The new HFP chat thread – Saturday 2nd May

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• Craig says:

  2 May2 May 09:21

  Does anyone have any recent experience of making two one-way reward bookings with BA and then calling to apply a companion voucher to the return. Can this be done by message rather than holding for hours or is calling the only way?

  • MattB says:

    2 May2 May 09:49

    Think you will have to call. Assume you are aware you are likely to be stung on the fees this way?

    • Craig says:

      2 May2 May 09:51

      I looked at the fees and it looks similar for 2 singles and one return. I am aware that cancellation will be £35 x4 rather than £35 x2 but I think for a flexible booking that will be worth it.

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      2 May2 May 10:08

      Only if you go transatlantic, most other destinations are less than £100 extra per pax booked separately

      • Craig says:

        2 May2 May 10:27

        It’s BKK, return is £597pp, two singles £608pp.

        • Craig says:

          2 May2 May 14:58

          I always take my own IFE anyway.

  • Reeferman says:

    2 May2 May 09:51

    Is this referring to the Amex 2-4-1 offer? I used mine in the same way- but did phone to add-in the return leg after I’ve booked it online when it became available. Fees/taxes are no longer adjusted – it’s treated as 2 one-way trips – but the AVIOS are returned to make it a true 2-4-1.
    I’ve had to call BA several times in the last week or so and each time I was only on hold for minutes – maybe I’ve been lucky, but it might not be as long a wait as you think.

    • Craig says:

      2 May2 May 10:05

      Perfect, thanks.

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      2 May2 May 10:11

      I’m assuming you can still ask for s recalc of the taxes and one pnr if return booked when ringing in?

      • MattB says:

        2 May2 May 10:21

        Yes if you ring and apply 241 at the same time as making the return booking.

      • Genghis says:

        2 May2 May 12:13

        Not in my recent experience. I’ve tried. (I used to be able to ask for one pnr and a recalc of taxes, great for say JFK, or keep two pnrs and no recalc of taxes, great for HKG but now no choice).

      • Reeferman says:

        2 May2 May 17:15

        Seem to no-longer be an option – it is now treated as 2 x one-way trips for the purpose of fees/taxes. Not always bad news (my trip to South America was a little more expensive, but not prohibitively so) whereas some destinations (USA, I understand) can be far more under this latest BA wheeze

• Munch says:

  2 May2 May 09:33

  Currently have a Platinum Business. Called Amex to discuss options – the operator said my only option was to down grade to a personal card, is this correct? I was hoping to downgrade to a free business card, for example Gold (free for a year). If I go for a personal card I will re-start my 2 year clock without the options for a bonus so won’t be taking that route.
  Is it a case of hang up and try again or is it not possible to downgrade a plat business to a gold business?

  • Rob says:

    2 May2 May 10:05

    Just apply for Gold and cancel Plat if they are being silly. Get Gold first to avoid any risk to your MR points.

• toddy says:

  2 May2 May 10:29

  I had received advice from a few posters on here, so wanted to share my experience with Virgin.
  As they have pulled their LHR to Sao Paulo route, they called to rebook me onto another airline. We agreed to go on the direct LATAM flight (would be a good opportunity to check out their business product).

  24 hours later, they called me back saying that LATAM will not be flying this route from the 20th-27th Dec, so I would have to go via Paris with Air France. I refused and told them I wanted to explore my options.

  After doing a bit of research, I called them back the next day asking them to put me on the only other direct option (with BA). They said this was impossible and my only options were KLM (via AMS) or Air France (via Paris). I stood my ground, advising the agent that it’s obvious that the only reason they want to force me on one of those alternatives was because of their business relationships with those airlines. The agent continued to waffle on that “BA would refuse to sell them a ticket”.

  Even after quoting the relevant legislation, advising that they had to reroute me in a comparable manner, they were still not budging. He advised that a supervisor would call me back the next day.

  The next day I received an email confirming that I had been booked onto AIR FRANCE. I won’t lie, I was rather angry by this stage!

  The supervisor then emailed me (she couldn’t call because “the phones were down”) advising that they will book me onto BA and sent me the booking confirmation (for the wrong dates!). After exchanging more emails, the correct details were finally (!) confirmed.

  I’ve always been a fan of Virgin but their behaviour throughout has been incredibly frustrating and I genuinely won’t be flying with them again. I appreciate they are in a very difficult environment but the lying/lack of customer care won’t be forgotten by many.

  Thanks for the help/guidance from various people on here.

  P.S: I checked with LATAM, who advised they are still flying 20-27th Dec. Clearly this was a lie from Virgin in an attempt to get me to go via Paris.

  • Vicky says:

    2 May2 May 11:10

    Was it a reward ticket or cash ticket ?

  • Kip says:

    2 May2 May 12:22

    By many? Or by you? My experience of rebooking and refunding with Virgin has been fine. By comparison, my BA refund has disappeared into the ether with no contact or refund for several weeks.
    If you’re sure LATAM are flying on those dates why not get Virgin to rebook you? The way BA are going it’s not nailed on they’ll be flying that route in December either.

• n_g says:

  2 May2 May 10:33

  Amex platinum bill is due and all reference to converting points to double the cash have disappeared the past few days.

  Has anyone else seen this? I’m not sure where I can actually do the conversion now.

  • n_g says:

    2 May2 May 11:47

    Silly me. I just need to click into each individual item to see the cta now.

• MJ says:

  2 May2 May 10:42

  https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.statement-from-f1-ceo-chase-carey-target-is-to-begin-season-in-austria.5zn2chyMjrqC8n0BkEt9e.html

  For anybody who booked the W Abu Dhabi after seeing the post here about it, this announcement from the F1 CEO states they are looking to have the Abu Dhabi GP in December now. They also say the early races will have no fans but they “hope” fans will be part of the later events.

  What are people thinking of doing with regards to this?

  • N says:

    2 May2 May 12:22

    F1’s response has been awful.

    The debacle in Aus was amateur at best, while their attempt at “openness” since has been sending out the wrong message imo. They keep trying to keep people engaged with their drip of sort-of announcements but I reckon it’s all v irresponsible doing so so far ahead.

    • Harry T says:

      2 May2 May 13:13

      I was in Melbourne when the race was cancelled. If I hadn’t wanted to come to Melbourne anyway as part of my holiday, I would have been seriously annoyed about the race being cancelled in such a shambolic manner.

  • Harry T says:

    2 May2 May 13:11

    I’m going to wait for an official calendar and then contact the hotel to rebook or cancel. The original cancellation T&Cs are punitive but I feel they should be waived if the F1 race changes to a different date.

    • MJ says:

      2 May2 May 14:51

      I phoned Marriott a week or so ago asking if the date of the race changed whether I could just move the stay was told I’d have to cancel and book again at the higher category.

      I’m assuming the hotel might be more lenient but wondering if it’s even worth the risk of entry restrictions in the UAE or there being no spectators for the race. I feel like Marriott might put up a fight for cancellations under those circumstances.

• Mark Edwards says:

  2 May2 May 10:46

  I have a question about credit card payment protection for flights if anyone can help please.

  Two of us are considering booking Easy Jet flights in April, they are about £52 return , so no Section 75 protection if we book separately if Easy Jet were to go under. If they are booked together though and therefore over £100 in total, would section 75 be valid?

  • Connor says:

    2 May2 May 11:40

    Yes, it would be valid.

  • Gavin says:

    2 May2 May 11:45

    It probably would not be covered by S75 as each “item” needs to be over £100. Check the S75 article on MoneySavingExpert for examples.

    • Sk123 says:

      2 May2 May 12:27

      Barclaycard rejected my claim a few years ago of 2 x £99 each as they said each item needed to be £100.

      • Ali says:

        2 May2 May 13:20

        I feel educated… thank you

        • Oli says:

          2 May2 May 14:14

          I’ve claimed £240 on my Amex Plat and got the cash back. It was return flights which were cancelled with Ryanair for 4 people at £60 each.

        • Mark Edwards says:

          2 May2 May 20:46

          Thank you to all of you, I will have a good look at Money Saving Expert.

  • Ken says:

    2 May2 May 14:29

    No S75 protection on credit card.

    Booking on Amex charge card would more than likely get goodwill protection as S75 doesn’t apply to charge cards.

• Spaghetti Town says:

  2 May2 May 11:03

  There’s now a petition to stop the BA sackings. Not sure how much effect this can have though!

  https://www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-ba-mass-sackings-of-its-uk-workforce-is-immoral-and-possibly-illegal-it-time-to-act?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_message&recruited_by_id=f23ca170-8c55-11ea-bd1a-c7c3b9cbe4dd&utm_content=fht-21897935-en-gb%3Av2

  • John W says:

    2 May2 May 12:53

    Thanks , I have signed this petition to support the BA Crew

  • Paul says:

    2 May2 May 14:27

    I feel sorry for anyone that looses a job in any industry, but with numbers travelling likely to be down for years the for how long should the govt and taxpayers support these jobs? Willie and Alex might be being a little opportunistic here but it’s hard to conclude that job cuts won’t be necessary for almost every airline

  • Derek Scott says:

    2 May2 May 15:48

    The petition detail is inflammatory and misleading. It states there’s no consultation with Unions?? What exactly is the consultation period with the unions they have entered then?

    If people want to put a good case forward, at least ensure it has integrity of accuracy and inform the audience clearly with facts not sensationalism. It’s not help to anyone

• Michael says:

  2 May2 May 12:46

  Referred my wife from my BAPP yesterday and 9000 appear today. Nice work Amex.

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