The HfP chat thread – Saturday 29th August

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• ChrisM says:

  29 Aug29 August 10:45

  Any word on the Travelodge landlords switching to Accor? I’m sure I read somewhere that yesterday was D-Day

  • Rob says:

    29 Aug29 August 13:07

    They had to serve notice by yesterday, correct.

    • Boi says:

      29 Aug29 August 13:15

      Hi. Questions about Amex insurance:
      1. How long can one single car rental Be?
      2. We have recently moved to Canada so renting a car for 35 days. Are we still covered?
      3. Are we also covered medically? We are still in process of registering for Canada health cards.
      4. If Amex fails, any hope with hsbc?
      We are in that transition period so am unsure where we stand.

      In other news weather very nice and we are enjoying beautiful BC.

      • Boi says:

        29 Aug29 August 13:16

        Sorry just realised my question is in wrong place. How can I move it

      • Charlieface says:

        29 Aug29 August 21:52

        1. 90 days IIRC but check the documents.
        2. Technically no because you’re not resident in the UK. Whether they know about that is a different question

        • Genghis says:

          29 Aug29 August 22:05

          2. Possible loophole. The definition of country of residence is “country of residence as evidenced by an official document”. Now if OP’s now residence in Canada has no “official document”, then they would still, I guess, fall under UK residency and capable of hiring the car in Canada.

        • Charlieface says:

          30 Aug30 August 01:19

          Well spotted. Wouldn’t risk telling them either way if it was me…

• ee says:

  29 Aug29 August 12:16

  Does anyone know if the Hilton Gold free breakfast applies to reward stays?

  • Nick says:

    29 Aug29 August 12:30

    Yes it does, it applies to everything booked direct (or through a TMC).

  • Rob says:

    29 Aug29 August 13:04

    It does.

    • ee says:

      30 Aug30 August 12:18

      Perfect – thank you. Time to use up some points, originally from Virgin (some of which I won at the second HFP party!)

• Paul says:

  29 Aug29 August 12:21

  Hi there. Just changed my flight from Nice to London to Milan to Heathrow next month. Having waited over an hour to get through to BA this morning with the hope of changing my flight under Book with Confidence it turns out that if you change your departure location you get walloped with a £30 per person ‘service charge’. I can’t find any reference to this on the BA website. Anyone else noticed this? Doesn’t feel entirely transparent to me. Bit fed up!

  • pauldb says:

    29 Aug29 August 13:23

    If you simply asked to change your booking (not a COVID thing) you’ll get charged the £30. If you asked for a COVID future travel voucher, then go on to use that for the new flight, you won’t pay it.

    • Paul says:

      29 Aug29 August 22:04

      Hi Paul. That’s a really good point. But I wasn’t advised to do that. The guy at BA said there was nothing I could do.

      Anyone else think BA isn’t being transparent on their website? I felt I could book a flight and change it but I can’t see any reference to the departure location change being specifically mentioned as being subject to this charge. Surely it should say ‘book with confidence and change your flight if you leave from the same place. And if you can’t, then get a voucher and rebook’.

• Dave says:

  29 Aug29 August 12:25

  Anyone know what time BA Galleries North closes at the the moment? Still 2pm?

  • Nick says:

    29 Aug29 August 12:31

    It’s variable depending on expected passengers that day. It’s been open until 5pm some days this week (and once until 8pm), but closed at midday on others. Out of your control sadly.

• The Original Nick says:

  29 Aug29 August 12:47

  Is the Amex Platinum insurance still covering travel at the moment?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    29 Aug29 August 13:08

    As long as there’s no FCO advice against travel at the time you book or travel every insurance should be valid.

    If either one of those might apply then it’s best to discuss with the provider.

• meta says:

  29 Aug29 August 13:06

  Seems Hyatt is offering free cancellation 24h before the stay for all rates until 31 July 2021. Valid for forward bookings too!. At least that’s what the email implies.

• Anna says:

  29 Aug29 August 14:25

  Reported in the media that secondary schools may have to adopt a “2 weeks on, 2 weeks off” rota to keep the kids socially distant. Just need my son to have the 2 weeks off before the Xmas holidays start so I can grab a bargain break and not have to worry about quarantine!

  • Yolo says:

    29 Aug29 August 15:14

    Like the bank I work for, but one week rota instead of two. Must be the only bank in London requiring 100% staff to be in the office by mid September. They don’t care if your job is 100% doable from home or you have to take the Tube. According to them we just need to wear masks in the office and we’ll be fine!!

    • Rob says:

      29 Aug29 August 16:23

      My wife will do one week at home, one in the office, from next week.

      • Optimus Prime says:

        29 Aug29 August 17:11

        Will she be using public transport at peak times?

      • Andrew says:

        29 Aug29 August 23:22

        There were tantrums at the other half’s firm.

        The plan to minimise mixing with group a, b & c didn’t go down very well with some staff unhappy with the “b” or “c” classification. They are now named after underground London rivers.

        • Rob says:

          30 Aug30 August 08:55

          I made a similar joke in our house. Didn’t go down well.

    • Lady London says:

      29 Aug29 August 18:55

      The interesting thing will be how many government office employees are now obliged to physically be in the office.

      • Optimus Prime says:

        29 Aug29 August 22:41

        Yesterday Matt Hancock said he only cared about his staff being productive, not where they are working from. He upset a few of his cabinet colleagues…

  • Coucou says:

    29 Aug29 August 15:37

    My holidays > children education. Sounds about right.

    • Anna says:

      29 Aug29 August 15:42

      What’s that supposed to mean? I have been homeschooling my son since March, including through the summer holiday so he is ready to hit the ground running next week when term starts. If they are doing distance learning he can do that in a foreign country just as much as if he were at home. Assumptions make an ass – but only out of you.

• dezbez says:

  29 Aug29 August 14:57

  I’ve just been looking at return fares to Seattle next summer with VS; Upper is consistently coming out at approx £1,600 (PE – £1,100 & E – £650), which seems remarkably good value? Generally wouldn’t you expect to see Upper fares north of £3k? Not sure whether I’m missing something…

  • Rob says:

    29 Aug29 August 16:24

    For a non-refundable sale fare, I’d say £1600 was about right assuming you’re staying a Saturday night.

    Virgin is selling Manchester to JFK for £1150 at the moment.

    • dezbez says:

      29 Aug29 August 17:40

      Thanks for the point of reference, Rob!

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.