The new HFP chat thread – Tuesday 26th May

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• Tom C says:

  26 May26 May 10:55

  We’re thinking about booking a winter holiday from Boxing Day onwards. We’d like some sun but probably would go anywhere interesting TBH! Happy to book something to have in the diary and if we need to cancel then fine. We’ll be booking with avios and a 241.

  On that basis one place that keeps coming up with availability is Tokyo which also might be more operational due to their handling of COVID – only 800 deaths for 126m people.

  A bit of research tells me that Tokyo can be a bit hit and miss over the new year with the Shogatsu festival as many people go or stay home I guess like make places tbh.

  Has anyone any experience of being in Tokyo over New Year? If so, would you recommend it?

  • Anna says:

    26 May26 May 11:00

    Japan isn’t on my to do list but I have seen in the press that the Japanese government are putting some sort of plan together to offer free or discounted accommodation to travellers to re-start the tourist industry, might be worth doing a bit of digging into? I know a lot of people on here rate Japan, maybe they know a bit more about it?

    • Rhys says:

      26 May26 May 11:03

      Last I saw this was just a proposal with no clear guidance on how it will work (yet)

      • Tom C says:

        26 May26 May 11:18

        Thanks both – I caught the announcement on the potential initiatives. Let’s see how they firm these up and if they evolve to international visitors.

    • marcw says:

      26 May26 May 12:50

      Careful… lots od clickbait there. Only applies to domesrtic tourism, so unless you permanently live in Japan, you are not eligible (if).

  • Mike says:

    26 May26 May 12:02

    Japan is a lot quieter from New Years Day for a few days, and many things are closed.

    Christmas Day is a mostly normal day (apart from at KFC…). If you can go before Xmas and come back at New Year, that might be better…

    • Tom C says:

      26 May26 May 12:33

      Thanks Mike. The lad is being the difficult one as he can’t decide whether he wants to come! If he does then going before / over Christmas Day will be fine, if not then we’ll have to look at flying after the 25th. Not sure Tokyo would be 16 year old friendly so if he finally Maes a decision then we might have to consider our options!

      • Anon says:

        26 May26 May 13:47

        Tokyo is one of the three most fascinating cities on the planet (an opinion, but I’m sure most that have been would say it’s high up). There’s something for all ages.

        • Wally1976 says:

          26 May26 May 15:36

          Which cities are the other 2 (in your opinion)?

      • Chris Heyes says:

        26 May26 May 19:49

        Tom C @ My how times have changed when i was 16/17 i was off holidaying by my self/friends wouldn’t have even thought of holidaying with my parents that was the joy of being a teenager.
        I remember cycling to Ribchester from Blackburn at 12/13 wading across River Ribble in undies bike above my head catching trout wrapping it in banana skins n cooking it in a fire made myself in a hole dug out with a stick sleeping under the trees overnight those were the days never seemed to rain them summers (but it must have just don’t remember mind 72 now)

        • Tom C says:

          26 May26 May 20:38

          Ha ha very true Chris! To be honest he’s partial to decent holidays in business or higher which swing it for him. Personally I’d happily let him sit further back on the plane as it might as least dissuade him and let mum and I have a nice break together!

• Ammar says:

  26 May26 May 12:02

  So my sister’s flight to Boston from lgw has been cancelled by Delta. Booked via amex travel, called them, they said they will check and if so they will refund…but the agent said this as well…”airline will be providing the refund so if the flight becomes operational again later, they may argue and retract my refund.”
  Is that true?

  • Anna says:

    26 May26 May 13:00

    No – once it’s cancelled you have the full EU261 rights. Delta seems to be announcing routes then changing its mind on a daily basis at the moment.

• Martha says:

  26 May26 May 12:15

  What happened to Shoestring?

  • Peter King says:

    26 May26 May 12:38

    hounded out by an angry mob

    • Martha says:

      26 May26 May 13:05

      Can we get him back?

      • Anna says:

        26 May26 May 13:09

        The mob seems to be losing interest now it’s milked our collective knowledge and got its refunds!

        • Martha says:

          26 May26 May 13:31

          Great news the mob have gone!

          Arise Sir Shoestring!

        • Spursdebs says:

          26 May26 May 13:33

          Spot on Anna, I’ve stopped with any help and the way they went after Harry was a disgrace. I don’t blame him for not bothering any more.

        • Rhys says:

          26 May26 May 13:44

          There was a lot happening behind the scenes that you will not have seen. Harry is always welcome to post constructive feedback – in fact we welcome him to!

        • Rob says:

          26 May26 May 14:15

          Perhaps less of the racist, homophobic or openly threatening stuff against HFP staff though …. (most of which was filtered before it was ever published, but was there)

        • Charlieface says:

          26 May26 May 14:16

          I won’t say he deserved it, but prudence on his part may be wise when he returns, as he surely will, I hope.

        • Freddy says:

          26 May26 May 15:49

          Wow Rob telling everyone how it is – I thought the stuff I saw was a tad inappropriate but now we’re told that was the filtered version!

        • ChrisBCN says:

          26 May26 May 16:16

          I think the comments both in support of SS and those calling out the ‘angry mob’ show that he was divisive and caused ructions, regardless of which side of the debate you are on. If there were fewer personal attacks, including from some in this particular thread, perhaps things would be better all round – this isn’t Twitter.

        • Lady London says:

          26 May26 May 16:29

          HfP did seem to be dominated by some loudmouth nasty over-politically correct people with not much life experience of standing on their own two feet at the time. Particularly on Sundays for some reason. One thing @Shoestring was good at was apologising immediately if someone pointed out a bit of coarseness. You have to pick up on people’s lives and be sympathetic and understand and tolerate overt differences.

          I nearly went the same way @Spurs Debs a d might still (big cheer from you all!)

        • Aston100 says:

          26 May26 May 17:29

          Amazes me how the Shoestring fan club seem to have missed all the nasty stuff he posted.

        • Anna says:

          26 May26 May 18:43

          Aston you’re jumping to conclusions, just like the “mob” when they assumed that anyone who didn’t lay into him must therefore support him. I disagreed strongly with a lot of stuff he posted, but I don’t come here to push a politically correct agenda, I come here for travel and savings tips. It’s not up to me to decide what other people can and can’t post – it’s not my site. The reason I’m glad the mob has largely disappeared is nothing to do with Shoestring; as I posted above they annoyed me because they came here to benefit from our collective wisdom and felt they were somehow entitled to decide what other people could post. In the same way, it would be incredibly rude to one’s host to be invited to their home then start lambasting other guests about their lifestyle and beliefs.

          I’ve had an entire career of challenging inappropriate behaviour (from which I retire on Friday, yay!), and I’ve also got a post-graduate qualification in Social Work so I know better than most when it’s the right time to intervene and when to leave it to others.

        • MJ says:

          26 May26 May 18:44

          Love the fact that people are still supporting SS and making excuses even though Rob has stated he posted “racist, homophobic” and “openly threatening stuff against HFP staff” (and I’m fairly sure this isn’t the first time Rob has said something like this about his posts).

          I remember somebody saying a few weeks ago that most people on HFP would sell their grandma for a few Avios or something, and it’s pretty evident here.

        • Doug M says:

          26 May26 May 18:49

          Exactly. And we’re being told that was the filtered version. Those continually painting him through their own very selective versions either didn’t see much of what he posted, or chose to ignore it. It was a lot more than offending snow flake material.
          As for those believing that if they post advice here it’s only for the use of their selected group, that’s a crazy expectation on a site like this. Further, you learnt it somewhere, why is it wrong for others to learn it here?

        • MJ says:

          26 May26 May 18:51

          Ah “political correctness”

          Aka “why can’t I post whatever the hell I want, offend people by being racist, homophobic and threatening and not have people challenge me on it..”

          The first thing is that realistically, you’re not allowed to just say whatever you want. There are laws in place re hate crimes, threats etc.
          And besides that, why on earth is it okay for somebody to post such crap and then not okay for people to challenge them.

        • Secret Squirrel says:

          26 May26 May 19:20

          I cant believe the real Shoestring wasn’t the person who posted those early morning insults to the HFP team? At the time someone or more than one were impersonating regular posters on here Inc myself by registering under our usernames and posting nasty comments.

        • Rob says:

          26 May26 May 19:41

          This has been a recurring pattern over a number of years, not just now.

        • Anna says:

          26 May26 May 19:28

          MJ & Doug, yet again you are inferring things that you aren’t there. No-one has defended Shoestring, or said they agree with any of his posts. Of course you can say what you want, we have freedom of speech in this country, although you don’t seem to be aware of this, let alone support it. If that then crosses the boundaries of legality, a victim (and not just someone on the sidelines) can make a complaint and have it investigated by the relevant authorities. Rob and his staff are perfectly capable of following this course of action if they want to. For all we know, they may indeed have reported some of it to the police as a hate crime, in which case it would have been recorded, but probably dealt with by way of advice to ban Shoestring from the site as there is no way they can deal with every virtual fallout between keyboard warriors and in any case, Shoestring’s “place in the sun” falls outside their jurisdiction. Unless Shoestring directed any of his comments directly at you, you are not victims and should really stop behaving like you are.

        • MJ says:

          26 May26 May 19:48

          Anna, not disagreeing with that kind of crap is almost as bad as agreeing with it.

          Ah “freedom of speech” the magic defence of bigots.
          When I say “you’re not allowed to just say whatever you want” I meant in a legal sense. There are boundaries to what you are and are not allowed to say, so freedom of speech is limited.
          But nobody has said he can’t say those things, people have just called him out on it, and now you are throwing a hissy fit because people have called him out on his nastiness.
          Plus I’m pretty sure freedom of speech does not apply on a forum like this, whatever Rob says is allowed is allowed here.

          Just because he has not said anything outwardly racist/homophobic/threatening to me does not mean I am not allowed to say anything about it. Where’s my freedom of speech 🙂

        • Anna says:

          26 May26 May 21:23

          So you think one of the fundamental tenets of the ECHR is “the magic defence of bigots”. Lovely, tell that to someone who lives in a country where it really doesn’t exist. And now you’re falling back on my point, which is that Rob gets to say what can or can’t be posted on here (so your comment about legal boundaries makes no sense either). This was the whole basis on my argument, whereas yours seems to be that YOU get to say what everyone should and shouldn’t be allowed to post (or indeed compelled to post, as you say that anyone who doesn’t take your particular stand is necessarily in the wrong). No-one has said YOU can’t say anything, just don’t expect other readers to be happy when you abuse them and accuse them (utterly without foundation) of sharing the objectionable views of a small minority. If we’re talking legalities, that could be construed as slander.

          Mature individuals don’t feed internet trolls; it actively encourages them, and is unlikely to have any impact on their views. It’s a complete waste of time which could be spent on doing something which really benefits disadvantaged people – in my case donating to the local food bank, volunteering in my local school and during lockdown being a telephone responder to vulnerable people in my local community.

          It’s very easy to be outraged as an anonymous internet poster – maybe you should try campaigning for victims of oppression in the real world, or would that be too much like putting your head above the parapet?

        • Anna says:

          26 May26 May 21:37

          No-one even knows which comments were really posted by Shoestring (except maybe Rob if he can identify where a post originates); judging someone without proof is indeed mob mentality and has no place in a civilised democracy. This is not defending anything which has been posted on this site, by the way, just emphasizing the futility of railing against complete strangers!

        • MJ says:

          26 May26 May 22:01

          Free speech can be both a vital human right and a magic defence of bigots, it just depends who is using it and what the person is saying. If somebody started spouting racist stuff about white people do you think everybody would still be shouting freedom of speech?

          The comment about legal boundaries still stands. If you incite hatred or make threats, etc, it doesn’t matter whether Rob allows it, that is illegal.
          However, Rob is allowed to ban anything that is legal on his forum. Got it?

          I have never stated what people can and cannot say, aside from stating that they cannot say (without repercussions) things that are illegal or that Rob disallows (which is true). They can still say them but might have to face consequences. I don’t know why you’re twisting my words.

          Ah see, I never said anybody shared any objectionable views. I said not disagreeing with them is almost as bad as agreeing, and in my mind it is.

          Great that you volunteer sometimes, but why are you trying to show how great a person you are to an anonymous internet poster?

          And I really don’t need to be told about countries without freedom or victims of oppression by you or anybody else. I can guarantee I know much more about both things than you ever will.

        • Lady London says:

          27 May27 May 01:19

          Thank heavens we’re only on the internet @Anna. It means we dont have to meet people in real life who must impose their opinion.
          Guessing what you did for a living I would say you’re familiar with allsorts. as with liquorice
          this one’s a striped one

        • Lady London says:

          27 May27 May 01:23

          i.e.one you would have seen most weeks.

• Thinking Point says:

  26 May26 May 12:35

  Anyone successfully status matched by Qatar Airways yet using their recent offer?

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    26 May26 May 19:22

    +1 above re: Shoestring – pared text took over, was supposed to say “was” instead of “wasnt”! 😇

• Y says:

  26 May26 May 13:01

  Data point – Heathrow rewards credited to BA today. But just 50% bonus and not 100% like the lucky ones!

• Don says:

  26 May26 May 13:58

  I’m miffed that a hotel refunded me for a stay when I wanted a voucher and this has buggered up the Amex offers on a cancelled card. Now I owe AmEx money.

  I’ve offered that the hotel re-charge the stay to another Amex and to upload proof I requested a voucher not a refund. They say it’s not possible to fix.

  Any similar experiences and suggestions to resolve?

  • Andrew says:

    26 May26 May 14:15

    You win some, you lose some with points and fundsreturn. You’ve had the full money back, just offset the two mentally.

    I’ve had plenty of items items refunded without Amex doing a clawback – so wouldn’t really be able to protest too much.

• steve fred says:

  26 May26 May 14:08

  Ominous or Innocent? Virgin Atlantic website right now: We’re currently experiencing technical issues with some of our systems, and are aware our Flying Club website is currently unavailable. Our teams are working hard to rectify the issue, so we can get the site back up as soon as possible. We apologise to our members for any inconvenience caused.

  • Rob says:

    26 May26 May 14:12

    Probably furloughed all the IT staff!

  • memesweeper says:

    26 May26 May 15:15

    I haven’t been able to log in for days. I doubt they are loosing many bookings, but boy does this look awful for them.

  • Tom says:

    26 May26 May 15:50

    To be fair, this happens fairly often!

• Charlieface says:

  26 May26 May 14:11

  Hanlon’s razor:
  Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity

  The site’s been down for a few days already, wouldn’t worry

  • Charlieface says:

    26 May26 May 14:15

    That was a reply to @steve fred

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