The new HFP chat thread – Friday 17th July

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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/2020/07/17/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-friday-17th-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

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

r* says:

17 Jul17 July 13:16

Are there any restrictions on entering dubai/abu dhabi atm?

I’d be going for the F1 in December so things could obviously change, but the FCO site seems to be a bit unclear and says it may involve 14 days quarantine and may need a test on arrival or may involve a certificate before arriving.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 14:00
  
  IF the F1 was to take place with spectators allowed then I highly doubt a quarantine period would work.
  - Colin says:
    
    17 Jul17 July 16:19
    
    There could be country specific restrictions though. (Sounds unlikely but who knows really?)
    - Roberto says:
      
      17 Jul17 July 16:47
      
      I understand that whilst Dubia is open for tourism Abu Dhabi is not so you cant get in whilst the current restrictions remain in place..
Martha says:

17 Jul17 July 13:41

Can you still cancel for a full refund Avios + Taxes with BA within 24 hours of making the booking or can you only get a Future travel voucher?
- Rob says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 13:50
  
  Should still be full cancellation because this was done to meet US legislative requirements.
- memesweeper says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 19:05
  
  Yes you can — I’ve done it recently and it’s an advertised benefit on the website.
Jake says:

17 Jul17 July 13:50

Will booking a one way with avios for £1 using a 241 and then cancelling mean you won’t get a refund, rather get a Future Travel Voucher valid until April 2020? Do you get the 241 back and can you use it for a return journey in the future to someone else needing more Avios?
Thanks. Jake
- Anna says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 14:27
  
  You can cancel it and get the avios back but you have to call BA to do this at the moment. I think someone posted recently that you can still manage to just forfeit the £1 and not be charged the £35 cancellation fee. Your 241 goes back in your account and you can use it as you like.
  If you opt for the FTV your 241 will be tied up in it.
- Erico1875 says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 20:40
  
  I dont think you can use a 2 41 and the £1 option. When you apply tour voucher it defaults to the usual RFS or Long haul fees
Crafty says:

17 Jul17 July 14:24

Anybody having trouble paying Corporation Tax from a Tesco Bank account? Have I missed a change to the rules or something?

Paying Self Assessment account last week was absolutely fine.
- Genghis says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 14:26
  
  Tesco bank never did like you paying business taxes from what is a personal account.
  - Crafty says:
    
    17 Jul17 July 14:30
    
    Ah, well that is a pain. With Curve out (I’m not paying actual money to a company run the way it is), and Tesco not playing, does that effectively mean there are no further places to turn, and I must actually pay my corporation tax bill earning nothing back at all? Even the idea of it hurts!
    - Crafty says:
      
      17 Jul17 July 14:35
      
      As soon as I wrote this, I doubted myself. Curve Metal is £150. The points on my CT bill will be £150. I’d better rethink this!
Mr Gus says:

17 Jul17 July 15:01

Hi all – long time lurker and first time poster here. I have a question regarding extension to BA status. Despite reading the June post and the comments, I am still not entirely clear on my position. Is this the right post on which to ask?
- AJA says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 17:56
  
  Welcome Yes it is. What’s your question on the extension? When is your TP year end and what’s your current card expiry date?
Chris says:

17 Jul17 July 15:12

I phoned Amex this morning to see if anything could be done about the cost of my Amex Platinum, given I’m almost completely devoid of benefits (no work travel to use lounges, no work travel to use hire car insurance, limited leisure travel to use medical insurance, no commuting to use offers like shop small and the statement credit offers seem non-existent right now).
Nothing, zip, nada. No points offer. No retention offer.
That’s £575 they’ll lose for the next 2 years.
- Chris Heyes says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 19:39
  
  Chris@ I had the platinum did 4/5 referrals asked for retention bonus was offered 15k accepted
  Then downgraded to BA Premium (Partner to Gold) referrals was to Family each one got me a free Supplementary Card i now have 5/6 suplm cards i’ll never use,
  but each of them got a additional 3000 Avios/Points
  So all is not lost just needs careful planning
EwanG says:

17 Jul17 July 15:36

re IHG Rewards Night (i.e. points) booking at The George aka Intercontinental Edinburgh.
When IHG released their dynamic points pricing I snapped up a night for late August. I know others have also booked here, including Anna and as noted in comments previously, the hotel is closed for the time being (currently the IHG booking system shows availability from this October).

Earlier today I received an email from the hotel cancelling my reservation, no other options. They have pointed out the Kimpton has reopened and I can check availability for that hotel, although I’m not interested in staying there and it’s also now 5k more points for the same night than I had managed to book The George for!
- Axel says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 16:25
  
  Edinburgh Kimpton is offering comp. breakfast for Spire’s along with room upgrade. Garden restaurant is open with limited menu
  - Grant says:
    
    17 Jul17 July 16:32
    
    Thanks for this. Helps make up my mind about making a booking.
- Anna says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 18:55
  
  Thanks – my booking is for December so I’ll wait and see what happens in the next few months.
- Kai says:
  
  17 Jul17 July 23:47
  
  Same thing happened to my booking with IC O2. They reinstated my booking to another date after my request though.
Matt says:

17 Jul17 July 15:45

Surprised no article on the American and Jet Blue tie up today!

Interesting that American is going back to all the same partners it shunned about 5 years ago. Clearly all teaming up to attack Delta in its non-fortress hubs (LAX and JFK) and its growth hubs (BOS and SEA).