The new HFP chat thread – Friday 19th June

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• YH says:

  19 Jun19 June 09:04

  Has anyone here received a refund for BA cancelled flights that were cash bookings later upgraded with cash too?

  I read here a while back that people were only getting refunded the original amount. I called BA and they said I would get refunded the full amount (including upgrade costs) when I originally requested the refund. I spoke to BA again this morning and they told me they wouldn’t refund the full amount, they would deduct the change fees.

  My refund has been sent to manual refund department so am having to wait 3 weeks as opposed to the regular 7-10 days. The phone representative wasn’t able to tell me exactly what amount I’d be refunded as it had to be manually calculated. So far I’ve heard 3 different amounts between £2k and £5k. Super unclear messaging.

  Anyone had any similar experience they could share?

  • AJA says:

    19 Jun19 June 14:45

    Hi YH. I’ve not experienced your issue but I think you will get everything back minus the change fees when you upgraded as BA technically delivered the service of upgrading your seats. If you had taken the FTV option instead of the refund I think it would have been the value of everything you had paid.

    I have read on FlyerTalk that refunds handled manually are taking a lot longer to process so I’d suggest you be patient. If after 3 weeks you haven’t received the refund then call BA again.

    Not sure that is the news you wanted to hear. Please report back when you get your refund as it may be useful for others.

    • YH says:

      19 Jun19 June 15:21

      Interesting – thanks for the insight. I’ve spent about £1k on upgrade costs so would be pretty annoying to lose that. Will definitely chase them after 3 weeks and fight for the full amount if I have to.

      Will update here when I have more info.

      • Lady London says:

        19 Jun19 June 15:56

        I do not think BA should be able to retain upgrade fees nor change fees when they cancel a flight. Their cancellation has made all of your previous payments worthless.

        I’d be prepared to go to moneyclaim dot gov dot uk and I think should win.

        • YH says:

          19 Jun19 June 16:06

          This is what I assumed, everything should be refunded since they cancelled. I’ve made a note of moneyclaim just in case – thanks for that. Will update once I know more, the end of the 3 weeks is next week so not long now.

• RichS says:

  19 Jun19 June 09:16

  Amex Shop Small – i haven’t got this on my cards, and their customer services say it is only for targeted customers, stating it is in the terms and conditions of the offer.
  Could anyone who has the offer please post the terms and conditions?

  • Rhys says:

    19 Jun19 June 09:20

    “This Offer is only intended for UK Cardmembers who are targeted recipients of this Offer” – although this is usual in all their Offer terms. Shop Small is typically targeted at pretty much everyone

  • Kai says:

    19 Jun19 June 09:36

    Online chat and they will manually register your card in a few days. Did this a couple of times last year, and once again a couple of days ago.

    • the_real_a says:

      19 Jun19 June 10:26

      Same. Of my 3 cards, one was not showing the offer. Online chat added it to the account and it was visible the next day.

      • Michael says:

        19 Jun19 June 10:47

        +1

      • mark2 says:

        19 Jun19 June 11:34

        mine was visible and saved immediately, yesterday.l

        • DB2020 says:

          19 Jun19 June 12:43

          Didn’t appear on any of my cards and they declined to add it to my cards. Will try again next week.

• Vit says:

  19 Jun19 June 10:18

  Another question on using 2-4-1 voucher to book First please. I have tried to make a dummy BA booking to Beijing (no, not that I am flying there anytime soon) from INV via LHR but it seems that the system does not show availability on First only Club World. It only show First availability when I change departure point to LHR.

  How would you get around this as I would like to depart from INV and understand that you will be put on Club Europe on the INV – LHR section anyway.

  • Stu N says:

    19 Jun19 June 11:18

    This happens quite a lot with domestic connections. As long as you can see CE on INV and F on the long haul you want it should be bookable. Two workarounds.
    – when you go to book, search for CW availability instead of First – it shows First as an option
    – try ticking “yes” on the stopover option but put the same date in for INV-LHR and LHR-XXX. This won’t show tight connections (<2 hours IIRC) but presumably if flying F, you'd want a bit of time to enjoy the lounges.

    Otherwise, you'll probably need to phone to book – if you explain it's not working online they should wave the £35 offline booking charge.

    • Vit says:

      19 Jun19 June 11:22

      Thanks Stu N. I am surprised I have not seen this issue raised by HFP reader. Either I have not read enough comments or HFP readers just fly directly from London. 🙂

      I have tried the first trick by searching CW but still now F was offered as an option. Will try the second trick later and as you said when time come to booking, may just give BA a call and explain the situation and hopefully they will waive the fees.

      • Anna says:

        19 Jun19 June 12:15

        I’ve mentioned it a couple of times as I spent ages back in April working out how to do this with a connection from MAN! I use the stopover option – there is clearly an IT glitch which wasn’t there until recently as I’ve had no issues previously. Whatever you do, don’t book your legs separately or you’ll be charged more avios and not be allowed to check your luggage through!

    • Vit says:

      19 Jun19 June 12:06

      Stu, just to update that I tried your 2nd trick just now and it works fine. Club Europe from INV – LHR and First from LHR – XXX. Saving about £~280 comparing to F from LHR and the same avios used (85k to Beijing one-way).

    • AndyGWP says:

      19 Jun19 June 14:33

      Good advice Stu – tho for clarity, I believe the phone booking fee is more like £10 to £15 🙂

  • Alan S says:

    19 Jun19 June 21:32

    I ended up having this same issue a couple of weeks back with EDI-LHR-LAX. It may have been becuase the connection time was just shy of 2 hours though.

    In the end I just used the stopover option to fly down the night before. We can crash in a hotel by T5 and then enjoy our time in the Concorde Lounge the next day.

    Will BA check our luggage through from Edinburgh if the LHR-LAX leg is the following morning, or will we have to check in again?

• Spaghetti Town says:

  19 Jun19 June 10:42

  UK Covid Alert level reduced to 3. Looks like the Virus is in full retreat.

  • Rob says:

    19 Jun19 June 10:50

    Once it finds out about the alert level changing, I’m sure it will be 🙂

    • Lady London says:

      19 Jun19 June 15:14

      How else will the government be able to discern new information on 29th June that will let them credibly say there’s no need for quarantine at that time

• Pthy887 says:

  19 Jun19 June 10:44

  Had a booking using Amex Platinum through Lastminute with TAP which got cancelled 3 weeks or so ago. Lastminute only e-mailed me yesterday with 3 refund options:

  1) Lastminute Travel credit (with 20% bonus – instant)
  2) Lastminute Voucher (instant)
  3) AIrline refund to card (Minus £25 ‘handling fee’ and ‘indefinite long wait times’)

  I’ve been reading the Twitter feed for this company as well as other blogs, and they are dire to work with and seem like scammers at best.

  I want the refund to my card (not interested in lastminute vouchers), but do not want to pay the £25 fee, which seems a bit arbitrary, nor be subject to whatever timings they feel like complying with whenever they feel like answering (which seems like never).

  Is there anyway to challenge the £25 fee? What would happen if I did an Amex chargeback? Can this company just decide to take a slice of the refund because they feel like it? They never answer e-mails or tweets, so asking them would probably lead me nowhere.

  Thanks.

  P

  • Vit says:

    19 Jun19 June 11:00

    I am in the same situation but seems your cases are quite ahead of mine. I have only got email stated that my refund has been processed yesterday. I would not really mind too much with their voucher but from what I heard is that the voucher does not even work when trying to book so that may just add further headache and frustration. So leaving you with the refund option minus £25. I would not mind too much with £25 if the refund came back quickly but yeah subject to personal choice.

    From travelup experience, you can build up a case to challenge the £50 fee which has been added later along with the changed T&C. Credit card was made aware of that and refund the £50 through chargeback. So yeah, you can build up your case and raise the chargeback through credit card later if you would like.

  • Dave says:

    19 Jun19 June 11:03

    I would contact Amex for a chargeback. Unless it is in the T&Cs when you book, they can’t just charge an admin fee when the airline cancels.

    • Pthy887 says:

      19 Jun19 June 11:07

      I probably should have clarified, but I mean going through the chargeback route for the WHOLE refund, not just the £25.

      E.g. if I choose option 3, is it not implicit that I’m “agreeing” to their terms and therefore have no recourse to challenge the £25? Also, would I have to wait for the full refund to land (who knows how long this would take? I’ve read cases of 4+ months with no answer).

      Separate point, how do I check if this “£25 handling fee” was added to the T&Cs? I made this booking late last year.

      Thanks!

      • Doug M says:

        19 Jun19 June 11:22

        Did their T&C’s mention the admin fee? They did the work so paying them something is quite reasonable, unless they’ve changed the rules after the booking. The simple truth is never use an agent unless there’s a really good reason too.

        • Pthy887 says:

          19 Jun19 June 11:40

          My comments are getting moderated for some reason…

          T&Cs on website say I’m entitled to full refund if airline cancels/is unable to provide alternatives.

          Should I pre-emptively call Amex for the chargeback or go ahead with this route on the website and then wait x months before doing presumably a full chargeback?

        • Doug M says:

          19 Jun19 June 13:38

          Well that would seem to suggest you’re entitled to a full refund. I’d go chargeback route and offer Amex the T&C’s as evidence.
          Comments being moderated is often included links or keywords not liked.

      • Michael Jennings says:

        19 Jun19 June 12:22

        I’m in a similar position. I had a booking via Mytrip on Air China that was cancelled. The original amount I paid was £358.46. They are paying me a refund of £326.46, which makes me assume they are charging me a £30 fee. They didn’t provide any explanation, but just sent me an e-mail saying “Your refund of £326.46 is being paid”. There seems to be an element of hoping I might not notice the difference.

        I can’t find anything in their terms and conditions in which they say they will charge such a fee. Even if there is something in the terms and conditions, I don’t think such a fee is legal – if the service is not provided, you must obtain a full refund. So I probably could get the remaining £30 by doing a chargeback.

        But, well, these fees are probably just being used to pay the people who are processing all the refunds. The company’s business has collapsed due to the coronavirus, which isn’t their fault. In normal circumstances I would pursue this, but I think in this case I will just let it go.

        • Lady London says:

          19 Jun19 June 15:32

          In this case,like you, I would let it go as they have refunded you.But you could pursue it- just life is too short. It’s nice to imagihe £30 they “snuck” off you should be going to their employees processing refunds.

        • Doug M says:

          19 Jun19 June 16:19

          In fairness Air China didn’t provide the flight, the agent did provide the service booking it. There’s nothing illegal or underhand about an admin charge for a cancellation from the airline, the TA has sill done the work.

      • Dave says:

        19 Jun19 June 12:58

        I would ask Amex to charge back the full amount. Explain the options Lastminute have given and say none are suitable and not in the T&Cs.

      • Lady London says:

        19 Jun19 June 15:28

        You don’t have to choose any of the options they offer.
        You are entitled to full refund without any deduction under their terms,unless it was already in their terms when you booked. As it happens that’s what’s on their website now.But your terms received by email when you bought, is what would apply.

        In LastMinute.com and TAP you’ve got a terrible combination as both have multiple reports of simply refusing refunds. So don’t hesitate go for chargeback first and if you paid on credit card, fall back on Section 75 for full refund if chargeback is denied or unnecessarily delayed.

        Even if LastMinute.com had £25 in their terms if an airline cancels you, I would try for an “Unfair Contract Terms” challenge anyway as this is out of your control. If they wanted to retain money they should have put it as a booking fee upfront.

        I’m with @Vit – actually for their trouble I would not have minded giving them the £25 anyway.But not with this trick they’re trying on you and the thousands of customers they’ve simply refused to refund for cancelled flights.

        You heard it asked here first – does anyone think LastMinute.com is going to go bust again?

        Don’t waste time and contact the card you paid with. Send them an email or attempt to contact them to say that you reject their proposed options and want a full refund and that if it is not received in full within 14 days you are contacting card for chargeback. (I’d contact card now as they are not refunding anyone within that time).

  • bill says:

    19 Jun19 June 13:39

    similar situation as me. i am going to take option 1. i will use the voucher for a hotel reervation

    • Lady London says:

      19 Jun19 June 15:36

      Ahem. In taking a voucher at any time from any company you are trusting that company will be around to honour the voucher when you need it and that there won’t at that time be furhter onerous conditions attempted to be attached,

      • Bill says:

        19 Jun19 June 20:54

        Indeed, it’s only 100 quid

  • memesweeper says:

    19 Jun19 June 13:42

    From wikipedia: On May 18th 2020 Lastminute.com was listed 49th worst of 53 Travel Companies in giving refunds for cancelled flights and refunds by Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis. They were given a Net score of -87 calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents who rated their experience with the firm as ‘Poor’ from the percentage who rated their experience as ‘Great’. The number who rated their experience as ‘OK’ is not factored in. Only 4 others out of 53 were given poorer scores.

    • Lady London says:

      19 Jun19 June 15:37

      So guessing TravelUp was No. 53 on the list.
      Sadly, at one time LastMinute was OK

• Tom says:

  19 Jun19 June 10:55

  I want to book an IHG rewards 5 night stay next year. The dates havent been released yet.
  If I book each night indivually as it comes avaliable can the nights be combined into one stay later?

  • Rob says:

    19 Jun19 June 11:01

    You can’t combine them into one booking reference but no problem turning up at the hotel with 5 separate bookings for 5 consecutive nights. It’s not as if IHG does ‘5 for the points for 4’ like Hilton.

    • Michael Jennings says:

      19 Jun19 June 12:29

      If you have multiple consecutive bookings, I would mention it at check in or possibly send the hotel an e-mail just to make sure they no about it and keep you in the same room for the whole stay. Otherwise, it should be no problem.

      If also had situations in which IHGs system got confused by this in terms of my hitting Accelerate targets, although IHGs customers service fixed it for me very quickly when I sent them an e-mail later. As Accelerate appears to be no more, this is not an issue.

      On the more positive side, I received two complimentary welcome gifts (of a half bottle of wine and a fruit platter) for two consecutive bookings in the Crowne Plaza in Antalya last year…

      • Aston100 says:

        19 Jun19 June 14:41

        Woah woah… I was there last year too and didn’t receive this.
        I did get upgraded to a suite though, so I guess that was a better welcome!

        • Michael Jennings says:

          19 Jun19 June 15:21

          I’m IHG Platinum. Maybe that helps.

          I got upgraded to a suite too. With a water view. It was very nice.

        • Lady London says:

          19 Jun19 June 15:39

          Pretty sure I remember some posters saying they do award bookings like this anyway, as otherwise the whole booking could have to be cancelled if you plans change and want to lose only 1 night, for example.

  • Ian says:

    19 Jun19 June 11:08

    For IHG you can book the first night when it’s available and the use “change stay” in the booking to extend the booking with the extra nights as they become available all under the same booking number, it will then just debit you the additional points for each night.

  • Andrew says:

    19 Jun19 June 11:33

    And hotels aren’t like Avios flights, the nights don’t usually get booked up that quickly, so you can probably safely wait the 5 days between the release of the first night and the final night to secure the whole booking.

  • Genghis says:

    19 Jun19 June 11:41

    I always book nights individually for a few reasons:
    – flexibility – I may decide to extend / reduce a stay
    – I can sub in a free credit card reward night once it becomes available
    – if I’ve not used my AMB 241 night, I can sub that in if I’ve not used it
    – Usually the points benefit for each night book.
    – I make bookings from mine and wife’s accounts depending on what I need the points for in the future. I mainly use wife’s points up first but I have AMB so front a stay in my name.

    I email hotel in advance saying I want to link the bookings up so we don’t have to move rooms. Hotel always says “OK”, no problem.
    It occasionally leads to problems with housekeeping not being done (as they think we’re checking out that day) so I remind them when we leave in the morning.

    If I have something planned I book nights as they become available.

    • Aston100 says:

      19 Jun19 June 14:43

      All good stuff.
      However, can you clarify this bit:
      “– Usually the points benefit for each night book.”

      • TGLoyalty says:

        19 Jun19 June 16:42

        The welcome points.

    • Optimus Prime says:

      19 Jun19 June 15:09

      At IC Porto they had to reactivate our room keys every day…

      Then at IC Times Square I did call in advance and explain I had multiple bookings that would like to have linked. I gave the lady all the booking numbers, she put me on hold 5 minutes and said it was done. Fast-forward a week, check-in time. Bookings hadn’t been linked 🙂

      • Peter Kemp says:

        19 Jun19 June 16:56

        I stayed at the Crowne Plaza NEC using 2 free nights certs (one mine, one Mrs K’s) and the third night on points. At reception they said they would link the bookings. It did not happen. Tried the following day with a different staff member. Again, it did not happen.

      • Alan S says:

        19 Jun19 June 21:39

        I did this at IC Malta last year and we had the same issues with key/housekeeping.

        Better still our key could only be reprogrammed at the club lounge reception and I ended up stuck in the lift because the key wouldn’t let me move floors… Had to ride up and down in the lift like a bad smell until I got lucky and someone came in to the head to the lounge!

        It was worth it for the massive upgrade we got and I did it with a combination of cash bookings + credit card free night + Amb weekend voucher. But no combination of emailing/telling them on check in could get it to stick…

• Rob says:

  19 Jun19 June 11:04

  They don’t seem to be open yet. I looked the ones near me and just doing carpark click and collect. I will keep an eye on it because there is one just behind the office.

  • VJ says:

    19 Jun19 June 18:15

    The Barbican one? I believe that is closed atleast until end of month.

• Jojo says:

  19 Jun19 June 11:08

  Just received email from Air France regarding new protocols Everyone required to wear a “surgical” mask from arrival at airport and for duration of flight.
  Had not realised “surgical “ mask was required rather than just a mask!

  • Vit says:

    19 Jun19 June 11:18

    I know. I have been surviving so far on home-sewn mask but decided to buy a box of 50 surgical mask from Boots earlier this month — just in case I need to travel to see the family the far east for whatever reasons in the near future. Would be quite upset if I am not allowed to board the plane without proper mask.

    • Peter K says:

      19 Jun19 June 12:51

      “Surgical mask” is such a vague term. A poor quality mask that looks surgical is no better than a good quality homemade one, quite possibly worse.
      For example a friend of mine who is shielding bought “surgical masks” from ebay that were so thin that no surgeon would look at them twice but she was very happy with them so had a false sense of security.

  • Aston100 says:

    19 Jun19 June 14:44

    Who supplies them? the airline or the passenger?
    If the passenger, are there guidelines?

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