The new HFP chat thread – Thursday 20th August

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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.

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General

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John says:

20 Aug20 August 09:29

From the Guardian Covid blog:

“In Australia, the chief executive of Qantas declared its worst financial year in a century, with profits falling 91%. Alan Joyce confirmed he did not think the airline would fly internationally again until at least mid-2021 and said he thought flights to the US would likely not resume until there was a vaccine for Covid-19.”

Of course the latter (surely correct) thought, raises the issue of what happens if a reasonably long-term effective vaccine isn’t licenced in the next year or so.
- BJ says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 10:38
  
  If only we could get such straight talk from the UK government instead of their ever-increasing zeal for obfuscation.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 15:30
  
  Completely conceivable it could be years before there is an effective vaccine, will countries really stay out in the cold that long?
  
  Better/more Effective treatments could open the borders too
  
  Also what is the point in the USA ban on travellers originating from Europe? Not like I want to got there is just seems completely pointless.
Linda says:

20 Aug20 August 09:43

I had an e-mail from BA yesterday saying they had changed our seat selection for our upcoming flights which probably will not go ahead any way. The one on the 6th October has been changed to a 777 from Terminal 5 ok, but the seat map they provided did not bear any resemblance to any 777 in the fleet, tried the 200 and 300 types?

Also a flight booked for end of March also changed to a 777 in First they had moved us to the back two together seats one being the baby reserved one, nothing else was available to change to.have my doubts that will go ahead either.
- Rhys says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 09:49
  
  What does it look like? Sounds like they may have switched in a new Club Suite 777.
- Anna says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 12:39
  
  Linda, that’s happened for us in April, moved to 2 centre plus one window seat in F on a 777. On digging further in turns out to be the new configuration with only 2 rows in F, and of course 1A and 1K are blocked until nearer the time. I moved one of the centre seats to a window and we’ll just have to draw straws for who gets the other one! (Clue, it won’t be me!)
Jim says:

20 Aug20 August 09:53

I’m sure most know this already, but couldn’t contact BA for refund on normal numbers yesterday – Just cut me off. Tried the Gold Exec number, got through and sorted in 5 mins. Wasn’t even asked re colour of card.
- Lady London says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 12:39
  
  same here. couldnt even get the Newcastle numberd to answer. Though I wasnt trying at 0800/0830am, or 7.30pm, which has been posted many times here as times to call when you will get through. Advice is click no buttons even if the right choice appears just hang on.
  
  I had to give up trying to change my ticket within 24hrs to accommodate my one connecting train possibly being cancelled. So next week is going to be “fun”.
Barry says:

20 Aug20 August 09:55

Morning all,
I have CE return flights booked to Spain in October half term with the outbound booked using a Lloyds upgrade voucher (that was due to expire). It is looking increasingly unlikely that we’ll want to go. What happens if we decide to take BA’s book with confidence voucher to rebook for next year? Will the Lloyds upgrade be honoured still?
- memesweeper says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 10:01
  
  > Will the Lloyds upgrade be honoured still?
  
  It should be yes, that’s one of the few reasons to take a voucher on an Avios booking. When you come to use it you’ll need to find an agent who understands the benefit of the voucher, only a subset will likely have the training/experience to recognise it.
Nigel says:

20 Aug20 August 09:59

Am I right in thinking that BA is less likely to cancel an upcoming flight if it hasn’t done so by 14 days in advance?
- Rob says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 10:08
  
  No, because the EC261 rules on compensation for short notice cancellations are suspended.
  - Charlieface says:
    
    20 Aug20 August 18:33
    
    Are they really? No law has changed. Fundamentally an airline only has an exemption for exceptional circumstances. If a country changes their advice or restrictions, fair enough, but if they just couldn’t get enough pax to run the flight, or they had a plane go tech then no excuse IMO.
    - Lady London says:
      
      20 Aug20 August 22:25
      
      Hi Charlieface, you are correct no law has changed and EC261 is still in force. Within EC261, with it still in force as it always has been, there is a clause that means airlines do not have to pay out compensation for “exceptional circumstances”. The allowed ones are mostly external. Currently, even though I totally agree with you on certain cancellations, everyone including judges and bloggers is generally agreed that the prevailing environment with Covid overall makes everything “exceptional circumstances”. So the law is still in force, and it is an exemption within it that the airlines are using so that currently no one can claim compensation.
      
      If EC261 was not in force currently, protecting the airlines in this way, lots of us could actually try to sue them and maybe get compensation… as many airlines are violating their own t’s and c’s and we could use that as a basis to sue them. But statute (EU261) overrrides contract (airline terms and common things that can be sued for).
      
      I too have done the same as you and mentioned EU261 is in force still a couple of times when Rob has said it’s not currently in force. As Rob has used this phrasing repeatedly, I’m now assuming he knows perfectly well EU261 is still in force but is just using a kind of “shorthand” to make it simpler for newer readers .
A270 says:

20 Aug20 August 10:00

Does British Airways’ 24 hour cancellation apply to any situation (cash or Avios booking), changing my mind? Thinking of booking a last minute flight but if that country is put on quarantine list today, can I call and cancel for free?
- Rob says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 10:08
  
  Yes, but you only get a voucher back unless the flight is cancelled.
  - Ant says:
    
    20 Aug20 August 10:42
    
    Have successfully cancelled an Avios booking last week within the 24hrs and got the Avios and cash back.
    - memesweeper says:
      
      20 Aug20 August 13:09
      
      I think you got lucky! I had to take a voucher
      - Anna says:
        
        20 Aug20 August 13:30
        
        Surely the 24 hour cancellation rule still applies to new bookings?
      - Lady London says:
        
        20 Aug20 August 13:59
        
        In the confirmation email for my avios booking made this week there’s a statement saying if you made a mistake you can get a full refund within 24hrs from time of booking but states you will need to do this by phone
Martha says:

20 Aug20 August 10:09

Good morning fellow travelers!
A bit of a situation as in my circumstance it will take a long time to apply for a UK passport.
Does anyone know if you have dual citizenship, british citizen living permantly in the UK and leave the UK using your foreign passport. Will you be allowed back in the UK if your UK passport has expired?
- Sundar says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 10:22
  
  Please check with an Immigration expert, but if your foreign passport allows you to stay in UK for a period of time, then there should not be a problem entering UK back on a foreign passport. You need to be careful to not overstay though.
  - Rhys says:
    
    20 Aug20 August 10:27
    
    If you have British citizenship you’re not overstaying!
    - Martha says:
      
      20 Aug20 August 10:46
      
      Thank you.
      How would you prove british citizenship? Is the expired UK passport ok for this?
      - Rhys says:
        
        20 Aug20 August 10:56
        
        Why would you have to prove British citizenship on entering? What is your other passport?
- Rhys says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 10:24
  
  They are two separate documents, so unless one has something the other doesn’t (such as a visa) it shouldn’t matter – you can just use your other passport to re-enter
- BJ says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 10:42
  
  Can the British Embassy at your destination not issue you a new passport?
- RussellH says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 11:01
  
  A couple of questions to be answered at least.
  1. I assume that your second nationality is not EEA or CH, as you should be able to travel on them till the end of this year anyway (I always use my CH ID card – much more convenient than a huge booklet.)
  2. Are you in the UK at present or abroad?
  See https://www.gov.uk/emergency-travel-document for more info.
- RussellH says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 11:02
  
  See https://www.gov.uk/emergency-travel-document for more info.
- Colin MacKinnon says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 12:01
  
  You will be allowed in.
  You can be a British Citizen and yet have never held a passport!
  (Our son and daughter were in this position – holding Spanish passports. Then daughter applied for her British passport because of Brexit, but our son may be applying for a US passport, so didn’t want to apply for a UK one at the same time.)
  Your big issue: will the airline flying you into the UK let you board. Because the airlines have to take you back if refused entry, and pay a fine, they can be over-cautious.
  But if you non-UK passport allows you in for a “holiday”, you are fine.
  My recommendation:
  Use the non-UK passport to check in and at UK Border, and keep the expired UK one in your pocket just-in-case.
- Anna says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 12:43
  
  Why would it take you more than the normal time to apply (unless you’re abroad and can’t take delivery of it)? Several people on here, including me, have applied and received passports within 2 weeks recently.
- Charlieface says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 18:36
  
  You can enter on an expired UK passport, I know relatives who have done so. Obviously you must be able to board so would need some other passport to get out of the country of origin, and possibly prove to the airline that you would be allowed entry to the UK.
BJ says:

20 Aug20 August 10:22

Accor shares up, rumours of a potential merger with IHG.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-accor-ihg/shares-in-hoteliers-accor-ihg-rise-after-reported-merger-interest-idUSKCN25G0MO
- Sundar says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 10:26
  
  Ooh, thats interesting. More opportunities to use IHG points.
  - BJ says:
    
    20 Aug20 August 10:48
    
    …possibly including 400 UK Travelodges, 1000 points /night anybody!? If this were to go ahead, and I know it’s a big if, would it then create pressure for a Hilton-Radisson merger?
  - Scallder says:
    
    20 Aug20 August 11:10
    
    However with Accor you can never get any outsized value as points are redeemable for a fixed cost, so not sure I like the idea of Accor buying out IHG…
    - Lady London says:
      
      20 Aug20 August 12:29
      
      +1 my immediate thought.
      
      I dont see the fit. IHG are pretty smart financial cookies. Wondering if this is intended to spark movement in the market that will make someone a profit.
      
      If this deal took place it would be like IHG turning into lemmings and throwing themselves off a cliff, and they’re smarter than that.
      - Lady London says:
        
        20 Aug20 August 12:46
        
        More likely someone with deep pockets could scoop them both up if the downturn is long and they run out of liquidity. They are different propositions as you recall @Rob said IHG does not own its properties much so an acquirer would be buying different things.