The new HFP chat thread – Friday 7th August

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• AndyGWP says:

  7 Aug7 August 06:46

  Huge incentives to pre-pay with Hertz at the moment – understandably they seem quite keen to get cash through the door

  For a rental in the US (where my understanding is that there is no cancellation charge for EMEA if cancelled over 48 hours before rental starts – someone correct me if I’m wrong), there are differences of £400 (pay in advance) versus $900 USD (pay at pickup) for 8 days in a Premium Sports Convertible – Group U4

  For a (V6) Hertz-Hendrick Camaro SS (Group V6), it’s £390 vs $1100 USD (again, for 8 days)

  Never seen differences that big before – of course the rental terms for US / Canada residents appear to be that cancellations of pre-paid rates can cost up to $200, so seemingly trying to incentivise the local markets to commit

  • mr_jetlag says:

    7 Aug7 August 08:15

    Hertz in the US currently bankrupt, would you give them money?

    • Nick_C says:

      7 Aug7 August 09:50

      They are operating under Chapter 11 protection. I would book with them (with S75 protection).

      I’ve flown on “bankrupt” airlines a few times.

      Would you book with Virgin Atlantic right now? You would be helping them in their attempt to stay afloat. Same with Hertz.

      • Lady London says:

        7 Aug7 August 11:28

        +1. look closely at the terms of your travel insurance though.

    • AndyGWP says:

      7 Aug7 August 11:01

      sorry, that’s what I meant by “understandably they seem quite keen to get cash through the door”

      I’ve not problems booking with them with S75 as outlined… they’ve been ‘bankrupt’ (aka. restructuring) a few times I think haven’t they…?

      Same as American Airlines, Virgin etc etc

      🙂

  • Charlieface says:

    7 Aug7 August 09:44

    Try book via Hertz Australia or Brazil

    • AndyGWP says:

      7 Aug7 August 11:02

      yeah, I had – get the same results 🙂

      • Matty says:

        7 Aug7 August 11:15

        Try booking on the respective country’s own website, not just changing it within the .co.uk website. For example search on hertz.com.au

        • AndyGWP says:

          7 Aug7 August 11:27

          Thanks I did do thatt – (went to hertz.com.au) and it came out @ £20 more (though the pay at location was a lot cheaper, it was still move expensive than going via. the uk site, and no real advantage of doing it that I can think of other than relying on S75 more)

          I’ve never been able to get US bookings to be cheaper by going through other portals though (non-US I have though)

        • Charlieface says:

          7 Aug7 August 14:18

          Don’t believe that makes a difference. But if you login you always need to change country again, this also applies to hertz.com.au

• memesweeper says:

  7 Aug7 August 07:07

  Had a Dorsett Hotels offer appear on one of my Amex’s yesterday, for their London hotels, and the site has been down ever since:

  https://www.dorsetthotels.com

  Pretty terrible timing on their part. Hope it’s not another seriously harmed ransomware victim.

  • pking says:

    7 Aug7 August 07:23

    It’s not down for me

    • TGLoyalty says:

      7 Aug7 August 07:43

      Working fine here too

  • Lady London says:

    7 Aug7 August 11:57

    take the s out of the first part of the link above and it should work standalone.

  • memesweeper says:

    7 Aug7 August 15:17

    Should have check this first!

    https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/dorsetthotels.com?proto=https&www=1

    … sorry for the noise all

    • Lady London says:

      7 Aug7 August 15:29

      downdetector dot com also

• shd says:

  7 Aug7 August 07:16

  Re: the IHG 4x points promotion, how quickly do the bonus points credit and is there a way to track progress?

  I registered and have completed three stays in the last week but can’t see any dashboard to track my progress … ?

  • Harry T says:

    7 Aug7 August 09:13

    I did a stay about a weekend ago and the points credited the day after, I believe.

    • Harry T says:

      7 Aug7 August 09:13

      Week*

  • TGLoyalty says:

    7 Aug7 August 10:55

    They post with the hotel stay usually.

    • shd says:

      7 Aug7 August 13:20

      Is the bonus itemised out?

• Secret Squirrel says:

  7 Aug7 August 07:19

  If BA cancel an outbound flight but still have the inbound flying, they have to refund seat reservation fees if you cancel the inbound flight?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    7 Aug7 August 07:48

    Is it all on one booking? Usually if they cancel part of the booking your can cancel the lot and you should get your seat fees back, as it’s them cancelling not you.

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      7 Aug7 August 08:33

      Booked via AA but yes all on one booking number. They cancelled outbound connection flight.

      • MattyS says:

        7 Aug7 August 08:59

        BA cancelled my Miami inbound flight but outbound was still going. Phoned them up and they straight away refunded both legs including all seat fees. This was three weeks ago.

• Anna says:

  7 Aug7 August 08:25

  Does anyone know if the proposed extra bank holiday in October was ever confirmed? I can’t find anything in the media after the initial suggestion.

  • AndyW says:

    7 Aug7 August 08:35

    It isn’t happening

• Graeme says:

  7 Aug7 August 08:46

  Hello all. A little help needed please – I know it’s been covered, although I’m not sure conclusively – I can only find the first HfP article about it.

  I’ve got an off-peak 2-4-1 booking in Frist from LHR to Delhi in November (85k Avios). Yesterday we were downgraded to CW – after a lot of effort I got BA to tell me it was because of an aircraft change and there being no First. I know we’re entitled to 75% of the Avios back, but was there any resolution as to whether that was for the 2-4-1 as well? Does the 75% apply to the charges too?

  The BA page on this says that when you’re downgraded they’ll “try” to sit you together in similar seats – will I be able to get them to seat us together without paying the CW seat charge?

  One final thing – I actually upgraded this from CW once First seats became available – will I be able to get them to refund the £35 change fee?

  Every chance this could all be moot, but still.

  Thanks all.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    7 Aug7 August 10:57

    They might argue it doesn’t but the courts have clearly said it does.

    Should get 75% of Avios and fees for both

    • Lady London says:

      7 Aug7 August 11:41

      although it has been confirmed on here you have to fly before they pay out.

      you are entitled to the 75% for each seat downgraded. the fact that you only paid for one seat is irrelevant. BA thought it was only 1seat 75% due if someone had used a 241, but they found out expensively in court it’s 2 they owe the 75% for each of.

      For a downgrade from First longhaul the 75% is likely to work out OK on any calculation basis. Other downgrades yield lower percentages. You dont have to use just the avios cost of the class you paid as a base. Comparative cash cost of the class downgraded from and to, and the appropriate % of Ba’s retail price to buy the number if avios for thr class you bought, are also bases for calculation that have been accepted in court.

      I’d demand a refund of my change fee for the upgrade now, in cash refund (not voucher).

      2 or 3 days ago on this same “allsorts” thread, @TGLoyalty gave an excellent list of thr claimable percentages for the various distances and classes. Flyertalk is your other resource on this.

  • Graeme says:

    7 Aug7 August 21:04

    Thanks both, that’s great – I’ll tell them what they owe me. And I’ll tell them that their own rules say they’ll seat us together.

    Thanks again.

• Andrew says:

  7 Aug7 August 08:49

  ‘Black Friday’ for BA today, with crew finding out if they will be made redundant. I would imagine crew morale will be at an all time low if you’re flying this weekend.
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53687338

  • Graeme says:

    7 Aug7 August 09:18

    My friend found out at 23:56 last night. Still has a job but her current contract is terminated on 31/10 – she has to agree an unknown contract within ten days. She also has to agree not to sue them ever or she’ll lose staff travel, she says.

    • Rhys says:

      7 Aug7 August 09:21

      Presumably this ‘unknown contract’ is the one revealed a while back? Ie. slight improvement on current Mixed Fleet?

      • Graeme says:

        7 Aug7 August 09:35

        To be honest I don’t know – that’s basically a copy of the text I received. I don’t like to ask too much as she’s really upset. She’s been there the best part of 20 years in long-haul.

        • Lady London says:

          7 Aug7 August 12:55

          My advice, having been on all sides of redundancies over the years, is that unless you can walk out straight into something else then above all stay in the game and stay employed.

          Redundancy is a numbers game and they have to be ruthless to push a target number out the door.

          So defend yourself against dirty tricks if you can but stay in the game. When the dust has settled those who are left have the chance to make progress whether inside or outside but without the shock and damage that comes from a period of unemployment.

          Seen this over many years from all sides.

      • Rob says:

        7 Aug7 August 10:36

        There is a difference between a PowerPoint presentation of contract highlights and the full version. In many cases, what the contract doesn’t say will be more important than what it does say, in terms of things BA is now taking away.

    • BJ says:

      7 Aug7 August 10:53

      Surely it is not legal to require somebody to agree to an unknown contract? Presumably it is going to be made available within 10 days and only then do you need to agree to it or not?

      • Graeme says:

        7 Aug7 August 11:33

        I assume they’ll see it before signing – it’s just when they’ll see it.

        • Rob says:

          7 Aug7 August 12:11

          Looking at the wording of BA’s email to staff, it seems that anyone who does not sign the new contract will not receive any redundancy pay – because they have not been made redundant. They will be seen as having voluntarily resigned.

        • Lady London says:

          7 Aug7 August 15:22

          @Rob are you sure? that does not sound right.

        • Rob says:

          7 Aug7 August 15:28

          Doesn’t sound right but that is how some people have interpreted it.

        • Lady London says:

          7 Aug7 August 15:32

          are you allowed to show a copy of the letter? I dont think BA could really be that stupid.

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          7 Aug7 August 20:03

          Obviously an attempt to run that line of argument in court would crash and burn … no way anyone would even bother to try.

          The value to BA is they probably hope some people will interpret it that way, panic and sign it.

    • Lady London says:

      7 Aug7 August 11:51

      ‘not to sue them ever’ is asking somebody to sign away a statutory right. I believe this is illegal or at least other things like ensuring they took advice (and paying for it) would have to be done to make it legal.

      BA really are fighting dirty aren’t they? They’re a company which despite the crisis has excellent chances of coming out stronger than almost any other airline. And they’re using this chance to screw their employees like cattle. And the British Government will let them

  • Andrew says:

    7 Aug7 August 10:56

    ‘It has been dubbed “Black Friday” by unions.’ – Does that really work when “Black Friday” is a day that the consumer celebrates?

    Indeed, in the spirit of BLM, shouldn’t Unions be avoiding linking the word “Black” with negativity?

    • Chris Heyes says:

      7 Aug7 August 13:58

      Andrew @that takes the biscuit lol Next Black Sheep will be deemed Racist or even Black Paint should be banned well would stimulate the economy all the painters going round the country painting out all the Black Paint in the uk lol

  • Lady London says:

    7 Aug7 August 11:43

    Not necessarily. Sometimes to know even bad news is a lot lesd stressful than not knowing.

• Martha says:

  7 Aug7 August 09:33

  I have a new IHG credit card. 2 questions please.
  1) The limit is £3000. Can and how can I get this increased?
  2) If I pay off mid month, could I goget points above my limit?
  Thank you

  • Richard says:

    7 Aug7 August 09:42

    2) Yes

  • Jonathan says:

    7 Aug7 August 13:31

    Credit limit increase I believe is minimum 6 months & based on my wife’s experience won’t happen. Despite similar credit history & limits with other providers (Virgin, AmEx, HSBC) she got £1k vs my £10k. Always been a no when asked for increase.

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