The new HFP chat thread – Thursday 28th May

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

• pin perl says:

  28 May28 May 12:11

  Hi everyone,
  Regarding a BA household account, any way to remove someone or everyone and keep the avios for the household leader?
  I can’t seem to find info on this on Rob’s previous articles.

  • Rhys says:

    28 May28 May 12:16

    No, the Avios are still kept in individual accounts. A household account just connects the accounts and lets one person dip pero-rata into them. If you dissolve a HHA the Avios remain where they always were – with the individuals.

  • Rob says:

    28 May28 May 12:21

    No.

• Aston100 says:

  28 May28 May 12:42

  Just had the late July outbound leg of my LHR / CDG return journey cancelled by BA. I presume the return leg will be cancelled at some point too.
  Is there any particularly good reason to ask BA for anything other than a refund?
  The flights were reasonably cheap, and I’m uncertain if they’ll remain this cheap in the future (was hoping to do the journey again in late July 21).

  Any thoughts?

  • memesweeper says:

    28 May28 May 12:47

    If they’ve cancelled you can ask to be rebooked on a later flight of your choosing. Don’t take the voucher as it might not have sufficient value for the dates you want.

    • Aston100 says:

      28 May28 May 13:31

      Thanks, I’ll just crack on with a refund.
      If BA were offering the same kind of options that Qatar are offering, there may have been reason to pause and reconsider.

• Dezbez says:

  28 May28 May 12:58

  Anyone been to the one in Dubai (on the Palm)? And recommend it? We’re due to go in March. Hopefully

• Clive says:

  28 May28 May 13:07

  I know some people, like myself, were looking at a getaway to South Africa later in the year but there are discussions that the Government may restrict International arrivals until Feb next year. This was mentioned during a parliamentary debate this week but as yet no official confirmation.

  • Rhys says:

    28 May28 May 13:21

    The problem with uncertain times is that they are, well, uncertain. Whilst SA might close its borders until February, it might also re-open before Christmas, or not until 2022 etc. It will depend on how things develop. My personal position is to take all these ‘guidance’ measures with a pinch of salt. Closing borders until February doesn’t preclude them re-opening them sooner etc etc

    • Rob says:

      28 May28 May 13:31

      That’s your Cape Town VS inaugural up the spout 🙂

      • Clive says:

        28 May28 May 13:50

        Ahhh a pessimist

      • Lady London says:

        28 May28 May 16:53

        Can @Rhys let us know where he’s booked to fly on an inaugural route next?

        Thats Rio and Capetown both canned now after Rhys booked on them.

        It would save us time if wr coulf know as soon as Rhys is booked on an inaugural flight in future as we’d know not to waste time booking the route 🙂

        • Rhys says:

          28 May28 May 17:35

          No others at this point!

        • Cat says:

          28 May28 May 23:16

          🤣I hope you have more luck with future bookings Rhys, but I’m with Lady London – please keep us informed!

  • Aston100 says:

    28 May28 May 13:29

    I’m holding off booking anything that isn’t refundable.
    As I’m flying out of DUB to JNB (via CAI) I’ve not booked the positioning flights.
    I’m booking JNB and CPT hotels via points.
    I’m going to leave internal flights until as late as possible.
    I’ve booked SANParks accommodation in Kruger on the basis that these are refundable up to 30 days before.

    The only thing I’m a bit unsure & wary about is the main longhaul flights as DUB > CAI is a new route commencing in June sometime. I sincerely hope Egyptair drop this before it even starts, so that I can get rerouted out of London instead.

    • Lady London says:

      29 May29 May 00:07

      Have you had a look on flyertalk to get an idea if what Egyptair are like to deal with in such circumstances?

  • TimM says:

    28 May28 May 15:27

    The UK 14 day quarantine rule, being introduced two months after ‘the horse has bolted’ but in time for the School holiday period, I would expect to Cummingsly not be required, ‘according to the science’ after the school holiday period – from September. There will be a huge boost to UK tourism as more than half of it is domestic anyway and restricting foreign travel multiplies the advantage. It all fits in with the Brexit agenda and the calculations for new these policies would have been made a long time ago. Possibly in Durham.

    • Anna says:

      28 May28 May 15:59

      That sounds a bit too much like a conspiracy theory! I for one won’t be paying an arm and a leg to visit an overcrowded resort in England, Wales or NI (the Scottish government has said no-one is going there this summer so you can’t even escape to the Highlands and Islands), with unpredictable weather. I’d rather stay at home and save my money for when travelling goes back to being a pleasure.
      But it IS weird how they’re just introducing it now, I don’t buy the story about it not having an impact on infection rates in the early days…
      In any case, I am retired, OH is in an exempt profession and son doesn’t have to go back to school till September so quarantine might be doable for us – if it actually happens!

      • Andrew says:

        28 May28 May 16:39

        SNP Heavyweight Ian BlaCKford has gone a bit step further. He formally promulgated on Twitter. “We’re shut Fu*k Off”

        A quick Google will find it.

    • Andrew says:

      28 May28 May 16:34

      The First Minister has confirmed Schools go back on the 11th of August.

      (Other parts of the UK might be doing something different).

      • Anna says:

        28 May28 May 16:57

        That will be interesting if you live on the English side of the border and your kids go to school in Scotland!

        • RussellH says:

          28 May28 May 17:33

          Vey unlikely, I would have thought.
          English parents normally want their kids to do GCSEs and A levels, rather than Nationals, Highers + Advanced Highers.
          And how many English kids going into year 7 would want that to be still in Primary?

          It would be as weird, I would have thought, as a kid growing up in Germany, but close to the Swiss or Austrian border, and going to school in the other country.

          Either way, there are are linguistic and jargon issues to be dealt with.
          And from experience I can assure you that there can be significant difficulties for both pupils and staff in dealing with English kids joining a Scottish Secondary at almost any point.

        • Anna says:

          28 May28 May 22:27

          What a strange response, Russell. If you’ve ever met anyone say, from Berwick, you would know that they don’t have any communication issues with their Scottish neighbours! And children from that area certainly do attend school on the other side of the border. It’s not really comparable with Germany and Austria which are entirely separate nations.

    • Lady London says:

      28 May28 May 17:01

      Agree with you @Tim.

      When does Parliament recess for the summer? I’ve been pretty sure 14 days quarantine will still be required for anyone returning to the UK till then. However I expect the requirement for quarantine to be removed by the time 2 weeks before Parliament reconvenes. To allow all the MP’s that took 2-3 month holidays at their homes abroad to return untrammelled. The rest of us who only have two weeks will be stuck in the UK all summer. But once again MP’s will have no such hindrance.

      Anyone know what date Parliament starts again after their summer “recess” ?

      • Anna says:

        28 May28 May 17:05

        LL, I thought you said MPs were on the exempted list? Though it doesn’t matter if they’re not as they can “quarantine” in their constituency homes on their return, which let’s face it, is what they do anyway in the summer if they’re not on holiday!

        • Lady London says:

          28 May28 May 17:48

          you’re probably right about MP’s being an exempt ‘profession”. Though why they shoukd be less infectious than any of the rest of us, is hard to understand.

  • marcw says:

    28 May28 May 16:26

    Remember that the southern hemisphere is entering winter… so they have to deal with COVID-19 + seasonal flu. That’s why many southern hemisphere countries are closed to international tourism in the forseeable future, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Uruguay… and now it seems South Africa.

    I agree that the situation is very fluid and can change in a matter of weeks. In Spain there were rumours that the border will remain closed to international arrivals until September. Now it looks like as from 1st July well be able to visit Spain. In conclusion, situation is fluid, just keep yourself well informed and if you book something, make sure it’s refundable. Or you do just like I do, I don’t book anything and if the situation opens up, I’ll jump in. But I can’t be bothered with refunds, call, text, sms, private chat, email, credit card, Amex,,… to deal with refunds.

    • Anna says:

      28 May28 May 17:02

      I’m not convinced that this is going to be safe for the Spanish; I think the government has buckled under economic pressure. I hope my Spanish holiday goes ahead this summer but looking at it objectively who would want really want Britons, who managed to have a massive knife fight in Marbella on their first night out of lockdown, at this point? (Just for the record I tend to socially distance on holiday anyway as I usually need a complete break from social interaction!)

      • Cat says:

        28 May28 May 23:23

        OK, I can’t bring myself to click on a tabloid link to read all about it, but 😲WHAT?

        Wow.

• Andrew says:

  28 May28 May 14:11

  APH Weirdness…

  APH closed down their contact centre on 1st April, and a lot of people are unhappy.

  So eventually, knowing that the car park I was booked into was closed by NCP, I did a Chargeback via Amex. Yesterday, I had an email to tell me that my car park was closed, “click on here for a voucher” – I didn’t click.

  Today I’ve got an email telling me my past booking, which I’ve asked Amex to chargeback, has been “amended”.

  No charges to Amex showing as Pending. Is it likely they’ve tried to recharge me for the closed car park?

  The contact centre is still closed…

  • Lady London says:

    28 May28 May 17:05

    They cant unilaterally amend the terms of what was sold after the sale. Tell Amex the supplier is trying this, you are not accepting and you want your money back without further delay.

• Coucou says:

  28 May28 May 15:08

  Rob, enlighten us please! Is the BAPP card going to get some love?

  • Rob says:

    28 May28 May 15:22

    Not that I know of …

  • Anna says:

    28 May28 May 16:01

    People reporting being bribed with 3500 avios to stay?

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      28 May28 May 17:53

      My 3.5k bonus was a goodwill g uesture I was informed as no bonuses werecatrached to my BAPP account.

• Secret Squirrel says:

  28 May28 May 17:54

  Anyone notice Clubopinions are not crediting survey completions correctly today?

• Anna says:

  28 May28 May 22:28

  It’s back!

  • Cat says:

    28 May28 May 23:24

    What is?

    • Cat says:

      28 May28 May 23:25

      Ah, this thread!

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        29 May29 May 06:43

        Yes, it disappeared afternoon?

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