The new HFP chat thread – Thursday 6th August

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• Brian says:

  6 Aug6 August 11:27

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53665394

  Holiday shock: ‘We were stopped from boarding our Greece flight’

  • Harry T says:

    6 Aug6 August 12:37

    If I was as poorly organised as this woman, I probably wouldn’t share it with the national press. EasyJet even proactively email customers about these forms and send notifications in the app. EasyJet are not to blame for her being denied boarding, as she failed to prepare adequately. They were just doing their job properly.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      6 Aug6 August 12:57

      Though at least her experience can be used to educate others

      • Brian says:

        6 Aug6 August 13:02

        Yes. Especially as many people now seem to be booking trips with just a few days notice (based on people I work with).

        Obviously they should be more prepared but it doesn’t hurt for people to be warned

  • ChrisC says:

    6 Aug6 August 21:05

    The ‘angry people in local newspapers” Facebook page is a regular haunt for reports like this one.

    Usually they don’t come off as very sympathetic because all the issues are generally down to the person themselves,!

• Seen8 says:

  6 Aug6 August 11:36

  Seen this question asked around a bit but am not 100% clear on the answer.

  I’m travelling to Spain this weekend for 3 weeks, and from an insurance point of view I’m unsure of whether it makes sense at all to take additional coverage for the trip. I have:
  * Amex Platinum
  * EHIC

  1 – Am I right in considering that any PRIVATE treatment which is covid-related won’t be covered by the Amex Plat, or any other insurance for that matter?

  2 – Does the above matter at all if I have an EHIC and get treated at a public hospital? Would that cover all fees? Has anyone had experience with this?

  3 – Am I also right in considering that any delays/cancellations/additional days required in a hotel due to Covid would not be covered by Amex Plat / any insurance, but anything unrelated to Covid still would? e.g. theft, misplaced passport, etc.?

  4 – Is the Amex Plat Car Hire insurance still valid during this period?

  5 – As an unrelated side note, given the FCO website advises ‘against all but essential travel’ for most EU countries on their website (only difference is that returning from Spain gets you in quarantine), most people travelling to EU right now will be facing the exact same dilemma?

  My ingoing hypothesis is that any covid-related issue will not be covered by any insurance no matter what I source right now, and that all other things would still be covered by Amex Plat, therefore meaning it is unnecessary to procure extra coverage.

  Any input appreciated!

  S

  • Dave says:

    6 Aug6 August 11:43

    Covid related cover would depend when you booked. Was the fco advising against travel at the time of booking or when you took out insurance? Best to check your insurer’s policy as all will be different.

    • Seen8 says:

      6 Aug6 August 13:40

      Sorry should’ve clarified – booked yesterday, when guidance was already in place.

      • Sukes says:

        6 Aug6 August 23:24

        Amex travel insurance doc available online published 20 mar 2020 stated the insurance is invalidated if you travel against the fco advice. I wouldn’t expect any cover (Medical, non medical, car hire) from the Amex plat card either before or during the trip given you booked in full knowledge of the advice against non essential travel.

  • BS says:

    6 Aug6 August 11:49

    Amex will now not cover any medical expenses if you haven’t started your trip, as it is against government advice to go. Although the terms don’t specifically mention it, because Amex are members of ABTI, they will cover cancellation costs due to the advice changing between you booking and when you were supposed to travel.

    EHIC will give you the same rights (up to 31st Dec) to treatment as local Spaniards under their public system. Although this will cover some of the cost in the public system, it will not be free.

    Quarantine not covered

    I am unsure about car hire – it seems to be a separate section rather than the medical expenses, so the FCO exclusion may not be relevant.

    Yes: most people facing the same dilemma. If you are concerned you can get specialist insurance, like battlefront, which will cover you if you are <60y and travelling against FCO advice. It is £100-200 per week per person.

    • BS says:

      6 Aug6 August 11:52

      *battleface insurance

  • ChrisC says:

    6 Aug6 August 11:58

    Check the Spain pages on the EHIC website.

    It will cover most things other than the contribution you will have to make to cover prescriptions (unlike here where it is a standard fee no matter the cost of the drugs in Spain you pay up to 50%) and your insurance may cover that so keep the receipts and make sure it has the full cost of the drugs on it.

    Many insurance policies will expect you to have and use an EHIC and will refuse to pay out any costs that the card would otherwise cover (even if you don’t have an EHIC) so check what you’re says specifically about EHIC

• Nick_C says:

  6 Aug6 August 11:41

  Travel Trivia:-

  What do the following European countries have in common?

  Malta
  Belgium
  Iceland
  Netherlands
  France
  Czech Republic
  Switzerland
  Monaco

  • S says:

    6 Aug6 August 11:57

    About to be classed by FCO as bad guys?

  • Lady London says:

    6 Aug6 August 12:01

    except France, all can be used as tax havens for some purposes.

  • BJ says:

    6 Aug6 August 12:11

    Prostitutes…and as @Lady London kindly pointed out, I’m always right.

    • Anna says:

      6 Aug6 August 12:22

      I think other countries also have them, BJ. Are they all selling citizenship to HNW individuals?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 Aug6 August 12:59

    They all dislike the british?

  • Nick_C says:

    6 Aug6 August 13:03

    “S” was on the right lines.

    They all have higher rates of infection than Portugal, yet they are all on the “safe list”.

    https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=latest&casesMetric=true&interval=smoothed&perCapita=true&smoothing=7&country=GBR~PRT~FRA~ITA~DEU~CHE~DNK~BEL~IRL~HRV~GRC~AUT~CYP~CZE~EST~FIN~GIB~HUN~ISL~LVA~LIE~LTU~MLT~MCO~NLD~NOR~POL~SVK~SVN~TUR&pickerMetric=location&pickerSort=asc

    • John says:

      6 Aug6 August 13:22

      Malta has a high rate because about 20 people a day are getting infected. If Monaco had 20 new cases a day it would be worse than the US.

      Iceland is testing all tourists.

      People in CZ are getting complacent as they thought they “defeated” the virus by locking down early.

      Just been to Switzerland and apart from stickers on the floor of some buildings, and hand sanitiser at supermarket entrances you would not know there is a pandemic going on. People religiously don masks at the door of public transport, and instantly remove them the moment they step off. The masks go straight into their handbags or pockets.

      • Nick_C says:

        6 Aug6 August 13:43

        36 new cases in Malta yesterday.

        Two weeks ago they were finding less than one new case a day. A week ago it was 6 new cases a day. Now its 30. (7 day averages.)

        I think rates per capita are more relevant than absolute numbers. But perhaps they are unrepresentative because the permanent population (used to work out capitation rates) swells significantly because of tourism.

        • D says:

          6 Aug6 August 14:01

          Wouldn’t it be better to use a metric of positive test results as % of total tests, therefore discounting whether a country is doing lot/little testing?

        • Mr(s) Entitled says:

          6 Aug6 August 21:01

          D – No.

          Because if a country tested lots of people as a precaution it would have a low percentage of positive tests. If a country only tested those with symptoms sufficient for hospital admission it would have a high percentage.

    • J says:

      6 Aug6 August 13:29

      The “safe” list is based on the whims of Dominic Cummings. If the govt published a criteria for classifying a country as “safe”, i.e. based on infection rate (like Finland) they’d have some credibility. But then the British govt are now saying masks are a good idea even though just a few months ago they repeatedly dismissed them as ineffective (ignoring evidence from Germany, South Korea etc).

      • Nick_C says:

        6 Aug6 August 13:54

        The World Health Organisation are now saying masks are a good idea even though just a few months ago they repeatedly dismissed them as ineffective.

    • Brian says:

      6 Aug6 August 14:00

      It’s the sort of “logic” that is to be expected from this government.

    • Charlieface says:

      6 Aug6 August 14:56

      Any country testing vast numbers of asymtomatic people is going to see lots of false positives.
      To wit, had you tested people a year ago in 2019 when there was no Covid, there would still be positives because of the false positive rate

• Billy Nicholson says:

  6 Aug6 August 12:00

  Can I book ANY One World flight on BA.com?
  There is a Qantas flight from BNE to HKG and I would like to part pay with Avios….It does not appear when searching on BA.com. What is the best/only way to do this please?

  • Rhys says:

    6 Aug6 August 12:09

    No, you can’t. Slightly different for redemptions, but cash fares tend to be siloed by the individual airlines. Only exception is on codeshare routes etc

    • Michael C says:

      6 Aug6 August 14:03

      Tallin always appears in “our destinations”, but attempted booking says “OW don’t fly here”!

  • Lady London says:

    6 Aug6 August 12:09

    if award seats available on QF (think you have to get yourself a login to see them?) then if logging in on BA does not show them then just call BA reservations and ask if its available to book as an award seat with avios. Using QF lets you check availability and date first but you could just call BA too.

    If I get a ‘no’ or ‘cant find that route/seats’ I’d HUACA as this one may not be something every agent would be readily familiar with.

    Historically I often found agents I got very late at night to be superbly knowledgeable with long experience (Newcastle, even if I had reached them by dialling another country’s BA number outside of UK hours).

    • Lady London says:

      6 Aug6 August 12:11

      @Rhys is right. Above is for award seats ie 100% avios if that’s what you’re looking for.

    • Billy Nicholson says:

      6 Aug6 August 12:13

      Ok got it…has to be code share for cash, or best bet is to call BA Exec to see if there is a reward seat available. Interestingly I noticed connecting flights with 2 or more legs will show up on BA….

      • Billy Nicholson says:

        6 Aug6 August 12:14

        PS thank you both

      • Lady London says:

        6 Aug6 August 13:24

        Yes. By no means all of any airline’s flightss would be availableto other airlines’ elites to book with points/avios. Quite a lit of routes/seats/higher travel classes arent available for points, or only available to that airline’s own members, or only their own members of a certain status, etc.

    • Harry T says:

      6 Aug6 August 12:24

      You have to ring for some Qantas redemptions with Avios, usually the QantasLink flights. You can find the availability on QF, as LL correctly asserts, or probably on the AA website (you don’t need to make a FF account to search AA).

      • Lady London says:

        6 Aug6 August 13:27

        Thanks @Harry T, had forgotten about AA. Noting only the Saver-type seats in each class are available to other OneWorld members to book through their programmes.

• meta says:

  6 Aug6 August 12:30

  Just arrived in Amsterdam. On the way to Pulitzer I passed by Kimpton De Witt. It’s closed for refurbishment and you can see major works underway in the lobby and restaurant. Nothing to do with covid. I wish they were honest rather than lie to customers that they are closed due to health and safety regulations!

  • Anna says:

    6 Aug6 August 12:54

    Have a lovely time and let us know what the Pulitzer is like.
    Just a thought though, I think quite a few hotels are taking the opportunity to do refurbs and other works while close due to COVID so they might not be as deceitful as they appear!

    • Lady London says:

      6 Aug6 August 13:31

      +1. a hotel in a major tourist city would be nuts to schedule works in peak tourist season otherwise. Even if their main clientele is business travellers there’d be enough tourist business in that location for them to avoid any non-forced closure in summer

      If Amsterdam was a ski resort you might be right. Oh wait…Holland’s flat. 🙂

    • meta says:

      6 Aug6 August 14:08

      The way they worded their email is that it was due to government regulations. Pulitzer is lovely for now, but I wouldn’t pay £350+ night for it, but luckily it’s only 80 euros for me😀

      • meta says:

        6 Aug6 August 14:12

        Absolutely everything is open and there are a lot of tourists. 787 was full that tells you a lot.

  • ChrisC says:

    6 Aug6 August 13:00

    Emyr told me it was due to open on the 25th.

    Must be changing the restaurant as that’s going to open under a new name (? Celia)

    rather than Wyvers. They remodel the bar last year and replaced the garden with a cafe/bar area which was a much better use of space.

    It better be open on the 31st as I have $100 credit as part of Emyr special rates !

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 Aug6 August 13:01

    perhaps to solve their problem with little friends running around the lobby

    (no personal experience purely from comments here)

    • Alex M says:

      6 Aug6 August 15:07

      Who are Little friends – dwarfs? Mice? Cockroaches? Small children? Please clarify.

      • BJ says:

        6 Aug6 August 19:01

        All of the above?

  • Navara says:

    6 Aug6 August 13:03

    Maybe the health and safety regs are to stop you getting a brick on your head walking through the lobby⛑

  • AJA says:

    6 Aug6 August 14:02

    To be fair major refurbishment works would constiture a health and safety hazard and I doubt anyone would want to stay in the hotel with all the noise and dust.

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    6 Aug6 August 21:23

    Major works in the lobby sounds pretty unsafe to me!

• Soloflyer1977 says:

  6 Aug6 August 12:57

  Hi all, a quick bit of advice…
  Flying with BA tomorrow in CE. I got an email saying that I can check in my hand luggage as the flight is very busy. Does this mean that I can check in 3 bags (2 bags – CE allowance and hand luggage bag within the hand luggage dimensions). Many thanks

  • Nick_C says:

    6 Aug6 August 13:12

    Sounds like it, but don’t check in any valuables or medication.

  • Venturelog says:

    6 Aug6 August 13:35

    Yes i got that email as well. Although i didn’t check my cabin bag in and we were fine, despite flight being busy. The new BA boarding system makes it easier to have space in the overhead lockers. I hope this stays. On my return BA flight they boarded using priority first.

  • Lady London says:

    6 Aug6 August 14:07

    yes

• Harry T says:

  6 Aug6 August 13:13

  Data Point: BA have just cancelled my 241 to Abu Dhabi for December. Using Google Flights and their own Reward search, I can’t see any BA flights to Abu Dhabi for Nov or Dec.

  • Lady London says:

    6 Aug6 August 13:35

    Aaargh what about your Formula 1 race attendance then?

    I am so sad for you as if the race is still going ahead anytime in those months, it looks like you will just have to suffer and demand a reroute on Qatar. I feel so sorry for you 🙂

    • Harry T says:

      6 Aug6 August 13:54

      Thanks for asking, LL. As the dates haven’t been confirmed yet for the Grand Prix, I’m just getting a refund of the taxes and charges (nearly £1400!). For reasons that are no longer relevant, my flights were booked from London but it doesn’t look I will be in London for those dates now. So I think a refund gives me the most flexibility and cash flow at the moment.

      • Harry T says:

        6 Aug6 August 13:55

        1300*

        • r* says:

          6 Aug6 August 14:32

          What are you planning on doing with the hotel booking?

          Im not confident that there will be any fans at the gp and even if there is, wether its going to actually be worth going as surely there wont be any of the concerts and partys that wouldve made it cool anyway.

        • Harry T says:

          6 Aug6 August 15:04

          I’m not sure. I booked using Bonvoy points. Theoretically if I cancel then I will be charged the room rates in cash though. I bet I can probably get out of that by either asking the hotel, escalating to Bonvoy, or claiming on travel insurance or charging back on Amex. Will be easier if they categorically don’t allow spectators!

        • Cormac says:

          6 Aug6 August 16:30

          Hotel cancellation shouldn’t be an issue. Its pretty clear that with the F1 access fee that we paid along with the points that the booking was for the GP. And as the GP looks to be moving to early December dates for 2020 – its unreasonable to hold us to the original dates.

  • Magarathea says:

    6 Aug6 August 13:36

    My Abu Dhabi flights for March 21 have also just been cancelled.

  • Sukes says:

    6 Aug6 August 13:43

    Going by what’s on sale on the BA site, I would guess they’ve cancelled abu Dhabi flights through to end Sept, flights are on sale for Oct. The winter season from end Oct appears to be dropped with flights on sale again from Mar 21. Tourists remain unable to fly into UAE apart from Dubai (entry is banned by UAE authorities) with no date announced for possible lifting of the ban. I’ve got flights dep Dublin (on Etihad) end Sept so keeping a watch on announcements – the Irish embassy website tends to be more useful than the UK FCO.

    • Harry T says:

      6 Aug6 August 13:56

      That’s exactly what I’ve seen too. Dubai still seems to have plenty of flights. Given the proximity of the destinations and Dubai’s greater popularity, I guess it makes sense.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 Aug6 August 14:16

    Same here. I might hold off making a choice on what to do though for a few weeks.

    Any data points on being re routed to other destinations other than The country you were booked to? as I don’t fancy visiting Dubai instead of the GP.

    • John says:

      6 Aug6 August 16:27

      Just been told by You First on rebooking avios first due to flight cancellation, substitute destination must be within 200 miles

      • TGLoyalty says:

        7 Aug7 August 00:07

        Convenient mileage. How many destinations does BA fly to that are 200 miles apart.

        • Lady London says:

          7 Aug7 August 00:15

          Even Manchester is further than that from London.

  • Anna says:

    6 Aug6 August 14:32

    They were going bonkers releasing a load of avios availability a couple of weeks ago to AUH/DXB in December. This is BA so it does make you wonder if they were trying to claw in as much revenue as possible from taxes/fees in the hope that people would accept vouchers when the ineviatble cancellations came?

    • Anna says:

      6 Aug6 August 14:36

      I know this because I set up alerts over Xmas/NY when it looked like OH might be able to get a few days off (no joy). I never bothered to cancel the alert and at one point I was getting 5 or so emails per day advising me of new seats being released.

• bill says:

  6 Aug6 August 13:33

  Generally speaking when do BA Cityflyer finish operating their routes to UK ex-AGP ?

  • Anna says:

    6 Aug6 August 14:34

    Do you mean the regional routes? MAN is usually about half way through September – are you wondering like me why you can’t see any award seats for July 2021?

    • bill says:

      6 Aug6 August 18:18

      Hi Anna, i noticed that – however we are realistically looking at travelling later in the summer of 2021 and I am doing my initial research. Good to know MAN usually runs in to Sept. That would be the time of our return flight. I think they also do STN (from AGP).

    • bill says:

      6 Aug6 August 18:19

      By the way – avios.com goes a little further in to July 2021 than ba.com

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