The new HFP chat thread – Thursday 30th April

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

• mutley says:

  30 Apr30 April 11:37

  Hi Guys,

  Regarding Marriott downgrade from Titanium Elite to Gold recently. I thought I would try my luck at a soft landing. I used messenger and got a reply after a week, they have moved me up to Platinum until February 2022.
  I might add that I am also Hilton Diamond and Spire Elite and also had stayed 11nights at Marriott up to end of Feb this year which probably helped.
  Always worth asking!

  • Rob says:

    30 Apr30 April 11:52

    Got mine too after messaging @MarriottAssist on Twitter. Whilst my stay number are low, I am sitting on 700k points. Worth noting that a previous request sent via the Marriott website got me turned down.

    • Michael C says:

      30 Apr30 April 12:36

      My email to the website after going from Gold to Silver, but missing the “amnesty” by about 4 days, was also fruitless!

    • Pangolin says:

      30 Apr30 April 13:45

      I messaged both @MarriottBonvoy and @MarriottBonvoyAssist and got nowhere.

      Then I sent a PM to one of the lurkers on FT and that finally did the trick.

      • Dr Lee says:

        30 Apr30 April 16:33

        Which one?

        • Pangolin says:

          30 Apr30 April 20:31

          Lurker 2

• MarianC says:

  30 Apr30 April 13:35

  If you buy Virgin Miles now and they go bust, would you be able to claim under section 75 or chargeback?
  I had the points in my account at the points of purchase, but if Virgin goes bust, points will vanish so you won’t be able to use them at all.

  • stevenhp1987 says:

    30 Apr30 April 13:45

    No.

    You bought points, you got them, end of contract.

  • will says:

    30 Apr30 April 16:26

    Grey area, you bought points with a promise that that had some redemption value. They in that case would not have any redemption value.

    It’s could be seen as akin to buying something and receiving it not as advertised.

    Suspect that in reality if the credit card company were withholding that money from Virgin (as I strongly suspect they are right now) then they may refund you.

    Expect not to get it back, if you are in that position try to get it back.

    • MarianC says:

      30 Apr30 April 16:58

      It’s not Virgin, but Avianca in my case. Someone asked previously whether it’s a good idea to buy miles now.
      Just like you said, i think it’s a a grey area.
      If you bought miles during the checkout and the airline goes bust, could you claim back only the cash element?

    • Rob says:

      30 Apr30 April 18:01

      You buy them off points.com, legally, so there won’t be any hold back.

      It is the same as buying a gift card which you don’t redeem before the company goes bust. The law as per many recent bankruptcies are clear, you get nothing.

• R says:

  30 Apr30 April 14:22

  Virgin Money – Flying Club bond 1.65 miles per £1/ nominal 1.36% interest withdrawn today

  VM having been cutting their rates pretty hard as with everyone else in the savings market since the base rate changes so it may not be indicative of the product’s future, merely VM current liquidity position or contractual requirements to offer it at that rate which they no longer want to pay for it given the lowering 1yr cost of funds.

  • Rob says:

    30 Apr30 April 18:08

    Thanks. I agree it was getting a bit too generous given the current market rates.

• Spaghetti Town says:

  30 Apr30 April 14:24

  BA may not return to gatters – not sure if it’s been covered

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52489013

  No doubt Rob will have an article today/tomorrow about it.

  • J says:

    30 Apr30 April 15:05

    BA expansion at Gatwick was driven mostly to stop Norwegian becoming a serious competitor.

    • Spaghetti Town says:

      30 Apr30 April 15:16

      yeah that’s true actually. clearly they can’t see them being a problem for too much longer.

  • Jamies says:

    30 Apr30 April 15:38

    Gutted as a south londoner

    • J says:

      30 Apr30 April 16:00

      Not great for Gatwick without BA and Norwegian bust or scaled back.

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    30 Apr30 April 16:22

    We are still flying on BA out of LGW in less than a month’s time?

    • Colin MacKinnon says:

      30 Apr30 April 17:44

      BA thinks I am still flying into Gatwick tomorrow for a bank holiday weekend by the sea!

      At least one bit of their IT does, since the app set me a check-in reminder!

      ps When flight was cancelled a couple of weeks ago, I phoned up and got refund a couple of days ago.

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        30 Apr30 April 19:47

        May bank holiday now the 8th.

        • Shoestring says:

          30 Apr30 April 20:26

          I think the whole of May is a bank holiday, SS.

  • Rob says:

    30 Apr30 April 18:07

    No, because this is genuinely into the realms of nonsense. It was a throwaway line in a staff memo and makes no sense. Heathrow is full, few airlines will give up their slots, so unless BA is going to be PERMANENTLY 20% smaller than it is now, it needs Gatwick.

    • insider says:

      30 Apr30 April 19:05

      again, a bold claim of ‘nonsense’ where I think there is something in this – BA has struggled at Gatwick for many years, particular on its shorthaul flying – see some investor day presentations from back in 2012 onwards. I wouldn’t be surprised if they scaled down their shorthaul operation and gave it to an LCC brand in the group

      • ChrisBCN says:

        30 Apr30 April 20:23

        I said a couple of weeks ago that the smart play for IAG is for BA to permanently leave Gatwick, and have Level take over their slots – a lower cost base and stops BA from undercutting itself across airports.

        So, pull out of Gatwick now to remove costs and replace with Level when traffic picks up – that’s the smart play.

        • ChrisBCN says:

          30 Apr30 April 20:24

          It’s not nonsense for BA to leave Gatwick, but it would be nonsense for IAG to leave Gatwick.

      • Rob says:

        30 Apr30 April 22:51

        On the other hand …. as BA will have to massively limit lounge access at Heathrow now, why not move more to Gatwick and at least get the benefit of that?

        We all know how busy Heathrow can be so leaving what is, effectively, a whole terminal empty at an airport down the road seems unlikely.

• Chris says:

  30 Apr30 April 14:59

  If my flight is cancelled by the airline (aka the new normal) and I want to rebook it for a later date rather than accept credit note or cash refund do I have to do that before the date the flight was originally meant to happen?

  (It’s a non-Eu airline but flying from UK)

  • Charlieface says:

    30 Apr30 April 15:08

    No

    • Chris says:

      30 Apr30 April 15:46

      Ah thank you! (Is there any limitation on when I need to do it by?)

• Harry T says:

  30 Apr30 April 16:45

  Interesting podcast about whether VS should get bailed out.

  https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/apr/30/should-the-uk-bail-out-richard-branson-virgin-atlantic-podcast?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

  • jamie says:

    30 Apr30 April 19:30

    Didn’t think it was a great factual analysis….but maybe because HfP is such a good information source

    • TGLoyalty says:

      30 Apr30 April 21:44

      Interesting but pretty poor

      Through the past few months I’ve really come to understand the British press is actually pretty dim.

• Tracy says:

  30 Apr30 April 16:50

  Need advice re. IHG UK credit card night. I had a booking using the free night for a hotel in June 2020. I had to cancel obviously but did not get my night back as it expired February 2020. Anyone had luck getting one reinstated? I called IHG today and they said there was nothing they could do…..

  • happeemonkee says:

    30 Apr30 April 17:12

    I had an upcoming booking in October with the Intercontinental Hong Kong that was cancelled earlier this month due to the hotel being refurbished. The voucher I used had expired at the end of March but IHG have extended it to the end of December.

    • Tracy says:

      1 May1 May 09:27

      I was told any vouchers expiring after 1st March will be extended, mine expired in February 🙁

• Clive says:

  30 Apr30 April 16:51

  REF VIRGIN

  https://www.facebook.com/louise.r.woods/videos/10163506310320710/?t=153

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