The new HFP chat thread – Monday 11th May

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• GRIMZ says:

  11 May11 May 12:40

  I am due to pay the balance of a cottage holiday in the UK on the 23rd May for a holiday on the 4th July. They want to take £180 from me to cancel. Given that our advice from the Government is for us not to go on holiday in the UK or abroad should the company not just refund me the full amount? The full amount of £500 will be taken from my bank automatically on the 23rd May. What are my options here? Surely if we are not allowed to go holiday i should get a refund!

  • memesweeper says:

    11 May11 May 12:59

    ‘Given that our advice from the Government is for us not to go on holiday in the UK or abroad should the company not just refund me the full amount?’

    Trouble is there’s a chance staycations of this kind with your family will be permitted by July.

    ‘Surely if we are not allowed to go holiday i should get a refund!’

    If the law requires *them* to be closed at the time of your visit, I think you will be entitled to a refund — which isn’t quite the same thing. It’s not impossible that a cottage in England might be open for rent, but visitors from Wales or France would be unable to legally attend. I don’t think the cottage owner would be obliged to refund in those circumstances.

    Good luck.

  • GeorgeJ says:

    11 May11 May 13:09

    I think that memesweeper has it about right.
    If you havent insured the risk, wait and see whether the government road map gives some better clarity on this. This is likely to be one of the first parts of the holiday sector to open up since it is domestic & customers can easily socially distance.
    If the T&Cs say that you lose the deposit for cancellation then that is what will happen. However the better cottage companies are allowing customers to rebook for up to a year later, have you tried this.

    • Grimz says:

      11 May11 May 19:53

      The problem is that I was going to an event in that area which has been cancelled. I would happily change the date or take a voucher but they will only do that for the same cottage which is not suitable. I have travel insurance via my bank.

  • Anna says:

    11 May11 May 13:32

    I think a lot of people are in a similar position, and I’m also assuming that there will be a slew of cancellations by overseas travellers if the 14 day quarantine requirement comes into effect. I think a lot of it will come down to the terms of the bookings and of people’s travel insurance.
    It was being reported that Center Parcs are already charging £2k per week from when they re-open at the end of May; even I don’t need a holiday that much!! (if we do have a staycation it will be in a very remote cottage somewhere, not a heaving glorified campsite).

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      11 May11 May 13:41

      Just received a refund from BA but only for the seat reservation fees.
      I’m expecting a large sum refunded for the taxes paid on a cancelled AVIOS booking.
      Has anyone else only received part of the refunds due? If so, how much longer did others wait for the other part refund?

      • Anna says:

        11 May11 May 13:52

        Mine have come back in dribs and drabs, ranging from 5 working days to over 3 weeks and required the intervention of BA Refund Helper! the different elements do all seem to come back separately though, so it doesn’t mean you won’t get your “taxes” back.

        • Secret Squirrel says:

          11 May11 May 14:34

          Thanks Anna😘

      • Carol says:

        11 May11 May 15:54

        My flight was cancelled on March 13th. I got the £36 baggage fee back after a month and a few phone calls, but still waiting for the flight refund. BA say they have now escalated this and it should be back on my cars in the next 7 days. Apparently they had rejected my refund request as I had asked for a voucher – totally incorrect as I have the email to prove I requested cash

    • GeorgeJ says:

      11 May11 May 14:06

      Interestingly some countries have already published their outline road map for this relaxation, including Ireland. Last time I looked, Irelands was @ 15 July for general travel in the country and @ 10 August for use of hotels and holiday accommodation, by which time socially distanced bars and restaurants should be open. If you want an overseas holiday this might be the best time to visit our neighbours using the benefit of the CTA.

      • Lockdown Larry says:

        11 May11 May 14:29

        “socially distanced bars and restaurants ”

        that sounds like a rubbish way to spend a holiday (obvs that’s not how you’ll spend all of your trip but i’d rather wait and have a holiday that I’ll actually enjoy)

        • Josh says:

          11 May11 May 15:23

          Sounds like how I’d imagine the pub and club scene is in Pyongyang in normal times😂

• Boi says:

  11 May11 May 14:38

  OT:
  Just called virgin cc. Been told my fee will be charged today. Apparently my year ended yesterday. I asked to cancel the card so that they don’t charge the fee. For which she says they can’t cancel unless I pay off the balance AND I can’t pay off now coz there’s transactions pending from the 9th.
  What are my options? Is it £160 gone down the drain? Had no plans to renew.

  (Last year my fee was charged on 11 June).

  • Harry T says:

    11 May11 May 15:06

    Clear the balance and pending balance with a faster transfer from your bank, then call to cancel. The faster payments via bank transfer only take a couple of hours (I did it the other day before closing my card).

    • Boi says:

      11 May11 May 15:33

      Thanks Harry,
      Just cleared the balance. Will call around 5 and see. I suspect they will come up with another excuse.

      How easy are they to deal with refunds on a closed card? I am expecting just under £2K in refunds at some point soon.

      • Raj says:

        11 May11 May 17:24

        I think this should be quite an easy process. I just spoke to Virgin Money customer services to cancel my card before the new fee is levied, and explained that that I’ll be expecting one more large refund coming down the line post-account-closure. They told me I’d need to call up, and they’ll then process any outstanding monies by bank transfer.

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        11 May11 May 17:37

        Didn’t think you could clear a pending balance? I have a pending transaction which has been cancelled but still sitting as pending on my account.

        • Harry T says:

          11 May11 May 18:34

          You probably can’t truly clear a pending balance but my feeling is, if he/she has already paid enough money on the card that it would cover the impending charges, then he will have a strong argument that he has fulfilled his obligations, and can cancel.

        • Boi says:

          11 May11 May 19:13

          Update: did faster payment with enough cash to cover even pending transactions. Soon as I saw update zeroing my balance I called. Ofcourse I got a different agent who then said the only way to avoid next year fee is if I had cancelled my card at month 11. For which I said I need to raise formal complaint. Then he talked to his supervisor who said if we don’t spend anything from today we will get a refund. Then he said faster payments takes 3 days to clear so we can’t cancel today we need to call back after 3 days. Who knows what we will be told next time we call. 🙆🏻‍♀️🤷‍♀️

        • Harry T says:

          11 May11 May 19:16

          It says in the Virgin app that faster payments can clear in two hours.

          Don’t let these jokers charge you an annual fee. Just keep ringing until you get through to someone competent. Perhaps send a secure message on their website or an email to lay out in writing your intention to cancel before being charged the annual fee? Could help to have something in writing.

        • Boi says:

          11 May11 May 19:19

          Good idea Harry, I will definitely put something in writing. I also pointed this out to him that from past experience faster payments clear within hours and not days.

        • Lady London says:

          11 May11 May 20:49

          IME faster payments clear within 10min. sounds like the 3 days is for them manually applying it to your account after its been received.

          Good advice to put something to them in writing today. i would mention the contents of both calls today and their in timing and the fact that youve promptly complied. you can also remind them that kast yeae they billed on 11th June and you made a point to cancel promptly this year and you do not expect their admin to cause delays after you’ve complied. Tell them youve cut the card in half and ask do they want the bits returned.

• Sunguy says:

  11 May11 May 14:50

  Question about BA Exec club and renewal years:

  First – I know that BA will not let you change your TP collection year date – however, my wife’s one is very inconvenient – it falls over a month when we are usually on holiday so half the flights are in 1 year and half the flights are in the next. She is due to fall back to blue shortly, so has no status, just avios and no flights booked currently.

  Im thinking about creating her a new account, which will of course have a different year renewal date, uncoupling her current Exec account from the household one, moving avios to another account. – creating an Aer Lingus account should do it I think and then closing that account.

  Then hopefully adding back the avios from her new exec club account and re-adding her to the household.

  What, if any, drawbacks would there be to this – other than flight history and having to re-input already stored info like passport, etc ?

  • Rob says:

    11 May11 May 15:19

    MIGHT work. You’d need a different email on the new account and you’d need to change the email on the Aer Lingus account once the Avios were there, in order to be able to transfer them back to the new account.

    No big loss given her current lack of status.

  • AJA says:

    11 May11 May 15:42

    The only thing about the TP year end is that I think it is not based on when you apply for the account but based on when you first take a flight that earns TP and when that is credited to your account. I don’t think it is based on when you start earning Avios. So unless you are able to fly soon I don’t see an advantage in creating a new account now.

  • JJC says:

    11 May11 May 16:02

    I did exactly this and for the same reasons! I can confirm that this does NOT work unfortunately. Presumably some type of anti-fraud flag was raised when the points were moved from one BA account to an Iberia holding account and then moved back to a different BA account from which they originated (all with the same name and address). BA deleted the new account and moved the Avios back to where they originated, so I would not recommend it.

• AJA says:

  11 May11 May 15:46

  BBC reporting that Richard Branson is intending to sell a stake in Virgin Galactic, aiming to raise $500m to prop up his other business including Virgin Atlantic.

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52596273

  • james says:

    11 May11 May 16:29

    Hope he pulls it off. Virgin is a fantastic British brand. Shocking lack of support for airlines by UK government compared to other countries, have the printing machines at BoE gotten stuck?

    Space travel looks like a dead duck anyway, goodness knows what kind of viruses will come back from that trip!!

• Chuck says:

  11 May11 May 16:18

  Le Mans 24 … thinking of going in September… tickets still available.
  Seems like a good option as I like driving and Euro Tunnel should get me across no problem.
  Have any HfP readers been before ?
  Tips/Advice ?

  • memesweeper says:

    11 May11 May 17:24

    I’ve been, the racing’s great. Sadly not all those in the camping area are great company, and when I was there last tents were robbed. If I was to go back, and I hope to one day, I’d try and get into some sort of upmarket enclosure. There’s a bar at Tertre Rouge which I found to be a good spot during the day; and at night the main stand is great — the cars pass with red-hot glowing brakes which is awesome. Oh, and expect no sleep, it’s deafening even a mile from the track.

• @mkcol says:

  11 May11 May 17:33

  Tried to use my free IHG card to pay my VS Rewards Plus card to maximise point-earning using Curve Metal. Declined twice – is it not possible?
  I know it works the other way around.

  • mark2 says:

    11 May11 May 18:00

    There is probably a Creation limit of £300; was your payment more?

    • @mkcol says:

      11 May11 May 20:45

      Doh! Forgot about that.

      • @mkcol says:

        11 May11 May 20:48

        Reduced it but still declined, despite the IHG card having a zero balance.
        Odd.

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        11 May11 May 21:09

        £300 on a good day also! Not weekends in my experience…

• Clive says:

  11 May11 May 17:36

  Marriott offering 50% bonus on points purchase and 20% off gift cards

  • Rob says:

    11 May11 May 17:56

    That’s early …. wasn’t meant to launch until next Monday. Must be desperate!

    • Clive says:

      11 May11 May 17:59

      I see the Gift Cards are $ denominated and wonder if anyone has experience using them in hotels outside the US and what exchange rate is used? Could be nasty if it is a “Hotel” rate and not official.

      • Harry T says:

        11 May11 May 18:40

        Originally I was excited by the discounted gift cards but I can see the potential to be gouged on the exchange rate. Also can’t use them at certain properties or on prepaid rates.

        Allegedly the points bonus will be 60%.

        • Secret Squirrel says:

          11 May11 May 19:52

          Can you use U.S dollars to purchase or Euros instead of GBP. Curve could get a better rate…

    • Jimbob says:

      11 May11 May 18:47

      Can’t see it yet on the points.com website.
      Are they also increasing the annual limit of 50k points you can buy per annum?

      • Jimbob says:

        11 May11 May 18:48

        Offer launching on the 18th, as Rob mentioned

        • Clive says:

          11 May11 May 19:20

          https://gifts.marriott.com/ Offer is up

          Harry the exceptions are minimal TBH

          The following Marriott Hotel Brands DO NOT accept Marriott GiftCards: Bulgari®, Design Hotels™, Homes & Villas by Marriott International™,The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club® .

        • Rob says:

          11 May11 May 20:13

          But … when you pay you are at the risk of the FX rate charged by the gift card company and you are likely to be stuck with a few quid at the end. It’s a decent deal if you are spending them in the USA and can wipe the value down to exactly $0 though.

        • Harry T says:

          11 May11 May 19:38

          @Clive
          Agreed. I’m more worried about the exchange rate when redeeming these USD gift cards outside of the US.

  • Harry T says:

    11 May11 May 19:44

    Another site is reporting that Bonvoy has informed them that the gift card purchases should be eligible for earning 6 Bonvoy points per USD. Anyone reckon this will work on the UK Bonvoy Amex?

• Harry T says:

  11 May11 May 19:37

  Branson has sold £405m of Virgin Galactic shares to help prop up Virgin Atlantic and his other leisure/travel businesses, the Guardian is reporting.

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    11 May11 May 19:54

    Hope this is enough to keep points going.

    • Harry T says:

      11 May11 May 20:03

      I hope so, even though mine are all in Hilton now (just topping up the final 9000 to 10,000 so I can transfer out).

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        11 May11 May 21:26

        Anyone else keep getting “Balance Segment Transfer” in their Creation accounts?
        I’m seeing one or two a month, a transaction amount debits then credits by the next line.
        What does this mean?

        • Crafty says:

          11 May11 May 21:47

          Yes; same question.

        • @mkcol says:

          11 May11 May 22:08

          Nope. Does it appear on the statement?

        • Michael says:

          11 May11 May 22:24

          I’ve had this a few times. Not sure what it relates to.

        • BLT says:

          11 May11 May 23:31

          Pretty sure it relates to R top ups that you pay off immediately. Seems to only happen on interest earning transactions.

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