The new HFP chat thread – Friday 14th August

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 de facto 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/2020/08/14/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-friday-14th-august/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.

Ant says:

14 Aug14 August 03:47

Just saw my flight to Malta on Thursday on manage my booking days has “rerouted” in red next to it but still showing the flight details I booked and flight still showing when you try and book a trip. What does this mean? Will call BA in the morning but wanted to be prepared.
- Gavin says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 06:01
  
  It means rerouted *across* Europe, and not changing departure or destination. It’s a very silly BA IT/app feature as everyone sees it, gets on the phone to BA, wastes their own time – and BA’s call handler money.
- Wollhouse says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 07:01
  
  Could be because the gvt has just put Malta on The List…. which is a shame as I just got back, and life was more “normal”. Restaurants open and people living! Albeit with social distancing, even at the beaches. And temperature checks taken when entering a lot of places. Upon arrival, forms were collected BEFORE you were allowed off the plane, 2 nurses in airport temp checking and taking your final form. If you felt unwell, loads of places to get tested, results by 10am next morning. Then I arrive back in Edinburgh, and no one asked to see the form I was told I must complete, no temp check, just epassport check! I suspect Malta’s numbers will be skewed by a load of refugees they accepted who almost all tested positive, but they were taken directly from boat to quarantine. And I was there for work, which thankfully I managed to get done before this was imposed!
  - Don says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 07:26
    
    If you take away the ice cream lovers the numbers are still within the criteria to go on the list. This has been hashed to death in the Maltese press.
  - Anon says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 13:01
    
    ECDC has confirmed that Malta case numbers do not include refugees – https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea
    
    The COVID-19 cases reported for Malta do not include COVID-19 positive migrant cases who have disembarked in Malta and have been quarantined upon arrival.
Andrew says:

14 Aug14 August 05:57

Rerouted to depart from LHR but the times kept the same/similar? Bit of a pain re the quarantine, Ant – hope it’s not too disruptive.
- Andrew says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 05:58
  
  (Meant as a reply to Ant – sorry!)
- Ant says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 08:19
  
  Thanks everyone.
  Malta is where I come from and I was there 2 weeks ago. I have no concerns about going as i had same experience as Wollhouse said.
  Also still working from home so quarantine is not a problem on return.
  The only thing is we are meant to fly with Ryanair from Malta to Italy (Turin) for the weekend before we fly back to London from Turin. Not sure yet what Italy is doing with arrivals from Malta.
James says:

14 Aug14 August 06:39

Quick question on S75 is anyone can help.

How long can you claim back till? Reason I ask, I have paid for a service which will take many years to complete. If the company where to go bust during that time I am wondering if I would have a case to apply for S75 as though I was receiving the service I didn’t receive all of it.

This is all theoretical. The company has, not yet, gone bust.
- BS says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 07:15
  
  Probably 6 years, in England, but would need to know full details. Remember it must be <£30,000.
  - Charlieface says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 11:15
    
    Not a lawyer, but methinks it’s 6 years from whenever the claim arises. The credit card is jointly and severally liable to the contract, so if a claim on say life insurance arises 10 years later, you would have 6 years from then.
  - Charlieface says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 18:32
    
    6 years is statute of limitations to claim in a court of law, it is not specific to S75
TheThunderer says:

14 Aug14 August 07:13

Has anyone had experience of using BA’s ‘future travel vouchers’ yet?

Reason I ask is that we are flying to Portugal in the next day or so. Through BA have return tickets for four and a separate car hire booking costing £1000. I checked last night and we can do the whole lot for £600.

I don’t mind having the £1,000 tied up with BA for a while if I save £400 but have read here that prices miraculously increase when you try to use a vouchure. Advice? Should I just accept that I have overpaid? £1000 for four would normally be considered a steal at this time of year.
- Sarah says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 09:10
  
  I booked flights for a friend and I a few days ago on-line and I added her e-voucher to the booking. It had no impact on the price (given that you add the voucher after selecting your flights it would be strange if it did) and the value of the voucher was simply deducted from the total to pay. I don’t know how it would be if you had the Future Travel Voucher that you had to phone in to use, but I think all vouchers are now being issued as e-vouchers anyway.
- Stanley says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 09:15
  
  Phone up, and have them re-price the booking. Then ask for the FTV on your existing booking. They should be able to do both in same call, and use the FTV to pay for new booking, and leave you with a voucher for the net £400…… I did similar during recent BA sale for a holiday to Dubai. Same holiday re-booked, FTV applied to it. net balance to pay is now lower….
- Pierre says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 13:30
  
  That’s exactly what we did recently for upcoming Portugal flights… Getting new flights for cash were so much cheaper than what we had originally paid that is made sense to rebook. I requested a travel voucher online for the original flights, the voucher landed in my email within a couple of hours, then used it to pay for the new flights, and the remaining voucher balance is available to be used for our future travels…
Always_in_the_air says:

14 Aug14 August 08:11

Just FYI really, was 15TP short of a GUF2 voucher just as I hit my year end (8th August) and everything was zeroed. Called BA and almost without question they gave me the voucher anyway!

Seems they really are trying to retain their frequent fliers! No idea when I’ll be able to use the voucher though!

P.s. it’s proving really hard work to rack up 2500 tier points at the moment!
- Mr. AC says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 11:56
  
  Good to know, thank you for sharing. I know that a 2 week TP year “extension” is always possible, but will keep in mind that BA just giving extra TPs to get you over the threshold is also something worth trying.
  - ChrisC says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 12:10
    
    the normal 14 day extension to have TPs credcited to your old year (if you ask for it) only applies to retaining / reaching a normal status level.
    
    It does not apply to be able to earn the TPs to get a GUF
Michael C says:

14 Aug14 August 08:27

Conrad St James: I’m being offered an upgrade for GBP36 per night from King Exec. to Junior Suite. Anyone any idea if it?s *worth* it?!
- KBuffett says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 08:43
  
  I can’t comment on the Junior Suite, but I really like this property. Did you get a good deal on the room rate and are you staying for a short weekend style break?
  - Rob says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 08:46
    
    I think if its any sort of special occasion I’d pay it, unless you have Diamond status anyway.
    - Michael C says:
      
      14 Aug14 August 08:57
      
      Thanks, Rob – some points stashed but no status.
  - Michael C says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 08:56
    
    Exactly: yes and yes!
AndyK says:

14 Aug14 August 09:08

I consider taking future travel voucher for cancelled RFS Avios booking.
Does anyone know how long it takes to arrive?
Any problems using it as part payment for new booking? I want to make a new booking for June 2021 and a bit short of Avios.
- Rob says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 10:20
  
  Apparently very quick these days – can be minutes.
  
  However, unless you want to lock in the 4/22 expiry date for your 241, think why you’d want to do it. If your reason is ‘I can’t face calling BA to request a proper refund’ remember that you WILL have to call BA to use the FTV.
  
  It’s either:
  Don’t call now, but be forced to call when you want to rebook, or
  Do call now for a proper refund, and do your next booking online
  - AndyK says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 10:35
    
    Thanks Rob. Actually the existing RFS booking has no 2-4-1 attached only Avios/taxes. And that’s why I am hesitant.
    But I need these avios and I will have to call to make new booking anyway as open jaw
    - Charlieface says:
      
      14 Aug14 August 11:17
      
      Would still ask for cash and Avios back. Never rely on vouchers if you don’t have to
      - AndyK says:
        
        14 Aug14 August 11:36
        
        I agree but good luck calling. Tried a few times today and being disconnected
Jimmy says:

14 Aug14 August 09:09

So I’m supposed to fly to Friday tomorrow to stay for a week. Then back in UK for a week, and then off to Italy. Am I likely to face trouble getting through passport control for that Italy flight?
- Jimmy says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 09:10
  
  France* not friday
- Navara says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 09:26
  
  What you should be considering is cancelling the France trip and not risk cross border transmission.
- mr_jetlag says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 09:33
  
  Most likely seeing as France is on the 14d quarantine list. Although they may not see your entry dates your departure is within the two week window.
  - John says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 09:44
    
    France is on the UK’s list but not on Italy’s, so there is no problem entering Italy.
    
    The UK quarantine is 14 days or until you leave the UK. Anyway airline staff have no way of knowing where you went and they have no power to enforce the UK quarantine. No outbound checks by UK border agents
    - Seen8 says:
      
      14 Aug14 August 09:55
      
      “The UK quarantine is 14 days or until you leave the UK. Anyway airline staff have no way of knowing where you went and they have no power to enforce the UK quarantine. No outbound checks by UK border agents”
      
      What do you mean by this? So you’re supposed to quarantine in the UK for 14 days unless you feel like flying out mid-way? Say you go to Spain or France for the weekend, come back and have a flight out to anywhere else the other weekend you’d effectively only quarantine for 7 days with no repercussions?
      
      Seems a bit counterintuitive, though they cannot effectively force you to stay in the UK.
      - Rob says:
        
        14 Aug14 August 10:12
        
        This is correct though. If it wasn’t correct, there could be no business travel to the UK. Nothing stops someone flying in from France for meetings and then leaving again before anyone get around to checking if they are quarantining.
      - John says:
        
        14 Aug14 August 10:20
        
        They certainly could force you to stay in the UK if they wanted, but they have decided to do it like this. For example Switzerland’s quarantine is 10 days and you are not allowed to leave for 10 days.
        
        Australia has a 14 day quarantine but at least in April and May if you were transiting you could quarantine just for the period of your transit – though you needed to get permission in advance
      - John says:
        
        14 Aug14 August 10:27
        
        Also – say if you arrived from Spain on 14 August you would need to quarantine until 28 August. If you fly to Germany from 21-22 August (assuming Germany has no restrictions for people who were in Spain earlier), when you return to the UK, you have to continue your quarantine until 28 August as you were in Spain in the past 14 days.
        
        If you were in France from 8-9 August, then you didn’t need to quarantine when you returned. Then you take a trip to Germany from 15-16 August. When you return this time, France is now on the naughty list, so you must quarantine until 23 August (14 days from when you left France) even though you didn’t need to the first time, and you wouldn’t have needed to if you had just stayed in the UK!
- John says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 09:41
  
  What passport control? When you arrive in Italy? No restrictions on entering Italy but they may introduce a mandatory quarantine for people who have been in France in the past 14 days
- Rob says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 10:18
  
  No – although you need to see if Italy is happy with the fact you’ve been in France in the last 14 days.
  - memesweeper says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 10:25
    
    Correct — Italy has its own set of countries that it does not require 14 days isolation on arrival from, and the Italian list is shorter (more stringent) than most EU nations. When I last checked it didn’t include Spain or France, but clearly that could change at short notice.
    - Michael C says:
      
      14 Aug14 August 11:18
      
      They now include Spain and Greece.
- Chris says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 10:37
  
  no qualms about the utterly selfish and complete disregard for other people’s health and wellbeing?
- Stanley says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 10:46
  
  Business trips are exempt. Be creative
  - Graeme2 says:
    
    14 Aug14 August 11:03
    
    Exemptions are here https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/568/schedule/2/made – no generic exemption for business trips
- Lady London says:
  
  14 Aug14 August 14:10
  
  you are supposed to be doing quarantine in that period back in the UK but if you look at the UK re-entry form you will have to fill in, in the small print it says you can leave the country before the end of your quarantine period if you just go straight from quarantine to exit.
  
  Better check what the Italian rules are for your arrival though. Personally I’d think about going straight from F to I and not via UK