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The new HFP chat thread – Thursday 16th July

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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/2020/07/16/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-thursday-16th-july/comment-page-1.  The page will refresh with this article but the comments will now show the first page and not the last page.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HFP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Category

General

Comments (119)

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

  • Travel Strong says:
    16 Jul16 July 07:46

    Has anyone received NHS Covid test results?

    If so, does the email look suitably official to be accepted at another countries border as an ‘official document’ certifying a negative test result?

    Hungary requires “molecular biological tests conforming to the relevant healthcare standards (SARS-CoV-2 tests) and performed a maximum of 5 days before entry into Hungary, with a minimum of 48 hours between the two tests”
    UK FCO page says similar just with the terminology ‘COVID-19 tests’ and ‘Results in an official document’.

    I’ve got the test kits, just need to send them with perfect timing to get the results in time!

    • Rich says:
      16 Jul16 July 07:59

      It’s clear, but I wouldn’t say it looks massively official.

      Big NHS logo at the top, then your name and DOB, then

      “Your coronavirus test result is negative. You did not have the virus when the test was done.” followed by a bunch of advice.

      No reference numbers, ID numbers, official wording, addresses or anything like that. Not even date tested. I wouldn’t accept it if I was a border guard!

      • Anna says:
        16 Jul16 July 08:07

        Agreed, I’d want much clearer guidance about what they will and won’t accept (e.g. NHS or private tests, and whose “standards” do they mean?) before I would risk getting turned away!

    • Andrew says:
      16 Jul16 July 09:29

      As NHS staff for my weekly (voluntary) test, yes…

      “Thank you for attending a COVID testing clinic for staff recently.

      You attended the clinic on XX July 2020.

      Your nose/throat swab test for SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was negative.

      It was tested on XX+1 July 2020.

      Thank you

      The staff testing team”

      • Travel Strong says:
        16 Jul16 July 09:49

        Hmm that would do perfectly, but doesnt sound like i’ll get anything like that back from the home test kits!
        Although they are going to the AstraZeneca ‘Front Line’ returns centre due to being an ‘essential’ worker… god knows if that means a different response email again.

      • Anna says:
        16 Jul16 July 10:58

        Again, that sounds pretty easy to forge if you’re so inclined. People can create fake passports, ID cards, bank statements etc, a letter from the NHS would be a doddle. But I would be interested so know if it is actually accepted by any country’s immigration officials.

    • Alex says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:56

      This must vary widely between different trusts, all I got was the following text (no email):

      FIRSTNAME SURNAME: The result of your recent test at Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust for COVID-19 (the new coronavirus) is NEGATIVE. If you have any other queries about coronavirus please visit https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

      I wouldn’t trust this to let me into a country that requires proof of a negative test result!

    • Sandra says:
      16 Jul16 July 17:03

      Think you maybe need to contact their embassy to be clear what is acceptable. My friend is resident on Cyprus and they require a similar certificate, last week she told me that several people on a repatriation flight weren’t even allowed off the aircraft and were returned to their departure point because they didn’t have the correct proof of a negative test.

  • ankomonkey says:
    16 Jul16 July 07:51

    I had a dream that I entered a Tesco store and was given a voucher for a free upgrade from Eurotraveller to Club Europe!

    • Andrew says:
      16 Jul16 July 08:24

      Are you sure it wasn’t a voucher for a Tesco meal deal? Which is basically the difference between ET and CE now.

  • Chuck says:
    16 Jul16 July 08:18

    BAEC status …I retained gold in January
    and have just had my year end July 8th.
    New status shows expiry August 2021. Is
    that correct ? I thought I would get an extension
    to 2022 from the articles on HfP …

    • Rob says:
      16 Jul16 July 08:37

      No. People who retained the status they had in the previous year do not get an extension.

      • Omba says:
        16 Jul16 July 09:00

        I was under the impression it was simply a matter of year end timing rather than pre-qualification. A travelling companion with a March date who was well past his GGL target was renewed through to March 2022, whereas like Chuck above, with a July date I was renewed only till 2021….(I was officially short of target but cancelled flights would have taken me past)

      • TGLoyalty says:
        16 Jul16 July 10:19

        I returned my status last year (year end 8th May) and have been extended to 2022. I don’t think it’s as clear as you won’t be extended if you qualified last year.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          16 Jul16 July 10:19

          *retained.

        • AJA says:
          16 Jul16 July 11:01

          I think the way it works is that the one year extension starts with TP year ends beginning 8 July. 1 year is added to your card expiry date as it was in mid-June when the announcement was made. So those of us whose card year ends are already in 2021 prior to the announcement get an extenson to 2022. Unfortunately that means for those whose year end was 8 July 2020 through to 8 December 2020 ie had a card that showed an expiry date of 2020 gets it extended to 2021. My OH with a TP year end date of 8 Sep and existing card expiry date of 31 Oct 2020 has had the extension only to 31 Oct 2021 while I already had a card showing expiry of 31 Mar 2021 (TP year end 8 Feb) and got it extended to 31 Mar 2022.

          • AJA says:
            16 Jul16 July 11:03

            I mean TP year end of 8 November not 8 December ie card expiry of 31 December 2020 in my comment abve.

  • fred says:
    16 Jul16 July 08:40

    Morning Folks,

    Just a quick one – do we expect any additional platinum retention bonus / perks? Noting the double points ends soon.

    Fred

    • Rob says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:53

      Not been told anything.

      • fred says:
        16 Jul16 July 11:32

        Thanks Rob – lets keep our fingers crossed.

        Hope you and your family / loved ones are all well and safe.

        Fred

  • Anna says:
    16 Jul16 July 08:57

    I can’t find the relevant HFP article – I will trigger a BAPP companion voucher in the next couple of weeks, will it get an extra 6 months (i.e. valid till Jan 2023)?

    • Grant says:
      16 Jul16 July 09:42

      Yes, IIRC the previous offer which added six months to vouchers triggered before end of June has been pushed out to end of September.

      • Anna says:
        16 Jul16 July 11:00

        Thanks both, that will come in very handy for travel in the 2nd half of 2022!

    • Rob says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:51

      Yes

  • Andy says:
    16 Jul16 July 08:58

    IHG 4xBonus Points now open to everyone. Previously was USA residents only.

  • Omba says:
    16 Jul16 July 09:03

    Any datapoints on refunds from either Emirates or Aeroflot for cancelled flights in March….both with (different) agents. Thanks

  • Rui N. says:
    16 Jul16 July 09:09

    Ok, so what’s the deal with the return of the £1 refunds on avios tickets? How do we get them? Online? Phone? If the latter, what do we say?

    • Ikaz says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:17

      I cancelled a RFS ticket yesterday on the phone and they said that the refund amount would be significantly less than what I had paid. When I asked to look into it, it turns out that they would have taken a £50 cancellation fee per person (£35 + £15 service fee), had to get them to escalate to manager to remove the £15 fee but had to pay the £35 as expected

    • Andrew says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:35

      I think it was a false alarm – it’s still £35.

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

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