The new HFP chat thread – Monday 3rd August

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• Marco says:

  3 Aug3 August 02:16

  I know it’s out of HfP control, but it seems that Google Ads here is sometimes showing an ad called “BA Betrayal”… Apparently it is an online campaign led by Unite against BA staff restructuring…

  • James says:

    3 Aug3 August 04:12

    And the problem with that is? Or do you think ‘the oiks’ shouldn’t be allowed to represent themselves collectively?

  • Andrew says:

    3 Aug3 August 07:14

    It’s a good campaign which we should all support – an opportunity to thank all those hard working people who have served us for so many years.

    • Rob says:

      3 Aug3 August 08:38

      I can block the ad, but don’t see any reason why I should.

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        3 Aug3 August 08:55

        And why should you, every click helps to keep this site going.

        • Rob says:

          3 Aug3 August 08:59

          Another ad would show in its place, so that is not the driver.

        • BJ says:

          3 Aug3 August 14:43

          A progressive banker with a soft heart of molten steel…the boy got out of Rotherham but my guess is Rotherham never got out the boy 🙂

      • Qwertyknowsbest says:

        3 Aug3 August 09:45

        +1

      • memesweeper says:

        3 Aug3 August 11:09

        Some bloggers would not allow an ad to appear that directly attacked a closely linked advertising partner. Good for you Rob.

  • Ryan Gill says:

    3 Aug3 August 16:55

    Len McCluskey. What an ideologue. Major drama to describe a ” betrayal “. Shit happens. Awful to think of staff redundancies, but what about investors, speculators and business people who have lost everything. Are publicly traded companies expected to employ people forever, even when the business becomes far smaller. My heart always goes most to those who have speculated with their own money and lost everything, because it’s this spirit that provide jobs and wealth primarily.

• BJ says:

  3 Aug3 August 04:55

  Amex offers: GETT online only 15% off every ride until early October. £5 for £30 at Bicester Village until early October.

  • Andrew says:

    3 Aug3 August 07:17

    Sure you don’t mean Bisciteers not Bicester Village?

    • guesswho2000 says:

      3 Aug3 August 07:50

      Yeah I have Biscuiteers too, not Bicester Village.

      • Andrew says:

        3 Aug3 August 07:53

        I did think £30 was an odd spend threshold for Bicester Village as there really is very little on sale for under £30.

    • Rob says:

      3 Aug3 August 08:38

      GETT looks like its been extended – it was meant to be to Sep.

      • Dubs says:

        3 Aug3 August 09:08

        Will they not double stack? Ie both offers saved different expiry dates.

        • Rob says:

          3 Aug3 August 09:22

          The account where I registered the old version does not have the new version. I have the October version on other cards.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      3 Aug3 August 16:07

      I have a £50 off £500 from Bicester which works on gift cards and stacks nicely with the 10% off you can get from flashing a Platinum card

  • BJ says:

    3 Aug3 August 08:29

    Yes, ok ok sorry…it was 04:55 🙂

  • Andrew says:

    3 Aug3 August 08:49

    £10 returned on £60 at Asos

    Brook & Wilde has come back too. £650 and get 15% returned.

    • Vit says:

      3 Aug3 August 10:57

      Thinking of ASOS gift voucher for a friend birthday with a small item to go with it. May possible get around with that?

• Annabel says:

  3 Aug3 August 06:19

  Morning. Advice please regarding BA ‘book with confidence’ and Avios flight redemptions. I have had change the dates already at no charge but would they allow me to change again for free? Not clear on website if it was one time only without incurring the fee. Thanks

  • AJA says:

    3 Aug3 August 14:55

    I think the change for free may only apply once but the only way to be sure is to call BA or send a message via Twitter. I assume that the dates you already changed to are for flights due to be completed by 30 Apr 2021 and that the dates you want to change to again still fall within that deadline?

• Anna says:

  3 Aug3 August 06:42

  If anyone needs a reasonably priced Kimpton stay, the Clocktower in Manchester is taking bookings for September even though it says it’s closed until October on the website. I got a Friday night for £93 which will hopefully go ahead as I took the plunge & joined IC Ambassador so that I can use the bonus free night certificate in NYC at Easter (Eventi is 40k points when cash price is over $300). Also used the Ambassador free night to book a Club room at the Paris Le Grand for my birthday weekend.

  • Harry T says:

    3 Aug3 August 07:06

    Hopefully Manchester will be visitable by September!

    • Anna says:

      3 Aug3 August 07:08

      You can visit now as long as you don’t go in anyone’s house or garden!

      • Charlieface says:

        3 Aug3 August 14:45

        You can visit someone’s garden as well. It’s not illegal, only advisory…

  • Rob says:

    3 Aug3 August 08:40

    You will have a nice birthday then! Wonder if the new lounge will be open by then?

    • Anna says:

      3 Aug3 August 09:55

      Well this year’s has just had to be cancelled for the 3rd time 🤦‍♀️

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    3 Aug3 August 08:58

    @Anna:
    How much did you pay for the other weekend night at the Paris le grand?

    • Anna says:

      3 Aug3 August 09:59

      It was 600 euros – ish. Sounds quite a lot (I’ll have to settle up without OH seeing lol) but it’s Paris and because it’s a Club Room we don’t have to pay for breakfast on top. And apparently they serve champagne at breakfast …!

      • Anna says:

        3 Aug3 August 10:00

        I’ve looked previously at booking there and it can be over 800 euros at peak times.

      • Lady London says:

        3 Aug3 August 14:53

        Is that the one that has Cafe de la Paix at the ground floor level ? Jealous!

      • Lyn says:

        3 Aug3 August 16:43

        Anna, yes it sounds like a lot but could probably be justified to your OH when you take into account that it covers two nights and Club Lounge access would normally cost 120 euros per night (for Spire), and it earns a fair number of points as well. You could also eat in the lounge, depending on how the timing suits your Paris plans, at lunch or afternoon tea or in the evening, with champagne at any time, and not just at breakfast.. Hope you enjoy the stay.

• Ben says:

  3 Aug3 August 06:43

  Some interesting pricing on BA flights at the moment. Flying to the UK from Bologna to visit family weekend after next and there was 1 seat left at the 50 euro fare class. The fare class after that? 446 euro

  • Erico1875 says:

    3 Aug3 August 12:38

    Ryanair were doing Bologna to Edinburgh for €22 when I looked last week.

  • Lady London says:

    3 Aug3 August 15:18

    I was looking at how much Easyjet was going to have to pay to reroute me on BA after cancelling all flights on my route. It was only £30 booked as a one way…. And then I added the luggage in at £65 per piece.

    Sadly having forced me to look at EU261 in detail now due to refusing to offer their usual rerouting options (open for rebook till next May, has been their usual offer if they’ve cancelled your flight), studying EU261 I have realised instead of making my own replacement bookings for that cancelled direct flight which I was going to book 2 connecting flights for, instead of absorbing that cost myself I really should ask Easyjet to book me on other airlines or provide the replacement set of connecting flights to me free of chargge to replace the direct flight they cancelled.

    Silly me I had not thought of using EU261 for that. But after Easyjet denied cancelling 3 flights yesterday and said they were not cancelled only retimed when the flight number was changed so I was forced to ask for help here…. Well, it turns out that being forced by Easyjet’s refusal to study EU261 has turned out ok after all. So far this could affect about 7 flights. And I havent even got on to tbe duty of care hotels being provided by airline Section yet. Thank you Easyjet! 🙂

• Chris Heyes says:

  3 Aug3 August 07:04

  Rob or Rhys @ I have a largeish Accor points i need to use, my membership extended until Feb 2021
  Could i spend my Accor points for a booking at the Sofitel for Aug/Sept 2021 or would i need to book a stay first before Feb 2021 to keep my membership (Gold alive) ?

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    3 Aug3 August 08:12

    Join valued opinions to earn some accor points which kerp your account alive.

  • Rob says:

    3 Aug3 August 08:40

    No idea, unfortunately.

    I’d look at joining their Club Opinions market research programme and completing 1 survey. This creates activity on your account and should (I guess) extend your expiry date.

  • Lady London says:

    3 Aug3 August 15:33

    @Chris H do what @Secret Squirrel and Rob say and sign up for Club Opinions.

    Points are taken by Accor at the time you book online. If you had to cancel what you’d booked and you hadnt earned any points in more than 1 year then Accor would take the returned points out of your account when they next do a sweep for that which I think is done monthly.

    Nothing stops you cancelling a booking paid all or part with points – the conditions are the same as for the underlying booking. You can do this over and over again if you book flexible.

    Hotels can also change the mix of points/cash when you check in. But be careful. Sometimes that confuses Accor systems and bad things can happen like you having to call the Accor Customer Service Centre – when things might get worse.

    So either do another stay meanwhile or keep your account active by an occasional drip of a few Club Opinions points for as long as Club Opinions will have you.

    • Lady London says:

      3 Aug3 August 16:12

      *Rob did an article recently that has a link to sign up

      • Rhys says:

        3 Aug3 August 16:14

        https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/06/28/250-500-free-avios-or-e10-of-accor-points-for-joining-accors-new-clubopinions/

  • Lyn says:

    3 Aug3 August 16:56

    Chris, a small purchase using the Accor shopping portal might extend the points as well? AbeBooks for instance. The points seem to take ages to post, like BA, but presumably will do so eventually. Just in case you can’t use the survey option.

    • Lyn says:

      3 Aug3 August 16:57

      https://collections.accor.com/en/ is the link for the Accor shopping portal.

• Ian says:

  3 Aug3 August 07:39

  Is anyone else having problems booking a reward flight with BA? I keep getting stuck on the stopovers page, even though I know there is a direct flight, and the reward flight finder tells me there is availability.

  • Rhys says:

    3 Aug3 August 08:22

    Yep, ongoing issue it seems

    • Liz says:

      3 Aug3 August 14:23

      I was going to ask this question today too. I have been researching flights from EDI-LHR-Vancouver for next year trying to price it up and check on availability but it won’t let me do a dummy booking from EDI even though both flights have availability. If the issue isn’t resolved soon can you book the main LHR – Vancouver bit at midnight with 241 then phone up and add the EDI-LHR or would that not be allowed.

      • Lady London says:

        3 Aug3 August 15:36

        I think phoning can fix both. Assuming the avios seats are really there. Got an idea you can check this on Qantas.

• Lottie says:

  3 Aug3 August 07:45

  Has anyone had any luck raising a case against BA regards being given a voucher that wasn’t wanted ? I have had my September flights cancelled, I rang to move the flights to another date, which is what I have done with all my cancelled flights since march with no issues. Agent said I could only move to October but they don’t fly to my destination in October. He kept saying take the voucher and I kept reiterating I don’t want it, i wanted my flights rebooked first option, if not a refund, I confirmed the calls were recorded and said I would speak to my husband and call again tomorrow, basically hoping to get a more user friendly agent. 40 minutes later a voucher from BA lands in my inbox. I rang straight back said not only did I not want it I actively discouraged it and I was told to make a complaint. I have and the reply was you accepted it it can’t be changed. Not sure where to go next, I have asked them to listen to the recorded messages and have not had a response.

  • Chris Heyes says:

    3 Aug3 August 08:06

    Lottie@ First before you do anything else ask them for a transcript of your conversation tell them you need it to pursue an action against them

    • Lottie says:

      3 Aug3 August 09:15

      Great thanks, when they reply with the same stock answer, which I’m sure they will, I shall ask for it.

    • Kyle says:

      3 Aug3 August 10:17

      I’m dealing with the same issue. I asked for a transcript when contacted BA via customer complaints form and they told that India office calls are not recorded. Is there anything else to try?

      • S says:

        3 Aug3 August 10:47

        Exact same issue, and no call recording so they basically said there’s nothing they can do!

        Kinda ridiculous that they wouldn’t give you benefit of the doubt over a £50 refund. Actually, there isn’t even a doubt because the agent who issued FTV agreed that he had made a mistake but he couldn’t reverse it so asked me to log a complaint.

        I will definitely use a £50 FTV so its not an issue, but its the principle!

      • Charlieface says:

        3 Aug3 August 14:46

        Data request / SAR should get you what you need. I wouold be surprised if it’s actually not recorded.

        • Charlieface says:

          3 Aug3 August 14:47

          Furthermore, re EC261 rights, it’s up to them to prove you waived the rights, not you, so they would need a recording for that anyway.

        • Lady London says:

          3 Aug3 August 15:54

          That will help all the people BA hoodwinked or railroaded into accepting vouchers @Charlieface

  • Lady London says:

    3 Aug3 August 15:42

    Outrageous. get transcripts of both conversations.

    Remember if they cancelled your flight you also have the right to have them replace your tickets with tickets on another airline if another airline can fly you reasonably close to your booked time, if BA cant. Even if replacement flight is much more expensive you pay nothing.

    Please let us know how you get on.

    • Lady London says:

      3 Aug3 August 15:52

      If they say lost the transcript etc then record the call yourself (some phones will do it) of you calling up again and telling them youre telling them again and recording it with a view to action)…

      Or, perfectly acceptable, right after or during each call send yourself a detailed note of the call in email. The low tech way of doing this is to write notes after each call into a hardbacked notebook and add each call or action note right under the last one. Add in each time, date, who or which desk you spoke to, with details and observations. Hard backed because it’s clear it’s a running sequence and nothing was inserted.

      All of the above methods acceptable in court. Key is ‘contemporaneous’ notes ie during or right after the call each time if you don’t have a recording.

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