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The new HFP chat thread – Tuesday 16th June

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We have decided to run this new daily chat thread on Head for Points.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the defacto repository for random comments and questions.  It is unlikely that the news flow will be so big over the next few weeks that we will need many ‘Bits’ articles, however.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind.  At this tricky time, and given that many of you are stuck at home self-isolating, we want the HFP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as its keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

By default, HFP shows the last page of comments under the article.  If you want to see the first page of comments and read them all from beginning to end in order, click here: https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/06/16/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-tuesday-16th-june/comment-page-1.  The page will refresh with this article but the comments will now show the first page and not the last page.

We will continue to monitor how this is working.  Let’s see how it goes.  Take care!

Category

General

Comments (271)

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

  • Fred says:
    16 Jun16 June 12:34

    Looking for info: easyJet just cancelled my LGW-BCN flight on 1st July. When trying to rebook, no other flights are available, neither before of after that day. Only one, actually, 14:20 on the 5th but can’t fly on a Sunday. They used to have lots of options a week ago when I booked, anybody know what could have happened?

    • bill says:
      16 Jun16 June 12:54

      they are cutting back on the number of flights operating

    • Anna says:
      16 Jun16 June 12:56

      I don’t think they’re running as many routes as they initially thought they were. With the quarantine requirement probably still going to be in place at the beginning of July (albeit a lot of people will ignore it), I expect a lot of planned July flights won’t go ahead.

    • tony says:
      16 Jun16 June 12:57

      On the easyJet website it says: “We list a flight as ‘Sold Out’ when it is full, or when no more seats are on sale because we are uncertain if it will operate.”

      So I suspect they are only offering that one Sunday flight to BCN at the moment, although could reverse that when the quarantine restrictions change.

  • Rahaney says:
    16 Jun16 June 12:48

    Got my fiancée to get the old Amex SPG card earlier this year before the Marriott rebrand. She never got any rebrand documentation, hit the intro spend and got the bonus.

    Got the PRG credit a couple of months ago and has now hit that intro spend but Amex are saying she is not entitled to the bonus because she has held a personal Amex card before.

    I was under the impression that this rule change only affected cards from the Marriott onward not the SPG?

    Cheers

    • Rhys says:
      16 Jun16 June 12:51

      Check out this guide: https://headforpoints.com/2020/01/01/what-american-express-bonuses-can-you-get-based-on-the-cards-you-have/

      Short answer is that Amex is correct. But there are a handful of cards she CAN still get bonuses on.

      • Lee says:
        16 Jun16 June 13:21

        Except BAPP, can’t see any other cards she could get bonus. Maybe wrong.

      • Rahaney says:
        16 Jun16 June 13:25

        Hi Rhys,
        That’s the rules which apply now and were enacted earlier this year when the SPG card was rebranded to the Marriott. Prior to this change, (was it Feb or March?) they were considered separate. I’m sure this was the case as I checked it before on here….
        Genghis? SSquirrel? Rob?
        Ta

        • Lee says:
          16 Jun16 June 13:28

          Rules changed last year for general AMEX sign up bonus which is nothing to do with re brand.

          • Rahaney says:
            16 Jun16 June 13:40

            I’m sure that in the original “best introduction to Amex spending/max points per couple” article on HFP before the Marriott change the first card was the SPG card for the reason I’ve stated.

            I’m trying to find the cached version of the article as it has been updated since.

            I’m 100% positive I’m correct on this as I double checked it here before embarking on the strategy.

            Can’t see an easy way to go through my prior posts unfortunately.

          • Rob says:
            16 Jun16 June 13:46

            In theory, the best option for someone new to Amex is:

            1. Marriott or Nectar
            2. Either BAPP or Plat
            3. Either BAPP or Plat

            This maximises the bonuses you can get, assuming you don’t qualify for Small Business Amex cards.

          • Rahaney says:
            16 Jun16 June 13:47

            Found it… these were the rules prior to the change when MR earning cards were considered separate

            Strategy 3

            https://headforpoints.com/2019/03/21/what-is-the-best-card-strategy-now-for-someone-with-no-american-express-cards/

            NB Platinum was recommended as the 2nd step because of the better intro MR points but any would do.

            This changed to incorporate the Marriott also earlier this year..

          • Rhys says:
            16 Jun16 June 13:52

            The rebrand from SPG to Marriott didn’t change the sign-up bonus rules – those changed early 2019.

            As I said above, you can still get the bonuses on select cards if you already have SPG/Marriott card. The strategy is in the article I linked previously.

        • Genghis says:
          16 Jun16 June 14:03

          Not sure I quite understand the misunderstanding. Lol.
          Initially an SPG card was held and bonus received.
          Then Gold applied for. As held an Amex in last 24 months, rightly no bonus.
          I’ve not seen anything with regard to whether the Marriott card and old SPG card are treated as discrete products, but doesn’t matter as it’s still a personal Amex.
          Had a Plat been applied for, then a bonus would have been forthcoming.
          Too late now, however.
          But can still get bonus on BAPP.

          • BJ says:
            16 Jun16 June 14:28

            Cut a long story short: Lee is correct, Rhys is wrong (unless he thinks one is a handful), Rahaney is confused, and Rob is merely quoting ‘the bible’, in which case I’m pleased to see he is finally coming round on Nectar at last!

          • Rhys says:
            16 Jun16 June 14:30

            If you include business cards it’s definitely a handful!

          • Rahaney says:
            16 Jun16 June 14:31

            Lol, think BJ has hit the nail on the head!

          • BJ says:
            16 Jun16 June 15:37

            @Rhys, I knew you were going to say that 🙂 But I’m not letting you have it as your get out of jail free card because you had no way of knowing if Rahaney could get the business cards, but I accept it was not beyond the bounds of possibility so we’ll split the difference honourably and let peace prevail.

  • Craig says:
    16 Jun16 June 13:11

    Hi, I have the BA premium card.

    If I refer someone who ends up taking the Rewards CC, will I still get the referral points?

    Thanks in advance.

    • AJA says:
      16 Jun16 June 13:18

      I don’t think so. The referral bonus is for people who take out the card you referred them for.

      • Lee says:
        16 Jun16 June 13:23

        That’s not true. You will get referral bonus doesn’t matter what card they apply.

        • fivebobbill says:
          16 Jun16 June 13:29

          Actually I don’t think that’s the case. If you refer someone for the Amex Rewards Card (free blue one), I don’t believe you get any referral points at all.

          • Charlieface says:
            16 Jun16 June 14:32

            It’s 4k.
            You’re remembering when it had no referral bonus, and it wouldn’t make a difference which card you referred from

          • Lee says:
            16 Jun16 June 14:40

            Yes, you do. Applied 2 already to keep rewards points alive.

          • fivebobbill says:
            16 Jun16 June 16:11

            Happy to stand corrected, but I definitely referred a family member to Amex Blue over 6 months ago and got nothing. I even got her to phone Amex and query it when the referral points didn’t show. This was from my BAPP card.
            How long ago did this policy change?

          • Lee says:
            16 Jun16 June 16:50

            If we are talking about this card: American Express® Rewards Credit Card, then the answer is definitely yes.

            Welcome Bonus
            5,000 Membership Rewards® points when you spend £2,000 in your first 6 months of Cardmembership1 PLUS 1,000 Membership Rewards points for being invited to American Express and meeting the spend criteria1

          • fivebobbill says:
            16 Jun16 June 17:16

            Yes Lee, standard Amex Rewards Card. I’m not talking about bonus points on spend for the new card holder, I’m talking about bonus points for the person who refers them for it – ie, me, if I refer them from BAPP

          • Lee says:
            16 Jun16 June 17:38

            Sorry fivebobbill, I wasn’t clear. As long as you see extra points for being invited by referral link, you will get points from the card you referral from. I got 12k for platinum and 9k for gold. Hope that will help.

  • Vit says:
    16 Jun16 June 13:19

    Anyone be able to to snap up First to either NRT / HND around May or June 2021 lately using 2-4-1 voucher? Seatspy does not seem to show any availability at all for next year. I can only find First in the upcoming 4 months.

    • Rhys says:
      16 Jun16 June 13:25

      BA is fielding an A350 on one of the daily flights to Japan later this year, which will significantly reduce First on the route. I imagine BA might be keeping the remaining seats on the 777 flight for cash bookings.

      • Vit says:
        16 Jun16 June 13:35

        Cheers Rhys. Still long to go but if that goes on till Spring 2021, would prefer Club World Suite to save some avios. 🙂 Understand it is tricky though as we would definitely not want the “old-layout” Club World.

    • Lady London says:
      16 Jun16 June 13:40

      not interested in using your avios to get a seat on JAL?

    • Ian says:
      16 Jun16 June 13:51

      I had 2 Avios seats booked in F on BA from HND to LHR for May 2021. Received a text yesterday to let me know we’d been downgraded to Club. ExpertFlyer still showing a 777 flying, but no First cabin. If I look in Club they have the First cabin’s rows there, but all blocked out. So not sure they’ve figure out their plan yet!

      • Rhys says:
        16 Jun16 June 14:03

        Plans would have to be fairly serious for them to start downgrading flights that far in advance. I wonder if they intend to replace the 777 with an A350.

        Weird timing if true – you’d think BA would prioritise Tokyo before the Olympics.

        • Vit says:
          16 Jun16 June 14:10

          Interesting. I would agree that BA would prioritise Tokyo before Olympics but:

          1. Would it be more appealing and profitable to have many Club World Suite instead of some First and “old-layout” Club World combined? I might be wrong!

          2. BA has been planning since late last year to start utilising A350 in one of the two daily flights anyway?

          • Rhys says:
            16 Jun16 June 14:20

            1. I’m sure that’s a consideration, but remember there are a number of other aircraft slowly being refurbished with Club Suite that they could put on Tokyo, including some 777s!
            2. Yes, it was first in the schedules for Tokyo in December I believe

        • meta says:
          16 Jun16 June 14:14

          F has been zeroed out for whole of next year. Only last week they were selling some!

          @Ian I guess you could try and push to be put on JAL flight in F.

          • Rhys says:
            16 Jun16 June 14:22

            Odd. If BA are rethinking their First strategy then I would expect them to pull F from availability but not to start downgrading existing tickets until they have a clearer idea of their plans.

      • Lady London says:
        16 Jun16 June 14:13

        try and buy a revenue seat in F I bet you can.

        see @Rhys’s comment above.

        is downgrade compensation (75% of value of the ticket) payable for downgrades notified over 14 days ahead? is downgrade compo ever able to be avoided by an airline…i.e. do exceptional circs also apply as a get-out on this aspect for the airline?

        • meta says:
          16 Jun16 June 14:17

          @Lady London you can’t only JAL showing!

        • Ian says:
          16 Jun16 June 14:19

          @Meta, @Lady London: BA proactively offered to rebook us on the JAL flight in F when I called, so I’m definitely happy :).

          Best I was expecting was to move to Club Suites on the later BA flight!

        • Lady London says:
          16 Jun16 June 14:50

          @meta then in that case it looks like BA is keeping its options open while they sort out equipment changes. That will take ages and after that they will probably decide to keep F seats as revenue seats for as long as they can.

          The solution is simple insist that yoi bought first and as they’ve pulled your F seats/cancelled flight you have a right even over 14 days ahead to be rerouted in same class so you request now (and insist as you have to finalise your other arrangements) to be rerouted immediately and have your tickets reissued on JAL.

          That should make them think. Dont let up you are entitled to this – dont let them keep you hanging around for months on this while they try to weasel a better solution for themselves.

          None of this is your fault its been caused by their actions and you want it sorted

      • Joe says:
        16 Jun16 June 16:16

        I had the same thing with three seats for April 2021. I can only assume they are planning on leaving F empty to save on how many cabin crew they are employing…?

    • GaryC says:
      16 Jun16 June 17:58

      I’ve recently booked 5 x CW seats to HND for February next year using 2 x Amex 241. I would have used a GGL joker to release seats in F, but expertflyer were showing no seats in A bucket. I mentioned this to the agent, and at first he said it was probable there was no First cabin on the flight, but he then checked and said there was, but it’s not currently being offered for sale. So maybe they are leaving their options open for an equipment change, or genuinely don’t see the demand and worth of opening that cabin. Incidentally he told me there were only 2 people booked on the outbound and no others apart from us on the return.

  • Anon says:
    16 Jun16 June 13:29

    Trying to enrol into Avis Preferred using Amex Platinum link and keep getting a system error message. Looks like this is a known issue from Flyertalk threads, anyone know a workaround?

    • AJA says:
      16 Jun16 June 13:47

      Try enrolling via BAEC?

    • Charlieface says:
      16 Jun16 June 14:33

      He wants the upgrade. Enrol spearately then type in your membership?

      • Anon says:
        16 Jun16 June 16:02

        Exactly – enrolling via BAEC has got me a number, but now I probably need to call the concierge to get the upgrade? Hertz didn’t do the upgrade automatically either even though I went in from the Amex link.

  • shd says:
    16 Jun16 June 13:32

    You used to be able to earn AA miles (via aadvantageeshopping) for IHG bookings, sadly seems to have disappeared. Are there any other ways to earn anything while booking room at IHG?

  • Andrew says:
    16 Jun16 June 13:54

    Rob, any news on the IHG Spire choice benefit saga, or can we take it that it’s officially off the table now?

    • Rob says:
      16 Jun16 June 14:19

      No news, but key staff are furloughed. Perhaps best to assume for now its not happening.

    • Rachel R says:
      16 Jun16 June 17:17

      I called up and insisted that they added it because they’d promised it. They relented in the end.

  • JamesR says:
    16 Jun16 June 14:05

    Has anyone got their BA extension date on their account yet? I got the email last week but my date is still saying May 2021.

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