The new HFP chat thread – Thursday 23rd July

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• Scottydogg says:

  23 Jul23 July 10:07

  We are booking on Heathrow to Vancouver in March next year ,. was originally meant to be on the 747 , but which them now being retired , any ideas how i find out what aircraft will be taking over that route ?

  • ChrisC says:

    23 Jul23 July 10:48

    Do a dummy booking and it should show but it could take a little time for BA to reallocate aircraft and update their systems.

    Could also check the seat map in MMB to see if that shows a new layout and then check that against the seat maps on BA website or the BA Source website if the type isn’t specifically listed.

  • Rhys says:

    23 Jul23 July 10:53

    You can’t at the moment – British Airways hasn’t loaded accurate information for the winter or summer 2021 schedule yet, so the 747 is still showing!

• Sam says:

  23 Jul23 July 10:08

  The current change and cancel Delta policy – https://www.delta.com/us/en/travel-update-center/cancel-change-requirements

  Would I be right in saying if your ticket was a non-refundable fare you cannot get a cash refund for flights booked between March 1 and July 31? Only a voucher refund?

  Thanks

  • Anna says:

    23 Jul23 July 10:21

    Depends who cancels it, if Delta then you’re still entitled to a full refund.

    • Sam says:

      23 Jul23 July 10:50

      Sorry should have clarified that. If I cancelled it myself voluntarily. I presume I could only get a voucher refund? Thanks

      • ChrisC says:

        23 Jul23 July 12:06

        correct

• John says:

  23 Jul23 July 10:11

  Advice required on ba cancellation.

  Just had our Reward September Dubai return flight cancelled (gone from 3 flights to 1 day with no First)

  Reading suggest I don’t need available reward seats to amend to Dubai flights on another date. Is that still true?

  Also, would it still be true if wished to amend to different destination outbound ie Kuala Lumpur but book a Dubai return?

  Thanks in advance for any help.

  • Rob says:

    23 Jul23 July 10:22

    Correct for the first part, unlikely for the 2nd part.

  • Anna says:

    23 Jul23 July 10:23

    You are entitled to re-routing in the same cabin class regardless of award availability but not to a different destination- though BA might be flexible on that if you ask nicely (though I suspect as KL is in a different zone that might be a problem).

• infrequent traveller says:

  23 Jul23 July 10:23

  Does anyone know what the Virgin Atlantic and Easyjet policies are for travel June 2021? We have a family celebration that we want to book for but I can’t see stated anywhere on their cancellation policies that we would be protected by then for cancellation if Covid flares up again. As far as I understand it, purchasing travel insurance would not cover us either. Any advice appreciated.

  • Rhys says:

    23 Jul23 July 10:41

    June 2021 is out of Virgin’s flexible booking policy at the moment, as far as I can see

  • Dave says:

    23 Jul23 July 12:42

    Our Nationwide travel insurance will cover for cancellation due to Covid19 as long as it was not booked when FCO was advising against travel. Have you check your travel insurers policy recently?

    • Blindman says:

      23 Jul23 July 12:56

      It has changed for the better

      https://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/travel/important-travel-information#xtab:twistyitem-if-i-book-a-trip-now-will-i-be-covered-for-coronavirus

      You can now book trips and they will cover you.

      There are other insurers now who will do so also.

• Mzungu says:

  23 Jul23 July 10:23

  I have a question for the combined wisdom here 😉
  I had booked flights LHR – AMM for the end of September, using a 241 voucher that was due to expire in mid-October. (usually use the 241 for longer trips, but we had already had one this year 🙂
  The flights have just been cancelled, which I expected, and suits me. Before I call up to deal with the refund, I want to make sure I have all the options clear in my mind, mainly around the 241:
  1. I know that 241s have been extended by 6 months, does anyone know if a returned voucher would be extended in these circumstances? Wouldn’t be much use getting a voucher back with 2 weeks validity!
  2. Are there any other options to extend the usefulness of the returned flights/Avios? Rebooking around next March is probably OK, but a bit longer would be good. I guess BA woudn’t return in the form of a voucher with longer validity…
  3. Any other/better suggestions? I’m likely to re-use for a longer haul trip if I can.

  Thanks in advance.

  • Alex says:

    23 Jul23 July 10:48

    I had LHR-SEA booked on first with a 2-4-1. Cancelled yesterday so I phoned them and had a similar conversation. I opted for a full refund of avios and taxes, as you say the voucher was extended 6 months till jan 2022 for me. They did offer to rebook me to another flight, they also suggested the “travel voucher” however from what I’ve read this can get a little complicated with a 241 as you still have to have a availability on those flights etc. Personally I would take the full refund and use it for something longer/better which you know you could

    • Mzungu says:

      23 Jul23 July 11:22

      Thanks Alex,
      I’m not sure what you mean by “this can get a little complicated with a 241 as you still have to have a availability on those flights etc” – availability on which flights? Surely I will need availability on whatever flights I subsequently book with the refund anyway?
      I was just wondering if the ‘travel voucher’ would have the effect of a longer extension…

  • Venturelog says:

    23 Jul23 July 10:51

    According to BA you should get the 6 months applied from its expiry date, even if used and then cancelled
    https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/tiers-and-benefits

    • Mark says:

      23 Jul23 July 12:24

      Depends on when you are rebooking.

      I had a 241 in similar position.

      Offered a full refund of Avios used, cash paid and the voucher (with the known extension of 6 months from the date of expiry, which would only have helped me by a few months).

      Travel voucher was instead a 24 month voucher, but with the same conditions as the original 241 booking (have to have Avios seat availability in whichever class etc.). I then used the voucher two weeks later (to book the same flight next year), and there was a refund both in cash and avios for the difference (new flights are off peak).

  • AJA says:

    23 Jul23 July 12:20

    1) Your 2-4-1 voucher will already have been extended to mid-March 2021. Check your BAEC account, Click Manage my account, then click the second Management my account button and then scroll to the bottom and click e-Vouchers – you will see all 2-4-1 vouchers and their expiry dates and whether you have used them

    2) I think you are eligbile to take a Future Travel Voucher instead of a refund. This will be valid for use until end of Apr 2022 (return by that date not use by). The trouble is that in order to use it you will need Avios reward seat availability in the usual way but will only be able to redeem by phoning up so you exchange expiry date for less flexible means of using it

    3) Depending on when you bought the flights you can just simply move to another date without having to have reward seat availability. I am not sure if the 12 month period still applies but you may also run into the issue of ticket validity which is 1 year from purchase so depends when you originally booked the LHR-AMM flights

    I would just go for a refund of everything and try my luck later.

  • Mzungu says:

    23 Jul23 July 13:17

    Thanks everyone – I think that clarifies my options nicely. AJA’s comment: “…exchange expiry date for less flexible means of using it” seems to be the key point. Depends if I want to push it back beyond March 2021 I guess.

• Aston100 says:

  23 Jul23 July 10:33

  Due to various holiday cancellations (cancelled by airlines and/or hotels themselves) it looks like my total spend on a (now cancelled) BAPP is going to be down to about £4k (from obviously well over £10 previously).
  The card is cancelled; Avios transferred and companion voucher applied to my BAEC (but not used yet).
  Clearly Amex cannot do anything about the Avios or voucher, but I am wondering if this will have any impact on any future cards I take out with Amex?
  Currently am a supplementary on wife’s card, but will need to apply for my own towards the end of this year or early next year.
  Concerned there may be some penalty of some kind?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    23 Jul23 July 10:49

    I doubt it. There must be lots of customers in the same boat with COVID

• Prune says:

  23 Jul23 July 11:05

  Any news on the bill hop issue from yesterday and the Amex bill hop like product?

  • Rob says:

    23 Jul23 July 12:39

    I had an email from the person concerned. He had put a high six figure sums through Billhop. This is obviously a totally different kettle of fish to a HFP reader doing £1k.

    This is also exactly the sort of customer Amex wants for its new Billhop clone service, which may explain the potentially over-zealous customer service rep.

    • Anna says:

      23 Jul23 July 15:23

      So Amex is setting up a service where you have to pay a fee to use their card?!

      • Rob says:

        23 Jul23 July 19:02

        No. Amex pays your bills, takes the money from your bank account (it never touches your card account) and gives you 1 MR point per £1.

        • Harry T says:

          23 Jul23 July 20:04

          That’s not a bad idea!

    • Jonathan says:

      23 Jul23 July 22:56

      High 6 figures?!!! I hope he negotiated a discount with Billhop as even at 2% you’d be looking at 10k in fees for 500k transactions. There’s definitely cheaper ways of getting hold of Avios/MR’s.

• Sam says:

  23 Jul23 July 11:09

  Hi all, I currently have the BAPP Amex and just triggered my first 2 for 1 voucher (my card expiry is this December). I had the Gold Amex last year which I cancelled after year 1 (after receiving the 15k spend bonus). Currently I have about 150k Avios points. I don’t know whether or not to keep the BAPP or to downgrade it to the free version (once voucher has been issued) or just cancel it altogether. I have no holiday plans for the rest of this year, most likely in 2021 but no set destination for my 2 for 1 voucher.

  My parents are also undertaking a major refurb/renovation of their house and there will be quite a lot of spend at their end. They have no Amex and are not big travellers in all honesty but I think will travel if they had points/a 2 for 1 voucher (or alternatively their spend could be put on my card whichever I have at the time). Any suggestions please as to how to maximise their spend so they/I get the most amount of points/2 for 1 voucher? To add a slight twist I have 3 siblings that can also put spend on their cards (1 of which has an Amex at the moment, the other 2 had the Gold card but cancelled after year 1 and its been less than 24 months since that). I will be referring my mum to the Gold Amex so I get the referral bonus for that on my BAPP!

  Thanks!

  • AJA says:

    23 Jul23 July 12:30

    How long do you have to go before your anniversary kicks in to start earning the next 2-4-1 voucher? I would downgrade rather than cancel altogether if you really think that it’s not worth continuing to pay the £195 fee in exchange for earning 1.5 Avios per £ on spend other than with BA or BAH which earns 3 Avios per £. The free BA card only earns 1 Avios per £.

    Remember if you cancel you need to pay the taxes and fees with an Amex (any not just the BA one) when you redeem your 2-4-1 although you could get one of your siblings or your mum to pay though as they will still have an Amex.

    • Sam says:

      23 Jul23 July 14:09

      @AJA, anniversary is 31 December and most of the spend will be done before that but I am inclined to agree with you to downgrade as opposed to cancel (I have the Amex everyday platinum to pay taxes etc in any event). Thanks for your response!

  • spk says:

    23 Jul23 July 14:26

    If your parents apply for their own cards, they might not be able to get the necessary avios for a reward ticket. If they spend on your cards, they wouldnt be able to get 2-4-1 voucher (the primary cardholder will be the voucher holder and he has to travel).
    One possible option is to buy them cash tickets on WTP and upgrade using avios.

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