    😢

    • BJ says:
      24 Apr24 April 10:01

      My upstairs neighbour (a very large pro athlete who shall not be named) has one, just glad I’m not at home much at the moment 🙂

    • Freddy says:
      24 Apr24 April 10:02

      Go and join the masses and run outside on the pavement, save £600 and jump into the latest craze of exercising daily!

      • Novice says:
        24 Apr24 April 10:15

        I do think it’s ironic that a lot of people have just now decided they need to exercise daily. Same as humanity discovering washing hands 😂

        But although I have a big garden, I do prefer gym equipment hence the use of a gym before lockdown. I applaud ppl running marathons in their gardens or on balcony but if a person can afford it why not get a decent treadmill etc. It’s also because I don’t think my OCD will allow gym use in future where ppl have used stuff despite me wiping down stuff with antibacterial wipes.

        It’s best to buy the stuff. I have the space so why not. But it seems either a lot of people have bought stuff or they can’t manufacture enough.

      • Kev 85 says:
        24 Apr24 April 11:44

        You’d never guess that almost one in three adults in the U.K. are obese from the number of people running these days 😂

        • Novice says:
          24 Apr24 April 11:54

          That is down to diet and lifestyle choices. If you eat rubbish and more than you should in a day and not have a balanced diet then even if you exercise you will definitely become obese. A lot of people might be dying coz they are fat so catch the virus, can’t breathe so die.

          Exercise maintains weight and also is good for muscle strength and other pains eg backpain. It’s not good for losing weight if you can’t control your diet and also alcohol doesn’t help.

          The fact that UK ppl drink a lot adds to their weight.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      24 Apr24 April 11:51

      I dont think they have gone anywhere just that the market demand was lower as most people get gym memberships then suddenly all gyms are shut and theres a massive surge in sales.

      There’s also difficulty getting two men teams to deliver these types of large items and the fact that normal re-supplies are probably on ships that take 6-8 weeks in normal times

      • Novice says:
        24 Apr24 April 11:59

        I’m usually a strategic thinker. I don’t know how I missed not realising I should have bought stuff in January. It’s a good job I had a big supply of toilet tolls and sanitizer gels and handwashes though. 😂

        After this I reckon I might have to get a luxury bunker for a future nightmare.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          24 Apr24 April 14:03

          I’ve actually dusted off stuff I had for home workouts but the motivation just isnt the same vs dedicated time at the gym

          • Novice says:
            24 Apr24 April 15:04

            If your determined, you can motivate yourself 😂

            I can be lazy by nature but I just don’t allow myself to not be productive.

            As a writer, laziness is the bane of my existence but I just don’t let it win. I am stubborn.

          • Anna says:
            24 Apr24 April 18:00

            I’ve wiped down my treadmill and static bike in the garage (with diluted bleach, of course. I’ve settled into a routine of 2 days on, 1 day off and am managing to stick to it pretty well considering I detest exercise but am convinced by the health benefits (apparently sending glucose to the muscles reduces it circulating in the bloodstream which can lead to all sorts of nasties).

  • rams1981 says:
    24 Apr24 April 10:13

    Mossisons/Virign 8 points per £ from 5th March just confirmed. Just one more lot to go.

    • Spaghetti Town says:
      24 Apr24 April 10:23

      Hopefully you’ll be able to use them!

    • FlyingChris says:
      24 Apr24 April 10:23

      How have these been confirming for you? Have my first bunch of transactions at M on the 7th March that haven’t confirmed but now 45+ days. Do they go through in batches do we think, or just automatically confirm after a certain number of days?

      • rams1981 says:
        24 Apr24 April 10:26

        seems to be after a certain number of days for those that tracked.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        24 Apr24 April 11:54

        I’ve had all up to 6th March but I don’t have any tracked/pending past 11th March – missing around £800 worth of transactions so 6400 points that should be pending.

    • MattB says:
      24 Apr24 April 10:55

      All mine from 3 transactions (approx 8000) have posted to my virgin account.

      My wife’s much smaller txn never even tracked.

      • mark2 says:
        24 Apr24 April 11:55

        Strange coincidence!
        My 30,000 points were credited with no problems (last just arrived).
        For no apparent reason I switched to my wife’s card. They did not track and after chasing have today received a reply saying that no points are due since it was gift cards purchased (which is true but does not usually apply).
        Still we did get at least 10% back from Amex (10/5 on some purchases) and a few Morrison’s points.

    • Connor says:
      24 Apr24 April 11:50

      Just had 6000 posted onto my account. Another 14000 confirmed yet to come.

      • Boi says:
        24 Apr24 April 12:41

        M is now offering 10% discount to nhs. I am using all those gift cards to buy bread/milk and other small things. Its working well all discounts combined

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